These are my mean, green "The Grinch Dumplings". They also happen to be some of the most delicious dumplings I've ever made. Filled with a leftover turkey and green tahini filling, they're tangy, sweet, and simply full of flavour. They're just a bit of fun and perfect if you're looking for a cute festive activity with friends and family!
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Why You'll Love This Recipe
The Grinch: being a classic Christmas character, I had to make some dumplings after him. They're candy cane pink on the outside and mean green on the inside. Perfect for the grump who stole Christmas.
Festive fun: If you're looking for a festive activity to enjoy with friends, family, or just by yourself, these "The Grinch" dumplings are for you!
Delicious: They may not be the most visually appealing dumplings out there, but they sure are tasty. With a 6 ingredient green tahini sauce, the flavours of this dumpling recipe are phenomenal.
If you're a fan of dumplings, especially the colourful ones, you'll love my pork and corn dumplings made with a green and white dough. They're super fun and look like a little Christmas tree!
Ingredients & Substitutions
Self-raising flour: The reason we use self-raising flour for the dough is because we want it to puff up slightly to give a fluffier, bouncier steamed bun. If you only have plain flour, simply add 2 teaspoons of baking powder to every 150g of plain flour.
Greek yoghurt: For our liquid binder to make our dough, we're using Greek yoghurt. You can also use normal yoghurt, but be aware that the consistency of the yoghurt may mean you need more or less to make a bouncy dough. If you don't have greek yogurt, you could use coconut water, or for a vegan alternative, use coconut yogurt or soy yogurt.
Red colour die: You can either use a natural food die e.g. beetroot juice, or just a regular store-bought red food die from your local supermarket.
Tahini: The better quality tahini you buy, the better tasting this dish will be. Tahini shouldn't be bitter, you should be able to eat a spoonful of it without finding it unpleasant. I'd recommend going to your local international supermarket and asking the owner which tahini they'd recommend. Otherwise, here are a couple I love using; Belazu Authentic Tahini and Al'fez Tahini.
Lemon: For the green tahini, we need a bit of citrus to balance out from the astringency of the tahini. You could also use lime if you'd like, or store-bought citrus juice.
Spring onions: For colour and flavour, these are the perfect addition to your green sauce. If you don't have spring onions, you could use a mixture of chives and shallots.
Coriander: Fresh coriander adds a fantastic fresh flavour and colour to our green tahini. If you don't like coriander, feel free to use parsley.
Maple syrup: We need a bit of sweetness to balance out the flavours. I've used maple syrup, but you could also use plain sugar, agave syrup, or honey.
Leftover turkey: Finely chop up leftover turkey pieces from your Christmas lunch. Or if you don't have turkey, you could use raw pork mince, or cooked chicken pieces. If you're looking for a veggie option, crumbled firm tofu or plant-based chicken pieces would be perfect.
Black sesame seeds: For a bit of colour and crunch in the filling, black sesame seeds are a great addition. You could also use white sesame seeds too.
See the recipe card for full information on ingredients.
Just for your information...I have not tested the recipe with the substitute ingredients. They're just suggestions that I believe would work really well! 🙂
Recipe Variations
Vegan Alternative: Okay, so if you're wanting to make these "The Grinch Dumplings" vegan, here are my suggestions:
- Use a plant-based yoghurt: sugar free soy yogurt or coconut yoghurt. OR you can use coconut water. Make sure to adjust measurements accordingly.
- Turkey: As I mentioned above, if you prepared a meat alternative for your Christmas lunch, then feel free to chop that up and use it as the turkey element. However, if you ate a nut roast or another type of vegan centrepiece, simply chop that up into small pieces and use it in the turkey's place. Or you could use crumbled tofu too!
If you're looking for some more vegan dumpling recipes, why not check out my steamed rice paper dumplings, fried veggie momos, or these Japanese oyaki.
Just for your information...I have not tested these recipe variations. They're just suggestions that I believe would work really well! 🙂
Step-By-Step Instructions
Step 1: Begin by making your green tahini sauce. Combine all the green tahini sauce ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth. Taste and season according to your preferences.
Step 2: Next up, you want to make your dough. In a large bowl, combine 100g self-raising flour with 80g greek yoghurt. Mix using a spoon or chopsticks until a shaggy dough forms. Then, knead for 1 minute. Cover with cling film and set aside. Then in the same bowl add another 100g self-raising flour with 80g greek yoghurt and 1 teaspoon red food colouring. Mix and then knead again for 1 minute. Cover in cling film then set aside.
Step 3: Slice each dough into 3 pieces.
Step 4: Roll out each piece of dough (except one pink dough) into a rectangle. Roll the one pink piece of dough into a sausage shape the same length as the rectangular pieces of dough.
Step 5: Place the sausage shape pink piece of dough on top of one of the pieces of white rectangular dough, then fold the white dough up around the pink dough.
Step 6: Then, roll the pink and white sausage up in a rectangular pink sheet of dough. Repeat this step so that the sausage continues to grow with the different alternating coloured wrappers around it.
Step 7: Slice your sausage into 4-6 equal pieces of dough.
Step 8: This is how your dumpling wrapper piece should look before rolling it out! Next, you want to roll it out with a rolling pin so that it's around 3-4mm thick.
