Gyoza Soup – The Stingy Vegan

This gyoza soup is easy to make with a creamy broth, crispy-bottomed gyoza, slurpy noodles and healthy veggies.

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What are gyoza?

Gyoza are filled dumplings from Japan. 

Meat and/or vegetables are wrapped in a thin dough and pinched closed at the top to form a crescent shape. 

They are similar to the potstickers that you can find in Chinese restaurants.

Gyoza is not the same as soup dumplings because gyoza do not have broth inside whereas soup dumplings should have lots of liquid inside.

What is gyoza made of?

There are many different types of gyoza; while the typical filling is pork and veggies, you can also find (or make) many vegan varieties containing tofu, mushrooms, vegetables or kimchi. 

I get vegan gyoza at Aldi, but I don’t know if all Aldis around the world have them. You can also often find vegan gyoza at Asian supermarkets.

Gyoza are not super difficult to make at home, but they take a bit of time. You can try my recipes for meaty vegan dumplings or vegetable vegan potstickers.

How is gyoza cooked?

In Japan, gyoza are traditionally fried and steamed then served as a or side dish or appetizer with a savory dipping sauce.

They can also be boiled or served in a soup.

This recipe for gyoza soup, however, is not a traditional Japanese recipe. 

I’ve seen many versions of gyoza soup on social media, often with a broth of Thai red curry paste and coconut milk. 

They inspired my to make my own recipe but with the creamy vegan broth that I developed for my popular vegan ramen recipe.

This broth has more Japanese-style flavors that combine great with the gyoza and noodles.

Dumpling noodle soup

In addition to dumplings, this soup is made heartier with the addition of noodles. 

You can use pretty much any type of noodle here. Personally, I like the thick udon noodles.

I have also made this recipe with instant ramen (without the seasoning packet).

You could also use soba or rice noodles.

Your favorite noodle, any type of gyoza or potsticker, bok choy (or broccoli) and mushrooms round out this delicious and easy dumpling noodle soup!

Ingredients

The ingredients for this gyoza soup are relatively easy to find in any large supermarket. Pre-made vegan gyoza can be a bit tricky sometimes but I have found them in every Asian supermarket I have visited.

Gyoza: Gyoza are Japanese dumplings similar to potstickers. You can use any flavor in this soup. I get vegan gyoza at Aldi (in Europe). You could substitute potstickers, wontons or homemade vegetable gyoza. 

Noodles: I like fresh udon noodles because they are filling and fun to eat. You can substitute any other type of noodle.

Veggies: I chose bok choy and mushrooms to round out this gyoza soup. There are lots of veggies you could substitute or add as desired.

Stock: The best part of this soup is the creamy broth. It starts with a base of good-quality vegetable stock.

Cashew butter: To make the broth creamy, I use cashew butter. I have also made this soup base with tahini. Almond butter would probably work too, but I haven’t tried it. I think peanut butter would be too flavorful and change the flavor profile tremendously so I don’t recommend it. 

Soy sauce: Just regular light soy sauce.

Vinegar: You can use rice vinegar or white wine vinegar.

Sesame oil: A touch of sesame oil is delicious. Just a little bit because it is super flavorful and you don’t want it to overpower the other flavors.

Chili crisp: A drizzle of chili crisp over the top of the gyoza and soup for a hint of spice and delicious flavor. I use the Lao Gan Ma brand.

Oil and water: To cook the gyoza with a crispy bottom, they are first fried in a bit of oil and then water is added to the pan to steam them through.

How to make gyoza soup

Making gyoza soup is easy. It’s quick enough for a satisfying weeknight meal when you’re tired after a long day!

Prep: Start by gathering your ingredients. 

Clean the mushrooms and remove their stems. Cut them into slices.

For baby bok choy, cut them in half. If you have a large head of bok choy, cut it into quarters.

Dirt can hide between the leave so rinse the bok choy well under running water, separating the leaves a bit to get out all the dirt.

How to cook gyoza: The best way to cook gyoza is to first fry them so that they get crispy bottoms and then steam them.

You’ll see other recipes for gyoza soup that call for simmering the gyoza directly in the soup but pre-packaged gyoza can sometimes give off some residue/oil into the soup that can change the flavor.

That’s why I recommend cooking the gyoza separately from the soup base.

Frozen gyoza do not need to be thawed before cooking.

Heat a tablespoon or so of oil in a large pan over medium heat.

Add the frozen gyoza and leave them to fry until they are brown and crispy on the bottom – About 5 minutes.

Pour in about 2 tablespoons of water and quickly cover the pan with its lid.

Be careful because the oil will sputter!

Lower the heat to low and allow the gyoza to steam until thawed and heated through – about 5 minutes.

Finally, remove the lid and raise the heat again to allow the remaining water to evaporate and the bottoms to crisp up again – about 3 minutes.

Make the soup base: While the gyoza are cooking, you can prepare the creamy base of the soup.

This is simply made by combining the cashew butter, soy sauce, vinegar and sesame oil in a bowl.

Stir it well to combine until it forms a creamy paste.

Divide this paste between your serving bowls.

Simmer the soup: In a medium-sized pot, bring the vegetable broth to a boil.

Add the sliced mushrooms and the bok choy. 

The correct way to cook bok choy is to cook the harder stems first before the leaves.

Do this by standing the bok choy up in the pot so that the stems are submerged under the stock and the leaves are sticking out of the pot.

Let the stems simmer for a couple of minutes before laying them down to cook the leaves.

At this time you can add the noodles and cook them for the length of time indicated on the package. For the udon I used, it was about 2 and a half minutes.

Serve: Add one ladle of hot stock into each serving bowl. Stir well to dissolve the cashew butter mixture.

Now divide the noodles between each serving bowl and ladle over the remaining stock.

Top with the mushrooms, bok choy and gyoza.

Finally, spoon over some chili crisp and serve.

Substitutions and variations

Gyoza: If you can’t find any vegan gyoza that you like, you can make this into potsticker soup or wonton soup. You can also make them at home.

Vegetables: I often make this soup with broccoli instead of bok choy. You can substitute any type of mushroom: shiitake mushrooms, shimeji, enoki, etc. Add your favorite soup vegetables.

Nut butters: This recipe calls for cashew butter but I have also made it with tahini and it is excellent. Almond butter would probably work too since I use it to add creaminess to my lemon chickpea orzo soup, but I haven’t tried it with this recipe yet. I don’t recommend substituting peanut butter because the flavor is quite strong and will make a totally different type of soup. 

Noodles: I’ve used fresh udon noodles but you can substitute your favorite noodle: ramen, soba, rice noodles, etc. When I use instant ramen noodles, however, I prefer cooking them in a separate pot of water because they are quite oily and I don’t want that extra oil in my soup.

Garnishes: Chili crisp is having a moment right now and is delicious drizzled over this soup. You can also use just chilli oil, sriracha or chilli flakes. A sprinkling of chopped spring onions or sesame seeds can be added if desired.

FAQs

Make ahead and storage tips

This gyoza soup recipe is best made and eaten fresh. The noodles will absorb the broth and the gyoza will loose their crispy bottoms if they sit.

This recipe makes just 2 bowls and is not intended to provide leftovers. You can double the ingredients to make 4 bowls.

How to serve gyoza soup?

This hearty bowl of soup can be served on its own. 

For a side dish, try some edamame, wakame salad or miso-glazed eggplant.

Garnish the soup alongside a small bowl of chili crisp for those who want it spicier, and sprinkle over some chopped green onions and sesame seeds, if desired.