• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Home
  • About Greedygirlgourmet
  • Recipes
  • SEO for Food Blogs
  • Authentic South East Asian Recipes
  • Privacy policy
  • Subscribe
  • Accessibility

Greedy Girl Gourmet

menu icon
go to homepage
  • Under 30 minutes
  • Recipes
  • Blogging
  • About
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
  • subscribe
    search icon
    Homepage link
    • Under 30 minutes
    • Recipes
    • Blogging
    • About
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
  • ×

    Home » Recipe Round-ups

    Published: Sep 1, 2022 · Modified: Mar 6, 2023 by Zen · This post may contain affiliate links.

    27 Best Side Dishes for Chinese Dumplings

    Sharing food makes everyone happy! :)

    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    • LinkedIn

    What to Serve with dumplings: 27 Best Side Dishes for Chinese Dumplings to make a quick and easy weeknight dinner.

    Chinese wontons in a bowl of clear chicken soup.
    Sprinkle some fried onion slices or fried garlic bits on the soup, if you have them!
    Jump to:
    • How to Cook
    • Expert Tips
    • FAQs
    • Dipping Sauces
    • Soups
    • Dim Sum
    • Vegetables
    • Meat
    • Carbs
    • Drinks

    There are many different types of dumplings from Shui Jiao, Xiao Long Bao (soup dumplings) and Chinese potstickers (also known as 饺子 (jiao zi) 锅贴(guo tie) or 煎饺 (Jian Jiao)) to Japanese gyoza and Polish pierogi!

    I'll be focusing on Chinese dumplings (Jiao Zi) in this post. In my opinion, they go well with almost everything but, if you need some ideas for side dishes, here they are!

    How to Cook

    Dumplings can be steamed, boiled (and served in soup), pan-fried and deep-fried.

    The perfect Chinese side dish to serve with dumplings would depend on how you cook the dumplings. Steamed and boiled dumplings are lighter in taste- goes fantastically with quick green chili pickles- whilst pan-fried and deep-fried ones are oilier and would thus require different sides.

    Expert Tips

    Tip #1: Dumplings are great make-ahead appetisers for gatherings or even an easy Chinese breakfast, as they can be cooked straight from frozen without thawing.

    Tip #2: To freeze dumplings, place them on a tray with space between each piece (this is to prevent them from touching each other and sticking.) Once frozen, they can be dumped into a big bag.

    FAQs

    How to reheat dumplings?

    It would depend on how they were originally cooked. Boiled or steamed dumplings are best reheated via steaming (gentle heating) to preserve the texture of the filling, whilst deep-fried or pan-fried dumplings can be microwaved or baked in the oven. Note that the bottom of potstickers may not be crispy after re-heating- you would need to pan-fry again (after reheating) to crisp it up.

    Can you cook potstickers in an air fryer?

    Yes you can, even for frozen potstickers- the cooking time would range from 6-10 minutes (380F/ 193C) depending on the size of the dumplings. There's no need to defrost but remember to line the dumplings in a single row (batch cook instead of crowding the air fryer.) You will also need to turn them over about and allow the other side to cook for about 2 minutes.

    Can you use wonton wrappers for dumplings?

    Yes! It's an easy "cheat" that will help you expedite the dumpling making process.

    Now for the best Chinese sides to go with your homemade Chinese dumplings!

    Dipping Sauces

    A bowl of garlic and chilli mixed with calamansi lime and soy sauce .

    Dumplings are often served with a sauce, such as Filipino Toyomansi.

    Chinese dipping sauce is usually a mix of sesame oil, ginger and/ or garlic and/ or sliced spring onions, vinegar and soy. (The tartness of the vinegar should be the dominant flavour- so the side dishes should complement the tang.)

    Other Chinese dumpling sauces include:

    • Lao Gan Ma chili
    • Lee Kum Kee Chiu Chow chili oil
    • Sriracha
    • Sichuan Dumpling Sauce
    • Creamy Sambal mayo (goes really well with fried dumplings!)

