Pork Cabbage Dumplings. Crispy, savoury, meaty potstickers packed with a deliciously seasoned ground pork and cabbage with garlic and ginger.
These are the best dumplings ever and they are easy to make with store bought dumpling wrappers!
Easy to make!
To anyone’s surprise, these pork and napa cabbage dumplings are actually very easy to make.
You’re simply combining all the filling ingredients in one bowl and mixing it in one direction into a meaty paste so the filling holds shape as you wrap it. Then you’ll add a dollop of the filling to the center of a store bought dumpling wrapper. Dab the edges with water to seal them tightly. You have the choice to just fold them in half or make them prettier by folding and pinching the top.
Finally, fry them up with water to help them cook and then wait for them to crisp up, about 8-9 minutes. That’s it!
Best pork dumpling recipe!
I know this is a big claim as there are many recipes for this dish online, but I promise you this pork and napa cabbage dumpling recipe is the best!
Why? Because I made 40 of these dumplings and ended up eating all of them in two days. I am still craving more! That’s how good they were. My husband who also isn’t the biggest meat eater enjoyed some and LOVED IT!
What do they taste like?
The savoury texture of that meat filling paired with the crispy skin of the wrapper is to live for! You can also taste the slight flavours from the garlic and ginger without being overpowering and allowing the pork to be the main star.
Passed down from Grandma
This recipe for my pork cabbage and dumplings was passed down to me from my grandmother that I’ve tweaked over the course of 10 years. She was the queen of dumplings and even made her own wrappers for them.
What you’ll need
For this recipe you’ll need the following pork and cabbage dumplings ingredients:
- Store bought dumpling wrappers
- water, for cooking
- oil, for frying
Pork cabbage dumpling filling:
- ground pork
- Napa cabbage
- salt, to drain cabbage
- regular soy sauce
- sesame oil
- cornstarch
- garlic
- ginger
- white granulated sugar
- chicken powder
- white pepper
Dumpling dipping sauce:
- regular soy sauce
- black vinegar
- sesame oil
- Chinese Chili oil, store bought or for homemade recipe click here
How to make Pork Cabbage Dumplings
Below are brief steps with visuals to show you how to make pork mince and cabbage dumplings. Please scroll down to the recipe card below to find full instructions and details.
Chop cabbage finely.
Transfer cabbage to a bowl. Add salt and massage into leaves. Let it sit for 10 minutes to drain excess water.
Rinse cabbage of salt with cold water.
Then transfer cabbage to a clean towel and squeeze out excess water as best you can.
Combine ground pork with filling ingredients as listed above.
Mix in one direction until the filling becomes a paste. The meat should be broken down and sticky, about 4 minutes.
Optional tip: take a 1 tbsp of the filling and pan fry or microwave for 60 seconds until cooked. Taste the filling and if needed, adjust the raw filling by adding more seasoning as you desire.
To assemble dumplings:
Fill a small bowl of water and have it nearby.
Spoon ¾ tbsp of filling into centre of wrapper (I find using two spoons very helpful and keeps my hands clean for the sealing part).
Dab a bit of water along the edges but not too much. Tip: I like using the spoon as this keeps my hands dry for the sealing part.
Fold the wrapper over.
Fold and pinch the edge until well sealed.
In a non-stick pan set over medium heat, add oil into your pan. Once oil is hot, add dumplings bottom side down in batches. Do not overcrowd the pan. Allow the bottoms to fry for 30 seconds. Then pour ½ cup water into the pan and cover with a lid. Allow the dumplings to cook covered for at least 7 minutes.
Once the water has fully evaporated, lift the lid and allow the dumpling bottoms to crisp up until golden brown, another 1-2 minutes. Be sure to check every now and then. Once browned, remove from heat. Optionally serve with dipping sauce and enjoy!
Cooking Tips
Below are tips on making pork cabbage dumplings:
Mix in one direction until pasty
When making your filling, make sure to mix it well in one direction until the meat becomes a paste. The ground meat should be broken down. The reason for this is to allow for the filling to hold shape and not fall apart when wrapping.
Use a moist clean tea towel to keep wrappers from drying out
When the wrappers are exposed to air, they will dry out so as you wrap your dumplings make sure to cover them with a moist clean towel.
Do not overfill wrapper
I know it’s tempting to pack every little bit of filling into the wrappers but don’t! This will cause the dumplings to unseal and leak out as you fry them. Only fill them with ¾ tbsp, no more than that!
Seal your dumplings very well
Make sure to seal the edges of your dumplings well if you don’t want the filling to leak out.
Use water to help steam cook the dumplings
Whenever we cook dumplings, we always use ½ cup water to help us first “boil” the dumplings to fully cook them. Then we allow the water to evaporate while covered and let the bottoms fry until crispy.
If you only pan fry them in oil without water, the skins will burn and the internal filling will not cook through.
FAQ
Below are frequently asked questions about this easy pork and cabbage dumpling recipe:
Can I use regular cabbage instead of Napa in dumplings?
