YAY! It’s free from gluten, dairy, eggs, soy, peanuts, fish, shellfish and meat! This recipe does contain coconut or soy, and sesame, but see Notes for easy substitutions. Note: This post contains affiliate links, so any purchases made on Amazon through the links will help support Yay, It’s Free From This!
Gluten-free vegan dumplings have been on my radar to make for several years now. I had never attempted them before. Gluten-free pork pot stickers (Wo Tip) were the only kind of dumplings I had made for the kids and I made them often. They’re growing and changing though, and that means their appetites and preferences are also growing. Managing so many food allergies when the kids were little had greatly limited us, but they are now more open to trying lots of new things. And lately, we’ve found ourselves surrounded by family and friends who are vegan or vegetarian. The Hubs and I are also looking for ways to reduce how much meat we consume. It was the perfect time to experiment with vegan dumplings!
The Vegan Filling
Last year, I had successfully made gluten-free boiled pork dumplings (Siu Kow or “water dumplings”). I was so happy I had another winning free from dumpling dough recipe. So for my gluten-free vegan dumpling testing, I wanted to make one vegetable filling, but with my two different kinds of dumpling dough. I didn’t know how well the texture of vegetables would pair with each of them, but we were all pretty excited to find out.
The Mushrooms
My Cantonese upbringing made me automatically think to include dried shitake mushrooms. I know my kids, however. That’s way too much umami for them, lol. The flavor is strong and delicious, but if I wanted any chance of my carnivorous kids trying and loving these vegan dumplings, I would have to use regular mushrooms. I opted for crimini mushrooms. If you love or don’t mind the amazing flavor of dried shitake mushrooms, I urge you to use those instead. Anyway, I initially sliced the crimini mushrooms, and this worked. However, for the next attempts, as you’ll see, I decided to use the food processor because of the cabbage, which was easier and more convenient.
The Carrots and Cabbage
When I started my testing, I prepped all the vegetables by hand. I mistakenly grated the carrots with a box grater using the super fine side. See the carrots in pic on the left. These were definitely the wrong texture for the carrots. By the time I cooked them, they shrunk even more and gave a coarse feel in the mouth when eaten. I knew large grating them would be better. For the cabbage, I shredded it the first time manually with a knife on the cutting board. By my subsequent attempts, I decided to use a food processor to grate the carrots and also the cabbage. It was much easier and the smaller size of the cabbage worked better in the dumpling. I end up chopping the scallions, mushrooms and onions in the processor too. The more attempts at a recipe, the more streamlined it all becomes. 🙃
Cook the Filling
Vegetables have a high amount of liquid that releases when cooked. Because of this, you always want to cook a vegetable filling first before wrapping them. You don’t want all that liquid coming out while cooking the dumplings. This is unnecessary when making meat dumplings.
Heat a wok over high heat. When slightly smoking, add the avocado oil and then the onions. Stir briefly and then add in the mushrooms. Cook for a few minutes and then add the minced garlic and ginger. Stir for about 30 seconds until fragrant, and then add in the grated carrots and cabbage. Cook for a few minutes until the cabbage is cooked through. Finally, throw in the scallions. Turn the heat off and place this mixture into a large bowl. Season with salt, white pepper, rice wine, sugar and sesame oil (if using), and soy sauce or coconut aminos. Toss thoroughly.
Dumpling vs Dumpling
Gluten-Free Pot Stickers
During the first attempt, instead of using my tried and true gluten-free pot sticker dough, I thought I’d try a new recipe I’d been eyeing on the The Woks of Life blog. I LOVE this blog! Being Chinese American myself, I find so much nostalgia in their posts. 😍 AND, they have a great gluten-free dumpling recipe! I wanted to test out this dough while testing these vegan dumplings. Keep reading to see how they compared to the boiled dumplings!
Gluten-Free Boiled Dumplings (Siu Kow)
As I mentioned, I had successfully made some amazing gluten-free boiled pork dumplings. The dough is fairly easy to make and not too different from regular wheat dough. You can find the my pork dumpling recipe here. I go into detail there on how to make and roll out the dough. Instead of pork, we are of course filling these with the vegan mixture. I did find the long shredded cabbage harder to fill and wrap. It’s why I grated the cabbage in later testing, which turned out to be so much better.
Boiled Dumplings Win!
After the first couple of tests, the boiled dumplings won both rounds! The pot stickers were good, but we all kept reaching for the boiled dumplings and unanimously agreed they were better. All my testing then became fine-tuning the boiled dumpling recipe. Savory and delicious, I couldn’t wait to finalize it. I focused mainly on the filling and tweaked it until it worked perfectly with the dough. And here, I get to share it with all of you!
Eat or Store
You’d think after all the testing and dumpling eating that we’d be so sick of these, but nope! We all couldn’t get enough. We eat these as a meal, and almost never have leftovers. Once cooked, they are best eaten fresh. But if you make this batch and only cook and eat a small portion of it, the uncooked dumplings freeze really well. If you plan on freezing them, be sure to place them on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and in a single layer. Once frozen, transfer to a freezer safe bag or container. Boil straight from the freezer adding an extra 2 minutes to the cooking time. Enjoy! 🥟💕
Gluten-Free Vegan Dumplings
Course: Appetizers, Lunch, Dinner, SnacksCuisine: ChineseDifficulty: Medium4
servings1
hour15
minutesBoiled gluten-free vegan dumplings, free from wheat, dairy, eggs, peanuts, fish, shellfish. Sesame-free, coconut-free and soy-free optional. Makes about 45 dumplings.
