Air fryer frozen potstickers are an easy appetizer or side dish for an Asian meal or as a crowd-pleasing snack. Making gyoza, wontons, dumplings, or potstickers is so easy in the air fryer. Trader Joe’s gyoza in the air fryer are particularly delicious!
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You can have a delicious snack or side dish of air fryer potstickers on the table in less than 15 minutes from start to finish.
Making chicken, pork, shrimp, or vegetable frozen potstickers in the air fryer is the easiest and healthiest way to cook them.
The air fryer is incredibly good at heating up frozen foods. I especially love Trader Joe’s freezer aisle. I’ve tried air frying their frozen samosas, falafel, empanadas, and finally, this easy air fryer recipe for Trader Joe’s potstickers.
What’s the difference between dumplings, gyoza, potstickers, and wontons?
Potstickers are also commonly called dumplings, gyoza, and wontons. Although these terms are used interchangeably, there are subtle differences.
Dumplings are a generic term for small parcels of dough with a filling. Dumplings are popular in many cultures. For example, in Italy you have ravioli, in Nepal you have momos, Poland’s dumplings are pierogies, and Korean dumplings are called mandu.
Jiaozi are China’s version of dumplings and are crescent-shaped parcels of dough filled with meat and vegetables. They can be steamed (zhēngjiao), boiled (shuijiao), or pan fried with oil and water (guotie).
Potstickers are the same as pan-fried guotie. While pan frying, caramelization causes the dumplings to stick to the pot, hence the name “pot stickers”.
Wontons are also Chinese but are smaller than jaiozi and have a thinner wrapper. They may be served in broth and generally have meat but no vegetables.
Gyoza are Japan’s version of dumplings. They are usually made with thinner wrappers than Chinese dumplings (jiaozi), and are usually served pan fried.
Trader Joe’s has a few gyoza products and the pork gyoza potstickers are my favorite. The Thai vegetable gyoza and chicken gyoza potstickers are also good.
Or check out the whole collection of my favorite frozen foods in the air fryer including air fryer frozen egg rolls.
Tips for Success
For this gyoza potstickers air fryer recipe, I recommend using a spritz of cooking spray or brushing the potstickers and the bottom of the basket until evenly coated with oil. In addition, spray or brush the potstickers again when you flip them over halfway through cooking.
The potstickers can become dry and hard if you don’t do this. Don’t use a canned oil spray, but rather a spray bottle filled with oil or a brush dipped in oil. You can use avocado oil, olive oil, or vegetable oil. I prefer avocado oil due to the high smoke point.
And although it may seem like a lot of oil, the quantity of oil will still be less than what you would use if you pan-fried the gyoza.
I also recommend preheating the air fryer before putting the gyoza in.
Keep the potstickers frozen until you’re ready to cook them.
Don’t crowd the air fryer basket – place the pot stickers in a single layer and leave a little bit of space between the dumplings to allow the hot air to circulate. If you need to, air fry frozen dumplings in multiple batches.
Serve air fryer dumplings with your favorite dipping sauce. Here are the best dipping sauces:
- Sweet and sour sauce
- Gochujang sauce
- Ginger soy sauce
- Hoisin sauce
- Sweet chili sauce
- Soy sauce + rice vinegar + sesame seeds + a few drops of sesame oil.
Every air fryer will vary. The first time you make potstickers in the air fryer, monitor and check on them 2 minutes before the cooking time is up. Adjust the recipe as needed in the future.
FAQS
I usually have no issues with sticking, but if you find that the gyoza are sticking, line the basket with a piece of parchment paper or some aluminum foil. Poke a few holes in the parchment or foil to allow air to circulate, or purchase perforated parchment rounds or squares.
Yes, for best results you should turn the potstickers partway through cooking, and spray or brush them with oil after turning them over.
Yes, you can use the same timing and temperature to air fry gyoza using the Instant Pot air fryer lid, Duo Crisp or Pro Crisp. You can make the gyoza in a Ninja Foodi too.
I used Trader Joe’s frozen gyoza for this recipe. I’ve air fried the vegetarian Thai gyoza, the pork gyoza, and chicken gyoza potstickers. I also buy frozen wontons from Costco.
Grocery stores have other brands including Ling Ling potstickers, Korean Bibigo mandu or Bibigo mini wontons, Siwin, Tai Pei, Pagoda, and Aldi’s Fusia Asian potstickers. They should all work with this recipe’s approximate times, but keep an eye on them by checking on them about 2 minutes before the time’s up. If the mini wontons are much smaller than regular wontons, reduce the cooking time by a couple of minutes.
This recipe was tested using a basket air fryer (Cosori) and Instant Pot air fryer (Duo Crisp).
If the gyoza are undercooked, turn them over and add an additional 2 to 3 minutes to the cooking time.
If you want really crispy dumplings, increase the temperature to 400 degrees at the end, and air fry frozen potstickers for 2 minutes of cook time.
How to cook frozen potstickers in the air fryer
Air fryer gyoza potstickers instructions
- Keep gyoza frozen until ready to use
- Preheat air fryer
- Oil the basket
- Place gyoza in the air fryer basket and spray with oil
- Air fry gyoza till golden brown, turning once or twice during cooking
- Transfer the air fryer gyoza to a serving platter
- Serve with your favorite dipping sauce
See the recipe card below on how to make air fryer frozen dumplings
Air Fryer Frozen Potstickers, Gyoza, Dumplings, Wontons
Equipment
Ingredients
Instructions
- Preheat the air fryer for 5 minutes at 380 degrees F.
- Spray the basket with spray oil.
- Add the frozen gyoza potstickers to the air fryer basket and make sure they're evenly spread out and in one layer, being careful not to overcrowd them.
- Spray the potstickers with a spritz of oil spray, which will prevent them from becoming hard and dry.
- Close the air fryer and air fry for 12 minutes at 380 degrees Fahrenheit.
- At the halfway mark, open the lid and use tongs or nonstick spatula to turn the gyoza. Because they're delicate, be careful when turning them. Liberally, spray the gyoza one more time. Close the lid and continue cooking.
- When the cooking time is up, open the air fryer and check to make sure the gyoza are cooked to your liking. If they're not cooked enough, increase the temperature to 400 degrees and air fry for another 2 minutes, if desired.
- Serve with a dipping sauce such as sweet and sour sauce, sweet chili sauce, ginger soy sauce, gochujang sauce, or a mixture of soy sauce and vinegar, to taste.
Notes
- * Trader Joe’s potstickers were used in this recipe. Nutrition information is for Trader Joe’s pork gyoza potsticker dumplings, without dipping sauce.
- Every air fryer is different. Check on the gyoza 2 minutes before time is up.
- See the blog post for more detailed recipe tips.
Nutrition
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I am not a certified nutritionist. I provide my best estimate of nutritional information merely as a courtesy to my readers. If you depend on nutritional information for dietary or health reasons, I suggest using your favorite online nutrition calculator to confirm the nutritional value of this recipe based on the actual ingredients that you use.
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Rachel House
Almost caught my house on fire using oil in my air fryer. I should have kniwn better!
Paint the Kitchen Red
Rachel, I’m sorry to hear this. Definitely follow your air fryer manual’s recommendations about the use of oil. I haven’t had any trouble with my air fryers when I use oil spray – a little goes a long way.