Learn how to create the most juicy and flavorful beef dumplings, with one special trick.
One of the perks of living in Beijing was having the various options of delicious frozen dumplings from grocery stores. Dumplings were a must-have in my fridge when I was living there. Whenever I felt too lazy to cook, I simply boiled a dozen dumplings and then had dinner ready in 10 minutes. Unlike the frozen dumplings (or potstickers) you can find in the US, Chinese frozen dumplings use a nicer dough that resembles homemade dumplings with a juicy filling. The filling is usually quite large, almost like a small meatball.
One of my favorite frozen dumpling brands is Wanchai Ferry (湾仔码头), a local brand owned by General Mills that sells dozens of flavors that are only available in China. Those frozen dumplings were so good that sometimes I needed to suppress the urge of writing to General Mill and demanding them to sell this line of product in the US!
Although the most popular type is pork dumplings in northern China, my favorite flavor from Wanchai Ferry is beef and corn dumplings. Today I’m sharing this beef dumpling recipe with you, so you can also get to know how good they are!
Making beef dumplings is a bit more challenging than pork dumplings. Ground beef is leaner than pork, and the filling tends to end up dry and tough. In this recipe I introduced a great trick – blend liquid into the ground beef to create a juicy and flavorful dumpling filling.
Just like injecting marinade into ribs before grilling, beating flavorful broth into ground meat will keep it juicy during cooking and create a better taste. I used chicken stock in this recipe. Alternatively, you can also use ginger and/or green onion infused water.
To create herb infused water, finely chop a thumb of ginger (and/or 2 to 3 of green onions), place in a bowl, and cover with 1/4 cup hot water. Let steep for a hour or so to make an aromatic tea. Filter and discard the herbs before using the mixture in the recipe. This method is perfect to create more delicate dumpling fillings (such as shrimp dumplings) when you want the nice aromatic flavor without having small bits of ginger in it.
This recipe is less intimidating than my other dumpling recipes because you can prep most of the ingredients by using a food processor. It is one of those dumpling recipes that I feel comfortable to make even during the week.
I used Japanese gyoza wrappers in this recipe. They are thinner than dumplings wrappers and work great, especially when you want to create pot stickers instead of steamed dumplings. If you want to use homemade dumpling wrappers, you can refer to my steamed / potsticker dumpling dough recipe, or the water boiled dumpling dough recipe.
I recorded a short video to show you how easy it is to cook this dish. Find more videos to learn Chinese cooking on my YouTube channel!
Need more recipes for delicious dumpling fillings? Check out these pork and cabbage dumplings, my mom’s best lamb dumplings, and vegetarian dumplings.
Chinese Beef Dumplings
Ingredients
- 1/2 pound (230 grams) ground beef (at least 20% fat)
- 1/4 cup chicken stock (or beef stock, or water)
- 1 tablespoon light soy sauce (or soy sauce)
- 1 tablespoon Shaoxing wine (or dry sherry)
- 2 teaspoons ginger , grated
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon ground toasted Sichuan peppercorn (or black pepper)
- 4 green onions , coarsely chopped
- 1 large carrot , coarsely chopped
- 1/2 cup frozen corn , thawed
- 1/2 cup frozen green peas , thawed
- 1 tablespoon sesame oil
- 20 homemade dumpling wrappers (or packaged dumpling wrappers)
- 1 to 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
Instructions
- To make the dumpling filling, add ground beef into a big bowl. Add chicken stock, light soy sauce, Shaoxing wine, ginger, salt, and toasted Sichuan peppercorns. Mix by using a pair of chopsticks until the liquid is fully absorbed. Cover with plastic wrap, and let marinate in the fridge while you prepare other ingredients.
- (Optional) You can start making dumpling dough now if you’re planning to use homemade dumpling wrappers.
- Add carrot into the food processor. Mix until finely chopped. Add green onions. Mix until the onions are finely cut. Transfer to a bowl.
- When you’re ready to make the dumplings, add minced green onion, carrot, corn, green peas and sesame oil into the ground beef mixture. Stir to mix well.
- Scoop about 1 to 1.5 tablespoons dumpling filling and place it in the center of the wrapper. Hold the dumpling with one hand and start sealing the edges with the other hand. After folding, press the edges again to seal well. You can use any way to fold the dumplings as long as you’re comfortable with it.
- Now you can freeze these dumplings if you don’t cook them immediately. Place them onto a baking tray and seal with a plastic wrapper. You can store the dumplings in the freezer for up to 1 month. Once the dumplings are completely frozen, after about a day, you can transport them to a gallon bag to save freezer space.
