10 Easy Ways to Turn Frozen Potstickers into Weeknight Dinners
I can’t remember when I first discovered potstickers, but I know that as a busy mom with many young and eternally hungry children, having a stash of frozen dumplings in my freezer was a godsend. Potstickers serve as an easy, quick-fix dinner and they can be cooked in different ways.
It still is. I used to be the one who started the rice cooker, steamed some vegetables, and cooked up a pan of potstickers, but it’s now my teens who can handle the task with style. As long as they don’t really let them stick to my pot. Ahem.
Easy Ways to Prepare Potstickers
Potstickers serve as an easy, quick-fix dinner. And while rice and steamed veggies make it a meal, there are lots of easy ways to make delicious dinners starring potstickers.
1. Make a stir-fry with them.
Prepare the potstickers according to the package directions and add them to your favorite saucy stir-fry. You can vary the sauce and vegetable combination and never have the same thing twice.
Get the recipe: 6 Stir-Fry Sauces
2. Serve them with an Asian-style slaw.
Cabbage is a wonderfully affordable vegetable and works well in Asian-style dishes. Stir up a big bowl of slaw and top it with potstickers.
3. Stir them into soup.
Potstickers are similar to wontons, so why not use them as a substitute in your next batch of broth? You’ll have more frequent requests for soup night.
Get the recipe: Gingery Spinach and Dumpling Soup
4. Top a rice bowl with them.
Rice bowls are quick and easy suppers that allow you to use whatever you’ve got on hand. Stir up a batch of fried rice and feature potstickers as the main attraction.
Get the recipe: Vegetable Fried Rice
5. Make a pasta salad with them and your favorite Asian-style dressing.
If one can make a pasta salad with tortellini or ravioli, why not with potstickers? Prepare the potstickers and toss them with shredded carrot, sliced scallion, chopped cilantro, and your favorite Asian-style dressing.
6. Make Pad Thai with them instead of noodles.
Love the flavors of Pad Thai? Swap out the noodles and use potstickers instead. The dumpling filling adds an extra dimension of flavor and texture.
Get the recipe: Potsticker Pad Thai
7. Toss them into a salad.
As you might top a salad with fried ravioli, you can do the same with fried dumplings. Assemble the fixings of your favorite Asian-style salad and toss a few potstickers on top for good measure.
Get the recipe: Potsticker and Roasted Pepper Salad
8. Cook them on the grill.
Can’t stand the heat? Get out of the kitchen. Coat potstickers with oil and cook them on a hot grill, turning every few minutes until cooked through. Who knew, right?
9. Serve an Asian-inspired appetizer dinner.
Assemble your favorite Asian-style appetizers, such as egg rolls, summer rolls, teriyaki meatballs, and lettuce wraps. This snacky dinner is super fun — especially when you serve with mix-and-match dipping sauces.
10. Dip them in sauce and call it good.
Potstickers are so delicious on their own, there’s no harm in just serving them as is. Be sure to make your own sauce, though — the stuff in the frozen packets is for the birds.
Get the recipe: Potsticker Dipping Sauce