We finally have a wrapper recipe to make gluten-free dumplings! The dough can be thrown together with a few ingredients from your gluten-free baking arsenal. Rolling them out is easy, and you can pleat the dumplings just as you would with regular dumpling wrappers!
Previously, the closest thing we had to a gluten-free dumpling was our steamed crystal dumplings. While they were technically devoid of gluten, they do traditionally use wheat starch, which is the starch isolated from the gluten in wheat flour.
We’re happy to report that these dumpling wrappers are totally wheat and gluten-free. Choose from any of our fillings to make your perfect dumpling!
For the Love of Gluten-free Dumplings
The biggest compliment for these dumpling wrappers:
My mom came home from running errands, very hungry and blindly in search of food. She noticed these dumplings on the counter from a test batch. She scarfed down a few, and when I eagerly asked her how they were and informed her that they were gluten-free, she said she couldn’t tell the difference!
They pan-fry well, boil well, and can also be steamed (we preferred them pan-fried)! Most importantly, you can still freeze any uncooked dumplings for later!
I can’t say that I have a ton of experience cutting gluten from my diet. We love gluten around here. That said, we do have a lot of empathy for those who are unable to pop to the store and buy premade dumpling wrappers—whether it be because of a gluten intolerance or lack of access.
Unfortunately, manufacturers haven’t quite caught up to the gluten-free game. You can’t really find commercial gluten-free dumpling wrappers these days. Many of you also have trouble simply accessing these Chinese ingredients where you live.
As a result, over the years, we’ve become far more acquainted with making homemade wrappers, noodles, and breads than we ever thought we would!
(See our foolproof dumpling wrappers, homemade wonton wrappers, handmade noodles, and homemade Chinese egg noodles!)
Learnings & Tips from Testing This Gluten-free Dumpling Wrapper Recipe:
- You’ll need gluten-free flour, tapioca starch, glutinous rice flour (AKA sweet rice flour—don’t be afraid of the term “glutinous.” It’s just referring to the fact that it’s flour made from sticky rice, AKA glutinous rice—there is no gluten in it), and xanthan gum to make this recipe.
- There are several 1:1 gluten-free flour substitutes for all-purpose flour out there. Most of them contain xanthan gum, which helps mimic the texture of gluten and acts as a thickener and emulsifier. But we found that you need additional xanthan gum if you want to strengthen the dough (and not spend forever carefully folding each dumpling to avoid breakage).
- We used King Arthur Baking Company’s Measure for Measure Gluten-free Flour when testing this recipe.
- You must keep the dough covered as you assemble the dumplings. Assemble each dumpling right after rolling out the dough. That is, do not pre-roll a bunch of wrappers all at once. The dough can dry out, causing the dumplings to crack.
- On a similar note, dabbing the perimeter of the dough with water before you fold it is key. Just like with a regular storebought dumpling wrapper!
- Tapioca starch works better than cornstarch.
- A lot of GF dumpling wrapper recipes call for chickpea flour, but we find that tapioca starch is more versatile for other recipes (as a thickening agent, binder, dredge, and more), and we imagine that in gluten-free households, the 1:1 gluten-free-flour substitute is more versatile as well.
- This recipe makes about 2 dozen wrappers, depending on how large you roll them. You can easily scale up the recipe for the amount of filling you have. Simply click on the number of servings in the recipe card, and use the slider to increase or decrease to the desired amount.
- That said, if you’re trying to make a large volume (e.g., tripling or quadrupling) it may be safest to make several smaller batches. This is because of the potential for the dough to dry out as you are rolling out the wrappers.
Do I really need the xanthan gum?
My goal with this recipe was to make it as simple as humanly possible. Unfortunately, with just the gluten-free flour substitute, the resulting dough can be harder to work with. Every dumpling was like a high wire act.
Add a little xanthan gum, and voila! The dough becomes much more pliable and has a pleasant texture when cooked.
So if you’re hesitant and skeptical about purchasing more pantry ingredients, I’m pretty sure this is the bare minimum.
