Chinese New Year celebrations are so much fun, but without tasty dumplings, it would never be complete. Start a new tradition this year and make dumplings for yourself, or learn a new recipe to dazzle your guests with. Here are some of my favorite Chinese dumpling recipes you need to try out for Chinese New Year!
Made from scratch dumpling recipes and guides
How to Make Boiled Dumplings from Scratch
Growing up in China, if you said “dumplings” you always meant the homemade type made from scratch. This is a family recipe that my parents have been making for years and one I’ve celebrated countless Chinese New Years with.
How to Make Steamed Dumplings from Scratch
Boiled dumplings are made with cold water dough. This recipe shows you how to make the dough and the dumpling wrappers from scratch.
Another popular form of dumplings is steamed dumplings. Compared to boiled dumplings, steamed dumplings are slightly more forgiving because they are not prone to fall apart like the boiled type. You can also make bigger dumplings for the steamed type, because the wrappers hold more volume. We like to fill steamed dumplings with veggie-heavy fillings, such as pork and napa cabbage or vegetarian dumplings.
You can also use this type of dough to make pan fried dumplings (aka potstickers).
How to Make Chinese Dumpling Sauce
This guide includes four dumpling dipping sauce recipes. No matter whether you’d like to make the vinegar-heavy northern style dipping sauce or a gingery sauce for soup dumplings, this one has you covered!
The pork and chive dumplings are one of the default choices for northern Chinese New Year. The filling is made with juicy pork, bursting with an intense savory flavor of garlic chives, and boiled until tender and hearty.
Pork and Napa Cabbage Dumplings
These are as iconic as they come. Pork dumplings are a staple in Chinese cuisine and no Chinese New Year dinner table would be without them. Cabbage and shrimp make this pork dumpling recipe shine brightly for any celebration.
Beef Dumplings
Ground beef stays juicy and delicious with these savory beef-filled dumplings. Melded with carrots, peas and corn, they’re the perfect blend of food groups in bite-sized form!
Chinese Chicken Dumplings (鸡肉饺子)
Crispy Chinese chicken dumplings feature a juicy ground chicken filling and are loaded with carrot and corn – they’re savory and slightly sweet.
Hearty, flavorful and moist, you won’t believe how addictive these dumplings with lamb filling are! They hit all the savory points you’ve been craving and the broth that forms in them will have you hooked from the first bite.
Pork and Sauerkraut Dumplings (酸菜饺子)
Introducing Northern Chinese pork and sauerkraut dumplings that have a savory, fragrant, and juicy filling and a crispy crust. They are very easy to put together compared to other types of dumplings. They are also freezer-friendly and therefore perfect for making ahead of time.
Carrot Dumplings
This vegetarian-friendly recipe combines carrots with eggs for a sweet flavor with a robust texture that is sure to delight everyone, even the meat eaters!
Egg and Pepper Dumplings (鸡蛋青椒饺子)
Egg and pepper dumplings feature soft scrambled eggs, browned mushroom bits, and bright green pepper stuffed into crispy wrappers. They are a great option for your vegetarian Chinese New Year menu.
Nepali Momo with Spinach Ricotta
Here’s another recipe vegetarians and meat lovers alike will devour. Inspired by Nepalese dumplings with spinach and paneer, these are made with spinach and ricotta for a take on dumplings you never imagined would be so divine!
Homemade Vegan Dumplings (素菜锅贴)
This vegan dumpling filling has a well-balanced texture with veggies, tofu, and vermicelli. It’s seasoned with plenty of aromatics, soy sauce, and just a dash of curry powder to enhance its richness.
Homemade Soup Dumplings (Xiao Long Bao)
If you are ambitious and want to take the time to make something special, these soup dumplings will be a highlight on your Chinese New Year dinner table! This recipe uses roasted chicken backs to create a wonderful soupy filling without the greasiness. It’s as great as the ones you get from Chinese restaurants.
Chinese Chive Pockets (韭菜盒子, Chinese Chive Dumplings)
The super crispy and thin dough is stuffed with a hearty, savory filling made with Chinese chives and scrambled eggs. They’re easier to make than potstickers and have all the goodness that dumplings have, only more satisfying!
