Make homemade dumpling/potsticker dough even MORE fun with this GREEN dumpling dough/potsticker dough! They are naturally colored with spinach puree. Then use these fun wrappers to make steamed dumplings or potstickers.
Potstickers are awesome! I think we can all agree on that. Whether you call them Jiaozi, dumplings or potstickers, they are one of the finest culinary inventions. Last year, I shared a recipe where I made potsticker/dumpling dough from scratch and it’s easily the most popular recipe on my blog so far! And I’m not surprised.
Homemade potstickers have made it to our dinner table countless times since then and recently they got a fun and colourful makeover, which I thought I had to share on the blog! Enter, Green Dumpling Dough/Green Potsticker Dough made with spinach!
Sometimes I find myself spending whole afternoons making potstickers which I then freeze for a later day. It kind of seems pointless to make a small batch of them for one meal, so I usually make enough for at least 2-4 meals every time!
You can check out my post here to learn to make the potsticker wrappers and also the Chicken and Ginger filling that I made for them. In this post, I’m going to share with you the recipe for GREEN dumpling dough (green potsticker dough).
And it’s so simple! The green comes from pureed spinach that replaces part of the water. The dough for these green potstickers is simply, flour + salt + water + spinach puree.
The temperature of your water depends on whether you intend to make potstickers or dumplings. Hot water for potstickers or steamed dumplings and cold water for boiled dumplings. The hot water allows the dumpling dough come together quicker and with less water than you would need if you used cold water. The more water you add to the dumpling dough, the more wrinkly the skin becomes when the dumplings are steamed.
In case you’re still wondering about the difference between potstickers and dumplings, let me lift these couple of lines from my previous post.
“Potstickers differ from steamed dumplings in that they have a crispy golden brown bottom as they are pan-fried on one side while steamed dumplings are usually placed in a bamboo steamer and steamed to perfection. Pan frying potstickers makes them stick lightly to the pan (hence their name) and then water is added and they are steamed a little more.”
Between steamed dumplings and potstickers, my brain will almost always choose potstickers. So will Mr K. We love the crispy, caramelized bottom and the delicate steamed wrapper. It gives me the best of both worlds. But since the dough for both dumplings and potstickers is the same, I like to make it ahead of time, and then decide on how I want them to be cooked at the last minute. I decide on potstickers more often than not, but occasionally if I want to cook more in one go, I use my 2 tiered bamboo steamer and make steamed dumplings! 🙂
The dough comes together very easily, and is also very forgiving. If your dough is too soft, add some flour. If it’s too stiff, wet your (clean) hands and then knead the dough to add water gradually.
There are several ways to make the wrappers too.
One way is to portion the dough into 3-4 pieces and then roll out each piece thinly ad then cut out the wrappers. This is what I did in my previous post from last year. However this can be a little frustrating if you only have a small space to work in (like I do).
The second way is to roll the dough into a log shape and then cut individual pieces and then roll out each of those pieces thinly to form a wrapper. This is what I’ve done in the picture below and this would be my preferred method, if it weren’t for the third option!
The third option is to roll out the dough in two batches using a pasta machine! 🙂 This is my favourite, since I can get the dough to roll out really thinly with little to no effort on my part! I rolled the dough to a thickness 5 on the pasta machine, and then cut out the wrappers from the sheet. But no worries, if you don’t have a pasta machine, consider the first two options. It’s pretty simple either way.
I filled these crazy green potstickers with an out-of-this-world filling and you can find out all about that filling next week! 🙂 For now, check out this fantastic Chicken and Ginger filling that I made last time. So juicy and perfectly seasoned with really bold flavors!
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Ingredients:
Green Dumpling / Potsticker dough
- 10 oz 285g of all-purpose flour
- 2 fl oz spinach puree
- 4 fl oz 120 ml of boiled water (see note 1)
- 1 tsp salt
Spinach Puree
- 1/3 cup water
- 1 cup packed spinach leaves
Instructions:
Spinach Puree
- Combine the spinach and water in a blender and blend till smooth. You can add a little extra water to make it easier to blend, if needed. An immersion blender will also work. Measure and set aside 2 fl oz of this for the dumpling dough. Leftover can be used for smoothies.
Potsticker / Dumpling Dough
- In a bowl, mix the flour and salt together.
- Create a well in the middle (like you would when making pasta), and add the spinach puree and half of the hot water slowly, while mixing with a wooden spoon until clumpy bits are formed. Add the rest of the water as needed. You can alternate mixing and pouring water, if that is easier.
- Knead the dough clumps by hand to form one soft dough ball. If the mix is too dry, add a little more water (a little at a time or dip your hands in water and knead the dough with wet hands). If the mix is too sticky, add a little flour (a little at a time).
- You should have a dough that is soft, not sticky, and firm enough to hold its shape.
- Knead the dough further on the work bench for about 2 minutes. Use flour sparingly if the dough is getting sticky. The dough will look smooth at this stage and be a little stretchy/elastic.
- You can let the dough rest like this in one big ball, or cut it roughly into four equal parts and knead each piece to form a dough ball.
- Wrap the dough/dough balls tightly in plastic wrap (individually) or place it inside a ziploc bag and seal it (push out as much air as possible) and let it rest for 1 - 2 hours at room temp. You can use the dough immediately after it has been rested.