How to Freeze Gluten-free Dumplings
If you want to make gluten-free dumplings ahead of time, you can freeze them for cooking later! Because the dough is prone to drying out, it isn’t ideal to store the dough itself. Assemble the dumplings, and put them directly into the freezer for best results.
To Freeze: Assemble the gluten-free dumplings and place them on a parchment-lined tray (best to use a quarter sheet pan—like a small sheet pan that may have come with your toaster oven—which will more easily fit into your freezer and allow you to transfer dumplings into the freezer more quickly).
Make sure that the dumplings are not touching each other on the tray, and cover them with a clean plastic grocery bag and move to the freezer. Allow them to freeze solid overnight. Then transfer to a ziplock bag for longer term storage. They should last in the freezer at best quality for about 2 months. Cook the dumplings directly from the freezer—do not thaw!
Choose from our dumpling fillings:
Note that you may have to make GF substitutions in some of these filling recipes for ingredients like soy sauce and Shaoxing wine. See our complete post on Gluten-free Chinese Cooking substitutes for more info!
- Pork Dumplings with Leafy Greens (bok choy, shepherd’s purse, etc.) – Our Original Recipe
- Vegetable Dumplings
- Pork & Celery Dumplings
- Pork & Chive Dumplings
- Shandong Pork & Fish Dumplings
- Chicken & Mushroom Dumplings
- Chicken Zucchini Dumplings
- Beef Dumplings
The filling shown in this recipe is our Pork & Chive Dumpling Filling.
How to Make Gluten-free Dumpling Wrappers: Recipe Instructions
Prepare the dough:
In a large bowl, whisk together the gluten-free flour, tapioca starch, glutinous rice flour, and xanthan gum.
Sprinkle the water evenly over the dry ingredients, and mix with a rubber spatula until the dough comes together.
Knead with your hands until the dough is smooth.
Cut the dough into four pieces. Take one piece out, keeping everything else in the bowl and tightly covered with plastic wrap. Roll the dough into a 6-inch log. Cut each log in half and then into thirds so you have 6 pieces. (The dough ball should measure about 420g, which means that each of your wrappers should weigh about 20g before rolling out.) Keep the spare pieces in the bowl under the plastic wrap while you roll out each dumpling wrapper.
Assemble the GF dumplings:
Take out a bamboo or wooden cutting board as your work surface, as well as a rolling pin (a Chinese rolling pin is best). If your dough is sticking to the work surface or rolling pin, lightly dust them with tapioca starch or cornstarch.
Roll each piece of dough into a circle about 4 inches/10cm or so in diameter and ⅛-inch/3mm thick. Have a small bowl of water nearby to moisten the outer edges of the circle.
Add a heaping tablespoon of dumpling filling to the center.
Pleat the dumpling closed (see our post on how to fold dumplings, 4 ways, from easiest to hardest!)
Place on a tray lined with parchment paper. Keep the dumplings covered with plastic wrap as you shape them. Repeat until you’ve assembled all the dumplings.
It is best to roll each wrapper out just before assembling the dumpling. Once you have filled a tray, transfer the dumplings immediately to the freezer (covered with plastic), or cook the dumplings fresh!
Cook the dumplings:
If boiling, bring a pot of water to a rolling boil, and then stir the water with a spoon to create a whirlpool effect. While the water is swirling, drop the dumplings in (swirling the water around while adding the dumplings prevents them from sinking and sticking to the bottom of the pot). Cook until the dumplings float and the wrappers are cooked through but still al dente—about 7 minutes for fresh dumplings, or 8 minutes for frozen. Serve.
If pan-frying, heat a nonstick pan over medium-high heat. Add a couple tablespoons of oil, placing the dumplings in the pan slightly apart so they’re not touching. Brown the bottoms, then add about ½ cup/120ml of water (you need just a thin layer of water). Cover immediately, reduce the heat to medium-low, and cook until the water has evaporated—about 7-8 minutes. When all the water has evaporated, uncover the pan, and increase heat to medium-high. Allow the pan to dry out even further, so that the bottoms of the dumplings crisp up again and are a nice golden brown. Serve.