- Cook the dumplings in batches. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a nonstick skillet over medium heat until hot. Add dumplings. Cook until the bottom side turns golden. Add 2 tablespoons water, and cover. Cook until the other side also turns golden and the dumplings are cooked through, 2 to 3 minutes.
- You can serve the dumplings immediately with dumpling dipping sauce (the spicy dumpling sauce works extremely well with these beef dumplings).
Hi Maggie. I know how it feels to miss food from home, having lived abroad for years!
But I think you’re doing a pretty good job of finding your own alternatives.
Another fabulous recipe, with even more fabulous photos!
I absolutely love dumplings Maggie. My hubby has been on assignment in Shanghai since March and when I go to visit him, I try to eat as many dumplings as my tummy can handle.
Your dumplings look absolutely divine. I ‘m definitely going to whip up a batch or two so that I can brag to my hubby that I’m eating dumplings way better than he is while he is in China. 😉
Hi Lynn, thanks for stopping by! I’m so glad to hear that you enjoyed dumplings while staying in China. They are different than the ones you get oversea, aren’t they? Yes you can totally brag about good dumplings once you try this recipe out 😉
Happy cooking and let me know how the dish turns out!
hi Maggie, it was really nice to see how i can make a dumpling as i had tried it when i was in china at 2009 and i cannot forget that test until today.
i will try to make it here in Egypt as i like it too much but i have one question about the filling of the dumpling specially about the beef .
is it essential to cook the beef first before i used it for filling the dumpling or it will be fine without precooking, cause we used to cook the meat first before we fill any food with it but i need your opinion please.
last question give me an advice about how to make a good dough for dumpling and pizza.
thank you very much i appreciate your help.
yours pop
Hi Islam, I’m glad to hear you’re planning to make dumplings at home.
TO answer your question, you don’t need to cook the beef before mixing the filling. I know some dumplings in other cuisine cooks the meat first (a few types of Chinese dumplings require that too). But for this recipe, you can use raw ground beef. It will be cooked through at the end.
For making dumpling dough, you can check out
Steamed (fried) dumpling dough: https://omnivorescookbook.com/steamed-dumplings/
Boiled dumpling dough: https://omnivorescookbook.com/recipes/how-to-make-chinese-dumplings
For pizza dough, Heidi has a great one: http://www.101cookbooks.com/archives/001199.html
I also have a quick pizza dough, but it cannot generate texture like the one in restaurant: https://omnivorescookbook.com/quick-pizza-dough-and-easy-seafood-pizza/
I hope this is helpful! Happy cooking and let me know how the dumplings turn out 🙂
This sounds amazing. Never heard of this recipe before. Thanks for sharing.
Simon
Hi Maggie,
I absolutely love potsticker. So I tried at home. My potsticker turned out okay. The filling was perfect. But the edge were dry and rubbery. Do you have any tips to avoid this.
Hi Sarah, I’m happy to hear your tried this recipe! Re dry dumpling edge, it might be caused by the quality of the wrappers. It will be dry if the wrappers are not very fresh themselves. The other possible cause is, you let the dumplings exposed in the air for too long time before cooking. What I usually do is to use a few layers of wet paper towels or wet cheesecloth to cover the wrappers and the uncooked dumplings, so the dough won’t dry out. The other solution is, flip the dumplings while cooking, so you fry the edge into a crispy texture.
I hope this is helpful and hope your next batch of dumplings will turn out perfect 🙂
Maggie is such a milf and good cook. Great dumpling recipe!
Love everything please send more.
I love dumplings! I’ve never made them at home, but you make it sound so easy!
Do I have to put in the corn, peas and carrots as I want it to be more beef with no veggies? The onions are fine but no more…
It totally OK to skip the veggies and make the dumpling more meaty. In this case I’d recommend you to add a bit more green onion, like 5 or 6.
Happy cooking and let me know how the dumplings turn out 🙂
TEACHING ME TO DO THE DUMPLING PLEASE
These were absolutely delicious! Thank you so much!
Hi! Just want to ask if I don’t want to use any alcohol in my cooking, what can I use as a substitute? Or is it ok to omit it?
Hi Nudrah, you can use any stock (chicken, vegetable etc) to replace the alcohol.
Happy cooking and hope your dish turns out great!
Thank you! I made them already 2 days ago. I did replace some of the ingredients but they still turned great! I used chicken stock instead of alcohol, a little bit of vinegar and also some oyster sauce. So, the end result is slightly sweet dumplings. I also did not have peppercorns so I used a little of both white and black pepper. Anyway, thanks for the recipe!
Great recipe! Does this work for boiled dumplings as well? I don’t know if the ground beef would cook through all the way with boiled dumplings.
