Easy gyoza dipping sauce (Just 3 ingredients!)

One staple that is always in my freezer is a package of vegetable gyoza.

Packed with flavorful veggies, they make an excellent snack, appetizer, or side dish.

While they can be eaten on their own, they’re even better with a homemade dipping sauce.

Luckily, gyoza dipping sauce is super simple to make. And it uses pantry staples, which is very convenient & cost effective.

Quickly stir together tamari, rice vinegar, and a dash of sesame oil.

In a minute’s time, you’ve got a dipping sauce that adds salt, tanginess, and nuttiness to every bite.

(Want to jazz it up even more? Add a sprinkling of chopped scallions as garnish.)

It can easily be made while gyoza, potstickers, or dumplings pan fry, steam, or cook in the air fryer.

In this post:

Ingredients

Here are the ingredients you will need to make this recipe.

Tamari: This Japanese soy sauce adds salty umami to the sauce.

Tamari is usually gluten-free. I recommend using a low sodium variety.

It can be replaced with any other soy sauce, nama shoyu, or coconut aminos, if you prefer.

Rice vinegar: Rice vinegar adds tang, light sweetness & balance to salty tamari. It’s also known as rice wine vinegar.

If necessary, it can be replaced with apple cider vinegar, white vinegar, or black vinegar.

Sesame oil: Sesame oil adds nuttiness.

Be careful, though. A little bit goes a long way.

If you don’t have any on hand, just leave it out. There’s not a good substitution.

Scallions: Thinly sliced green onions are an optional garnish. For best results, stick with the green parts for color.

They can be omitted or replaced with chives.

Step by step instructions

Here’s how to make this recipe at a glance. For complete ingredient amounts & instructions, keep scrolling to the recipe card below.

Then garnish with scallions, if using.

Make it your own

It’s easy to tweak this gyoza sauce recipe to fit your own preferences with a few simple adjustments or additions.

• For bite, add ¼ teaspoon of granulated garlic or a freshly grated garlic clove.
• For heat, add chili flakes, red pepper flakes, chili oil, sambal, or ½ teaspoon sriracha.
• For floral vibes, add freshly grated ginger.
• For a sweeter sauce, add up to ¼ teaspoon sugar or agave syrup.
• If the sauce is too salty, add up to a teaspoon of water.
• Vary the garnish by using sesame seeds.

Usage ideas

This simple sauce is great with Trader Joe’s Thai vegetable gyoza.

But use it with any dumplings or potstickers that you enjoy – homemade or store-bought.

Here are some more dipping sauce usage ideas:

• Serve it with scallion pancakes (from Food Network)
• Serve it with spring rolls
• Splash it on a stir-fry as a quick & tasty sauce
• Use it as a marinade for cubed tofu before frying, baking, or air frying

Serving suggestions

Japanese gyoza with dipping sauce makes an excellent appetizer or side dish.

Serve it with any of these dishes:

• Sugar snap peas stir fry
• Tofu satay with peanut sauce
• Pineapple fried rice
• Vegan fried rice with Brussels sprouts
• Vegan miso soup
• Cold peanut noodles
• Green salad with peanut dressing
• Steamed kale with sesame oil

Storage

Store unused dumpling sauce in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

If made without scallions, it will last at least a week in the fridge.

However, if it’s made with scallions, plan on using it within 3 days.