Why is there always so much leftover turkey? You budget 1–1½ pounds per guest, but there’s always extra. Enter these Leftover Turkey and Kimchi Potstickers. They’re just five ingredients, and easier than they look to make!
Potstickers are my favorite dumpling. They’re both pan fried and steamed, so they’re crispy on the bottom, loaded with filling, and soft and slightly doughy on the top. It’s a texture lover’s dream.
For the dough of these Leftover Turkey and Kimchi Potstickers, I turned to wonton wrappers. You can usually find them in the Produce department next to the tofu (I used Frieda’s wonton wrappers). They’re square, but this shape of potsticker requires a round wrapper, so you’ll need a large cookie cutter.
It took about 5 minutes to cut all the wrappers with a cookie cutter. Wonton wrappers can dry out easily, so I keep a damp paper towel handy to cover the wrappers that I’m not using at the moment.
This next step is where recruiting a family member or Thanksgiving house guest would be key. Each wrapper requires a very small amount of filling—one teaspoon to be exact. Since there is about three cups of filling in this recipe, you can see that it makes a lot of potstickers! I ended up with about 50 potstickers and the process took a little over 30 minutes with just me folding them.
The filling is four simple ingredients: finely diced turkey, finely diced kimchi, 2 sliced green onions, and an egg. I found the kimchi, which is a Korean condiment made of fermented cabbage, right next to the wonton wrappers in the produce section.
Now onto the forming! This 32 second video is the best that I’ve found. 11–16 seconds on the video is the part where you want to pay close attention! Near the end, you’ll get pretty good at it, but it definitely takes some time to make all of them. But this makes an excellent team project with a family member, house guest, or friend.
You can cook the potstickers immediately, or freeze them for later. I placed most of mine in a single layer on a parchment-lined sheet tray, and placed it in the freezer for a few hours. Then I removed them and dumped them into a gallon-size resealable freezer bag. They’ll keep in the freezer for a month or two.
Finally, I made a dipping sauce for the potstickers using a few Asian pantry staples. It’s simple, and can be made spicy by not removing the seeds of the jalapeño.
We got out the chopsticks to enjoy these Turkey and Kimchi Potstickers, but a fork works too! Or honestly, they’re all of two bites and easy to pick up, so your hands would work too. Especially little hands—they would be great toddler/kid food if they’re made with a mild kimchi.
Turkey and Kimchi Potstickers
- Prep Time: 45 minutes
- Cook Time: 8 minutes
- Total Time: 53 minutes
- Yield: 50 potstickers 1x
Ingredients
Potstickers
- 1 (12 oz) package wonton wrappers (I used Frieda’s)
- 2 cups finely diced cooked turkey
- 1 cup finely diced kimchi (I used Frieda’s)
- 2 green onions, thinly sliced
- 1 egg, beaten
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil or canola oil
Dipping sauce
- ¼ cup low sodium soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
- 2 tablespoons sesame oil
- 2 teaspoons brown sugar
- 2 teaspoons fish sauce
- 1 green onion, thinly sliced
- 1 jalapeño, thinly sliced
Instructions
- Use a circular cookie cutter to cut circles out of each wonton wrapper. Use the largest cookie cutter that will fit inside the square wrapper—you want circles that are as large as possible. Set aside the cut circles and cover with a damp paper towel.
- In a medium sized bowl, combine the turkey, kimchi, green onions, and beaten egg. Toss to combine.
- Prepare a small bowl of water. Place one circle on a flat surface. Dip your finger into the water and moisten the edge of one half of the circle. Place 1 teaspoon of filling in the middle of the circle. Bring the edges together, creating a half moon. Starting at one end, pinch the edge closed. Fold the wonton wrapper 4–5 times across the rounded edge of the half moon. Pinch the final edge to seal. Place on a flat surface and squish the potsticker so that it sits flat (folded edge up). Repeat with remaining wonton wrappers and filling.
- Heat oil in a medium sauté pan over medium heat. Once hot, add a layer of potstickers, leaving about 1 inch between potstickers. Sauté for about 2 minutes, or until the bottom of the potstickers is light brown. Add ¼ cup water (careful—it will sizzle when you add it!). Cover and reduce the heat to low. Cook for 3–4 minutes, or until the wonton wrappers are slightly translucent. Uncover the pan and turn heat back to medium. Cook until the water is evaporated, about 1–2 minutes. Remove from the pan and place on a paper towel lined plate.
- Repeat with remaining potstickers. Potstickers can also be frozen and cooked as listed above, increasing the steaming time to 5–6 minutes instead of 3–4 minutes.
- While the potstickers are cooking, place the dipping sauce ingredients in a jar with a tight fitting lid. Shake to combine. Serve as a dipping sauce for freshly cooked potstickers.
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