PHOTO; LUCY SCHAEFFER; FOOD STYLIST; FRANCESCA ZANI
Venture into most major cuisines of the world, and you’ll find a familiar sight: a deliciously diverse spin on a dumpling. And thank goodness for that. Whether your culinary travels find you with Chinese-style butternut squash potstickers, sweet potato gnocchi from Italy, or Southern-style chicken and dumplings, these easy dumpling recipes guarantee you never have to travel too far to get a perfectly doughy dumpling.
What is a dumpling anyway? Well, it’s a bit more far-ranging than you’d think. Simply put, dumplings all share a few things in common: They’re made from soft doughs, can often be stuffed or rolled into a ball, and are often fried, steamed, or cooked in soup. What that means is, technically, tamales, ravioli, wontons, and even matzo balls all count as dumplings!
That being said, the first dumplings that might come to mind are likely two of our favorite cold-weather winter dinners: brothy soup dumplings and crispy fried pork-ginger potstickers. Along with steamed baozi, these doughy delights are must-trys for when you’re in need of comfort food when the weather turns solidly into sweater- and coat-weather.
A few timezones away from Chinese dumplings, you can find Polish dill & cheddar pierogi, Siberian pelmeni, and Italian favorites like gnocchi and gnudi, as well as German spaetzle. Not sure about you, but we think this basically proves dumplings are the most perfect food of all.
If you’re not feeling too keen on making homemade dumplings, don’t worry. We have tons of tricks and tips on getting a perfectly doughy weeknight-friendly dinner, including using wonton wrappers for our lobster ravioli, as well as tons of recipes that use pre-made gnocchi!