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Potstickers are Chinese dumplings filled with ground meat and veggies, pan-fried, steamed and served with potsticker sauce. Easy and the best homemade potsticker recipe!
Potsticker Recipe
Potstickers are Chinese dumplings with a filling that consists of ground pork, shredded vegetables and sometimes shrimp.
Unlike Steamed Dumplings, they are pan-fried and steamed at the same time so that they are moist and crispy. Many people love these dumplings because they are so delicious.
In this potsticker recipe, you will learn the step-by-step and techniques of making homemade potstickers with crispy bottom, juicy filling, plus potsticker sauce.
What Are Potstickers
Potsticker is the direct English translation of the Chinese words 锅贴, pronounced as guo tie.
Chinese cooking influences all Asian countries. In Japan, these pan-fried dumplings are called gyoza.
In Korea, dumplings are called mandu. Regardless of its name and regional adaptations, they are all delicious!
Potsticker Sauce
Potstickers are great with a potsticker dipping sauce. While you can buy bottled sauce, it’s so much better and easier to make the sauce at home.
The dipping sauce calls for Chinese black vinegar and soy sauce. To spice it up, you may add a little bit of chili oil to it.
To garnish, white sesame seeds are commonly used.
How To Make Potstickers
My recipe is very easy and fail-proof. First, you need potsticker wrappers that you can buy from Asian stores.
Next, make the filling for the potstickers. To wrap potstickers, check out Yum Sugar video.
You will also find my step-by-step picture guide on how to wrap potstickers in the recipe card.
To cook potstickers, you will need a skillet or pan for both pan-frying and steaming.
Frequently Asked Questions
Are dumplings and potstickers the same thing?
Dumplings are made of dough (usually made with wheat flour) and filled with a savory filling.
The filling can be vegan, meat-based (ground pork or ground chicken) or seafood-based (shrimp, fish or a combination of both).
You can also combine all the different ingredients together to make the filling.
They may be boiled, fried, or steamed. The difference lies in how to cook them.
Potstickers are dumplings, and they are pan-fried on the bottom and then steamed with some water.
The name derives from the fact that the bottom of potstickers are literally sticking to the pot while cooking.
This recipe serves four (4) people and each serving is only 350 calories.
What To Serve With Potstickers
Serve potstickers with a simple dipping sauce of black vinegar and soy sauce. For a wholesome Chinese meal and easy weeknight dinner, I recommend the following recipes.
I hope you enjoy this post as much as I do. If you try my recipe, please leave a comment and consider giving it a 5-star rating. For more easy and delicious recipes, explore my Recipe Index, and stay updated by subscribing to my newsletter and following me on Facebook, Pinterest, and Instagram for new updates.
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Potstickers (The Best Recipe!)
Ingredients
Potstickers Wrapper (make from scratch)
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup water
- 1 pack potsticker wrapper
Potsticker Sauce:
- 2 tablespoons chinese black vinegar
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon chili oil
- 1/2 teaspoon white sesame seeds
Potstickers Filling:
- 12 oz (350g) ground pork
- 1 leave napa cabbage, 1/2 cup, finely sliced
- 1 tablespoon scallion, chopped
- 3 dashes ground white pepper
- 1 teaspoon Shaoxing wine
- 1 teaspoon sesame oil
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1- inch (2.5cm) ginger, peeled and grated
- 1 1/2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 1/2 cup water
Instructions
Potsticker Wrappers
- Mix the flour with water and knead for about 20–25 minutes, or until the dough becomes soft. Divide the dough into two equal portions and roll each into a cylinder about 1 inch (2.5 cm) in diameter. Cover them with a wet towel and set aside.
- To make the wrappers, cut the dough into 1/4-inch (5 mm) pieces and roll them into balls. Use a rolling pin to flatten each ball into a round wrapper, about 3 inches (7 cm) in diameter. Repeat until all the dough balls are used. (You can also use a pack of store-bought potsticker wrappers.)
Potsticker Sauce.
- Combine all the ingredients in a small bowl and stir to mix well. Set aside.
Potsticker Filling
- Combine the ground pork, napa cabbage, scallions, white pepper, wine, sesame oil, salt, and ginger in a bowl. Stir to mix well and set aside.
To make potstickers
- Place a small spoonful of filling in the center of the wrapper. Dab a little water with your finger around the edge of the skin. Fold and pleat the potsticker, making about 5 pleats. Repeat until all the ingredients are used.
To pan fry the potstickers
- Add vegetable oil to a frying pan (non-stick preferred) and heat over medium heat. Arrange the dumplings in the pan and pan-fry the potstickers until the bottoms are golden brown and crispy. Add the water and immediately cover the pan with its lid.
- Steam and cook the potstickers until the water has evaporated. Then, turn the heat to low and cook the potstickers for an additional minute. Dish out and serve hot with potsticker dipping sauce.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Great recipe! Super tasty. The only thing I changed, is using chicken broth instead of water. When it steams and evaporates, it leaves a super sticky flavorful crust on these. So Good!
The best
I’m going to have a go at these but I’m vegan and the meat substitutes I would use don’t have the fat content of pork. Will that make a difference?
That’s fine, might be hard to fold.
These potstickers look SO delicious!! My mouth is watering over these photos
This recipe is soooo delicious and easy to make. A couple of handy hints is to have your wrappers at room temperature to make for easier wrapping and your meat needs to have some fat included to have a moist product – lean meat makes a dry potsticker.
Dianne, correct, perfect ratio of fat and meat is 30:70.
Can you use a stand mixer to make the dough… if so, have any suggestions on how long it should run? Also, can these be baked vs. pan fried/steamed? Many thanks ahead of time!
Yes you can use the stand mixer to make the dough just knead until smooth and shiny. Yes you can bake, but they just won’t taste as good.
Rasa, I love Asian food and while there are plenty of restaurants here in the Dallas / Frisco Texas area, they are so Americanized. I look forward to everyone of your posts. I hope I do these dumplings justice and remember the tips. 70/30 pork, do not salt the cabbage, raw shrimp (I would have used cooked..eeek), if making dough by scratch use pasta roller to get right thickness (that’ll be a pretty penny, I don’t have that attachment, ouch) and freeze uncooked on lined baking sheet til hard then put in freezer bags. I’m soon excited
Hi Lisa, your tips are great. I love it and you will make amazing potstickers. :)
How do you cook these after freezing? Do you need to thaw them 1st?
Thaw and cook.
Hi, It seems quite easy to make the skin. Can you freeze just the skin by itself (without filling it as I see another person has suggested) and any tips on the best way to freeze them so they don’t stick together.
Thanks
Hi, I made these and overall they were great, but the pork was oddly kind of dry. I am wondering about the fat percent in the dumplings you make. I used an 80/20 ground pork. Should it be higher in fat content to be, well, juicier?
70/30 will be ideal, 80/20 yes, too dry.
Is your shrimp raw or cooked in pit stickers?