Chinese Beef Meat Pie
These giant potstickers are just what you need for a savory hand-held treat. Common in Northern China, they will warm your hands, heart and soul on the first bite!
They also represent prosperity because their shape resembles ancient Chinese money; a gold coin is put inside of one of the dumplings for a lucky guest to find. Jiaozi can be filled with ground pork or beef and always feature vegetables, such as bamboo shoots, Napa cabbage, and green onions.
Jiaozi (pronounced "jow-zee") are perhaps the most common type of Chinese dumpling. Crescent-shaped and formed with an opaque wrapper made from wheat dough, jiaozi are usually filled with ground pork, cabbage, and scallions, and served with a dipping sauce made of soy sauce, vinegar, and sesame oil.
Overworking the mixture, thus having heavy dumplings is a common mistake people make. Dumplings need very gentle handling, so mix only until the ingredients are just combined, and if your recipe involves rolling them out with extra flour, avoid using too much.
The most popular type of baozi has pork bun filling to which vegetables can be added. There are a variety of options, such as spring onion, cabbage, green beans, mushrooms and leeks, as well as sauces such as soy sauce and oyster sauce. Other types of fillings include beef, chicken and shrimp.
What are dumplings made of? The dumpling dough is made of three main ingredients: flour, water and salt. But which flour you use depends on which dumpling you want to make.
Potstickers are always dumplings, but not all dumplings are potstickers. The biggest difference between these two are how they are cooked, but the cooking method has also changed the kinds of ingredients and preparation of both potstickers and dumplings over time. Potstickers are dumplings that are also pan-fried.
These dumplings start with all-purpose flour, which creates structure and holds the other ingredients together. Baking powder is a leavening agent, which means it releases gas that makes the dough expand. It's responsible for the dumplings' light and fluffy texture.
Dumplings can be steamed (zhēngjiǎo, 蒸饺), pan-fried (jiānjiǎo, 煎饺), or boiled (shuǐjiǎo, 水饺, literal translation: water dumpling). They are then served with a dipping sauce, like Chinese black vinegar or our favorite dumpling sauce recipe. They can also be eaten with hot pot meals or served in soup!
The steam that builds up by covering the pot is what cooks the dumplings. Don't boil or stir the dumplings. Vigorous boiling and stirring will cause the dumplings to fall apart.
Popular meat fillings include ground meat (usually pork, but sometimes beef or chicken), shrimp, and even fish. Popular mixtures include pork with Chinese cabbage, pork with garlic chives, pork and shrimp with vegetables, pork with spring onion, and garlic chives with scrambled eggs.
Originating in the Pennsylvania region the pierogies have been a staple in the city of Pittsburgh and all over western Pennsylvania. Pierogies are soft semicircular dumplings that are usually filled with potatoes or cheese. However, just like other dumplings, fillings are interchangeable depending on culture.
Hand-mincing meat and adding more pork belly results in the juiciest dumplings. Traditionally, some Chinese cuisine uses hand minced meat for their dishes. For example, lots of dim sum items like siu mai, pork buns, beef meatball, and more use hand minced meat to control the texture and fat content of the dish!
Originating in Northern China, these dumplings are filled with ground meat and vegetables, such as cabbage, scallions, garlic and ginger and wrapped in a thin, circular-shaped wrapper made of flour and water.
Dumpling is a broad class of dishes that consist of pieces of cooked dough (made from a variety of starchy sources), often wrapped around a filling. The dough can be based on bread, wheat or other flours, or potatoes, and it may be filled with meat, fish, tofu, cheese, vegetables, or a combination.
Zongzi (sticky rice dumplings) are traditionally eaten during the Duanwu Festival (Double Fifth Festival) which falls on the fifth day of the fifth month of the Chinese lunisolar calendar, and commonly known as the "Dragon Boat Festival" in English.
Introduction: My name is Dan Stracke, I am a homely, gleaming, glamorous, inquisitive, homely, gorgeous, light person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
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