Step 9: Meanwhile, combine your turkey, spring onion, sesame seeds, and 4 tablespoon of your green tahini sauce.
Step 10: Place a spoonful of the filling into the centre of the wrapper and fold and seal in an anti-clockwise motion to make your "The Grinch" dumplings.
Step 11: Place each dumpling on a piece of parchment paper so they don't stick to the steamer, and steam for 13 minutes on high heat.
Step 12: Serve immediately with your green tahini sauce and enjoy!
Top Tips!
- Don't overfill the wrapper! If you over fill the wrapper and make the sides of your wrapper wet or moist, you won't be able to seal the dough. So, make sure to dry your hands really well before assembling the flatbread, and to not overfill your wrapper.
- Make sure to heat on a high steam heat. If you steam your grinch dumplings on a low heat, the steamed buns won't react and puff up. So, make sure to steam them on a high heat so that they fluff up and become nice and bouncy.
- Keep the wrapper around 3-4mm thick. When rolling out your dumpling wrappers, make sure to keep the thickness of the wrapper at around 3-4mm to ensure you get a bit of a fluffy steamed bun. Each wrapper should be around 4-5 inches in diameter but still thick enough to provide bounce in the dough.
What To Do With Leftovers
Storage: To store The Grinch Dumplings, place them in an airtight container or wrap them in plastic wrap. Keep them in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Ensure they are cooled completely to avoid them getting soggy.
Freezing: These grinch dumplings can be frozen for longer-term storage. Arrange them in a single layer on a baking sheet and freeze until solid. Once frozen, transfer them to a freezer-safe bag or container. They can be stored in the freezer for up to 3 months.
Reheating: You can reheat them straight from the freezer. Place them in your steamer and steam on high heat for 8 minutes. The textures may be slightly different, but dipping them in your green tahini sauce once reheated through will be delicious!
FAQs
No worries! Just use baking powder and plain flour. Use 2 teaspoons of baking powder for every 150g of plain flour. So, for this recipe you'll need around 2.5 teaspoons for the 200g.
You might be overfilling them! It's easily done. Make sure to keep any sauce or moisture away from the edge of the wrapper, and make sure you keep your fingers and hands dry at all times while wrapping the flatbreads. Bring all the edges of the wrapper into the centre in an anticlockwise motion and seal with a big pinch.
Here's some more recipe inspiration for you!
If you tried these Grinch Dumplings or any other recipe on my website, please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how it went in the 📝 comments below. Thank you!
The Grinch Dumplings
Ingredients
For The Dough
- 200g self-raising flour
- 160g greek yoghurt
For The Green Tahini Sauce
- 2 tablespoon tahini
- ½ lemon, juiced
- 2 spring onions, finely chopped
- 1 garlic clove
- 40g coriander
- 1 tablespoon maple syrup
- 1 teaspoon flaky salt
- 3 tablespoon olive oil
- 5 tablespoon water
For The Filling
- 300g leftover turkey meat, chopped
- 2 spring onion, finely chopped
- 1 tablespoon black sesame seeds
Instructions
- Begin by making your green tahini sauce. Combine all the green tahini sauce ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth. Taste and season according to your preferences.
- Next up, you want to make your dough. In a large bowl, combine 100g self-raising flour with 80g greek yoghurt (add a splash more yoghurt if it seems a bit dry). Mix using a spoon or chopsticks until a shaggy dough forms. Then, knead for 1 minute. Cover with cling film and set aside. Then in the same bowl add another 100g self-raising flour with 80g greek yoghurt and 1 teaspoon red food colouring. Mix and then knead again for 1 minute. Cover in cling film then set aside.
- Slice each dough into 3 pieces (total 6 pieces).
- Roll out each piece of dough (except one pink dough) into a rectangle around 7 inches in length and 4-5 inches in length. Roll the one pink piece of dough into a sausage shape the same length as the rectangular pieces of dough.
- Then, roll the pink and white sausage up in a rectangular pink sheet of dough. Repeat this step so that the sausage continues to grow with the different alternating coloured wrappers around it.
- Slice your sausage into 4-6 equal pieces of dough.
- Next, you want to roll it out with a rolling pin so that it's around 3-4mm thick and around 4-5 inches in diameter.
- Meanwhile, combine your turkey, spring onion, sesame seeds, and 4 tablespoon of your green tahini sauce.
- Place a spoonful of the filling into the centre of the wrapper and fold and seal in an anti-clockwise motion.
- Place each dumpling on a piece of parchment paper so they don't stick to the steamer, and steam for 13 minutes on high heat.
- Serve immediately with your green tahini sauce and enjoy!
Notes
- Don't overfill the wrapper! If you over fill the wrapper and make the sides of your wrapper wet or moist, you won't be able to seal the dough. So, make sure to dry your hands really well before assembling the flatbread, and to not overfill your wrapper.
- Make sure to heat on a high steam heat. If you steam your grinch dumplings on a low heat, the steamed buns won't react and puff up. So, make sure to steam them on a high heat so that they fluff up and become nice and bouncy.
- Keep the wrapper around 3-4mm thick. When rolling out your dumpling wrappers, make sure to keep the thickness of the wrapper at around 3-4mm to ensure you get a bit of a fluffy steamed bun. Each wrapper should be around 4-5 inches in diameter but still thick enough to provide bounce in the dough.
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