Can you make potsticker soup in a slow cooker?

Yes. Cook shiitake mushrooms, carrots, ginger, garlic, scallion whites, chicken thighs, broth and soy sauce on LOW for 6 to 8 hours or HIGH for 3 to 4 hours, then shred the chicken back into the broth. Add 24 frozen potstickers for the last 15 to 20 minutes and baby bok choy for the last 5 minutes. It serves 6.

Do the potstickers go into the slow cooker frozen or thawed?

Frozen, straight from the freezer bag. Thawed potstickers turn soft and can split or stick together in the hot broth, while frozen ones hold their shape through the 15 to 20 minutes they need to heat through and start to float.

Can you make a smaller batch of potsticker soup?

Yes. Halve every ingredient, use a 3- to 4-quart slow cooker instead of a 6-quart one, and cook 12 potstickers instead of 24 for the same 15 to 20 minutes.

What do you do with leftover potstickers from the soup?

Lift them out of the broth with a slotted spoon and pan-fry them in a little oil until one side is crisp, about 3 to 4 minutes. Serve the crisped potstickers alongside the leftover broth poured into a mug as a sipping soup.

Slow Cooker Potsticker Soup Recipe | Estrogen Left the Chat

Name: Chicken Potsticker Soup with Ginger and Chili Crisp
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 8 h
Total time: 8 h 10 min
Yield: 6 servings (about 10 cups plus 24 potstickers)
Ingredients: 1 lb (450 g) boneless, skinless chicken thighs; 5 oz (150 g) shiitake mushrooms, stems removed, sliced (or white mushrooms); 2 carrots, cut in thin coins; 3-inch piece of ginger, thinly sliced; 4 garlic cloves, smashed; 6 scallions, whites and greens kept apart, sliced; 8 cups (1.9 L) low-sodium chicken broth; 2 tbsp reduced-sodium soy sauce; 1 tbsp rice vinegar or cider vinegar; 24 frozen pork or chicken potstickers (about 18 oz / 510 g); 4 baby bok choy, quartered; 2 tsp toasted sesame oil; chili crisp (in the Asian aisle) or sriracha, to serve

Recipe from the soups cookbook

Chicken Potsticker Soup with Ginger and Chili Crisp

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A gingery chicken broth simmers all day, then frozen potstickers cook right in it for the last 20 minutes. A spoon of chili crisp on top makes it.

6 servings (about 10 cups plus 24 potstickers)6-quart slow cookerPrep 10-Min Prep: chopping onlyLOW 6 to 8 hours · HIGH 3 to 4 hours

Ingredients

1 lb (450 g) boneless, skinless chicken thighs
5 oz (150 g) shiitake mushrooms, stems removed, sliced (or white mushrooms)
2 carrots, cut in thin coins
3-inch piece of ginger, thinly sliced
4 garlic cloves, smashed
6 scallions, whites and greens kept apart, sliced
8 cups (1.9 L) low-sodium chicken broth
2 tbsp reduced-sodium soy sauce
1 tbsp rice vinegar or cider vinegar
24 frozen pork or chicken potstickers (about 18 oz / 510 g)
4 baby bok choy, quartered
2 tsp toasted sesame oil
chili crisp (in the Asian aisle) or sriracha, to serve

Method

Put the mushrooms, carrots, ginger, garlic and scallion whites in the slow cooker. Lay the chicken on top. Add the broth and soy sauce. Cover and cook.
Lift out the chicken, shred it and stir it back in. Fish out the ginger slices if you like. Turn the cooker to HIGH.
Last 30 min: drop in the frozen potstickers, cover and cook 15 to 20 minutes, until they are hot all the way through and float. Add the bok choy for the last 5 minutes.

Freezer: Freeze the broth with chicken (no potstickers or bok choy), up to 3 months. Add fresh frozen potstickers to the reheated broth on the stove.

