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Looking for a new dinner or appetizer idea and love Asian flavors? You’re going to enjoy these ground turkey potstickers. Flavored with cilantro, ginger, sesame oil, chili oil, and red cabbage, these tasty turkey dumplings are served with a rice vinegar, sesame and soy dipping sauce. These tasty bites are sometimes called pan-fried dumplings or gyoza. They make a great appetizer, light dinner or savory snack, and are really simple to prepare.
Potstickers can be filled with anything you like, but these ground turkey potstickers are especially delicious. In just 30 minutes, they’re ready to serve up and enjoy.
Love these flavors? You might also like cute heart-shaped potstickers, hibachi steak, these pork dumplings, or perhaps egg roll in a bowl.
Why You’ll Love It
Easy to make: Making potstickers is pretty easy. You combine the filling ingredients and wrap in wonton wrappers, cook them to perfection, combine the dipping sauce ingredients and serve!
Better than takeout: The lovely fresh flavors in these ground turkey pot stickers are so good. Who needs to order takeout or drive to a restaurant when this homemade version tastes so good?
A quick appetizer: The recipe only takes half an hour from start to finish, making it great for a busy midweek dinner.
Turkey Potsticker Ingredients
A complete list of ingredients and amounts can be found in the recipe card below.
Ground turkey: Use ground chicken (or half of each) if you prefer.
Red cabbage: For color, flavor and crunch.
Ginger paste: Use bottled or minced fresh ginger.
Garlic: Always tasty in potsticker recipes.
Toasted sesame oil: Adds a nutty flavor and helps keep the filling moist. Also features in the dipping sauce.
Vegetable oil: For pan frying the dumplings. You can use peanut oil, canola oil or another kind.
Green onions: To add a savory flavor. Use minced yellow onion or shallots instead of green onion if that’s all you have.
Hot chili oil: Feel free to use extra or omit this ingredient.
Rice wine vinegar: Adds a tang to the dipping sauce.
Soy sauce: The main flavor in the dipping sauce. Light soy sauce is best, as dark soy sauce can overwhelm the more delicate ingredients in the filling. I use low sodium soy sauce so it isn’t too salty.
Sesame seeds: To add crunch and fortify the sesame oil flavor.
How to Make Ground Turkey Dumplings
For more detailed instructions with weights and measurements, jump to the printable recipe card.
Prepare the potsticker filling: Mix all the potsticker ingredients together in a medium bowl.
Assemble the potstickers: Moisten edges of a wonton wrapper, add some of the turkey mixture, fold, and seal. Repeat with the rest.
Cook the potstickers: Pan fry them in oil in a large wok for a couple of minutes per side, add the water and cover the wok. Cook for 5 minutes.
Make the dipping sauce: Prepare dipping sauce by whisking the ingredients together in a small bowl.
Serve the potstickers: Drain off any remaining water, then serve the ground turkey pot stickers with the dipping sauce on the side.
Substitutions and Variations
Gluten-free option: If you want a gluten-free version, these gluten-free potstickers are well worth making. Check your soy sauce doesn’t have wheat in it too.
Tweak the spiciness: Use extra chili oil or add some red pepper flakes or hot sauce for a hotter result or reduce the amount of chili oil or leave it out altogether for a milder taste.
Another protein: Ground chicken, ground pork or ground beef would also work.
Vegetarian potstickers: Use diced extra-firm tofu or extra vegetables instead of ground turkey.
Another dipping sauce: Use a bottled dipping sauce if you prefer or try something different (this gyoza dipping sauce is really good!)
Different vegetables: Swap the red cabbage for Napa cabbage or finely diced mushrooms.
Serving Suggestions
Appetizers: These crab cake egg rolls are so good, or you could serve any of these egg roll recipes as an appetizer.
Side dishes: Pair your turkey potstickers with PF Chang’s copycat fried rice or crispy ginger beef.
Desserts: Finish up with 2-ingredient dragon fruit ice cream or tropical pineapple popsicles.
How to Store Turkey Potstickers
Store: Keep leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator and eat within 3 days.
Freeze: They will freeze for up to 3 months. Freeze them on a baking sheet and then transfer into Ziploc bags (so they don’t all stick together).
