Best Frozen Dumplings
They’ll never be as good as homemade, but we evaluated seven brands to find a few surprisingly satisfying options
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Lunar New Year is here, and if you grew up in a family with roots in northern China like I did, you might have memories of gathering around the kitchen table to make dumplings at some point during the two-week celebration.
Unlike my husband’s southern Chinese family—who viewed dumplings as an everyday food and, instead, would cook up a feast of whole fish, meats, noodles, sticky rice, and other symbolic fare to ring in the New Year—mine would spend the afternoon rolling out dough, filling them up with spoonfuls of pork, cabbage, and chives, then sealing them up.
Our Verdict on 7 Frozen Dumplings
Besides noting flavor, texture, and overall impressions, the seven blind tasters were asked to rate each dumpling on a scale of 1 (“So bad I can’t eat the whole thing”) to 5 (“best dumpling I’ve ever had). As expected, most doled out 2s (“I’ll eat it if it’s free”), 3s (“I’ll buy it if it’s the only option”), and 4s (“Good enough to specially seek out”). The overall score below is the calculated average, rounded to the nearest tenth.
The biggest thing I learned from this exercise? There is no perfect dumpling, except the one in your head, shaped by personal preference, past traditions, and nostalgia.
Overall score: 3.8
Dumplings per pack: About 20
Four out of 7 testers rated these fully cooked Korean-style dumplings as their favorite of the bunch, and it was the only candidate that no one rated below a 3. I was surprised: I found the wrapper too thin and the filling too veg-forward, but to be fair this wasn’t a Chinese-style dumpling.
One of our tasters, Paul Hope, who writes about ranges for CR, grew up in New York City eating dumplings from Chinese restaurants, was also unconvinced. Besides the usual cabbage and chives you’d see in Chinese-style dumplings, there’s also leek, cabbage, onion, scallion, and tofu.
Still, the majority of folks appreciated that balance of meat and not-meat. “It’s a lovely juicy filling,” raved Allen St. John, senior editor on CR’s technology content team. Bob Lew, who manages the integrity and security of our testing data, deemed it “good, even without sauce.”
Overall score: 3.4
Dumplings per pack: About 20
Our value pick is also our runner-up. Not only can you feed a family of three with this economical bag of frozen dumplings (that’s just a little over $1 per person!), you might get a few compliments.
Fans of Trader Joe’s offering noted mainly its well-proportioned elements and nice crisp. “It’s just the right balance between the wrapper and filling,” said Chris Raymond, a deputy content editor at CR. He also liked the texture (as did I), though he felt it wasn’t as tasty as the Bibigo.
Li Wang, who tests home improvement products, described it as having, in general, a “good combination of elements.” Paul agreed, but wished the ingredients didn’t seem so “overly processed” to the point that you can’t distinguish the different ingredients in the filling.
Still, he says it’s like the “delightful but slightly trashy dumpling you get from the ‘Chinese’ place at a mall’s food court.” In other words, it’s not bad for a bargain-basement-priced dumpling. As Allen explains, “It’s impressively average.”
Overall score: 3.3
Dumplings per pack: About 10
People didn’t hate this dumpling. Paul appreciated the sweetness of the cabbage. I liked the noticeable texture that it added; the cuts were rather generously sized, making me feel that an actual person may have made it in an actual home kitchen. In fact, Allen described the dumpling as tasting “fresh,” even “homemade”—done by “someone who’s a good but not great cook.”
A couple of testers noted its meatiness, for better or for worse. Ginny Lui, who tests kitchen appliances for CR, described it as having a “nice flavor,” while Robert Lew detected a fishiness in it.
The sauce it came with had a tiki-lounge vibe to it—slightly orange, somewhat thick. I’d probably throw it in my overflowing stash of perfectly fine condiments I don’t know what to do with, and go with just plain soy sauce. But a few folks appreciated its spicy kick.
Overall score: 3.0
Dumplings per pack: About 8
If I had to pick a favorite out of the bunch, this would be it. While the first item on the ingredients list is cabbage, the filling tasted meaty and substantial, while ginger gave it a subtle brightness. More than one panelist commented on its wrapper’s crisp texture. “It’s thin, but in a good way,” said Chris. Paul compared it to one of those Chinatown spots that sell four or five dumplings for a dollar, which actually isn’t a bad thing.
Not everyone liked the dumplings, though. Some outright hated it. Allen described the filling as “overly soft” and “ just flat-out unpleasant to bite into.” Ginny called it “mushy.” Another drawback: While it’s hard to compare nutritional data across brands (dumpling sizes differ; some numbers contain sauce and some don’t), these dumplings stand out in terms of sodium: four dumplings with half a packet of sauce contributes to a whopping 34 percent of the maximum amount of sodium you should have in a day. The majority of dumplings in this round-up landed in the low-20 percent range for each serving (usually three to four dumplings, some with sauce, some without).
Overall score: 2.9
Dumplings per pack: About 11
The wrapper for these dumplings, which are available at Whole Foods, are made from rice flour, instead of wheat flour, making them an option for folks avoiding gluten. Unlike some gluten-free pizzas, which are perhaps better skipped (unless the idea of tomato sauce on a big cracker appeals to you), a gluten-free dumpling might actually satisfy as much as the real thing.