    Tip: If serving boiled or steamed dumplings, do not omit the dipping sauce, if not the taste can be a little bland!

    Soups

    A bowl of Chinese soup with pumpkin, scallops, carrots, jujubes and seaweed in a white bowl.

    In Chinese families, soup is served at almost every meal (even breakfast sometimes.)

    It's 1 of the perfect side dishes that go with everything! (We- Chinese people- also believe that drinking the right type of soup often can help to make you look younger and more beautiful!)

    Pumpkin Soup

    Chinese Pumpkin Soup with Carrots
    A deliciously savory dish, this Chinese Pumpkin Soup with carrots is also very nutritious and really easy to make in a few simple steps! (Basically, cut + steam!)
    Click here for the easy pumpkin soup recipe.
    A hand holding Chinese pumpkin soup served in a small pumpkin and white bowl.

    Clear Vegetable Soup

    A bowl of vegan asian wonton soup with vegetarian balls
    Sprinkle some fried onion slices or fried garlic bits on the soup, if you have them!

    You can also add the Chinese dumplings into wonton soup, like we do with wonton noodles!

    Tip: Boil the dumplings before adding them into the soup, so that they don't release starch into your broth that will affect the texture.

    Easy Vegan Wonton Soup for Colds
    Done in 20 minute vegan Chinese wonton soup that tastes as good as the traditional version. Gluten-free and made without commercially bought stock/ bouillon cube OR hours of making homemade stock! A great flu fighter thanks to the ginger and garlic!
    Click here for vegan wonton noodle soup.
    Chinese wontons in a bowl of clear chicken soup.

    Chinese Chicken soup

    A bowl of chicken soup with tomatoes and vegetables

    If you're making chicken noodle soup the main dish, here are some easy Chinese side dishes for chicken noodles.

    Chinese Coconut water chicken soup with lemongrass & ginger recipe
    A light but warming chicken soup that makes one feel better when sick or when it's raining. No sugar necessary thanks to the natural sweetness of the young coconut.
    Click here for chicken coconut soup.
    A close-up of coconut chicken soup with ginger and lots of ingredients

    Other Soups

    Other popular Chinese soups that go well with dumplings are:

    • hot and sour soup (Suan La Tang)
    • egg drop soup - this usually consists of a chicken or pork broth base (you can even use the vegan wonton soup below) into which a raw egg is dropped right before the fire is turned off. (The soup should be boiling when the egg is added.)
    • ABC soup

    Note: I wouldn't recommend Chinese herbal soups (such as Cantonese black chicken soup) to go with dumplings as they have quite strong flavours.

    Dim Sum

    Although Chinese people can eat dumplings any time of the day, potstickers are commonly served with other dim sum dishes such as:

    • Char Siew Bao (pork buns)
    • Chee cheong fun
    • Chinese carrot cake
    • spring rolls

    Note: if you're thinking these would be a real pain to make, note that frozen ones are sold in most Chinese supermarkets.

    Scallion Pancakes

    Crispy and flaky pan fried scallion pancakes on parchment paper.
    Taiwanese green onion pancake recipe (Cong you bing)
    Taiwanese green onion pancake (Cong you bing), also known as Chinese scallion pancake, is a delicious savoury street snack that is easy to batch make and freeze.
    Click here for the Taiwanese pancake recipe.
    Crispy and flaky pan fried scallion pancakes on parchment paper.

    Vegetables

    Cucumber Salad

    A bowl of spicy cold cucumber salad.

    If you're pan-frying the jiaozi, you may want something with less oil for a side dish, such as a refreshing cucumber or tomato salad.

    Cold cucumber salad recipe
    The easy Chinese cold cucumber salad recipe is delicious and full of spicy flavor. Best of all, it only requires 4-ingredients and takes 5-10 minutes to make. 
    Click here for an easy Chinese cucumber salad.
    Close-up of red spicy asian cucumber salad.

