These Vegan Gyoza are packed with so much authentic flavour and cooked to perfection. Only 11 plant based ingredients needed to make these incredible homemade gyoza that you can enjoy with everyone!
The first time I attempted to make vegan gyoza after almost 7 years of not having it brought me straight back to my childhood. My mom would make gyoza every Thursday night growing up and I never appreciated gyoza until I grew a little older and realized how making dumplings is almost like a form of art. Although each gyoza or dumplings are folded and pleated with the same hands and technique, each come out slightly different. There are so many kinds of dumplings around the world but my heart goes to gyoza.
You only need a couple of simple ingredients to make super delicious, juicy and flavour packed gyoza. Gyoza commonly uses pork but it can easily be replaced with crumbled firm tofu. Common flavours include ginger, garlic and chives. To give it a meaty umami flavour I used shiitake mushrooms and for a little more texture I went with bamboo shoots. Feel free to play around with different vegetables though!
To make the filling, we want to make the veggies as fine as possible to that it’s almost like a meat ball mixture consisten
Now for the part I think puts off most people from making gyoza and dumplings at home: pleating them. I know they look so difficult but once you get the hang of it your hands just start moving naturally! I tried to explain it in words but honestly it’s so hard to type out. I think visuals are much more helpful so here is a video link of me explaining and showing you how to do it.
There are two ways you can prepare gyoza: pan searing or boiling. I much prefer the pan seared version because of the crispy bottom! Crispy and tender with a meaty filling… yum.
Once they’re done cooking, they’re ready to be enjoyed and you can dip them in your favourite dipping sauce but my favourite is to combine equal parts rice vinegar and soy sauce.
Ingredients (+ substitutions)
How to Make Vegan Gyoza
How to Cook Gyoza
Tips and Tricks to making Homemade Gyoza
- Cover gyoza: Keep gyoza wrappers covered to prevent them from drying out.
- Warm up the oil: Once the oil warms up, turn off the heat. This ensures even cooking and so that you don’t have to rush to place the gyoza in the pan.
- Boiling water for steaming: Use hot water and pour around and over the gyoza. If you use cold or room temperature the cooking temperature drops.
- Vinegar: Add a little vinegar to the steaming water so that when eating, they separate easily without the skins tearing.
- Rock the pan: Gently rock the frying pan side to side while steaming to prevent burning.
- Sesame oil: drizzle sesame oil at the end to get them extra crispy.
How to Store Homemade Vegetable Gyoza
While you can refrigerate the gyoza in the refrigerator for up to 2 days, I highly recommend freezing them. If the filling has too much moisture, it’ll cause the wrappers to potentially get soggy and tear.
To freeze, place the gyoza on a baking sheet with the surface dusted with flour. Keep some space between each gyoza to prevent them from sticking and then place them into the freezer, Once they’re completely frozen, transfer them into a freezer bag or container up to 1 month. To cook after freezing, do not let them defrost and cook them straight away (they will need an additional 1-2 minutes to cook)
If you recreate this Vegan Vegetable Gyoza recipe let me know how you liked it by leaving a comment and rating below or by tagging me on Instagram @Okonomikitchen, I love seeing all of your tasty recreations!
Hungry for more? Be sure to subscribe to my newsletter and follow along on Instagram, Youtube and Pinterest for more deliciousness!
Vegan Gyoza (Japanese Potstickers)
Ingredients
- 1/2 block (168 g) firm tofu*
- 1/4 (150 g) napa cabbage, finely chopped
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 (50 g) bamboo, finely chopped
- 1/4 (40 g) bunch garlic chives
- 2 (30 g) shiitake mushroom
- 2 (13 g) dried shiitake mushrooms, rehydrate
- 2 garlic cloves (8 g)
- 2 tsp minced ginger (10 g)
- 1 tbsp (15 ml) mirin
- 1 1/2 tbsp (22 ml) soy sauce
- 2 tsp (10 ml) sesame oil
- 1 tbsp (10 g) potato starch
- 1/4 tsp salt, to taste
- 1/4 tsp white or black pepper, to taste
- 30–35 gyoza wrappers
Dipping sauce:
- 1 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 tbsp rice vinegar
- 1/4 tsp ra-yu (Japanese chili oil)
Instructions
- Finely chop the napa cabbage and then message the salt in. Rest for 10 minutes and then squeeze out excess moisture. In the mean time, finely chop the bamboo, shiitake mushrooms and chives.
- Squeeze out excess moisture from the tofu and crumble into a bowl. You should have about 130g net weight. Season with mirin, soy sauce and sesame oil. Squeeze out excess liquid from the cabbage and add to the tofu bowl. Add the other chopped vegetables, minced ginger and garlic. Then add in potato starch, salt and pepper. Mix everything until well combined. Taste and adjust seasonings.
- Take one wrapper and add one tablespoon of filling. Fold the edges until sealed (refer to photos/video). Place on a potato starch dusted tray or plate and keep covered. Repeat for remaining wrappers (makes about 30-35).
To cook (steamed and pan fried):
- Heat oil over medium. Once heated, turn off the heat and line up 10-12 gyoza. Turn heat back up to medium low to medium, and cook until lightly golden brown. In the meantime, mix together 2 tsp of rice vinegar and 90ml of water. Once golden brown, pour the rice vinegar water mixture to the pan (pouring over the gyoza). Once it starts to boil, cover and cook for 5-6 minutes, or until water is mostly evaporated.
- Remove cover and drizzle in sesame oil. Continue to cook until all water is evaporated. Remove from heat.
- Serve immediately with dipping sauce and enjoy!
To cook (boiled):
- Being a medium pot to a boil then add in the gyoza. Cook for 3-4 minutes or until they start floating to the top.
- Serve with rice vinegar sauce, soy sauce, chili sauce or dipping sauce of your choice.
Notes
- Helpful Equipment: mixing bowl, cooking tray, turner
- Nutritional Information Disclaimer: Nutrition information is a rough estimate calculated on an online tool (Cronometer).
Okonomi Kitchen is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program. When you purchase something through my amazon affiliate links, I earn a small commission that helps me produce consistent content at no cost to you. Thank you for supporting my plant based kitchen!
These were the yummiest gyozas I’ve made. An easy to follow great tasty recipe