Easy Potsticker Sauce

This potsticker sauce is easy to make in less than 5 minutes using simple pantry ingredients. It's the perfect, ultra flavorful dipping sauce to serve with potstickers (Chinese dumplings), gyoza, egg rolls, and wontons. The salty-sweet and spicy flavor is so delicious, you'll want to drizzle it over everything! Vegan and gluten free.

Our family is obsessed with vegetable potstickers - it's one of our favorite vegan appetizers and of course a dipping sauce is essential. When you bite into a crispy, plump veggie dumpling that's been plunged into a drool-worthy, maple-sesame soy dipping sauce, it's pure foodie bliss!

We can't get enough of this bold, salty-sweet and savory Asian dipping sauce. I think you’ll love it too!

Why make it?

There's no need to pay extra money for dipping sauce for your dumplings! Here's our top 5 reasons we prefer to make it from scratch:

• quick and versatile - it's ready in only a few minutes and is delicious on everything from dumplings and fried mushrooms to salad and stir fry, and it really perks up leftovers!
• affordable - make it at home for a fraction of the cost! I'm sure you have all the ingredients in your kitchen right now!
• healthier option - no weird additives when you make homemade dumpling sauce. Plus it's easily customized for special diets and allergies. It's vegan/vegetarian, gluten free, oil-free friendly, nut free, refined sugar free.
• customizable flavor - adjust the ingredients to your taste: sweeter, spicier, saltier; add fresh garlic, ginger or Chinese 5 spice for an extra boost of flavor.

Ingredients

So few ingredients, so much flavor!!! Gather these ingredients together, and let's get started:

• Soy sauce - I use a medium soy sauce.
• Rice vinegar - perfect level of tanginess.
• Sesame oil - adds a nutty richness to the sauce (but you could skip it).
• Maple syrup - a little sweetness to balance the flavors.
• Garlic - fresh is best for extra flavor and pungency.
• Spiciness - I like sriracha and sometimes a pinch of Chinese 5 spice which adds a very distinct and delicious flavor.
• Garnish - sesame seeds and green onions add the perfect finishing touch.

Ingredient Substitutions & Variations

There's a lot of room for customizing this potsticker dipping sauce. Start off with the recipe as written, taste, and then tweak to your personal preferences or for the ingredients you have on hand. Here's a few suggestions:

Saltiness - use low sodium soy sauce; or add water to dilute the concentration of the soy sauce.

Gluten-free - use gluten free soy sauce or tamari.

Tanginess - can sub in black vinegar or regular white vinegar for the acidic punch. Each will change the flavor slightly.

Sweetness - a little sweetness balances out the salty, acidic flavors. Sub in sugar (white, brown or coconut) or agave for maple syrup if desired.

Spiciness - use red chili flakes, sambal oelek or your favorite spice instead of the sriracha. Each spice will bring its own heat index, so start with a small amount, taste, and adjust from there. I wouldn't sub 1:1!

How to make Dumpling Sauce

No blender, no whisk, no fancy equipment needed, just a jar and a lid. If it were any simpler, this gyoza dipping sauce would make itself.

1. I like to make my gyoza sauce in a jar so I can just shake it up, pour into individual serving dishes, and then put any remaining sauce straight into the fridge. But it's just as quick and easy to add everything to a bowl or measuring cup and stir together.
2. Add green onions and sesame seeds right before serving.

Uses for Potsticker Sauce

Of course this flavor bomb of a dipping sauce is traditional served with all the Asian dumplings; but that's not all, here are a few more ways to use it:

• Savory Pancakes: vegan potato pancakes, green savory green pancakes and Korean veggie pancakes.
• Salad/slaw dressing: for a tangy slaw; toss the dipping sauce with a salad of shredded cabbage, bean sprouts, and green onions topped with crushed peanuts, sesame seeds and sliced red chilies.
• Tofu: drizzle over baked or pan fried tofu. It makes a delicious tofu marinade and vegan stir fry sauce.
• Veggies: drizzle over pan fried mushrooms or pan fried/baked cabbage wedges garnished with a sprinkle of sesame seeds and spring onions.

How Long Does it Last?

Pour a side dish of dipping sauce for each guest. Right before serving, add a sprinkle of sesame seeds and green onions on top. This way the remaining unused sauce can be saved in the fridge all week. Don’t save sauce that was already used for dipping.

The Key to a Great Meal is the Vegan Sauce!

If you love this easy gyoza dumpling sauce, here's a few more tasty vegan sauces to try next:

• Vietnamese Peanut Sauce
• Vegan Tzatziki (3 ways)
• Vegan Worcestershire Sauce (gf)
• Vegan Unagi Sauce (eel sauce)