Dad did the dough, mum made the filling, then us kids were called to help with the wrapping. When it came to potstickers, it was always a family affair in our house. 

The production line made us feel like we earned the giant pile of crispy-bottomed dumplings at the end. And that’s the beauty of homemade potstickers: you can make LOADS of them for only a fraction of the price you’d pay when eating out. 

The reality, though, is that potstickers made from scratch take time. When we don’t have much of it, we turn to shortcuts or ‘cheats’ that are just as satisfying as the real deal.

So if you love potstickers as much as we do, then our recipe for the Ultimate Cheat’s Potstickers is for you. It has been designed with not one, not two, but three shortcuts.

Store-bought wrappers are a sensible start. It means you don’t have to mix, knead, and rest the dough, and there’s definitely no rolling out of individual wrappers. Simply stock up on a few frozen packs of round dumpling wrappers and defrost as needed.

When it comes to the filling, we’ve streamlined it by swapping out the usual soy sauce, salt and sugar with one magic ingredient – oyster sauce. It offers umami savouriness and sweet notes all in one. Spring onions bring an aromatic green element, and being one of the easiest vegetables to chop in quantity, they feature aplenty in our cheat’s filling. 

The real timesaver is in the wrapping technique. Do away with pleats entirely and simply fold the wrapper in half to form a half-moon shape. This means you have two surfaces for browning – instead of just the bottom in traditional potstickers – which results in double the crispiness factor. 

While family-style, group-effort potstickers will always have a place in our hearts, these cheat’s potstickers are an ultimate staple in our comfort food repertoire. We think you should make them a part of yours too.