Sure, the pale wrapper rips easily and may seem more at home in a wonton soup. But with the legit pork filling and tamari dressing, you can have a normal supermarket dumpling experience. Allen actually liked the dumpling almost as much as the Bibigo, calling the filling fresh and the bundle as a whole “luxurious.”
Nevertheless, many panelists felt it was the meat that lacked luster. “It’s not terribly flavorful,” observed Tobie Stanger, a senior home and garden editor at CR. The sauce, which delighted me because it reminded me of my dad’s, was more divisive—some found it appealing; others, like Li, deemed it “too sweet.”
Overall score: 2.5
Dumplings per pack: About 12
While I appreciated the chive notes in these dumplings, which felt authentic to me, I was turned off by how super-minced the filling was—so much so that you can’t really tell what the ingredients are.
“There was no evidence of green veggies,” observed Tobie. A cross-section of the filling had the same look as that of a sausage. Allen thought it tasted like one, too—and a “mediocre” rendition at that.
“Maybe slice it up and put it on a pizza? Or not,” he quipped. Li and I would prefer not—we both found the filling too salty.
Paul described its interior “uniform” and chive forward— “pretty close to regular takeout”—which, of course, turned out to be on the mark: Dumpling Daughter comes from a dumpling spot of the same name, with locations in the Boston area.
Overall score: 2.4
Dumplings per pack: About 20
Ling Ling makes an attractive dumpling: a nicely shaped pouch that’s neither too long nor short. The thin skin reliably crisped up to a consistent golden brown. For many of the panelists, though, the issue was what’s inside. “The filling has virtually no taste; it’s almost like plastic,” said Bob. Other panelists agreed, referring to it as bland.
Those who were able to taste it didn’t love it. I found it to be quite cabbage-forward and perhaps too salty, but Li was more generous. “It’s okay to eat,” she decided. “But I don’t like the flavor of the meat. As Allen put it, “It’s middle of the road, pretty average. The Camry of frozen dumplings.”
How We Evaluated Frozen Dumplings
Each batch was prepared by Paul. He’s a trained chef who cooks up frozen dumplings for his family on a regular basis. This ensured that every batch was in expert hands and each dumpling reached its fullest golden-brown potential.
All were cooked according to package instructions in a nonstick pan, with one exception: The Feel Good Foods dumplings, one of our first batches, was cooked as an experiment in a cast-iron pan—and the fragile wrappers stuck. Unfortunately, we ran out of dumplings, but it helped us decide to use only regular non-stick pans after that. Panelists were invited to skip that batch, but all were game on trying the dumplings anyway.
I assigned each brand a number, so none of the seven panelists, including Paul, knew which dumplings came from which brand. Two panelists are originally from Hong Kong; another, from Guangzhou. All three grew up eating and making dumplings and continue to enjoy them stateside.
Paul and the three remaining panelists are not Chinese, but all enjoy restaurant dumplings from New York City and the surrounding areas, though only Paul had eaten them regularly as a kid.
We all tried the dumplings plain first, made notes, and then tried them again with the accompanying dipping sauce, if any. Those without a dipping sauce were enjoyed with a fabulous 10-ingredient concoction (including soy sauce, ginger, sugar, lime, and something called Mongolian Fire Oil) by Allen, who is quite passionate about favorite dumpling eateries, past and present.
Besides sharing notes on flavor, texture, and other impressions, each of us scored the dumplings from 1 to 5, as described above. Scores of the seven testers in our blind tasting were averaged to provide an overall score.
How to Cook Frozen Dumplings
Armed with a good non-stick frying pan, tongs, and spatula, you can turn just about any rock-hard frozen dumpling into crispy golden-brown perfection. Here, Paul shares his expert tips:
Use the pan recommended by the instructions. That typically means non-stick. No stainless steel pans and, yeah, no cast-iron pans (see above). The manufacturer has theoretically tried a number of methods and has recommended what’s best.
Don’t simmer or boil past the point at which the dumplings reach a safe internal temperature. (You can use a meat thermometer to be sure to reach 165 F, which most brands recommend.) If the dumplings are safely cooked through but you still have excess water in the pan, pour it off. This will help the dumplings crisp up before they overcook.
Use enough oil to coat the pan bottom—at the very least. “That oil will help prevent sticking, and it ensures each dumpling gets crisp,” Paul says. Swirl the oil frequently in the pan, which allows the heat to spread evenly and the dumplings to brown at the same time.
Never cook more dumplings than can fit in a single layer in the pan. You can crowd the pan, but you need to keep dumplings to a single layer for even cooking.
Don’t flip. Start them on the flat side and leave them there the entire time until the underside is crisp. If you try to remove them too early, the skins are way more likely to stick and break apart.
Check for doneness with tongs. Use them to gently try to lift a single dumpling from the middle of the pan. It should release and be uniformly brown on the bottom. Still stuck? Add two to three tablespoons of cold water into the hot pan, says Paul. The water will sizzle and help release the stuck dumplings. Then use nonstick-safe spatula to get between the pan and the dumplings and do your best to scrape the stuck portion from the pan bottom without breakage.