Wake it up: Stir in the rice vinegar and sesame oil. Top each bowl with scallion greens and a spoon of chili crisp.
Next day: Lift leftover potstickers out of the broth, pan-fry them in a little oil until crisp on one side and serve the broth as a sipping cup.
Half batch: Halve everything and use a 3- to 4-quart cooker; use 12 potstickers.
Swap: Gluten-free: use tamari and gluten-free dumplings, or skip the dumplings and add cooked rice noodles.
Serve with: Nothing more needed

Estimated nutrition per serving

Calories: 349
Protein: 30.4 g
Fiber: 3.2 g
Sodium: 772 mg
Carbs: 21.9 g
Fat: 16.5 g
Sat. fat: 3.8 g

This recipe is one of 100 in Easy Slow Cooker Soups and Stews Cookbook, each with a color photo and nutrition facts per serving.

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Why do the potstickers go in frozen, not thawed?

Frozen potstickers hold their shape and their wrapper through a hot broth; thawed ones turn soft and tend to split or stick together before they even reach the bowl. Add them straight from the freezer bag for the last 15 to 20 minutes of cooking, covered, until they are hot all the way through and starting to float. There is no need to thaw, separate or pre-cook them first, and no need to watch the pot, since 20 minutes on HIGH is long enough for 24 potstickers to cook through without turning the wrappers to mush.

Which potstickers should you buy?

Use 24 frozen pork or chicken potstickers, about 18 ounces, from the freezer aisle. Store-bought is the point here: this is a soup built around them, not a dumpling-making project, so any brand that cooks well steamed or boiled will also cook well simmered. If the package calls for 12 ounces instead of 18, use the closest full bag rather than splitting one open, since a few extra or fewer potstickers will not change the cook time.

When does each ingredient go into the pot?

The slow cooker runs in two stages. At the start, shiitake mushrooms, carrots, ginger, garlic and the white parts of the scallions go in the bottom, the chicken thighs sit on top, and chicken broth and soy sauce go in last. That cooks on LOW for 6 to 8 hours, or HIGH for 3 to 4. Once the chicken is done, lift it out, shred it with two forks, and stir it back into the broth; turn the cooker to HIGH if it was on LOW. The frozen potstickers go in for the final 15 to 20 minutes, and the bok choy follows for just the last 5 minutes, so it stays bright and barely wilted rather than cooking down to nothing.

How do you wake it up before serving?

Stir rice vinegar and toasted sesame oil into the broth right before serving; both lose their sharpness if they cook for hours, so they go in at the very end, not with the broth. Ladle the soup into bowls, scatter the green parts of the scallions over the top, and finish each bowl with a spoon of chili crisp, or sriracha if that is what is in the fridge. Taste before adding salt: the soy sauce and the broth both carry sodium already.

Can you freeze potsticker soup?

Yes, but freeze only the broth with the shredded chicken, mushrooms and carrots in it, before the potstickers or bok choy go in, for up to 3 months. Potstickers turn soft and the bok choy turns to mush if they go through a freeze and reheat, so neither belongs in the freezer batch. When you are ready to eat it, thaw the broth, bring it back to a simmer on the stove, and add a fresh batch of frozen potstickers and bok choy the same way the slow cooker did, finishing with the vinegar, sesame oil and chili crisp.

What can you do with leftover potstickers?

Lift any leftover potstickers out of the broth with a slotted spoon and pan-fry them in a little oil over medium heat until one side turns crisp and golden, which takes about 3 to 4 minutes. Serve the crisped potstickers on their own, and pour the leftover broth into mugs as a sipping soup on the side, so the dumplings get their crunch back instead of turning soggy in a reheated bowl.

Smaller batch, and what to use instead of potstickers

To make a smaller batch, halve every ingredient, use a 3- to 4-quart slow cooker, and cook only 12 potstickers for the same 15 to 20 minutes. For a gluten-free version, swap in tamari for the soy sauce and use gluten-free dumplings, or skip the dumplings altogether and stir in cooked rice noodles at the same point you would add the potstickers.

This is one of 100 recipes in the Easy Slow Cooker Soups and Stews Cookbook, every one with a color photo, nutrition facts per serving and a freezer note.

Slow Cooker Potsticker Soup