Dairy Free | Gluten Free | Mains | Sides | Vegan
Crispy Rice Paper Dumplings
Crispy rice paper dumplings are a great appetizer or main dish. They’re crispy on the outside, chewy in the middle, and filled with a flavorful mix of crunchy vegetables and protein. This recipe is gluten free and dairy free with a plant based option.
Looking for more crispy rice recipes? Try my crispy rice salad with fresh herbs, spicy tuna with crispy rice, or rice paper chips.
What You’ll Love About This Recipe
Ingredients
Here’s what I used to make these crispy dumplings:
- Protein of choice – any kind of ground meat or for a veggie-friendly option you can use crumbled extra firm tofu or pulsed cooked chickpeas.
- Garlic
- Ginger
- Carrots – finely shredded.
- Green onions
- Cabbage – green or red.
- Mushrooms – any variety you like
- Rice paper sheets – sometimes also called spring roll wrappers. Look for the larger sheets that are about 8 inches in size. These can be found in the international aisle at most grocery stores or at your local Asian supermarket.
- Toasted sesame oil and low sodium soy sauce or tamari – to flavor the filling.
- Oil of choice – for cooking the dumplings – I typically use avocado oil but olive oil also works.
- Dipping sauce – low sodium tamari/soy sauce, toasted sesame oil, a splash of maple syrup, and sriracha.
How To Make Crispy Rice Paper Dumpings: Step By Step
Here are some quick visual instructions. The full instructions and ingredient list will be in the printable recipe card below!
- Brown meat with aromatics. Heat a large skillet over medium heat and add one tablespoon of oil along with the garlic and ginger. Cook for 30 seconds, then add in your protein of choice. After 1-2 minutes add the tamari/soy sauce and toasted sesame oil. Once browned, add the vegetables and cook for an additional 2 minutes.
- Cool filling and make sauce. Use a slotted spoon to transfer the cooked protein and vegetables to a bowl and allow them to cool. While the filling cools, whisk together the tamari/soy sauce, toasted sesame oil, maple syrup, and sriracha for your dipping sauce.
- Prepare your dumpling station. Fill a large shallow bowl with cool water and grab a large plate and a cutting board. Lightly oil the plate to place your wrapped dumplings on so they don’t stick. You’ll use the cutting board to wrap the dumplings on.
- Hydrate rice paper. Take a sheet of rice paper and completely submerge it in the water for a few seconds. Transfer it to your cutting board. The rice paper will rehydrate and become softer as you’re working with it so it’s important not to over soak it.
- Add filling and wrap. Add heaping tablespoon of filling to the center of the rice paper. Then gently pull the bottom of the rice paper up over the filling, fold over the left side, and then the right. Finally, roll it forward to seal the dumpling. Then repeat with a second rice paper so it’s double-wrapped.
- Cook until crispy. Wipe out the excess moisture in the skillet and place it back over medium heat. Add a thin layer of oil to coat the bottom of the pan and place 3-4 dumplings in the skillet leaving space between them. Cook on each side for 5-6 minutes or until crispy with some brown spots. Transfer to a wire rack and continue with the process until you’ve cooked all the dumplings.
Helpful Tips
- You can use any ratio of protein to vegetables you’d like. You really don’t need a recipe.
- Look for rice paper sheets that are a blend of rice and tapioca flour as they’re a bit easier to work with.
- A nonstick, ceramic pan, or well-seasoned cast iron work best for cooking the dumplings. Choose a pot with high walls to help with oil splatters.
- I highly recommend double wrapping them. If you don’t the filling will often burst open.
Quick Tip: These are best when eaten right after they come out of the pan. The cooked rice paper will become soft if they sit out for too long. Cook all the dumplings even if you plan to have some leftovers.
Storage
Store them in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days. To reheat, re-crisp them in a skillet or pop them into the air fryer for about 6 minutes at 400ºF flipping halfway through.
Make It Your Way: Substitutions & Variations
Please remember that recipes are just a starting point.
How can you make this crispy rice paper dumplings recipe using what you already have? Here are some ideas…
- No ground beef? – I’ve made it many times with ground chicken and it’s just as good. You can also use ground pork.
