Serves a Crowd

Homemade Dumpling Wrappers

by:
December 23, 2021
5
1 Ratings
Homemade Dumpling Wrappers
  • Prep time 1 hour
  • Cook time 30 minutes
  • makes About 30 wrappers
Author Notes

Nothing beats homemade dumpling skins. They are thick, chewy, and incredibly easy to make. —Betty

Test Kitchen Notes

Whenever you start reaching for the store-bought wrappers or are about to pick up the phone to order takeout, you should take a look at this homemade dumpling wrapper recipe—you may change your mind, figure you have the ingredients already, so might as well make dumplings at home! A fun project for any time of the year, but especially when family and friends are stuck at home during the long winter months, it's a wonderful time of year to have a dumpling party. This recipe is designed to make enough dough for 30 wrappers, but depending on the number of folks you're serving, you can easily change the ratios to however many you'd like. Fill them with as many creative fillings as you can come up with, then boil them to cook through; you'll know they're done when they start to float.

All this recipe requires is flour, salt, and water, that's it. After bringing the water to a boil, simply stream it into the dry ingredients, then let cool a bit and knead the dough with your hands. As the recipe indicates, use your instincts here; you'll be able to tell when your dough reaches that perfect, smooth consistency. Letting it rest for about 30 minutes makes it a lot easier to handle and is well worth the extra, off-hands prep time. Roll the dough between your palms, then press into a circular shape. No fancy equipment or ingredients required to pull this one off, and you'll have all your family and friends involved in making them. —The Editors

What You'll Need
Ingredients
  • 2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for rolling
  • 2 to 3 pinches kosher salt
  • 3/4 cup water
Directions
  1. In a medium bowl, whisk the flour and salt. In a small pot, bring the water to a boil, then immediately remove from the heat. After 5 seconds (count them!), gently stream the water into the dry ingredients, constantly stirring.
  2. Once cooled to a comfortable temperature, using your hands, knead the mixture into a dough. If it’s too dry, add a little bit more hot water. Making dumplings is an instinctive thing—use your sense of touch to feel when the dough starts to become a unified mass. Once well combined, knead for another 3 minutes. The dough should be elastic and smooth, but not sticky.
  3. Wrap the dough tightly in plastic wrap. Let sit for 30 minutes at room temperature. This hydrates the flour and makes the dough easier to handle.
  4. Pinch off about 2 tablespoons of the dough and roll between your palms to form a sphere. On a well floured surface, roll and press into a flat circular shape. The dough should be about 1 to 2 millimeters thick.
  5. Continue to make about 30 dough wrappers, flouring liberally so the wrappers don't stick to each other as you stack them; wrap with plastic wrap. Alternatively, you can immediately use the dough to wrap dumplings, depending on your work flow.
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See what other Food52ers are saying.

  • msmely
    msmely
  • Adam Marquez
    Adam Marquez
  • GourMel
    GourMel
  • Betty
    Betty
Betty
betty is a food blogger and wedding photographer based in Boston, MA.

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6 Reviews

msmely
msmely April 14, 2019
These skins and their boiled-water dough are indeed genius. They rolled out nice and thin with a rolling pin but were a bit thicker than your supermarket standard dumpling wrappers -- a big benefit if you like pan steam-fried potstickers without as much worry of sticking! They're a bit more durable, especially after a steam, and this bit of forgiveness makes it easy to get them to release from the pan.
 
Kenna
Kenna December 8, 2018
I had to add more than 3/4s cup, way more. Is it because I may have done it wrong?
 
Adam M.
Adam M. June 10, 2016
how long do I cook these and how? bake, boil, fry?
 
Rev.B
Rev.B June 26, 2019
Depending on the filling when they float there done. After that I like straining then and tossing then into a hot wok with a bit of sesime oil to crisp the bottom to a light Brown and serve them with a peanut sauce
 
GourMel
GourMel June 2, 2015
Do you think I could use a pasta machine to roll out the dough or would it me too sticky?
 
Betty
Betty June 2, 2015
Hi!! I don't see why not - I've seen people roll big sheets out with a rolling pin, then using round cookie cutters to cut out a bunch of uniform dumpling wrappers. The dough shouldn't be too sticky at that point. It should be easy to work with, and if you flour it, the dough will not be too sticky to handle. I just did a quick search and found this article about using pasta machine for wrappers: http://www.seriouseats.com/2009/12/seriously-asian-dumpling-making-tips-dough-cooking-pasta-machines.html
I myself have never used a pasta machine for this, but I say, why not?