    Jellyfish Salad

    This cold Chinese side dish can be bought pre-cooked in the Asian supermarket- if frozen, you'll need to defrost it and serve but it's also sold chilled (i.e. ready-to-eat.)

    Most Asian jellyfish are sold cooked, so don't need cooking, but always check the packaging to be on the safe side! I like mixing it with cucumbers to bulk up the dish.

    Marinated jellyfish with cucumber salad on the side.

    Black Fungus Salad

    Also known as wood ear mushroom salad, this is 1 of my favourite Chinese appetisers but I hardly make it now. There was news that a family died after eating fungus that had been soaked overnight so, after that, I've been a little leery of making this dish! (However, I'm not sure WorldofBuzz is a credible news site...?)

    Chinese Pickles

    Pickled cucumbers or pickled lettuce would help to digest the oily fried dumplings.

    How to make

    You can buy them in Asian supermarkets or make your own by mixing 1 teaspoon of salt, 1 Cup of white sugar and 1 Cup of rice vinegar, then pouring it over the julienned carrots and cucumbers. (You'll need 3-4 carrots AND cucumber in total. Optional: throw in a few slices of ginger for flavour!)

    Easy Gochujang Butternut Squash recipe
    An easy 5-ingredient gochujang butternut squash recipe that is bursting with flavour. The hardest thing about this roasted Asian butternut squash recipe is cutting the squash!
    Click here for the Spicy Baked Squash recipe.
    Close-up of gochujang butternut squash baked fries.

    Vegetable Stir-fry

    I recommend a sauteed oyster-sauce green vegetable, such as Gai Lan (Chinese Broccoli) or Bak Choy, instead of pasta salad or green bean salad.

    If you feel guilty for eating deep fried dumplings, you could serve with steamed veg such as steamed broccoli and use the same dumpling dipping sauce for both dishes!

    Personally, I wouldn't serve steamed greens with steamed/ boiled dumplings as the meal will be quite bland. However, if you have lighter tastebuds, you may like it!

    Meat

    You can also serve dumplings with a Cantonese favourite: sliced soy sauce chicken, char stew and siew yoke (roasted pork belly.)

    If you want an easy no-fuss recipe for soy sauce chicken, click here.

    Best Poached One Pot Chinatown Soy Sauce Chicken Recipe
    This Cantonese classic chicken is an easy-to-recreate-restaurant dish that can be made in 1 pot! It's also the gift that keeps giving as the leftover poaching liquid can be used for so many things (see post above). (Inspired by 4 recipes: Woks Of Life, SCMP, Burning Kitchen and Red House Spice)
    Click here for the 1-pot chicken recipe.
    A plate of Cantonese soy sauce with white rice and green onions.
    12345 Chinese Spare Ribs (5-ingredients)
    These Chinese Spare Ribs are delicious, finger-licking Asian-style pork spare ribs that are as simple to cook as 12345 (a mnemonic device that will also help you recall the recipe.) Using only the Asian pantry staples of wine, dark soy sauce, vinegar and sugar to braise the meat, with only a few minutes of active cooking, this is the best easy sticky Chinese Spare Ribs for a lazy food lover.
    Click here for the braised pork ribs recipe.
    Close-up of a pork rib with fingerlicking sticky sauce and caramelised bits.

    Carbs

    Dumplings go with pretty much anything and they're not very heavy (if you don't eat too many) so a side dish of fried rice or stir-fried noodles would work very well.

    Stir-Fried noodles

    A bowl of Singaporean bihun goreng made with blanched bihun.
    You can make the bihun goreng vegan by leaving out the oyster sauce, egg etc

    Dumplings are delicious served on top of Chow Mein or Stir-fried noodles!