If steaming, add the dumplings to a bamboo steamer lined with perforated parchment paper (fill up to 3 tiers of your steamer with dumplings!). Fill your wok with enough water to submerge the bottom of the bamboo steamer by about ½ an inch (1.3cm), and bring the water to a boil. When the water is boiling, place the covered bamboo steamer into the wok, and steam for about 7 minutes for fresh dumplings, or 8 minutes for frozen dumplings. Serve.
We hope you enjoyed this gluten-free dumpling recipe, which can be made with any of our dumpling fillings! Let us know in the comments if you have any questions.
Gluten-free Dumplings
Ingredients
- ¾ cup gluten-free-flour (we used King Arthur brand)
- ½ cup tapioca starch
- ½ cup glutinous rice flour
- 1½ teaspoons xanthan gum
- ⅔ cup water (cool or at room temperature)
Instructions
Prepare the dough:
- In a large bowl, whisk together the gluten-free flour, tapioca starch, glutinous rice flour, and xanthan gum.
- Sprinkle the water evenly over the dry ingredients, and mix with a rubber spatula until the dough comes together. Knead with your hands until the dough is smooth.
- Cut the dough into four pieces. Take one piece out, keeping everything else in the bowl and tightly covered with plastic wrap. Roll the dough into a 6-inch log. Cut each log in half and then into thirds so you have 6 pieces. (The dough ball should measure about 420g, which means that each of your wrappers should weigh about 20g before rolling out.) Keep the spare pieces in the bowl under the plastic wrap while you roll out each dumpling wrapper.
Assemble the dumplings:
- Take out a bamboo or wooden cutting board as your work surface, as well as a rolling pin (a Chinese rolling pin is best). If your dough is sticking to the work surface or rolling pin, lightly dust them with tapioca starch or cornstarch.
- Roll each piece of dough into a circle about 4 inches/10cm or so in diameter and ⅛-inch/3mm thick. Have a small bowl of water nearby to moisten the outer edges of the circle, then add a heaping tablespoon of dumpling filling to the center. Pleat the dumpling closed (see our post on how to fold dumplings, 4 ways, from easiest to hardest!) Place on a tray lined with parchment paper. Keep the dumplings covered with plastic wrap as you shape them. Repeat until you’ve assembled all the dumplings.
- It is best to roll each wrapper out just before assembling the dumpling. Once you have filled a tray, transfer the dumplings immediately to the freezer (covered with plastic), or cook the dumplings fresh!
Cook the dumplings:
- If boiling, bring a pot of water to a rolling boil, and then stir the water with a spoon to create a whirlpool effect. While the water is swirling, drop the dumplings in (swirling the water around while adding the dumplings prevents them from sinking and sticking to the bottom of the pot). Cook until the dumplings float and the wrappers are cooked through but still al dente—about 7 minutes for fresh dumplings, or 8 minutes for frozen. Serve.
- If pan-frying, heat a nonstick pan over medium-high heat. Add a couple tablespoons of oil, placing the dumplings in the pan slightly apart so they’re not touching. Brown the bottoms, then add about ½ cup/120ml of water (you need just a thin layer of water). Cover immediately, reduce the heat to medium-low, and cook until the water has evaporated—about 7-8 minutes. When all the water has evaporated, uncover the pan, and increase heat to medium-high. Allow the pan to dry out even further, so that the bottoms of the dumplings crisp up again and are a nice golden brown. Serve.
- If steaming, add the dumplings to a bamboo steamer lined with perforated parchment paper (fill up to 3 tiers of your steamer with dumplings!). Fill your wok with enough water to submerge the bottom of the bamboo steamer by about ½ an inch (1.3cm), and bring the water to a boil. When the water is boiling, place the covered bamboo steamer into the wok, and steam for about 7 minutes for fresh dumplings, or 8 minutes for frozen dumplings. Serve.
