This potsticker recipe is perfect for bulk cooking. It makes a giant batch of potstickers (also called gyoza) to keep in the freezer and cook (in under 10 minutes) whenever you want a quick meal.
BUDGET POTSTICKER RECIPE
Years ago, I would teach free cooking classes in our city to help low income families learn how to eat healthy on their food stamp budget and using food bank groceries.
I used to make potstickers with my Chinese “aunties” in Hawaii. We’d have a big potsticker party, folding them together, and everyone would go home with a bag full of homemade potstickers.
While the typical potsticker recipes I’ve tried used pork, chicken, or even shrimp, I decided to adapt the recipe for our low income class by using beef that we found on sale.
A bag of 40 potstickers costs at least $10 at the grocery store. But we found that this recipe could give us 90 potstickers for under $6.50!!!
By putting a bell pepper, a carrot and some cabbage in the mix potsticker recipe filling, you get some nutrition in your dumplings. I like putting vegetables in every bulk recipe I can, because if I run out of fresh vegetables for salads or side dishes by the end of the week, I know we’re still getting those nutrients in our main dish.
Check our out VEGGIE PACKED Easy Healthy Spaghetti Sauce and Ham and Veggie Breakfast Casserole.
If you don’t have a food processor, you can definitely just finely chop all the vegetables and mix them by hand. If you do own a food processor, it will save you a lot of time making the potsticker recipe.
If you aren’t worried about pinching pennies, feel free to substitute a pound of chicken, turkey, pork, shrimp, or a mix.
CHINESE POTSTICKER COSTS
Here’s the price breakdown for the potstickers. Prices fluctuate of course, but this gives you some idea if you are watching your grocery budget.
-2 (45 count) packages of dumpling wrappers: $3
-1 lb ground beef: $1 (this was from a bulk pack on sale, I froze the rest)
-1 green bell pepper: $1
-1 carrot: 12 cents (I get big bag of 25 for $3)
-1/8 red cabbage: 25 cents (I bought half a cabbage for $1, the rest will go in a salad)
-fresh ginger: 25 cents (I got a thumb sized piece, just broke off how much I needed)
-garlic: I figured out that the jar of minced garlic was actually cheaper than fresh bulbs, I got it for $5 but only used about 10 cents worth.
-soy sauce, rice vinegar, sesame oil: I only used 20 cents worth
-green onions: I got 12 for $1, so 50 cents for 6
I also make a potsticker dipping sauce of soy sauce, sriracha and rice vinegar which only comes out to an additional 40 cents.
Get the Easy Potsticker Sauce Recipe
HOW TO MAKE POTSTICKERS
If you’re not sure how to wrap the dumplings, don’t be intimidated. It’s surprisingly easy. Here’s a step by step on how to make potstickers:
- Use a little water on your finger to moisten the edge of the round gyoza wrapper.
- Place a rounded teaspoon of potsticker filling in the center of wrapper.
- Fold the wrapper in half up over the filling, and pinch in the center.
- Begin pleating one side of the wrapper (that means making little folds) from one end toward the center.
- Repeat from the other end.
- Pinch all along the folds to make sure the wrapper is sealed.
It takes me about two hours to make 90 homemade potstickers. A perfect excuse to catch up on your favorite show! But with two people working together and talking, we find that time is cut down to just 40 minutes. If you have older kids, this is a great way to get them to help and save you some time. We had a lot of kids 8 and up who loved folding these in cooking classes.
Once you fold your potstickers, lay them out flat on a cookie sheet.. While I’m folding I cover the completed potstickers with a slightly damp paper towel. This helps to make sure the wrappers don’t dry out while you’re folding more.
When the cookie sheet is full, remove the damp paper towel and place it in the freezer. After the potstickers are frozen solid, you can transfer them to bags to store in the freezer.
These potstickers can last a whole year in your freezer, but ours are gone within a couple of weeks.
Looking for more tips on saving money on food? Check out How to Save Money on Groceries and Still Eat Healthy.