- If you're using it the next day instead, place the dough in the fridge (sealed in storage bags) and return it back to room temperature before handling them.
- Lightly dust your work bench and roll out each piece of dough into a 1 inch diameter log. Then cut it into 1 - 1.5 cm discs.
- Roll out each disc (dusting lightly with flour as needed) to form a circle (about 3-4 inches in diameter). You can use a circle cutter to cut out the wrapper neatly if you prefer.
- Fill and seal the dumplings/potstickers before moving onto the next portion of the dough.
Tips & Tricks
“This website provides approximate nutrition information for convenience and as a courtesy only. Nutrition data is gathered primarily from the USDA Food Composition Database, whenever available, or otherwise other online calculators.”
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Denise M says
Worth the effort
Mrs T says
Hey Dini,
I was wodering if you coud make this using dandelion leaves instead of spinach? I use a lot of dandelion leaves but I am trying to get the hubby on board and thought this would be a great way if it is possible 😀
Dini says
Hi Mrs T
It’s hard for me to say because I haven’t used dandelion greens for this. But it is possible IF the leaves puree really finely. You don’t want big pieces of the leaves in the water after blending it. That’s why I chose spinach, because it blends better. You could blend the leaves and then strain any larger pieces and just use the liquid 🙂
I hope that helps!
Ps – I also love stir frying dandelion greens with garlic and chili. My husband will eat any greens if I stir fry it that way 😉
Nell Gwinn says
I’m jumping in and making potstickers! I’ve bought them for years and yes, they are good, but I KNOW what fresh; ones are supposed to taste like. Our local Mom/Pop Japanese Diner were the ones who first; introduced me to dumplings! Fav food!
Sara says
Hi Dini!!
Third culture kid here too!! (French raised in India by way of Greece) …. I’m an aweful baker and dough is terrifying – But this looks so great I’m going to give it a go…to make sure I get this right from the start: the spinach…..is it puréed raw OR cooked?
Thanks!
Dini says
Hi fellow third culture kid! 😀
I’m sorry for the late reply Sara… The puree here is made with raw spinach.
Hope you do give baking a go though! It’s very therapeutic even if the results aren’t great 😉
Gail Lam says
Made vegetarian potstickers today with your dough recipe. Subbed 6 Beyond Beef meatballs for the ground pork. Lots of ginger and green onions/ rest of spinach. I’m so happy with myself! I purposely made the dough on the dry side so no sticking.
Will try and send a photo of my Two bags of frozen dumplings.
NW says
Thank you for the recipe. I love your explanation on the difference between using boiled water vs cold water to make the dough. I made the recipe twice. Yummy. I don’t think I will ever go back to store-bought wrapper again!
Mel @ avirtualvegan.com says
What a beautiful colour that dough is and I love that it is naturally coloured with spinach. Much healthier than food colouring!
Lisa @ Healthy Nibbles & Bits says
I can’t get over the lovely color of these potstickers! I usually buy them at Asian supermarkets, but I really need to make my own. Thanks for the inspiration!
Carlee says
How pretty! I love the green color. I bet they are wonderful!
Stella @ Stellicious Life says
These look so cute. Something I’m sure kids would love to make and eat, despite it being green 😉
Jay says
Wish I could make them…
Sarah says
Ooooh I love this! It looks so delicious and I bet they really are 🙂 Thanks for the step by step pictures 🙂 Happy Fiesta!
Steph @ Steph in Thyme says
Thank you so much for sharing such great info and tutorial! I love the green, spinach touch. Divine!
Bam's Kitchen says
I saw your gorgeous jiaozi on Pinterest and they are a stunning bright green color and extra healthy with that kick of iron. I can’t wait to read your recipe for the filling.
molly kumar says
This is such a fantastic recipe Dini & Beautiful Pics- Love it. Potstickers are such a house favorite.
Gloria Duggan says
I love pot stickers and dumplings. I often use spinach pasta….so this is a great idea!!
Ilona @ Ilona's Passion says
Great color. I love the addition of spinach and I use it all the time to color my food too. I know that my children will eat some veggies!
Ramona W says
Wow, look at you!! This is wonderful! I am totally a store-bought girl when it comes to dough things like this. You did an amazing job. I also love that it’s green with the added spinach. 🙂
Julie is Hostess At Heart says
Dini, these are amazing! I love the pop of color that your spinach gave them. First I thought they were fancy pea pods from the thumbnail pic. 🙂 Thank you for bringing them to FF!
Hillary @ 918 Plate says
This is a great idea! Dumplings are quite the ordeal though, I’m normally ready to be done before even considering the dough! Ha!
Manal Obieda says
How beautiful are these!!! I love the additional color and nutrition the spinach added to this dough…I need to try this seriously very soon…I hope I will and will link to this wonderful blog…great blog by the way…
Petra says
I can’t believe it, I was thinking just the other day that I never actually made my own dumpling dough, and I was also thinking about green ones and what they use to get the colour and your blog arrives in my inbox!
Your dumplinbgs looks great as does the chicken and ginger filling!
I will give it a go as I love dumplings! Have a lovely weekend 🙂
Claudia | Gourmet Project says
color & health: perfect combo!
Teresa says
I love dumplings but I’m to lazy to make them myself 🙂 Yours look healthy and delicious!
Ai Ping | Curious Nut says
I love it. The green is beautiful! I’ve only had spinach noodles before.