I came up with the recipe for these vegetarian potstickers (they’re actually totally vegan) last week when I was trying to use pantry ingredients to make dinner. I grabbed what I had in the fridge to make the filling, and they actually turned out great. Note that this recipe is super adaptable and you can use what you have on hand. I happened to have a bunch of carrots and green onions, and also had some cashews that I wanted to use up. The cashews add texture and “meatiness” to the filling which works really well with the veggies. They also add nice fat and protein so these are more hearty. As for how to fold these vegetarian potstickers, I included a link to a video on how to fold them in the directions. It takes a bit of practice, but it’s not hard. This also makes a great activity for quarantine because rolling and folding the dough for the vegetarian potstickers does take some time. Regardless, they are super delicious and the recipe makes a lot of dumplings. This is a great way to stretch your dollar and use up whatever pantry ingredients you have on hand to minimize trips to the grocery store.
Dough Ingredients
- ¾ – 1 cup hot water
- 2 cups all-purpose flour + more for dusting
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
Dough Instructions
Mix salt with ¾ cup of hot water and stir to dissolve.
Place flour in a mixing bowl, add the water to the flour, then mix until a shaggy dough forms. If the dough needs more moisture, add additional water, one teaspoon at a time just until dough comes together into a rough ball. Take dough out of the bowl and knead on an unfloured surface until dough is smooth. It will still be slightly tacky, but should be smooth and pliable; not sticky.
Place dough in a Tupperware or a bowl covered with a slightly damp towel and let rest for an hour.
Filling Ingredients
- 1 cup of chopped carrots
- 3 green onions
- ½ small yellow onion
- ½ cup raw cashews
- 1 inch fresh grated ginger or ½ teaspoon dried powdered ginger
- 1 teaspoon sesame oil
- 1-2 teaspoons soy sauce
- Salt and pepper to taste
- neutral oil for cooking
Filling Instructions
Roughly chop the green onion and onion into 1 inch pieces. Place the chopped carrots, onion, green onion, and cashews into a food processor and pulse to break everything down and bring it together to a filling consistency. It will be a slightly chunky paste.
Heat up a pan with 1 tablespoon neutral oil over medium heat, and add the vegetable mixture to the hot pan. Season with salt and pepper to taste, then sauté for about 5 minutes until fragrant. Add the ginger, sesame oil, and soy sauce, then sauté for another 2 minutes until ginger is fragrant. Transfer the filling to a bowl and let it cool while the dough rests.
Dumpling Assembly
Separate dumpling dough into two sections and roll into logs. Dust cutting board and rolling pin with additional flour.
Slice one inch sections of the dough and roll into small dough balls. One by one, roll each ball into a flat circle, about 2-3 inches wide, turning the dough ever so often to create a circle. (this recipe makes about 36 postickers)
Once you have a circle roughly 2-3 in. in diameter, fill with roughly 1 teaspoon of filling. Wet the edges with water, dold up the 2 sides of the dough, and pinch together in the center. Pinch together the remaining edges, forming “pleats” along one side. Tap the pot sticker on the work surface to slightly flatten the bottom so it stands upright in the pan. (Click here to watch a detailed video on how to fold the vegetarian potstickers.) Note that you can definitely just fold the dough in half and crimp it like you would crimp a hand pie, but making the potsticker folds is pretty fun. I highly recommend watching the video.
Once you’ve folded them, place the vegetarian potstickers on a cookie sheet dusted with flour they don’t stick.
Cooking Instructions
Heat up a sauté pan over medium heat, add about 1 tablespoon of neutral oil, then place potstickers in the pan so they don’t touch. Let them sear on the bottom for a minute or two, then add ¼ cup of water to the pan, and cover with a lid. Lower the heat to low, and continue to cook for about five minutes until all of the water is evaporated and the vegetarian potstickers are cooked. The bottoms should be brown and the dough should look more plump. Transfer the potstickers to a plate, then continue to cook the rest of the potstickers in batches until all of them are cooked. You can eat immediately, store in the fridge, or freeze the cooked potstickers.
To freeze, place the potstickers on a baking sheet lined with parchment or a silicone baking mat and place in the freezer. Once they are frozen, you can transfer the postickers to a freezer container.
I like to serve these with sliced green onions alongside a dipping sauce comprised of equal parts soy sauce, sesame oil, and siracha, as well as some sesame seeds for texture, but you can eat them any way you like. Enjoy!