Can you air fry potstickers? Yes! Don’t try making air fryer pot stickers, air fryer frozen dumplings, or air fryer gyoza without reading this first! You’ll learn the differences between potstickers vs dumplings vs gyoza. Plus, we’ll cover the best dipping sauces, nutrition information, air frying hacks, and more! Get perfectly cooked frozen potstickers in the air fryer every time.
Let’s make air fryer potstickers! It’s super EASY, I promise.
When you put frozen dumplings in the air fryer, they turn out crispy outside, and hot inside. You don’t have to tend to them quite as closely as when they are pan fried.
If you follow this recipe, you’ll get perfect gourmet potstickers in the air fryer every time. I’m loving it!
As much as I prefer to make things from scratch, sometimes life circumstances require that I take shortcuts. We’re going to use frozen Japanese gyoza and frozen Chinese dumplings here for ease.
Unfortunately, I haven’t found dumpling or wonton wrappers that aren’t ultraprocessed. I’d love to find wrappers made with whole food, simple ingredients. I’d happily take an alternative made with whole grains or a keto dumpling wrapper.
Normally, I’d make homemade dumpling wrappers, similar to how I did in my air fryer pizza rolls recipe. However, I just had some surgery impacting my arm movements and rolling out dough is a bit much at the moment. Also, making the wrappers completely from scratch, filling, and folding is really time consuming!
I get that many of us don’t have time for all that. Instead, you’ll use store-bought dumplings in this air fryer recipe. Then we’ll make it a little healthier by making our own dipping sauce.
It’s not a perfect solution, but taking small steps towards getting healthy can lead up to big things too.
Jump to:
- 🥟 What’s the difference between potstickers, dumplings, gyoza, and wontons?
- 📋 What are the calories, net carbs, and protein?
- ⭐ Benefits
- 🥘 Ingredients
- 🍽 Equipment
- 🔪 How to Make
- ⏲️ Cooking Time and Temperature
- 🌡️ How to Reheat
- 🧂 Dipping Sauces
- 🥗 What to Serve with Potstickers
- 💭 Expert Tips from a Dietitian
- FAQs
- 👩🏻🍳 Other Air Fryer Appetizer Recipes
- The Disclaimer…
- 📖 Recipe
🥟 What’s the difference between potstickers, dumplings, gyoza, and wontons?
Chinese pot stickers, Chinese wontons, and Japanese gyoza are all types of Asian dumplings. These terms get mixed and mingled on U.S. food packaging. For example, Trader Joe’s sells “pork gyoza potstickers.”
The original Asian dumplings come from China, and are called jiaozi. Jiaozi have a wheat flour wrapper and are filled with chicken, vegetables, shrimp, pork, and/or beef. These dumplings can be prepared by boiling, steaming, or pan frying, and are often enjoyed during the Chinese New Year.
Here are the differences between the types of Asian dumplings:
- Potstickers: A type of Chinese dumpling that came about when a chef neglected a boiling wok of jiaozi. After the water evaporated, the jiaozi stuck to the wok (they were “pot stickers”) and became crisp. These days, potstickers are often cooked by pan frying, lightly steaming, then pan frying once more.
- Wontons: A type of Chinese dumpling with a thinner wrapper than jiaozi and less filling. Wontons are often served in a soup, while jiaozi are served with dipping sauce. Like jiaozi, classic Chinese wonton wrappers are made with wheat flour.
- Gyoza: Japanese gyoza were inspired by Chinese jiaozi. The two are very similar, though gyoza may have thinner wrappers and a more finely chopped filling.
Again, in the U.S., you can find an assortment of similar dumplings under any of these names. However, they originally had some subtle differences between them.
📋 What are the calories, net carbs, and protein?
The nutrition information for this recipe depends entirely on the brand of potstickers you use! One serving of air fryer potstickers (calculated for half a box of Whole Foods Market Vegetable Potstickers) provides 185 calories, 35 grams net carbs, and 4.5 grams protein. This does not include any dipping sauces or the calories provided by the generous coating of oil spray.
