2 Ways To Satisfy Your Craving For Dumplings Without Making Dough

Steamed, pan-fried, boiled, deep-fried — oh, how I love dumplings in any iteration, especially the speed at which they arrive at my apartment door. (Honestly, how did people survive winter before food delivery?)

But what happens when you find yourself with a dumpling craving and you are out of dumpling delivery range? Or maybe you just want to try cooking something new? Either way, make life simple and skip the trickiest part of dumpling fabrication — making the dumpling dough — by using store-bought dough.

Here we have two ways that are absolutely not chef-approved for hacking your way through dumpling crafting — but they work. Your first option: wonton wrappers. The thin skin of the store-bought wonton wrappers makes the perfect frosted, glassy, semi-translucent skin that you are used to seeing encase you dollar pork, shrimp, or vegetable dumplings. Never mind that wonton wrappers and Chinese jiaozi dumpling skins are made from different ingredients — your dumpling-starved mouth won't mind.

Your second option: canned biscuit dough. That can of flaky biscuit dough sitting in the fridge is a batch of dumplings waiting to happen. Divide each biscuit into three layers, and then press the layers into thin dumpling skins (be careful not to tear the dough). Then spoon your favorite filling, such as this Simple Pork and Chive Dumplings recipe or this Easy Vegetarian Dumpling recipe. Gather the edges of your dough into a beggar's purse shape, and then (this is where things become very unconventional) bake your dumplings on a baking sheet in a 350 degree F oven for 25 to 30 minutes. Serve your dumplings with a sweet spicy-chile sauce or ponzu and enjoy!