In March I posted a beef potsticker recipe as part of the United Way Hunger Challenge. While good, it doesn’t compare to my turkey potsticker recipe. Ground turkey just seems to have a softer texture that works well with the potsticker wrapper which is chewy on top and crispy on the bottom. These cost slightly more to make than the beef potstickers, but are still much cheaper than pre-made potstickers.
Now for some very important news, it’s time for another session of the Healthy Cooking on a Tight Budget program!!! This series will be Fridays in June from 11 am to 12:30 pm. Everything will be fresh and delicious with produce donated by the wonderful Mosby Farms. Even better, they will also be providing fresh produce for all the class participants!!! Space is limited so make sure you call the Auburn Valley YMCA to register. You can also register online. Once the class fills up, you are welcome to show up on the day of class in case someone who is registered doesn’t make it. It may be standing room only but we’ll try to accommodate everyone.
There is free childcare available and if you’re not a Y member, we’ll have some guest passes available so you and your family can try it out! I was a member long before I started working there and have always loved the benefits of my Y membership.
Alright, back to the potstickers. I always pack my potsticker fillings with vegetables. If we’re having them for dinner I’ll usually serve them with a couple of vegetable sides like zucchini carrot stir fry or an Asian cabbage and cranberry cole slaw. But I’ll often have some for lunch just on their own. By packing them full of vegetables I make sure that even if I’m eating them on their own, I’m getting some good nutritional value. I don’t have that guarantee with store bought potstickers.
Food projects like these are always better with at least one helper, especially if they’re incredibly good looking and cheerful 😉 I find it especially fitting that Eric is wearing a shirt from Hawaii while helping me. While I was living in Hawaii and struggling to learn to cook without recipes was when I started making my own potstickers. I really loved them but a bag of 30 frozen potstickers was $11.
That was way out of my price range, but after doing some math, I realized I could make my own potstickers pretty cheaply. That meant I could eat them every day if I wanted to, and yes, I did.
Potstickers are really easy to fold, I have photos of the folding process on the beef potsticker recipe if you’re a little intimidated by it. Once you do a few, it becomes pretty mindless. You can have a lively conversation, or do what we did and watch Lie to Me on Hulu!
These are flavorful enough that you don’t need a dipping sauce, but I love them with my soy dipping sauce. With summer on the way though, I’m looking forward to making a big batch of plum sauce to serve with them!
Do you have a food that you’ll sometimes eat for days in a row?
Turkey Potsticker Recipe
Ingredients
- 2.5 lbs ground turkey
- 1/4 cup soy sauce
- 2 TBS rice vinegar
- 1 tsp sesame oil
- 3 tsp cornstarch, divided
- 1/2 tsp sugar
- 5 cloves garlic
- 3 carrots, peeled w/root discarded
- 5 scallions, all but roots
- 10 dried shiitake mushrooms, rehydrated
- 1 tsp grated ginger
- 1 bell pepper, stem and seeds removed
- 1 8 oz can water chestnuts, drained
- 95-100 potsticker/dumpling wrappers
- 2 TBS high heat oil (canola, coconut, etc)
Instructions
- In a large bowl, use your hands to mix turkey, soy sauce, vinegar, sesame oil, 2 tsp of the cornstarch and sugar.
- Use a food processor (you can use a large knife, it just takes longer) to finely chop up the garlic, carrots, scallions, mushrooms, ginger and bell pepper. Add the water chestnuts and pulse a few times to rough chop them.
- Mix the vegetables into the turkey.
- Stir the remaining 1 tsp of cornstarch into 1/3 cup of water, this is your cornstarch slurry.
- Put 1 tsp of the turkey and vegetable filling in the center of a wrapper. Use your finger to wet the edges of the wrapper with the cornstarch slurry. Fold wrapper in half over the filling and begin crimping the top side of the wrapper. Fold it toward the center, starting in the middle and moving to one end. Repeat on the other end.
- Freeze the potstickers in a single layer on cookie sheets and move to a gallon sized bag once they’re frozen.
- To cook, heat 2 TBS oil in a frying pan on high heat. Add the potstickers and let fry 2 minutes. Add 1/3 cup water and immediately cover (be careful of popping oil!).
- Let steam 5 minutes, uncover and fry an additional 1-2 minutes until bottoms are brown and crispy and turkey is fully cooked.
Notes
Approximate cost/serving: It cost me about $8.45 to make 95 potstickers. That’s just nine cents each. If I’m eating them with sides we’ll make 4 a serving. On their own I have 6. If the serving size is six, that’s just 54 cents for my lunch!!!!!
Gluten Free: Make your own gluten free dumpling wrappers and use gluten free soy sauce or tamari in the filling.
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
100Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 116Total Fat: 6gSaturated Fat: 1gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 4gCholesterol: 21mgSodium: 190mgCarbohydrates: 8gFiber: 1gSugar: 1gProtein: 7g
Nutrition information is an estimate only.
Do you use the 85% turkey (comes in a 3 pound roll) or the 99% lean stuff?
I use the 93% lean. It comes in two 2.5 lb packages at Sam’s Club.
OOOOh yummy, I so have to make some of these. I love ground turkey, don’t eat real hamburger any more!!! Thank you!
You’re so welcome Tonja! I just ate the last of mine for lunch today. They went fast!
Interesting to see you use turkey. I love it! These look great!
Thanks Maris, let me know if you give it a try!
Sounds really yummy and sounds like a good project as well.
It’s a lot of fun. BTW that asparagus end recipe is coming, I haven’t forgotten!
Would it be possible to use with chicken? I LOVE chicken potstickers.
Yes, if you have ground chicken you could definitely use it!