⭐ Benefits
Why make frozen dumplings in an air fryer? Hey, I get that this isn’t the most nutritious option out there. That said, I can think of a few benefits:
- No sticking to the pan: I know they’re called “pot stickers” but I have definitely had some frustrating moments when pan frying them. Air frying is my new favorite way to get potstickers crispy without worrying they’ll stick to the pan.
- Crisps up evenly: If you spray them liberally with oil, your potstickers will crisp up evenly every time.
- Low effort: I don’t know about you, but sometimes I just want to eat without doing a huge cooking project. This recipe fills that need.
- Tasty: The reason I made this gyoza recipe is that it satisfied a craving! Sometimes that’s all the reason I need to enjoy something.
🥘 Ingredients
What do you need to make this frozen dumplings air fryer recipe? Here's the roundup:
- A box of frozen dumplings
- Cooking spray oil
- Ingredients for dipping sauce (optional)
So, here’s the deal. Some potstickers are made with wheat flour wrappers and others are made with rice flour. The best frozen dumplings for air frying are made with wheat flour wrappers.
Dumplings with rice flour wrappers are generally meant for steaming. They can get crispy in the air fryer, but they will not brown well.
Dumplings with wheat wrappers, on the other hand, crisp easily and brown well. This is because these potstickers were intended for pan frying.
Here is a list of popular frozen potstickers, gyoza, and other dumplings and the type of wrapper they use:
| Brand | Flavors | Wrapper Type |
|---|---|---|
| Trader Joe’s Potstickers (Gyoza) | Vegetable, Chicken, Pork, Shrimp | Wheat Flour |
| Bibigo Mandu | Beef, Chicken, Pork | Wheat Flour |
| Bibigo Mini Wontons | Chicken, Pork | Wheat Flour |
| Taipei Potstickers | Chicken, Pork | Wheat Flour |
| Pagoda Potstickers | Chicken, Pork | Wheat Flour |
| Feel Good Foods Potstickers | Vegetable, Chicken, Pork | Rice Flour |
| Whole Foods Market Brand Potstickers | Vegetable | Wheat Flour |
As you can see, most potstickers (and the Trader Joe’s gyoza) do use wheat wrappers. Still, it’s a good idea to check if you’re using a brand not listed here.
Something else to consider is that mini potstickers and dumplings with thinner wrappers (such as gyoza) will have shorter cooking times. I developed this recipe with the Feel Good Potstickers and Whole Foods Potstickers.
Chosen Foods Avocado Oil Spray is my favorite cooking spray for air frying. I’ve heard some people having issues with aerosol cooking sprays ruining their air fryer basket or tray. I’ve never had issues using this brand.
🍽 Equipment
To air fry frozen potstickers, all you need is an air fryer. I love my 10-Quart Kalorik Digital Air Fryer Oven. That said, a Ninja Foodi, Pampered Chef Air Fryer, Actifry, Nuwave, Instant Vortex, Cuisinart, Philips, Cosori, Power Air Fryer, etc. will all work.
Remember that you may have to adjust the cooking times depending on your air fryer brand. Always keep a close eye on the food the first time you make an air fryer recipe!
🔪 How to Make
Let’s learn how to cook frozen potstickers! Start by misting your air fryer tray or basket with cooking oil spray. Put the frozen pot stickers on the prepared tray in a non-touching single layer.
I was able to fit an entire box of potstickers (8-10 of them) on one tray. Liberally spray the dumplings with cooking oil spray.
Pay special attention to spraying the edges. They will get too hard if they are not sprayed well.
Put the dumplings in your air fryer (in the top rack position, if using an air fryer oven). You’re already ready to get cooking!
⏲️ Cooking Time and Temperature
How long to air fry frozen dumplings? You need to air fry pot stickers for a total of 9-12 minutes at 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Be careful not to overcook them; overcooking can make them hard to bite into!
