Easy potsticker soup (with store-bought dumplings)

Name: Vegan potsticker soup
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 30 min
Ingredients: 1/2 teaspoon avocado oil (or your preferred oil); 1 small onion (chopped); 3 cloves garlic (minced); 2 carrots (sliced); 2 celery stalks (sliced); 5 cups water*; 2 Tablespoons Better Than Bouillon no chicken base; 1/2 teaspoon gochujang (optional***); 1 cup chopped curly kale (loosely packed); 8 vegetable potstickers (I use Trader Joe's Thai vegetable gyoza); 1 green onion (sliced (garnish))

Published: Oct 31, 2019 · Modified: Mar 29, 2023 by Cadry Nelson
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Potsticker soup is packed with onions, garlic, kale, and carrots. It’s a satisfying and warming soup for chilly days.

This vegan soup uses frozen potstickers. That means lunch or dinner is ready in no time.

Prefer something on the spicy side? Add a spoonful of gochujang or squeeze of sriracha for extra heat.

Vegetable gyoza in broth with carrots, celery, onions, garlic, and kale.

Potsticker soup with vegetables is a delicious semi-homemade recipe. It’s similar to wonton soup but with potstickers.

This soup is ready in just 30 minutes. And it’s a great way to repurpose those potstickers or gyoza you already have hanging out in the freezer.

Loaded with vegetables and warm dumplings, potsticker soup just oozes cozy.

It’s also a great one to lean on if you’re fighting a cold (along with these soothing soups and smoothies).

Potsticker soup squelches the sting of a scratchy throat.

Plus, it’s loaded with garlic, onions, and kale for an extra antioxidant and nutrient boost. Good for what ails you!

It’s delicious on its own as a full meal, or served alongside vegan fried rice.

In this post:

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What dumplings should I use?
Ingredients
Step by step instructions
Make it your own
How to store dumpling soup
📖 Recipe

What dumplings should I use?

Trader Joe's Thai vegetable gyoza on small plate by tamari and Chinese mustard.

I like to use Trader Joe’s Thai Vegetable Gyoza. They’ve been a freezer-staple of mine for well over a decade.

And I still adore them.

They’re on my list of 30 favorite vegan Trader Joe’s products. And they have a permanent spot on my Trader Joe’s grocery list.

Of course, Trader Joe’s Thai vegetable gyoza are great as a snack with gyoza dipping sauce. And they always go over well with crowds – from kids to grandparents.

But they’re not just for snacking!

They’re also a delightful soup addition. They’re packed with cabbage, carrots, chives, onions, and ginger.

That means when the potstickers break open in the soup, the thinly chopped vegetables inside come pouring out, adding a variety of textures to the soup.

But of course, if you already have a favorite frozen or refrigerated potsticker brand, use that instead.

Ingredients

Here are the ingredients you will need for this soup recipe.

Oil: Use any neutral flavored cooking oil to sauté veggies. Avocado oil is my go-to option.

Vegetables: Onion, garlic, carrots, celery, curly kale, and green onion (also known as a scallion).

Bouillon: Better Than Bouillon no chicken base is my preferred option. Bouillon + water can be replaced with vegetable broth.

Gochujang: For a bit of spice, add this Korean fermented red chili paste. You can find it at Korean grocery stores, natural food stores, Trader Joe’s, and online.

Vegetable potstickers: Thai vegetable gyoza from Trader Joe’s are my favorite. Use any brand you enjoy.

Step by step instructions

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

Celery, onions, carrot, and garlic sauteing in soup pot.

Sauté onions, garlic, carrots, and celery in a soup pot.

Once the onions and garlic are translucent and fragrant, add water, vegetable bouillon, gochujang (if using), and kale.

Kale, onions, garlic, and carrots in soup pot with broth.

Bring to a simmer.

Now it’s time to cook the potstickers

Trader Joe's Thai vegetable gyoza in air fryer basket.

You have options on how to prepare them!

If you like potstickers with crunch and extra texture, air fry them before adding to the soup.

Cook in the air fryer at 400 degrees for 8 to 10 minutes with a spritz of oil, stopping once to shake the basket.

(For appetizer-style potstickers, I usually air fry for 10 minutes solid. However, you might not want them quite that crunchy in a soup. It’s your call!)

Trader Joe's Thai vegetable gyoza cooking in skillet.

If you prefer potstickers that are browned but still slightly soft in the middle, cook them in a skillet following package directions before adding them to the soup.

Brown one side of the potstickers in a skillet with a drizzle of oil. Then flip them, add a splash of water to the pan, lower the heat, and cover the skillet with a lid to steam them.

Asian dumpling soup in bowl by garlic head and onion.

If you like very soft potstickers & the least amount of work possible, cook the potstickers right in the soup.

Add the potstickers directly to the broth to cook with the vegetables. Allow the soup to gently simmer for 10 minutes, until the potstickers are completely warm inside.

Ladle the soup into four bowls.

If you cooked the potstickers separately, put two potstickers into every bowl.

Garnish with spring onions.

Make it your own

Potsticker soup is easy to personalize to your own preferences.

Change up the type of store-bought potstickers or use homemade.
Instead of using vegetable bouillon & water as the base, try it with vegan miso soup, miso tahini broth, or your favorite store-bought broth.
Add a bit of zested ginger with the garlic.
Spice it up by adding a dollop of gochujang or sriracha.
Swap out any of the vegetables with mushrooms, spinach, red bell pepper, or bok choy. (If you’re adding spinach, I recommend throwing in a handful just before serving, since spinach wilts fast.)
Add a dollop of vegan kimchi just before serving for extra probiotics and flavor. (Be sure to read the ingredients first to make sure there aren’t any fishy ingredients.)
Add a drizzle of sesame oil for nuttiness or a dash of brown rice vinegar for tartness.

How to store dumpling soup

If you’re saving this soup for later, remove the potstickers from it before refrigerating. Store them separately.

Otherwise, the potstickers will continue to soak up the liquid from the soup. If they’re left in the broth too long, the potstickers will be waterlogged & less than satisfying texture-wise.

📖 Recipe

Originally posted January 2018. Content, recipe, and photos updated October 2019.

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About Cadry Nelson

Cadry Nelson is the writer, photographer, and recipe creator behind Cadry’s Kitchen, a vegan food & lifestyle blog started in 2009. Through approachable recipes, vegan travel guides, and down-to-earth discussions on the social aspects of being vegan, Cadry shows that living a vegan lifestyle is deliciously uncomplicated. Cadry has been featured on NBC News, Mashable, Today, Reader's Digest, Yahoo, Delish, Shape, and Huffington Post.

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