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Switching things up today and using all the summer vegetables with these Crispy Sesame Ginger Potstickers with Chive Chili Sauce. Easy homemade vegetarian potstickers with zucchini, kale, ginger, and sesame-crusted wrappers. Each potsticker is pan-fried until crispy on the bottom, then served alongside a sweet and spicy chive chili garlic sauce. And for a little double-dipping? I added a creamy garlic special sauce to balance out that spicy chili sauce. These are a fun and healthy dinner to make any night of the week…and so much better than ordering takeout.
I love a Monday that starts off with a fun recipe. It keeps things fresh, happy, and delicious, you know? Plus, I always find it nice to have a fun Monday night dinner to look forward to after settling back into the workweek. Especially after a summer weekend. Summer weekends are some of the best. They’re often filled with time outside, backyard picnics, camping, beach days, and good times spent in the sun. It’s all amazing and I love it.
But weekends can make Monday nights feel, well, not so special. I’ve decided that doesn’t need to be the case at all. Plan a fun dinner, maybe something Mexican, or your favorite Italian pasta, or maybe something Asian like these vegetable potstickers. Just something fun and delicious to look forward to.
Which brings me to these potstickers. I’m going to do my best to convince you all that you really need to make some homemade potstickers tonight. These potstickers are made with delicious summer garden produce, meaning they’re vegetarian (hello to meatless Monday). Think soy seasoned vegetables with plenty of garlic and ginger inside, crispy wonton wrappers. And not one, but two sauces…once spicy, and one creamy. You can never have too many sauces in our family. These potstickers are beyond good.
Well, there were a couple of things. For one, I always find that summer recipes tend to be repetitive. There’s a lot of tomato basil flavors happening. There’s also lots of pasta and grilled chicken. So I wanted to switch things up and throw in some Asian flavors this week.
Second, the garden. We’ve had a giant head of curly kale that has been growing along with so many fresh chives. The kale has been stumping me for a week and I just didn’t know what to do with it. I finally figured just to start pulling away the leaves and toss them into my potstickers. It ended up being the perfect green to pair with all the zucchini and yellow summer squash I always use. And the chives? They make the sauce and add the perfect onion flavor, but in a nice and subtle way.
My third inspiration is my mom…and myself…and remembering back to when I was younger. Mom and I would enjoy potstickers together for lunch on summer afternoons. They were an easy, no-cook lunch we could make in minutes. Mom always kept frozen potstickers on hand. Always. We loved them.
Surprisingly these are fairly quick and simple to make. You’ll need some summer produce, pantry staples like soy sauce and chili sauce, and then store-bought wonton wrappers.
To make the filling. These are very simple to make, but also very good. You just need some sesame oil, shallots, ginger, zucchini, and kale. I added a splash of soy sauce for saltiness and a pinch of pepper for a little kick. The fresh vegetables themselves have so much flavor, so they don’t need much added.
To assemble, spoon the filling into the center of your wrappers, then lift the edges of the dough up and over the filling, pinching at the top to seal. Don’t stress about making these look perfect. What’s most important is that you have a good seal so that no vegetables fall out.
At this point, I like to boil the potstickers to cook the wrappers, then drain. This next step is key. Dip each potsticker into a bowl of sesame seeds. I love coating the bottom of my potsticker with sesame seeds for a little added flavor and just the right amount of crunch with every bite. I know it’s not traditional to do this, but trust me, it’s a delicious addition.
First up I should say, you don’t have to make both sauces. In fact, the creamy garlic “special sauce” was a very last-minute addition. And while I found it to be (insanely) delicious, you certainly don’t need it. But I am highly recommending it. Ok, that’s my spiel on that.
The chive chili sauce? This you do need. It’s a little sweet, a little spicy, hinted with toasted sesame, chives, and a touch of garlic too…beyond good. So easy to mix up and pairs perfectly with these crispy, salty potstickers.
Since we’ve got one spicy sauce, I felt like we also needed something creamy to balance the heat. Enter the creamy garlic “special sauce”. It’s simply some avocado oil-based mayo, a touch of honey, garlic, and a splash of soy. The creaminess is just what these crispy potstickers need. Again, highly recommend this sauce too…
Never enough sauce, right? Yes, yes, right. My brothers are truly wearing off on me. Yikes.
And now that I’ve rambled your ears off about potstickers, are we all in agreeance that we should make these?
Ideally tonight?
Great, I’m excited…and I’ll surely be sharing the full how-to recipe video on my Instagram stories too. So look out for that.
Happy Monday guys!! It’s going to be a good week and a great month! Hello August!
