Enjoy these delicious homemade Japanese gyoza dumplings filled with tofu and vegetables, seasoned with ginger, garlic and umami-rich Japanese condiments to create the ultimate flavour sensation! Totally meat-free and extremely addictive!
Disclaimer: This post contains Amazon affiliate links. Sudachi Recipes earn a small percentage from qualifying purchases at no extra cost to you. See disclaimer for more info.
Jump to:
What are Gyoza?
Gyoza (餃子) are dumplings filled with pork, vegetables and seasonings, that are then wrapped in a thin dough wrapper. Although they are eaten all across Japan, the dish originates from China and are originally called “Jiaozi”.
In English they are usually called dumplings or pot stickers.
They can be steamed, deep fried or pan fried, they’re pretty versatile. Most Japanese people fry them in a pan and then add a lid so they steam for a while. That way, they become crispy on the bottom and soft on the top, delicious!
A Brief History of Gyoza
The very first appearance of gyoza dumplings in Japan is unclear, but one theory says that they first came in around the 18th century from China.
However, it wasn't until after WW2 that gyoza started to become a common dish, with Chinese food gaining popularity around the time.
While steamed dumplings are a lot more popular and common in China, Japanese gyoza is usually fried in a pan to crisp up the base, and then steamed with the lid on to fully cook the rest of the dumpling.
Gyoza can be a great vegetarian dish
Using tofu instead of mince
Although it's easy to simply make gyoza with vegetables, using tofu in place of meat is a great way to add absorb all the flavours and add texture to the filling.
If you've tried our pork gyoza recipe you'll know that the fillings consist of mainly pork and spring onions seasoned with herbs and spices.
Pork has a lot of flavour, whereas tofu is very plain. I decided to add mushrooms to the filling to add umami and texture. By adding more variety of vegetables to the filling, the taste becomes deeper and more complex.
(I also have a shrimp gyoza recipe if you're pescatarian!)
Gyoza Wrappers
If you want to level up your homemade gyoza, you can also try making your own gyoza wrappers! I promise you, they are soft, chewy and you might never use store-bought again! Check out my recipe here.
FAQ
Gyoza are small dumplings made up of a seasoned filling wrapped in a thin dough.
Common ingredients include cabbage, mushroom, spring onion, chives, garlic and ginger.
Not all store-bought vegetable gyoza are guaranteed to be suitable for vegetarians and vegans, but my recipe is totally free of animal products.
Step by step recipe
Vegetable Gyoza with Tofu
- Total Time: 40 minutes
- Yield: 32 gyoza 1x
Description
How to make delicious Vegetable Gyoza with tofu and a homemade dipping sauce. Suitable for vegetarians and vegans. (Makes 32, serves 4)
Ingredients
FILLING
- 150g (5oz) Firm Tofu
- 100g Green cabbage (or napa cabbage)
- 50g Mushroom (any kind is fine, use your favourite. We used shiitake)
- 30g Spring onion
- 20g chive
- 1 clove of garlic
- 1 tsp ginger paste
- ½ tsp black pepper
- 2 tsp Sake
- 1 tbsp Sesame oil
- 1 tbsp Soy sauce
CONSTRUCTING
- 32 Premade gyoza wrappers or see our recipe for Japanese Gyoza Wrappers from Scratch.
- 1 Small cup of water
FOR COOKING
- 50ml warm water
- 1 tsp flour
- 2 tbsp Vegetable oil
- 1 tbsp Sesame oil
FOR THE SAUCE
- 1 tbsp Rice Vinegar
- 2 tsp Soy sauce
- ½ tsp Chilli oil
- ¼ tsp Ground black pepper
Instructions
TO MAKE THE FILLING
- First, remove the tofu from the packaging and place it on a plate lined with paper towels. Place a weight on top and leave for 10 minutes.
- Roughly cut 100g cabbage, 50g mushrooms, 30g spring onion, 20g chives and put them in a food processor with 1 garlic clove, 1 tsp ginger paste, ½ tsp black pepper, 2 tsp sake, 1 tbsp sesame oil and 1 tbsp soy sauce. Blend until finely cut (not a paste). If you don't have a food processor, you can just finely dice everything by hand but of course it takes longer.
- Transfer everything to a large bowl.
- Crumble the tofu in by hand and gently mix it in with the vegetables.
FORMING THE GYOZA
- Prepare a small bowl of water and a large plate dusted with flour.
- Place the gyoza wrapper in the palm of your hand and use a teaspoon to spread a thin layer of the filling onto the middle of the wrapper, leaving a finger width gap all the way around the edge. Be careful not to overfill the gyoza otherwise you won’t be able to seal it!
- Using your empty hand, dip a finger in the water and wet down one half of the edge of the wrapper, this acts like a glue to bond the edges when pressed together.
- Carefully fold the gyoza but don’t let the edges touch yet. Pinch the corner of the semi circle shape, and then using your thumbs, fold a small pleat and press it down.
- Continue pleating and pressing each fold all the way along the semi circle shape until the gyoza is completely sealed.
- Put your completed gyoza onto the flour dusted plate and repeat. The first few might not be so neat, but you’ll soon get the hang of it!
COOKING THE GYOZA
- Mix 50ml of warm water and 1 tsp flour in a small bowl to make a slurry.
- Heat your non-stick pan on medium and add 2 tbsp of vegetable oil.
- Carefully place your gyoza into the pan one by one with the flat side facing down and touching the base. Fry until it starts to turn golden.
- Once the base of the gyoza is lightly golden, pour your slurry into the pan, making sure all the dumplings are in contact with it. Allow the slurry evaporate, creating a crispy layer around the gyoza. Once it's about 50% evaporated, place a lid on top. The excess liquid will steam the gyoza.
- While the slurry is evaporating make your sauce. Mix 1 tbsp rice vinegar, 2 tsp soy sauce, ½ tsp chilli oil and ¼ tsp ground black pepper in a shallow bowl.
- Once all of the slurry is evaporated, take off the lid and drizzle with 1 tbsp of sesame oil.
- Flip them all onto a plate together and serve with the dipping sauce!
- Enjoy!
Notes
This recipe is to make 32 dumplings, so about 8 gyoza per person per meal. You can always put extra in the freezer for up to 1 month and cook from frozen for a little longer in the frying pan.
I usually serve with rice and soup but it's quite a versatile side dish and great for parties.
- Prep Time: 30
- Cook Time: 10
- Category: Fusion
- Method: Pan-fry
- Cuisine: Japanese
Keywords: Vegetable gyoza,vegetarian gyoza recipe,vegan gyoza recipe,how to make vegetarian gyoza filling,tofu gyoza recipe,vegetable dumplings,vegetarian potstickers,vegan gyoza dipping sauce,what is vegetable gyoza,easy veggie gyoza,are vegetable gyoza vegan,Japanese gyoza recipe,Japanese vegetable gyoza
Moran
Hi, looks delish!
Just letting you know that the link to making the gyoza is broken.
Thanks for the recipe!
Yuto Omura
Thank you for your comment and letting us know!
It's fixed now, thanks again!