- No mushrooms? – use another vegetable such as bok choy, or omit them completely.
- No green onions? – they can be omitted.
- Make it soy free – sub coconut aminos for tamari/soy sauce and add a pinch of salt to the filling as it’s cooking.
- Make it plant based – use crumbled extra firm tofu or pulsed cooked chickpeas
- Variations – use any combination of vegetables you like.
More Asian-Inspired Recipes
I hope you love these Crispy Rice Paper Dumplings! If you make this recipe, please leave a comment & a star rating below. Thank you!
Crispy Rice Paper Dumplings
Crispy rice paper dumplings are a great appetizer or main dish. They're crispy on the outside, chewy in the middle, and filled with a flavorful mix of crunchy vegetables and protein. This recipe is gluten free and dairy free with a plant based option.
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 tablespoon grated ginger
- ½ pound protein of choice (any ground meat, crumbled firm tofu, or pulsed cooked chickpeas)
- 1 tablespoon low-sodium tamari or soy sauce use coconut aminos for soy free
- 1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
- 2 medium carrots shredded
- 2 cups any color cabbage thinly sliced
- 8 ounces mushrooms of choice finely chopped
- large rice paper sheets/spring roll wrappers about 8.5 inches in size, see notes below
- oil for cooking dumplings
Dipping Sauce
- ¼ cup low-sodium tamari/soy sauce or coconut aminos
- 1-2 teaspoons sriracha
- 1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
- splash maple syrup omit if using coconut aminos
Garnish
- toasted sesame seeds optional
- sliced green onions optional
Instructions
- Brown meat with aromatics. Heat a large skillet over medium heat and add one tablespoon of oil along with the garlic and ginger. Cook for 30 seconds, then add in your protein of choice. After 1-2 minutes add the tamari/soy sauce and toasted sesame oil. Once browned, add the vegetables and cook for an additional 2 minutes.
- Cool filling and make sauce. Use a slotted spoon to transfer the cooked protein and vegetables to a bowl and allow them to cool. While the filling cools, whisk together the tamari/soy sauce, toasted sesame oil, maple syrup, and sriracha for your dipping sauce.
- Prepare your dumpling station. Fill a large shallow bowl with cool water and grab a large plate and a cutting board. Lightly oil the plate to place your wrapped dumplings on so they don't stick. You'll use the cutting board to wrap the dumplings on.
- Hydrate rice paper. Take a sheet of rice paper and completely submerge it in the water for a few seconds. Transfer it to your cutting board. The rice paper will rehydrate and become softer as you're working with it so it's important not to over soak it.
- Add filling and wrap. Add ¼ cup of filling to the center of the rice paper. Then gently pull the bottom of the rice paper up over the filling, fold over the left side, and then the right. Finally, roll it forward to seal the dumpling. Then repeat with a second rice paper so it's double-wrapped.
- Cook until crispy. Wipe out the excess moisture in the skillet and place it back over medium heat. Add a thin layer of oil to coat the bottom of the pan and place 3-4 dumplings in the skillet leaving space between them. Cook on each side for 5-6 minutes or until crispy with some brown spots. Transfer to a wire rack and continue with the process until you've cooked all the dumplings.
Notes
Makes about 12 dumplings, but this will number vary depending on the amount of filling used.
Make sure you use the large rice paper sheets: they’re 22 cm or 8.5 inches in diameter. If you can only find the small rice paper sheets, you’ll only be able to use about 1 heaping tablespoon of filling.
See blog post for more helpful tips and storage.
Ok tried these tonight but mine came out waaayyyy different. Mine were at least twice your size and I got 18 and still have filling left over. So when I make these next time I will halve the filling recipe except keep the ginger and garlic the same and I will only use 1 heaping tbsp for the filling. Mine were hard to eat because I made them too big but honestly I can’t wait to try again and just make them smaller
Hi Melissa,
Wow, that’s so interesting! I’m not sure how you’d have so much filling left over especially if they were so big in size. Hmm, did you by chance use a full pound of meat instead of half? Either way, thanks for letting me know. I hope your next batch is delicious!