Potstickers Recipe | Spoon Fork Bacon

Name: Potstickers
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 10 min
Total time: 40 min
Ingredients: 12 ounces ground pork; 1 baby bok choy, diced; 6 water chestnuts, diced; 2 green onions, thinly sliced; 2 garlic cloves, minced; 2 teaspoons minced fresh ginger; 1 teaspoon sesame oil; 2 teaspoon salt; ½ teaspoon cracked black pepper; 1 egg, lightly beaten; 1 egg, lightly beaten; 30 round wonton wrappers; 4 tablespoons vegetable oil, divided; ⅓ cup soy sauce; 2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar; 2 teaspoons sesame oil; 1 ½ teaspoons gochujaru (Korean chili powder); 2 garlic cloves, minced; 1 green onion, thinly sliced; 1 teaspoon toasted sesame seeds

Potstickers on a platter overhead with potsticker dipping sauce on the side.

Since I was really young Potstickers have been one of my favorite foods. I remember helping my mom fold them up and set them onto a giant platter. We usually boiled ours up in a brothy soup with small rice cake discs. Our Potsticker recipe today is a pan-fried version and is sort of a mixed bag of Asian ingredients, but the dipping sauce is very Korean.

Ingredients for making potstickers shot overhead and labeled.

How to make Potstickers

Place all filling ingredients into a bowl and mix together until well combined. Set aside.
Brush perimeter of a wonton wrapper with the beaten egg and fill center with 1 heaping tablespoon of pork filling.
Open your dominant hand, palm side up, and hold fingers together.
Place the filled and open wonton wrapper onto your fingers and fold the wrapper in half, only sealing the corner of one side.
Using your other hand, push small pleats onto one side of the wrapper, pressing and sealing with the hand holding the pot sticker.
Continue to pleat and seal until the entire potsticker is sealed.
Set aside and repeat until all filling and wrappers have been used.
Heat a large, heavy bottom skillet over medium heat and add 2 tablespoons oil.
Add 5 to 6 pot stickers to skillet, so the crimped side is up, and pan-fry for 3 to 4 minutes.
Add about 3 tablespoons water to the pan and cover for 2 to 4 minute or until the wonton wrappers have softened and steamed and the filling has finished cooking through.
Remove from heat and repeat until all potstickers have been cooked. Serve immediately with dipping sauce.
For yangnyeom ganjang: Place all ingredients into a small bowl and whisk together. Serve with potstickers.

Potsticker filling in a glass bowl shot overhead. — Place all filling ingredients into a bowl.

Potsticker filling mixed together in a glass bowl. — Mix together.

One raw wonton wrapper. — Start with a wonton wrapper.

A wonton wrapper that has been brushed with an egg mixture. — Brush half of the perimeter of the wonton wrapper with the beaten egg mixture.

A tablespoon of potsticker filling in the middle of a wonton wrapper shot overhead. — Fill center with 1 heaping tablespoon of pork filling.

A pinched edge of a wonton wrapper which is the starting point to pleating. — Fold the wonton wrapper in half to make half circle over the filling. Pinch one corner together.

Pleating a wonton wrapper to make potstickers. — To create the pleat pattern, create a curl or mountain with the top of the wonton wrapper.

Folding over the edges of a wonton wrapper to create a design for potstickers. — Press the curve of the wrapper down into the edge.

Pleating of a wonton wrapper with two hands. — Repeat until you have pleated almost the entire edge.

A wonton wrapper pleated with a hole on the end of it. — You will be left with an open edge like this.

Closing the end hole of a wonton wrapper. — Carefully pinch the closed.

Sealing shut the wonton wrapper with the potsticker filling inside. — To finish. Gently press around the entire edge ensuring it’s all completely sealed.

Check out the video below where we show you how to pleat a potsticker.

A baking sheet full of finished but uncooked potstickers. — Admire your good work!

Potstickers being pan fried in a skillet. — Pan fry according to the recipe instructions.

Our Potsticker Sauce

We serve our potstickers with a traditional Korean-style sauce called yangnyeom ganjang. It’s typically made with soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, sesame oil minced garlic, sliced green onion, toasted sesame seeds, and Korean chile powder. This dipping sauce is great for both pan-fried and steamed potstickers.

Ingredients for potsticker sauce shot overhead and labeled.

Potsticker dipping sauce ingredients in a mixing bowl. — Combine all the sauce ingredients into a bowl.

Potsticker dipping sauce ingredients in a mixing bowl combined. — Mix together.

FAQs

What are potstickers?

Potstickers are a type of dumpling. Usually filled with pork and cabbage, or cabbage and vegetables like carrots for a vegetarian version. Potstickers are generally folded into a pleated crescent shape. They are pan fried and steamed, which create nice crispy exterior and a juicy interior. They are usually served with a soy based dipping sauce.

Can you freeze them?

Yes, they freeze very well! Just line a baking sheet with a piece of parchment then place uncooked potstickers onto the baking sheet about 1/2 inch apart (they shouldn’t touch one another). Then pop them into the freezer for a couple of hours. Once they are completely frozen you can transfer them into a resealable bag. They will keep for 3 to 4 months.

Can these be steamed?

Yes! To steam: Fill a pot with a couple inches of water and top with a bamboo steamer (or a metal steamer basket). Line steamer base or basket with a single layer of lettuce leaves (such as savoy lettuce). Place potstickers over lettuce about 1 inch apart and cover with lid. Place pot over medium-high heat and steam for about 10 minutes or until filling has cooked through.

Are wonton wrappers gluten-free?

Generally no, but you can find a really great recipe for gluten-free wonton wrappers here.

Why are they called Potstickers?

A chef who was boiling dumplings forgot about the them, and all of the water cooked off and it left the dumplings stuck to the bottom of the pot, and created a nice crispy bottom. They became really popular, and became known as potstickers.

What goes well with Potstickers?

If you are serving potstickers as an appetizer, just make sure you have the sauce and you are all set! If you are serving them as a main, we like to serve them with a really simple green salad, or with a side of rice.

What is potsticker sauce?

We like to make a traditional Korean-style sauce called yangnyeom ganjang, which is made with soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, sesame oil minced garlic, sliced green onion, toasted sesame seeds, and Korean chile powder.

Potstickers on a platter that have been pan fried with a dipping sauce.

Tips and Tricks for Success

It’s important that all the air is pressed out of the filled wrapper before tightly sealing the sides together to prevent the potstickers from bursting when they’re cooked.
Be careful not to overstuff the wrappers with filling which can also make the potstickers burst while cooking them.
It’s helpful to remove the skillet from the heat before adding the water, then quickly covering before returning the skillet to the stovetop. This will help to prevent any of the oil in the skillet from spattering up and possibly catching on fire from the stovetop flames (particularly if using a gas stovetop).

Variations

My favorite thing about potstickers is that the filling variations are endless! You can add or take away whatever you want depending on your flavor preference.

You can replace the pork in this recipe for ground chicken, ground turkey or even ground beef.
If you’re looking for a vegetarian option, you can replace the meat with diced and sauteed mushrooms. I like using shiitake mushrooms.
You can swap in spinach leaves or kale for the bok choy.
Feel free to also omit the water chestnuts for an overall softer texture.

This is one of my favorite recipes to make ahead and freeze and I almost always have a bag of potstickers in my freezer ready to go! If you love potstickers and dumplings as much as I do, you might also like our Chicken Potstickers, or our Ginger Chicken Potstickers, our Pork and Shrimp Dumplings, Shrimp Shumai, or our Shanghai Soup Dumplings. Enjoy! xx, Jenny