GET POTSTICKER RECIPE INGREDIENTS AND SUPPLIES ONLINE
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Beef Vegetable Potsticker Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 carrot
- 1 green bell pepper
- 1/8 small red cabbage
- 2 TBS grated fresh ginger
- 6 cloves garlic, minced
- 1/4 cup soy sauce
- 3 TBS rice vinegar
- 2 tsp sesame oil
- 1 lb ground beef
- 6 green onions, chopped
- 90 round dumpling or gyoza wrappers
- 2 TBS canola oil
Instructions
- Peel the carrot and cut off stem end. Remove stem of the bell pepper. Add carrot, bell pepper and cabbage leaves to food processor and process until finely chopped.
- Add the ginger, garlic, soy sauce, rice vinegar and sesame oil. Pulse a couple times and taste to see if you want more of any seasoning.
- Add ground beef and pulse until incorporated.
- Place filling in a bowl and stir in chopped green onions.
- Put one rounded teaspoon worth of filling in the center of the wrapper. Moisten the edge of half the wrapper then fold both edges up and pinch in the middle.
- Pleat the moistened side toward the middle, first the right side, then the left.
- Place folded dumplings on a cookie sheet and cover with a slightly damp paper towel. When sheet is full remove paper towel and freeze.
- Once solid, potstickers can be put in a plastic bag in the freezer.
- To cook, pour canola oil in a skillet and heat on medium high. Add the potstickers and let fry for one minute, then add 1/4 cup water to the pan and cover.
- Steam 6 minutes then remove the lid. Let fry another 1-3 minutes until the edge touching the pan is golden. Don't move the potstickers until you're ready to take them from the pan to prevent sticking and tearing.
Need gluten free potstickers? You can make gluten free dumpling wrappers for about the same price as buying regular wrappers. Just make sure to substitute gluten free soy sauce, tamari, or coco aminos for the soy sauce.
Where do you get ground beef for $1 a pound? I have never seen it that cheap
Two places, one is a Latino Grocery store near us that has the cheapest meat around. It’s not going to be the best quality but if you need cheap protein it’s a great option. The other is that Safeway will sometimes have meat that has reached its sell by date marked down to $1/lb. That’s where I got this beef. Great question, thanks for stopping by!
hi diana! too funny, i made pork gyoza this week too 🙂 it was my first time and the crimps were a bit intimidating but not too bad when it came down to it. I love how frugally minded you are $6.50 for 90 potstickers is quite impressive. Great recipe!
Are those the dishes I got you for Christmas? They photographed so pretty!!!
Actually these are a different set that I got at Goodwill a long time ago. I’ve used yours though and we love them!
What a great-looking budget recipe! I have never tried making potstickers before (they’d probably end up looking like deformed golf balls if I tried!) but they look so good that I might have to give it a shot.
Let me know how it goes Kathryn! It gets easier after ten or so 🙂
Hi! I’m just a little curious as to what you mean by not moving the potstickers until you are ready to remove them from the pan. Do you mean not to stir them? Will they tear when I take them out of the pan? Do they need to be fried or could I simply steam them? They look wonderful!
Exactly, you don’t want to stir them because until they get the nice crispy bottom they could tear by being stuck to the pan. You could definitely steam as well, then they would be dumplings instead of potstickers. Different texture and won’t have the slightly fried flavor, but still very good.
I was wondering, do I cook the meat before I wrap it up? Or do I start off with the meat raw?
Use it raw. The cooking method will end up steaming it in the wrapper.
These were wonderful! I love the addition of lots of vegetables. I used chicken instead of beef and they still turned out great. Thanks!
You’re so welcome Tara. Glad you liked them!
You can buy the most delicious vegetable and chicken or pork potstickers at the 99 cent store dollar tree. There are 10 to 12 in a package. We stock up on them.
Does the meat need be browned before?
Hi, Ellise, You do not need to brown the meat before it will get cooked while you are steaming or frying the potstickers. For extra peace of mind you can use a meat thermometer to make sure they are a safe temperature.
Can these be cooked from frozen like the ones I might get in a grocery store or do you recommend thawing first?
I cook them from frozen just like the grocery store ones! The only difference is that I find the wrappers I use are thinner than many grocery store frozen potstickers so the cooking time is a little shorter.