Thaw: Defrost in the refrigerator overnight.
Reheat: You can warm them back up in a little oil in a wok or skillet or in the air fryer.
Top Tips
Filling the wonton wrappers: This recipe makes anywhere between 20 and 24 turkey pot stickers. Don’t overfill the wrappers, or else they might burst. If you have leftover turkey filling mixture, just discard it or keep it for another use.
Make them ahead: You can assemble the ground turkey pot stickers in advance. Put them on a plate and wrap tightly with plastic wrap to stop them from drying out. Keep them refrigerated and cook within 24 hours.
Don’t add water too soon: Ensure the potstickers are crispy and lightly browned on one side before adding the water to the wok.
Turkey Potsticker FAQs
Potstickers are a type of dumpling. Both are popular in Chinese cuisine. Dumplings can be round or in half moon shapes, while potstickers are half moons. While dumplings are pan-fried, steamed or boiled, potstickers are pan-fried on one side and then steamed, so they are crispy on one side and soft on the other.
Yes, absolutely. Use a large nonstick skillet so you can cook them all at once. If your wok or skillet is smaller, cook the potstickers in batches.
You can, although that way you end up with a smooth texture rather than having little chunks of ingredients. Either way works though, so it’s your choice.
Ground Turkey Dumplings Recipe
Ground Turkey Potstickers
Equipment
- Potsticker Press Optional
- Wok or Skillet with Lid
Ingredients
For the Potstickers:
- ½ Pound ground turkey
- 2 Cloves garlic
- ¼ Cup red cabbage, finely chopped
- 3 Tablespoons green onion, chopped
- 1 Tablespoon cilantro, chopped
- 1 Teaspoon ginger paste
- 1 Teaspoon sesame oil
- 1 Teaspoon hot chili oil
- 20 wonton wrappers
- vegetable oil, for frying
- ½ Cup water
For the Dipping Sauce:
- 1 Tablespoon rice wine vinegar
- ⅓ Cup soy sauce
- 1 Teaspoon sesame oil
- 1 Teaspoon sesame seeds
- Pinch red pepper flakes
Instructions
- Mix the dipping sauce ingredients together in a small bowl and set aside.
- Combine the ground turkey with the garlic, cabbage, green onions, cilantro, ginger, sesame oil, and chili oil in a separate mixing bowl. Mix thoroughly.
- Wet the edges of a wonton wrapper.
- Add a heaping spoonful of the turkey mixture to the center of the wonton wrapper.
- Fold a wrapper in half to form a semi-circle and seal the edges pressing them down with a fork, or use a potsticker press to close and seal the potsticker. Repeat with the remaining wontons and filling.
- Heat a wok with a splash of vegetable oil over a medium high heat.
- Once hot, add the potstickers and fry for about 2 minutes per side.
- Add the water and cover the wok. Cook over a medium heat for 5 minutes.
- Drain any remaining water from the potstickers and serve immediately with the dipping sauce.
Notes
Make them ahead: You can assemble the ground turkey pot stickers in advance. Put them on a plate and wrap tightly with plastic wrap to stop them from drying out. Keep them refrigerated and cook within 24 hours.
Don’t add water too soon: Ensure the potstickers are crispy and lightly browned on one side before adding the water to the wok.
Nutrition
These gorgeous ground turkey potstickers are simple to prepare and make a wonderful appetizer. Serve these tasty bite sized dumplings with a dipping sauce and watch everyone’s faces light up! The flavor is so good and the half-crisp and half-soft texture is perfect.
Other Recipes to Try
Bella Bucchiotti
Bella Bucchiotti is a Canadian-based syndicated food, travel, and lifestyle writer, photographer, and creator at xoxoBella. She founded xoxoBella in 2015, where she shares her love for food, dogs, sustainability, fitness, crafts, outdoor adventures, travel, and philanthropy to encourage others to run the extra mile, try new recipes, visit unfamiliar places, and stand for a cause. Bella creates stress-free and family-friendly recipes for weeknight dinners and festive feasts.
These potstickers were incredible! Loved the burst of flavor in every bite.