    Singapore Fried Vermicelli (Bihun Goreng)
    Singapore Fried Vermicelli, also known as Bihun Goreng, is delicious, easy to cook and quick to make in under 30 minutes. Using only simple ingredients (no chicken broth needed), it's a complete meal in itself. It's also cheap enough that some hawker centres (street food stalls) in Singapore sell it for only S$2/ US$1.50!
    Click here for the fried bihun recipe.
    A plate of Singaporean fried vermicelli noodles with egg, carrot and fish cake.

    Mee siam

    If you want to expand your side dishes past Chinese cuisine, try these tangy noodles that- despite the name- are not from Thailand but Singapore & Malaysia!

    P.S. There's also a stir-fried mee siam version.

    Singapore Mee Siam Recipe (with Soup)
    This Singapore Mee Siam Recipe (with Soup) is sweet, spicy, tangy and altogether delicious! No wonder it is such a popular noodle dish in Singapore and Malaysia!
    Click here for the mee siam kuah recipe.
    An overhead shot of a bowl of Singapore Wet Mee Siam with soup.

    Scallop Congee

    A spoon scooping a fresh scallop out of a bowl of seafood congee.

    If you prefer abalone congee, I have a great Chinese abalone congee recipe here.

    Dried scallop congee recipe
    A seafood porridge which uses both dried and frozen scallops- the ultimate Chinese comfort food!
    Click here for the seafood congee recipe.
    A spoon scooping a fresh scallop out of a bowl of seafood congee.

    Chicken Congee

    Tip: You can serve your congee with these porridge toppings or side dishes.

    Leftover roast chicken congee (jook)
    A great way to use up your roast chicken leftovers is to make rice porridge (jook)
    Click here for an easy leftover chicken recipe.
    A close-up of a bowl of chicken congee

    Pumpkin Congee

    Pumpkin lovers may also be interested in these Chinese pumpkin dishes.

    Chinese Pumpkin Porridge
    Adapted from the recipe of a Michelin star Chinese restaurant (in a 5-star hotel) to make it possible for daily weeknight dinners!
    Click here for a Michelin-inspired recipe!
    A bowl of bright orange leftover pumpkin puree Chinese porridge jook.


    Fried Rice

    The secret to making great Chinese fried rice is using leftover rice- here are some great fried rice recipes using leftover rice!

    Whilst some people suggest serving white rice with dumplings, Chinese people don't usually do so (unless there are other side dishes besides the rice such as stir-fried vegetables.)

    Tip: If you're reducing your carb intake, try a side of cauliflower rice or zucchini noodles!

    Drinks

    Tiger Tea

    Or another of these popular Taiwanese bubble tea flavors!

    Tiger Milk Tea
    Tiger Milk Tea Boba, also known as Brown Sugar Bubble Tea, is a super popular beverage in many Asian countries thanks to its creamy, deep toffee-like flavor. Like most bubble tea recipes, it's not difficult to recreate at home- cheaper too! Plus, it's done in under 20 minutes and requires only 3 ingredients!
    Click here for this popular brown sugar milk tea recipe.
    2 glasses of milk tea with brown streaks on the walls of the glasses.

    Sour Plum Tea

    A glass of Korean plum tea with a squeezed lemon and maesil-cheong next to it
    There is also a Korean version of these tea which uses the plums in a different way.

    Chinese people love to drink tea to wash down the oil of the meal. In particular, sour plum tea is drunk to help improve digestion! (I even have a jelly version of this traditional Chinese drink!)

    Chinese Sour Plum Drink (Suanmeitang)
    An ancient Chinese drink drunk by royalty, this classic summer beverage remains popular even today thanks to its sweet-sour-salty-smokey taste! Reduced to its 3 most basic ingredients whilst keeping a great flavour so that everyone can make Chinese plum tea easily at home!
    Click here for the Chinese plum tea recipe.
    Overheat shot of a cup of Chinese Sour Plum Drink next to hawthorns and flowers.

    Barley Tea

    Cup of golden home roasted barley tea, also known as boricha, mugicha and damaicha

    This popular summer drink is common in all the East Asian countries: China, Japan, Korea etc- it's associated with summer as barley is believed to be cooling for one's body.