Hi Abby, yes the dumpling filling works with boiled dumplings. Just to make sure you use homemade fresh dumpling wrappers for boiled dumplings. I’m afraid the frozen packaged wrappers do not hold well during the boiling. Happy cooking and hope your dumplings turn out well!
Hey, I really want to make these beef dumplings, but I’m confused about the number of dumplings it makes?
The recipe says it yields 36 to 40 dumplings, but the recipe calls for only 20 dumpling wrappers? Can you please let me know if this will make 20 or 40 dumplings? I have to know whether or not to double the recipe 🙂
I’m reading this recipe now and it really seems delicious, but I was wondering whether you could steam the dumplings in a bamboo steamed without frying them. Thanks in advance!
Hello Maggie. Thank you so much for the details in your recipe. Made my first dumplings yesterday, and it was totally divine. I steamed them, and today will panfry some too.
What the wrappers are concerned, I am so proud of how lovely they came out, as dough and I usually have glitches. The step by step instructions that took time and effort is so much appreciated. It is so very helpful, and made me understand how to work with the dough. Happy dance, and they came out so pretty too.
Thank you so much. Warm regards from my kitchen to yours.
Loved the ginger broth I made that you suggested, and the
Hi Maggie !
This is the first time I made my own dumplings yesterday. I lived in China many years and it was my absolute comfort food… And when I got back to my home country, France, it was still easy to find them in restaurants…
But since a few months I live in Mexico where dumplings are bloody hard to find ! With the confinement I therefore decided to make my own.
I found your recipe really good – although I realized I failed a few things. My wrappers were a bit too thick, my meat a little overcooked… But I’ll learn from that to make them even more excellent next time.
I used a pork and ginger filling because I really really love it… and that wasn’t bad, though I think I should marinate it longer !
One thing we don’t see too well in your recipe and I personally struggled with, is my wrappers aren’t always really round !!! they sometimes come out square or with really weird shapes… How does one manage as round as you did ??
Anyway thanks for all the tips – it’s a real chance to be able to be able to make at home what I’m craving so much : Chinese Food !
Hi Noemie, I’m glad to hear you like my recipes!
As for the dumpling wrappers, you will need to find the round shape at grocery stores / Asian markets if you can. The squared ones are usually wonton wrappers. They are thinner and smaller. Although you can use it for dumplings recipes, just need to wrap it a different way (see my video of how to wrap wontons: https://youtu.be/_fJ3hl4cH5w).
For the round dumpling wrapper, if your local shop carries different brands, you can try them out and find the texture you like.
Delicious! I used mushrooms instead of peas because I didn’t have any peas. I will definitely make these again. The added moisture is a game changer.
I like this
I loved this recipe! It tasted so good and my family loved it!
This recipe is delicious! I made this once this my mother, and she has been begging me to find it! It took me a while to find it again, but that is how you know it is soo good!
This recipe is now a mss add I stay in my home!
I am not a fan of beef dumplings usually; they tend to be dryer then the pork ones. But I had ground beef and have decided to give it a go. No regrets! They are as tender and delicious as my go-to pork ones! Soooo good and juicy! I’ve add one egg and a bit of baking soda (because I could ear my mother’s in law voice in my head 😛 ) and the texture was amazing. Steamed and serve with our favourite topping (black vingear and sesame oil) et voilà! Thank you so much! It is now in my tested and approved recipe box!
Super juicy on the inside as advertised. They’re the ideal “meal dumpling” too, because they’re loaded with veggies, so there’s no need to scrounge up a side dish. I love the typical meaty dumplings, but in Asia (at least when I lived in Korea and ate a lot of mandu), stuff like that was always served with a veg or a pickle on the side- which I don’t always have now at home. The ingredients are also fairly universal, so anyone could make them. I spent hours trying to find some new dumpling recipes that could accommodate what ingredients I had on hand, and this one answered my prayers! There’s no excuse, EVERYONE should try this recipe.
Have been making this recipe every year for one of our holidays and it is the absolute highlight of the meal. We are obsessed! Just wondering, if I wanted to make these in advance, how much in advance can I make them and what parts can be made in advance? Can they be cooked in advance? How would I store them? Thank you!!!
Yes you can make the dumplings in advance. I usually prefer to freeze the wrapped and uncooked dumplings. When you cook them, no need to thaw them and the method is the same, but the dumplings need to be steamed longer (cover to cook 4 to 5 minutes). If you already cooked the dumplings, that is OK too. You can heat them up in a frying pan the same way, by steam and pan fry a bit to heat them through. I think the uncooked dumplings freeze better and the result is very fresh once it’s cooked.
This is my absolute favorite and I make it often. It takes so authentic. I’m printing and sharing the recipe with one of my colleagues!
i made this twice, and this recipe makes extremelyyyy salty dumplings :/