Folds, Fillings, Steam: The Best Dumpling Cookbook to Buy

Nearly every kitchen has a dumpling. Tamales, in their way, belong to the same family of wrapped and steamed food, and anyone who has spent a December afternoon spreading masa knows that the wrapping is the whole game.

That makes teaching the hardest part of a dumpling book. A recipe can list a filling, but it needs to show you the fold. This guide gives seven books from named authors and established publishers, and says which ones rest on a named review and which on the publisher’s details.

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Quick verdict: the best dumpling cookbook to start with

The other four cover gyoza, Polish pierogi, a book from a working dumpling cook and a small world tour.

Five potstickers books side by side

Five of the seven, one for each kind of cook. All seven are described in full below.

Cover images from Amazon. Page counts and formats are from the Amazon listings for the editions linked. Recipe counts are from the publisher’s copy or the title.

Our picks for the best dumpling cookbook, one by one

All seven were in stock, in print and new, and sold by Amazon when we checked. We have not cooked from these books; where we describe a strength, we say whose view it is.

How to choose a potstickers book

Five questions will narrow this list quickly.

• How do you learn best? A fold is easier to see than to read. Amano and Becan draw it, and Yamamoto uses step-by-step photos. Nguyen teaches through words and photographs in a longer format.
• Which dumplings do you love? Gyoza fans should look at Yamamoto, pierogi fans at Zak, and anyone who wants to wander at Nguyen or Balslev.
• Will you make the wrappers? Middlehurst leans into homemade dough and gives quick substitutes. Check that the book matches how much work you want to do.
• How will you cook them? Steaming needs a basket and a pot. Our best bamboo steamer guide covers that. Pan-fried potstickers want a good skillet. Amano and Becan and Nguyen cover both steaming and frying, per their publishers.
• Will you make a big batch? Nguyen includes make-ahead and storage guidance, which matters when a filling makes more than you can eat in one sitting.

How we chose these dumpling cookbooks

We searched Amazon’s book listings first and kept print editions from named authors at established publishers, plain in stock with a new lead offer. We checked each title against our other book pages so nothing is repeated. Author, year, format and page count come from the Amazon listing. Recipe counts and descriptions come from the publisher’s copy, in some cases as carried by booksellers, unless we credit someone else.

Here is what stands behind each pick. Asian Dumplings and Let’s Make Dumplings! have Publishers Weekly reviews that we read ourselves. Pierogi has praise that we read only as quoted by the publisher. Dumplings and Noodles, Gyoza and The Little Book of Dumplings rest on the publisher’s and authors’ details, and This Is a Book About Dumplings rests on the listing and the author’s biography. We found no Publishers Weekly review at those ISBNs, which does not mean none exists anywhere.

We left out Lee Anne Wong’s Dumplings All Day Wong, which was in stock, because we could not open a description of it. Seven is the honest count here, not a target we stretched to reach.

Dumpling cookbook questions, answered

What is the best potstickers book?

Gyoza if you want a whole book on them, and Asian Dumplings if you want them alongside many other styles.

Which dumpling book is best for beginners?

Let’s Make Dumplings!, with its comic format and folding primer. PW singled that primer out as surprisingly simple.

Do I need a bamboo steamer?

For steamed dumplings, it helps. Nguyen and Amano and Becan both cover steaming, and our bamboo steamer guide explains how to choose one.

Are there vegetarian options?

Yes, in some. The publisher’s copy for Pierogi mentions vegan options, and Heidi Swanson’s quoted praise for Asian Dumplings mentions vegetarians. We have not counted recipes.

How are tamales related to dumplings?

Loosely. Both wrap a filling in a starch and often steam it, though masa and a corn husk make for quite a different craft. Our guide to what tamales are explains them.

Which dumpling cookbook should you buy first?

Buy Asian Dumplings if you want the reference. Choose Let’s Make Dumplings! to get over a fear of folding, Dumplings and Noodles for dough, Gyoza for potstickers and Pierogi for Poland. If you still need the steamer, go to our best bamboo steamer guide.

And if you would rather let someone else cook tonight, see the menu or call to order.