I would highly recommend napa cabbage for this recipe as it’s softer and not as hard as regular cabbage. However, if you really can’t find napa cabbage then I suggest using bok choy or a softer leafy green. Regular cabbage is too hard and will not cook through in time.
Do you pre cook pork for dumplings?
No, we use raw ground pork.
Do you put egg in dumpling filling?
I personally don’t as the ground pork is pasty enough to bind the other ingredients. However, I know some recipes do.
Can I use chicken or beef for dumpling filling?
Yes, you can definitely use ground chicken or beef.
Can dumplings be frozen?
Yes, they can be frozen on a single layer in a reusable zip lock bag and cooked from frozen for later.
Can they be frozen and cooked later?
Yes! Cook them the same way as instructed in the recipe card below but add another 1-2 minutes or until an internal temperature of 145 F for ground pork.
May I steam or boil these?
Yes! Steam them for the 8 minutes over medium heat. Please see below for boiling instructions.
How long should you boil dumplings?
You can boil these dumplings if you prefer not to fry them. I would recommend boiling them for 6-7 minutes.
How do you tell if pork dumplings are cooked?
When you open the dumpling, the meat filling will not look pink and will look grey.
Other Dumpling recipes you may like!
If you enjoyed this pork and napa cabbage dumpling recipe, you may enjoy these other recipes:
3-ingredient Dumpling Sauce
Chinese Pork Chive Dumplings
Pork and Shrimp Dumplings
Try it!
Well, I hope you give my Pork Cabbage Dumplings a try! It always excites me when you make my recipes and I hope this is one you try and most importantly, enjoy.
Sharing is caring
If you enjoyed my pork dumpling recipe, please share it with your family and friends or on social media! Take a picture of your re-creation and make sure to tag me @ChristieAtHome in your feed or stories as I would love to see it!
Did you enjoy it?
If you genuinely enjoyed my Chinese pork dumpling recipe, please leave a 5-star review. I would greatly appreciate it 🙂
Take care,
Christie
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The Best Pork Cabbage Dumplings
Ingredients
- 454 grams dumpling wrappers store-bought
- ½ cup water for cooking dumplings
- 1 tbsp oil for frying one batch (about 12 dumplings)
- 1 tsp salt to drain cabbage of excess liquid
Filling:
- 1 lb ground pork
- 4 cups Napa cabbage finely chopped
- 2.5 tbsp regular soy sauce not light or dark soy sauce!
- 2 tbsp sesame oil
- 1 tbsp cornstarch
- 1 tbsp garlic minced
- 1 tsp ginger grated
- ½ tbsp white granulated sugar
- ½ tsp chicken powder
- ¼ tsp white pepper
Dumpling dip
- 2 tbsp regular soy sauce not light or dark soy sauce!
- 2 tbsp black vinegar Chinese kind
- 1 tsp sesame oil
- 1 tbsp Chinese Chili oil store bought or to make homemade version, click here
Instructions
- Chop cabbage finely. Transfer cabbage to a bowl. Add salt and massage into leaves. Let it sit for 10 minutes to drain excess water. Rinse cabbage of 1 tsp salt with cold water. Then transfer cabbage to a clean towel and squeeze out excess water as best you can.
- Combine ground pork with filling ingredients as listed above.
- Mix in one direction until the filling becomes a paste. The meat should be broken down and sticky, about 4 minutes. Optional tip: Take a 1 tbsp of the filling and pan fry or microwave for 60 seconds until cooked. Taste the filling and if needed, adjust the raw filling by adding more seasoning as you desire.
To assemble dumplings:
- Fill a small bowl of water and have it nearby.
- Spoon ¾ tbsp of filling into center of wrapper (I find using two spoons very helpful and keeps my hands clean for the sealing part).
- Dab a bit of water along the edges but not too much. Tip: I like using the spoon as this keeps my hands dry for the sealing part.
- Fold the wrapper over. Fold and pinch the edge until well sealed.
To Cook:
- In a non-stick pan set over medium heat, add oil into your pan. Once oil is hot, add dumplings bottom side down in batches. Do not overcrowd the pan. Allow the bottoms to fry for 30 seconds. Then pour ½ cup water into the pan and cover with a lid. Allow the dumplings to cook covered for at least 7 minutes and avoid moving them.
- Once the water has fully evaporated, lift the lid and allow the dumpling bottoms to crisp up until golden brown, another 1-2 minutes. Be sure to check every now and then. Once bottoms are browned, remove from heat. Optionally serve with dipping sauce and enjoy!
Dip:
- Mix together ingredients for dip as listed above to serve with dumplings.
NOTES
These dumplings look so perfect and thanks for the valuable tip of not touching them once in the pan. Thanks
Your easy step by step instructions make this recipe so easy to make. I could eat these gorgeous dumplings all day long!
Another of my favorites which I will make soon.
What is the name of the Chicken Powder you use please?
Thank you Christie and Happy Easter..
Hi Garry! Happy Easter! I hope you enjoy my recipe! The chicken powder I use is by Knorr and it's called "Knorr Chicken Flavored Broth Mix". Hope this helps!