Looking for other Asian inspired summer recipes? Here are a few ideas:
Chinese Mushroom Dumplings with Sweet Chili Ginger Sesame Sauce
Weeknight Sticky Ginger Sesame Chicken Meatballs
Sticky Asian BBQ Boneless Oven Baked Wings (an oldie but a goodie!)
Lastly, if you make these crispy sesame ginger potstickers with chive chili sauce be sure to leave a comment and/or give this recipe a rating! Above all, I love to hear from you guys and always do my best to respond to each and every comment. And of course, if you do make this recipe, don’t forget to tag me on Instagram! Looking through the photos of recipes you all have made is my favorite!
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I assembled these last evening and froze them to eat today. My question is, what kind of oil do I use to fry them in – sesame or something else? I’m excited to taste your creation!
Hey Tillie,
Thanks so much for trying this recipe! I like to use avocado oil to fry them! Let me know how they turn out! xTieghan
These dumplings are divine. Like, 10/10 definitely would recommend. Bursting with flavor & only complete by eating with both sauces (also divine). I steamed mine and they turned out great. Tieghan, you outdid yourself on this recipe.
Hi Katie!
Happy Friday!? Thanks a lot for trying this recipe out, I love to hear that it was a winner! Thanks for your kind message! xx
Thank you for the great recipes, I love all of the ones I’ve tried!
For those making these, my dumplings fell apart in the water so I had to make dumplings soup instead 🙁 just a heads up not to boil them very long at all!
Hi there! I am so sorry these dumplings didn’t work out! Is there anything you did differently? Let me know how I can help! xTieghan
Hi, this recipe looks so good! how could I edit it slightly to add meat inside the filling (ground chicken maybe)? Thanks!
Hey Alexandra,
You bet! I also have this recipe you might like:
https://www.halfbakedharvest.com/ginger-sesame-chicken-potstickers/
Please let me know if you have any other questions! xTieghan
Just made these tonight – my first shot at a HBH recipe! The chive chili sauce is so good, and I used spinach, grated carrots, and zucchini in the potstickers. I wasn’t sure how big to chop the zucchini, so I ended up cutting them into smaller pieces while they were cooking. Next time I’ll try to find bigger wonton wrappers because the ones at Whole Foods were square and on the smaller side, which made for lumpy little things that the sesame seeds didn’t really want to stick to. Still worked though, and still very good! Don’t skip the pan sear!
Hey Heather,
Happy Friday! Thanks a bunch for making this recipe, I am delighted that it was enjoyed! Have a great weekend:) xTieghan
Made these last night and they were delightful! Great recipe.
Hey Hazel,
Happy Wednesday! Thanks so much for making this recipe, I am thrilled that it was enjoyed! xTieghan
These were delicious! I had a hard time keeping them together with the boil and fry method which I know is what pot stickers are all about. After a few of them disintegrating in the boiling water, I put them into a steamer and cooked them that way and that worked well. I think I used the wrong type of wrapper and didn’t cut the zucchini small enough hence the disintegration 🙂
Hey Tracy,
Thanks so much for trying the recipe, I am thrilled that it worked out for you! Happy New Year! xTieghan
Dumplings are a bit time intensive but let me tell you they are worth it ! And this recipe was so flavorful and the perfect amount of crispy and spicy. Will be making these again for sure.
Thank you so much Tori!! xTieghan
This tasted delicious, but I ended up with more of a potsticker “stir-fry” because I made the dumplings ahead of time. Learned the hard way, the wonton wrappers start to “melt” with the moisture from the filling. They pretty much disintegrated in the boiling water. From now on, will make right away and not prep them.
Oh no! I am really sorry to hear that, Sally! I hope you still enjoyed this recipe! Please let me know if there is anything I can help you with! xTieghan
If you freeze them do you not need to boil them? And would you steam them by adding some water to the pan after you fry them? Thank you.
Hey Christine,
If you plan to freeze you can skip the boiling step and then when you are ready to eat you will start with step 4. I hope you love the recipe, please let me know if you have any other questions! xTieghan
I made these! They were really really good, but they took me 2 hours! If I make them again I’ll just have to make sure I have enough time. Chop the filling, cook the filling, stuff the dumplings, boil them, fry them… whoooo it’s a lot for one person to do. Also, I’m not sure if my wonton wrappers were smaller – the filling was enough to stuff ~30 dumplings using ~1/2 TBsp scoops (1 TB was too big too fit) and folding all those took a looooong time.
But they were so tasty that I’ll probably make them again on a weekend when I have the time!
Hi! I am sorry these took so long, but I am glad they turned out so well for you! Thank you for trying this recipe! xTieghan