How to Cook Frozen Soup Dumplings at Home
Not sure how to cook frozen soup dumplings for yourself? You’ve come to the right place. Grab a bag of your favorite soup dumplings and use this guide to get your XLB on.
How to Cook Soup Dumplings from Frozen in 5 Souper Simple Steps
What You’ll Need
To make restaurant-quality soup dumplings at home, you’ll need to start with a pot, pan, or wok. You’ll also need a steamer basket and the steamer liners included in your bag of soup dumplings at the ready before you get started.
1. Bring the Water to a Boil
Fill your pan with 2–3 inches of water and bring it to a steady boil.
2. Place the Steamer in the Pan
Place one steamer liner for each tier you’ll be using in your bamboo steamer basket. Then, place up to 12 dumplings on each tier and cover the basket with the lid. Each dumpling should have at least one inch of space between them, like a slow song at a middle school dance.
3. Steam the Xiao Long Bao
All told, for most of our soup dumpling flavors, it takes about 11 minutes to steam the dumplings. However, cooking times can vary if you’re steaming one of our special edition flavors.
4. Let the Dumplings Rest
Once 11 minutes have passed, let the soup dumplings rest off the heat in the steamer basket with the lid still on for one minute. Then, remove the lid and let them rest for one more minute so the cooking process can finish.
5. Enjoy!
Your soup dumplings are now ready to eat with your method of choice! If you want to take your XLB game to the next level, add some of your favorite dipping sauces like black vinegar or ginger scallion oil to the mix.
How to Cook Frozen Xiao Long Bao Without a Steamer
Don’t have a bamboo steamer basket at home? No problem—we’ve tested and approved some alternative steaming methods that give you the same results for your Xiao Long Bao experience.
Using a Metal Steaming Basket
On principle, the same metal steaming basket you use to whip up a batch of steamed broccoli or carrots can also be used to steam dumplings. Just follow our instructions above for standard cooking procedures, fitting as many dumplings as feasibly possible in the basket—and don’t forget to use your steamer liners!
In just over 11 minutes, you’ll have the same juicy, umami results you can expect from using a bamboo steamer basket.
Cooking Soup Dumplings with a Pressure Cooker
The principle of this method also applies to rice cookers, Instant Pots, and similar small appliances. Here’s what you’ll need:
- Soup dumplings
- A rice cooker, Instant Pot, or another similar small appliance of choice
- A colander or wire rack that fits inside the cooker
- Water
Fill your appliance up with water and place the inverted colander or wire rack in the bottom. The wire rack or colander should not be submerged, and the dumplings shouldn’t touch the water at all. Place the steamer liner from your soup dumpling bag on top of the rack or colander. This prevents that devastating moment when a dumpling rips open and spills its mouthwatering contents into the water below.
Place your dumplings on the steamer rack and cover the lid. The cooking time varies depending on which appliance you’re using, but in general, start by steaming the dumplings on low pressure for at least three minutes in an Instant Pot, or for 10 minutes at a rolling boil in your rice cooker.
Steaming with a Metal Rack
A soup dumpling fix can strike anytime, even when you’re on vacation. But, if you’ve got the dumplings and a stove, we’ve got the solution—we tried it for ourselves on YouTube. You’ll need the following items:
- Soup dumplings
- A saucepan, pot, or wok
- A wire steaming or cooling rack
- A plate
- Water
Place your wire rack in the pot, and pour in a few inches of water. Then, turn on the stove.
Once your water is boiling, place one of the steamer liners onto the plate. Set your frozen soup dumplings on top, 1 inch apart—soup dumplings like their personal space, or they get too attached to their friends.
Once the plate with the dumplings is in place on top of the rack, cover the entire setup with your pot’s lid and set a timer for 11 minutes. Let your dumplings sit for a minute while you prepare your sauce of choice. Try not to inhale them, but we won’t judge if you do.
Using Aluminum Foil and a Plate
Aren’t sure how to steam soup dumplings if you don’t have a wire rack? This one is for you. All you’ll need to steam the soup dumplings is a plate, a shallow pan, and three aluminum foil balls (or a bowl, if you’re out of foil). The aluminum balls should all be about the same size—nobody likes a soggy soup dumpling.
To get started, place your aluminum foil balls in the pan. Fill the pan with about 1.5 inches of water, and turn on the heat.
Once the water has reached a steady boil, set the plate on top of the three aluminum balls. Make sure the plate is as level as possible. Then, cover the whole setup with the pan’s lid.
Just like any other cooking hack we’ve mentioned, this process will take 11 minutes—throw on an old episode of your favorite Saturday morning cartoon while you wait, and your dinner will be ready in no time.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
What Size Pot Should I Use?
Any size pot can work, as long as you can fit a steamer basket inside it without waterlogging your soup dumplings!
Do I Need to Use a Steamer Liner for Cooking Soup Dumplings?
Yes—you need something under the soup dumplings, or they’ll stick to the basket, rip open, and leave you with sad, soupless dumplings. However, you can also use parchment paper or flat, leafy vegetables like cabbage if you’re in a pinch.
Where Do I Find My Steamer Liners?
Inside your bag of soup dumplings! We include a set of steamer liners in the packaging. However, if you don’t see them right away, check the bottom of the bag—sometimes, they can shift to the bottom when we’re packaging and shipping your dumplings.
What if I Run Out of Liners?
If you run out of steamer liners from making a bunch of half-servings, no sweat—you can also use flat-surfaced produce like Napa cabbage leaves, sliced king oyster mushrooms, or kimchi if you’re feeling really spicy.
Can You Cook Soup Dumplings for Too Long?
Yes. If you cook longer than the recommended amount of time, the soup could end up cooking out of the dumpling completely. You’ll just be left with a dumpling wrapper full of overcooked meat and sadness.
How Many Dumplings Fit in a Steamer Basket?
If you’re using one of our steamer baskets, you can fit 24 soup dumplings into one basket. Other at-home methods might fit fewer, while those five-tier steamers they use at dim sum restaurants can fit 60 if the basket is large enough.
Do I Need to Thaw My Dumplings?
Please don’t—our soup dumplings are made to be cooked directly from the freezer!
A Message from Our Founders
We’re proud to be the children of immigrants. As second-generation Chinese-Americans, we couldn’t be more excited to share the flavors of our heritage with the world. This little company connects us over what matters the most: a delicious shared meal.
Order Your Frozen Soup Dumplings for the Perfect Experience
Ready to try your own, restaurant-quality soup dumplings at home? Order a bag for yourself and one of our handy steamer baskets to bring the umami explosion right to your kitchen today.