Start by air frying the dumplings for 5 minutes. Then take them out of the air fryer, flip them over, and spray them well with more cooking spray.
Put the gyoza back in the air fryer (top rack position again) and air fry for 4 more minutes at 400F. The dumplings with wheat flour wrappers were done at this point. The dumplings with rice flour wrappers had not crisped to my liking yet.
If your dumplings are not crisp enough, flip them one more time and spray them with oil again. Air fry on the top rack for 2-3 more minutes at 400F.
As mentioned, gyoza with wheat flour-based wraps were my favorite for air frying. They crisped up faster and (unlike rice flour wrappers) became nicely browned.
While the dumplings cook, you can make dipping sauce if you wish. (Or you can just thaw the sauce that came with your dumplings, if you got a box with sauce in it.)
🌡️ How to Reheat
For the best texture, I don’t recommend trying to reheat potstickers. Just air fry what you need! If you insist on reheating, try air frying at 350F for 2-3 minutes on the top rack of your air fryer oven. You can also microwave them, but they’ll lose their crispy texture.
🧂 Dipping Sauces
What are some dipping sauces for potstickers? Some brands of potstickers include a packet of dipping sauce. If not, you have lots of options:
- Hot chili sauce
- Black rice vinegar
- Sweet chili sauce
- Peanut sauce
- Soy sauce
- Ponzu sauce
- Teriyaki sauce
- Sweet and sour sauce
A downside to many of these is that they are loaded in added sugar. You can easily make a gyoza dipping sauce with no sugar using the following ingredients:
- Unseasoned rice vinegar
- Reduced-sodium soy sauce
- Grated fresh ginger
- Toasted sesame oil (or olive oil)
- Sesame seeds
- Thinly sliced scallions
Mixing up your own potsticker sauce for dipping is a super way to make the recipe a little healthier. Often, the sauces that come with dumplings and potstickers are high in sugar, sodium, or both. Making dipping sauce takes almost no time and helps make this snack a little healthier.
To make the dipping sauce, put the rice vinegar, soy sauce, ginger, and sesame oil in a small canning jar. Put a lid on the jar and shake.
Pour the dipping sauce in a small condiment cup and garnish with the sesame seeds and scallions. That’s all there is to it!
🥗 What to Serve with Potstickers
These easy air fryer dumplings work well by themselves as a snack or appetizer. If you wanted to use them as a side dish for a meal, consider serving them with an Asian stir fry. Try one of these:
- Kim Chi Pork Stirfry
- Easy Stir Fry Vegetables with Chicken
Also consider tofu dishes as an entrée! My Air Fryer Tofu Bowls with Ginger-Lime Aioli would be delicious with potstickers on the side.
💭 Expert Tips from a Dietitian
This is a level 3 recipe (transition or weight maintenance). Pot stickers are delicious and packed with umami. As always, foods containing flour get the bump containing level 3. The macronutrient profile of your typical dumpling definitely makes this a level 3 recipe.
Most potstickers have a refined grain wrapper, typically white flour. “Wheat flour” on a food label almost always means white flour, unless the word “whole” is used (i.e., whole wheat flour). Additionally, they may contain refined sugar.
And if the dumplings come with a sauce, that is almost always loaded with added sugar and sodium. What you end up with is an appetizer high in refined carbs with minimal protein. Though there are often some veggies in dumplings, they’re mostly white flour (or white rice flour).
The easiest way to give your dumplings a little boost nutritionally is to make your own dipping sauce. The dipping sauce recipe I’m providing contains no added sugar. If you’re on a low-sodium diet, a peanut sauce with no added salt and minimal or no soy sauce may be a better choice.
Changing up the dipping sauce may seem like a really small thing. However, the little changes we make to improve our health can have a positive impact over time.