    Korean Barley Tea Recipe (Boricha) (Mugicha)
    A deliciously nutty and aromatic no-caffeine tea that can be drunk both hot and cold. Ice barley tea is great on a hot day!
    Click here for the roasted barley tea recipe.
    A glass of cold roasted barley tea.

    Longan Ginger Red Date Tea

    Longan Tea with Red Dates
    This Ginger Red date Longan Tea recipe with Goji Berries is a nourishing, traditional Chinese tea. It contains no caffeine and warms you right up on a cold day!
    Click here for longan red date tea.
    Someone holding a cup of longan jujube tea with other TCM ingredients in the background.

    Gui Hua Cha (Osmanthus Tea)

    A cup of golden osmanthus tea made using dried gui hua flowers in a tea strainer
    Golden Osmanthus Tea (Gui Hua Cha)
    One of the most popular non-caffeinated Chinese teas, Pure Golden Osmanthus Tea (or 桂花茶 Gui Hua Cha) was part of the Chinese imperial palace's diet dating back to the Tang dynasty! If you want to drink what the royals drank, here are 4 easy ways to make this beautifying, classic and popular Chinese tea
    Click here for the floral tea recipe.
    A cup of golden osmanthus tea made using dried gui hua flowers in a tea strainer

    What do you like to serve with Chinese dumplings? Let me know in the comments and if you've found this list of potsticker side dishes helpful, please do share it on social media!

    I have other recipes you may like here! :)

    • A spoonful of Chinese black vinegar up close.
      Black Vinegar Substitutes (12 Best + Worst)
    • A bowl of shrimp congee toped with fresh green onions.
      Best Congee Toppings
    • Close-up of a bowl of green Palak Khichdi with a red garnish.
      31 Asian Green Foods for St. Patricks Day
    • Close-up of gochujang butternut squash baked fries.
      24 Asian Side Dishes for Chicken Tenders

    Reader Interactions

    Leave a Reply Cancel reply

    Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

    Recipe Rating




    Primary Sidebar

    Greedygirlgourmet eating 2 sandwiches in Scotland

    Hi I'm Zhen also known as GGG! I couldn't boil water till I was 18 but after living abroad (in St. Andrews then London) for 11 years and having to cook for myself, I now love cooking for friends and family. Learning to cook late, I make sure my recipes go into enough detail for those new to Asian cuisine or who love a test kitchen approach to cooking!

    More about GGG ->

    Under 30 Minutes

    • A plate of coconut jelly and pandan jelly arranged as a flower.
      Pandan Jelly (Agar Agar)
    • A plate of coconut jelly and pandan jelly arranged as a flower.
      Coconut Jelly (Dim Sum) (3-ingredients)
    • Cup of pink lychee juice with a lemon.
      Easy Lychee Juice Recipe
    • A jar of homemade pickled cucumbers with chilies and an onion next to it.
      Asian Quick Pickled Cucumbers (5-min)

    Popular Dishes

    • A plate of seared mushrooms tossed in a butter soy sauce.
      Quick Eryngii Mushrooms (3-ingredients)
    • A plate of Cantonese soy sauce with white rice and green onions.
      Best Poached One Pot Soy Sauce Chicken
    • A golden yuzu marmalade jelly in the shape of a flower decorated with lemon zest
      Yuzu konnyaku jelly recipe (15 minutes)
    • 2 glasses of milk tea with brown streaks on the walls of the glasses.
      Tiger Milk Tea Boba (3-ingredients)

    Footer

    ↑ back to top

    About

    • About Greedygirlgourmet
    • Privacy Policy
    • Accessibility Policy
    • All Recipes

    Newsletter

    • Sign up here!

    Contact

    • Contact
    • Buy Me a Coffee :)

    As an Amazon Associate, at no cost to you, I earn from qualifying purchases :)

    Copyright © 2023 GreedyGirlGourmet