Ingredients
- Vegan Filling
2 c grated cabbage
5 crimini mushrooms, chopped, see Notes
1 large carrot, grated
1/2 c onions, finely chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
2 tsp finely grated ginger
4 scallions, chopped
1 tsp kosher salt
1/4 tsp white pepper
1/4 tsp sugar, omit if using coconut aminos, see Notes
1 Tbsp gluten-free cooking rice wine, see Notes
1 Tbsp gluten-free soy sauce or coconut aminos, see Notes
1 tsp sesame, optional, see Notes
- Dumpling Dough (see more how-to details here)
6 3/8oz/189g rice flour
3 1/2 oz/100g tapioca flour or starch
1 tsp fine sea salt
1 tsp xanthan gum
3 Tbsp avocado or vegetable oil
3/4c – 1c hot water
Directions
- Vegetable Filling
- Use a food processor to prep most of the vegetables before cooking.
- First, fit the processor with the multi-purpose s-blade. Large dice half of a small onion and place into the food processor. Pulse briefly until chopped. Remove this to a bowl.
- Clean the mushrooms and then remove the bottom of each stem. Place these into the food processor, then pulse and chop. Remove this into a separate bowl.
- Lastly, place the scallions into the processor and pulse to chop. Remove this into a separate bowl as well and set aside.
- Change the blade out and use the grate disc. Peel the carrot and grate the whole carrot by feeding it through the tube of the processor. Leave the carrots in the processor.
- Cut a small cabbage into quarters. Cut one quarter of the cabbage into smaller wedges so it can fit into the processor feed tube. Feed through the processor tube to grate the cabbage.
- Manually mince the garlic and finely grate the ginger. Place together into a small bowl.
- If you don’t have a food processor, you can prep all the vegetables by hand. Use a box grater to grate the carrot, but I would not use this for the cabbage. Slice the cabbage thinly with a knife and then cross chop the long shreds to achieve more of a diced result. You also can just slice the mushrooms. They don’t have to be chopped small unless you prefer it that way.
- Heat a wok over high heat. Add the avocado oil and then the onions. Stir briefly and then add in the mushrooms. Cook for a few minutes and then add the garlic and ginger. Stir for about 30 seconds and then add the grated carrots and cabbage. Cook for a few minutes until the cabbage is cooked through. It should look a bit translucent. Finally, throw in the scallions and toss a bit before turning the heat off.
- Place this mixture into a large bowl. Then season with the salt, white pepper, rice wine, sugar and sesame oil (if using), and soy sauce or coconut aminos. Toss thoroughly.
- Cool slightly before using for dumplings.
- Gluten-Free Dumpling Dough
- For the dough, add both rice and tapioca flours into a bowl large enough to knead the dough in.
- Then add the salt, xanthan gum and avocado oil.
- Add the hot water last and only about 3/4 cups first.
- Use chopsticks or a fork to mix in the water until the dough is shaggy and a bit cooled off.
- Switch to hands and gather the dough together until no flour remains and you can knead it. And a bit of water at a time if the dough seems too dry. Keep kneading until it balls up easily like play-doh. It should not be sticky.
- Use a bench scraper to split the dough into four pieces. Roll out one piece at a time and make it fairly thin. Sprinkle the surface and the top of the dough with a bit of the rice flour to make rolling easier.
- Use a cookie cutter to cut out circles, and immediately gather the excess dough around each circle. Place the extra dough under the damp towel to prevent it from drying out.
- Scoop about a tablespoon of filling into each circle. The dough has very little stretch and will puncture easily. Be very careful when filling and closing each dumpling.
- Dip a finger into some water and wet half of the upper circle’s edge. Bring the bottom half up carefully, like a taco, then press and seal the edges together. Use a bit of flour for pressing and sealing, if necessary. Place and line them on a large plate.
- Continue until all the filling or dough is done.
- Cook the Dumplings
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add about a teaspoon of kosher salt to the water and about a tablespoon of vegetable or avocado oil to prevent sticking.
- Add about 20 dumplings to the water, and when it comes to boil again, reduce the heat to medium-high. Boil each batch for about 4-5 minutes. Gently stir while they cook. They should be done when all of them float to the top.
- Use a spider strainer to scoop out the dumplings and place onto a shallow plate. Serve immediately with dipping sauce and/or hot sauce.
Notes
- I think dried shitaki mushrooms would have the most flavor, but any mushroom should work here. If you use dried, soak in hot water for at least 20 minutes, drain and rinse them. Squeeze out the excess water, and then cut off the tough stem before using.
- If coconut is an issue, use gluten-free soy sauce instead. If both soy and coconut is an issue, omit both and increase the salt to 1 1/2 teaspoons of kosher salt. And/or adjust according to taste. You could also try Nom Nom Paleo’s Magic Mushroom powder. It’s salty with a strong umami flavor very similar to soy sauce. I’ve never tried the one from Trader Joe’s, but this is an option to try too.
- I find coconut aminos to be sweeter than soy sauce. If using the coconut aminos, do not add the 1/4 teaspoon of sugar. If using soy sauce, be sure to add the sugar.
- I don’t know of any Shaoxing wine that I can confidently say is gluten-free. So I substitute with YU YEE Clear Rice Cooking Wine that I purchased at Whole Foods. We’ve had no issues with it. I’ve also used mirin, Japanese rice wine.
- The sesame oil can be omitted if it’s an issue. We had dealt with severe sesame allergies and always left it out of all our recipes and results were still great.