For example, cutting out just one teaspoon of white sugar per day adds up to over 7½ cups of sugar per year! (That’s around 5,500 calories.)
Additionally, you might become accustomed to enjoying foods without a lot of added sweetness over time. That can make maintaining your lifestyle change a little easier.
A small (and potentially imperfect!) step towards greater health is almost always better than doing nothing at all. Go for it!
FAQs
If you can’t gently separate them with your fingers, you have a couple options. Smacking the bag firmly on a table tends to be my preferred method, but can lead to broken dumplings. Try gently breaking them apart in a bowl of cool water and patting them dry. Then refreeze in a single layer on a baking tray covered in freezer paper.
No! Save yourself the trouble and air fry frozen pot stickers without thawing first!
Though it’s possible to find gluten free potstickers, I’m not aware of a brand that is keto. You will have to make your potstickers from scratch if you want a low carb version. I’ve seen recipes for keto dumpling wrappers made with cheese slices, and here’s some keto potstickers with cabbage leaf wraps! (Great idea!)
There are several options for potstickers from the store that are vegan. Whole Foods Market Vegetable Potstickers are a vegan option.
👩🏻🍳 Other Air Fryer Appetizer Recipes
Looking for other air fryer recipes that make great appetizers? Here are a few of my favorites:
- Air Fryer Fried Mushrooms
- Air Fryer Frozen Mozzarella Sticks
- Mini Pepper Nachos
- Air Fryer Frozen Onion Rings
- Air Fryer Green Bean Fries
Don't forget to subscribe to our Weekly Newsletter to be kept up-to-date on all of the latest and greatest recipes!
The Disclaimer…
All recipes on this website may or may not be appropriate for you, depending on your medical needs and personal preferences. Consult with a registered dietitian or your physician if you need help determining the dietary pattern that may be best for you.
The nutrition information is an estimate provided as a courtesy. It will differ depending on the specific brands and ingredients that you use. Calorie information on food labels may be wildly inaccurate, so please don't sweat the numbers too much.
For more information on how the three recipe levels may help with a weight management goal, refer to my overnight oats no sugar post. Let's get cooking!
📖 Recipe
Air Fryer Pot Stickers (Frozen Dumplings + Gyoza + Wontons)
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 box frozen potstickers, dumplings, or gyoza (about 8-10 of them; I like these)
- cooking oil spray
- dipping sauce (store-bought or homemade)
To Make Dipping Sauce:
- 2 tablespoons unseasoned rice vinegar
- 2 tablespoons reduced sodium soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
- ½ teaspoon fresh grated ginger
- 1 pinch toasted sesame seeds
- ¼ sliced scallion
Instructions
- Mist the air fryer tray or basket with cooking oil spray. Put the frozen potstickers on the prepared tray in a single non-touching layer.
- Generously spray the potstickers with cooking spray. Spray the edges of the dumplings really well so they don't get too hard in the air fryer.
- Put the tray of dumplings in the top rack position of the air fryer (if using an air fryer oven).
- Air fry the dumplings for 5 minutes at 400°F (200°C). Take them out, flip them over, and spray them well with more cooking spray.
- Put the tray back in the air fryer (top rack again) and air fry for 4 minutes more at 400°F (200°C).
- My dumplings with wheat flour wrappers were done at this point. If your potstickers are not cooked to your liking. flip them one last time and spray with cooking spray. Air fry for 2-3 more minutes at 400°F (200°C). (Note: If you're making potstickers with meat or poultry filling, I would use a meat thermometer to ensure the minimum safe internal temperature of 165°F/74°C has been reached.)
- While the dumplings air fry, you can make the dipping sauce. Put the rice vinegar, soy sauce. ginger, and sesame oil in a small canning jar. Put the lid on the jar and shake it up. (If you're using the sauce from the box of dumplings, it often only needs thawing.)
- Serve the dumplings with the dipping sauce. Garnish with thinly sliced scallions and sesame seeds.
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