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Looking for a meatless way to enjoy potstickers?

After tons of nagging, I finally managed to convince my Chinese chef of a dad to prepare a 100% plant-based pot sticker recipe… and let me tell you, it is GOOD.

Loaded with a mix of spongy tofu, crunchy vegetables, and plenty of delicious seasonings, I might like these more than my dad’s foolproof pork dumplings… but shh, don’t ever let him know I said that.

So, keep scrolling for that magical vegan potsticker recipe. It’s fully worth every bit of effort.

A Quick Note on How to Make This Recipe Your Own

My dad is a bit of an experimental chef. When I asked him to whip up a vegan-friendly potsticker recipe, he basically took every vegetable he had and cobbled it into a magically crispy and juicy creation.

All that said – this is one of the most versatile and adaptable vegan dumpling recipes ever… meaning you can go crazy with substitutes and it’ll still taste great. For instance, there are some vegetables we recommend like chayote that are usually only available in Asian supermarkets, but just use whatever you have on hand.

Legitimately, even my dad doesn’t follow his own recipe. You’ll see for instance that his recipe calls for cabbage, but he didn’t have any on hand the day he made these, so he used celery instead. The result was still super delicious.

All that to say, don’t be afraid to substitute a few vegetables for others that you prefer – make this recipe your own and it will still be extra delicious!

Ingredients for Our Vegan Potstickers Recipe

1 250g pack round dumpling skins/wrappers (or use our dumpling wrapper recipe)
40g (1.5 oz) dried mushroom
40g (1.5 oz) diced cabbage or celery
40g (1.5 oz) chopped Chinese chives
40g (1.5 oz) diced carrot
50g (2 oz) diced dried tofu
50g (2 oz) diced chayote or zucchini 2 tbsp sesame oil
50g (2 oz) diced onion
2/3 tsp salt
2/3 tsp sugar
1 tbsp veggie oyster sauce
1/2 tsp white pepper powder
1 tbsp cornstarch

Step by Step Instructions for Our Vegan Potstickers Recipe

These plant-based potstickers may take some effort to assemble, but they’re 1000% worth it. Here is how to make them, step by step.

1. Prep your ingredients

Rehydrate your dried mushrooms in advance by soaking them in water for at least 4 hours. After they have rehydrated, squeeze out excess water and dice the mushrooms into small cubes.

Dice your onion, cabbage or celery, chives, carrot, dried tofu, and chayote (or zucchini) into small cubes of all around the same size.

2. Assemble your vegan potsticker filling

Add 2 tablespoons of sesame oil into a hot wok, then add diced onion and cook for 30 seconds. Remove from heat and set aside.

In a large bowl, mix your cooked onion with all your other ingredients and seasonings.

NOTE: Make sure all ingredients are well drained and dry before adding them into the bowl, otherwise if there’s too much moisture, then the skins can break.

3. Wrap your vegan potstickers

When you’re ready to start wrapping, remove your filling from the fridge and assemble your folding station.

Grab a tablespoon for spooning your filling, and a small bowl of water to help seal the edges if you using storebought wrappers.

You can read this guide on how to fold dumplings for lots of fun ideas, but our favorite beginner-friendly method is to:

With the wrapper in your palm, place a tablespoon of filling in the middle
Dip your index finger in some water and line the edges so that your wrapper will be easier to seal later
Fold the wrapper in half, then pinch down the very center
Fold inwards 2-3 times (or more if you want a more pleated look!) on each side
Then firmly press it shut and repeat for all your dumplings
NOTE: If using storebought wrappers, you should line the edges with a bit of water to help seal them shut tighter

4. Steam Fry Your Vegan Potstickers

Once you have all your dumpling babies lined up, it’s time to cook them!

There are many ways you can cook your dumplings (our how to cook frozen dumplings tutorial goes into detail).

For this recipe though, we’ll be steam frying, which gives you that nice golden bottom and the tender juicy inside that makes potstickers such a thing of beauty.

To steam fry your dumplings, heat a pan to medium heat and add a tablespoon of neutral oil (e.g. vegetable or canola).

Carefully place our dumplings (ideally spaced apart) and let them fry for a minute or two.

When the bottoms start to turn golden brown, add a quarter cup of water into the pan and immediately put on a lid to keep the steam in.

Once the water has evaporated, remove the lid and continue to brown your dumplings until they’re your ideal crispiness.

Sometimes we like to flip them over so we get golden brown crispiness on multiple sides, but the more traditional way is to only brown the bottoms.

Serve with your favorite dumpling dipping sauce and enjoy!