What To Eat Dumplings With: 30 BEST Dumpling Side Dishes (2024)

Dumplings come in different shapes and sizes, and sometimes it's difficult to know what to serve them with. I love dumplings and have been making all kinds of them every week for the past few years. So, if you don't know what to eat dumplings with, here are my 30 BEST dumpling side dishes that will enhance your dumpling meal. Whether you're a fan of Chinese Jiaozi, Polish Pierogi, Chicken & Dumpling Stew, or any other type of dumpling, there are plenty of options that I can't wait to share with you.

So, if you're wondering what to serve with dumplings, look no further! In this post, I'll be sharing 30 of my favourite dishes to serve with dumplings.

If you want a quick answer, here are a few of my top suggestions:

The best side dishes to serve with Asian dumplings (East Asia) are ramen, tomato and egg stir fry, fried greens, chilli miso steamed aubergine, pork belly fried rice, cucumber salad (Oi Muchim), tahini miso noodles, and claypot tofu. For Southern Asia (India), is one of my favourites...as is my butter bean and spinach curry.

The best side dishes to serve with European dumplings are green salad, stew, mashed potato, cheesy 'nduja slider, pollo picante pasta, potato salad, chipotle carbonara, baked mozzarella pasta.

The best side dishes to serve with American dumplings are loaded mashed potato, sweet and spicy mac n cheese, Venezuelan arepas, French fries, fried vegetables.

Here are 30 DELICIOUS dumpling side dishes!

First up, we'll start with 15 best side dishes to serve with Asian-style dumplings:

1.EASY NOODLE SOUP

A warm and comforting bowl of noodle soup is a classic choice to serve with dumplings. The rich, flavourful broth and tender noodles make it the perfect complement to the juicy dumplings. This recipe only takes 10 minutes, so it's the ideal dish to share to make your dumplings into a full on meal.

2. VIETNAMESE-INSPIRED SALAD

This Vietnamese-Inspired summer salad is perfect to eat alongside some gorgeous dumplings with a spicy fish sauce and coriander. It's light, full of flavour, and makes a full meal when served with dumplings.

3. STICKY GINGER AUBERGINE

I love serving dumplings with this sticky ginger aubergine recipe. You can either serve it with rice, or just make a big batch of the aubergine and serve the dumplings with a vegetable side dish. It's full of flavour, sticky, and easy to make.

4. SPAM RAMEN

For a super simple weeknight dinner, this Easy Spam Ramen With Egg recipe is the perfect meal. Low-effort and delicious, this spam, eggs, and ramen noodle combination come together so quickly. Spam fried in garlic, sesame oil, oyster sauce, and chilli flakes really takes spam to the next level! Serve it up with your plate of dumplings, and you've got yourself an absolute feast.

5. CLAYPOT TOFU

If you're looking for a veggie or vegan option and don't know what to eat dumplings with, this claypot tofu is perfect for one of those colder days. You can either place the dumplings into the stew, or serve them alongside the claypot tofu!

6. GREEN TAHINI MISO RAMEN

If you fancy something mean and green (joking it's not mean, it's delicious!), then this Green Tahini Miso Ramen is for you! It's full of flavour and perfect to add extra spice and colour to your dumplings.

7. 20-MIN PORK BELLY FRIED RICE

If you're not going to serve up your dumplings with noodles, then you've got to go for this 20-min Pork Belly Fried Rice. It's super simple to make and leaves you with these gorgeously crispy pieces of pork belly with a flavourful coconut lemongrass rice!

8. TOFU KATSU NOODLES

Everyone loves a Katsu Curry, especially if it's served with dumplings. So, rustle up this gorgeous dish and then serve it with steamed, pan-fried, or boiled dumplings.

9. ORANGE CHICKEN

Although serving dumplings with noodles, rice, or veggies is great, sometimes you want a meat dish to go with them. And, this Orange Chicken recipe is SO good. I adore it. It's simple and so full of flavour.

10. KOREAN-STYLE BUTTER BEANS

I adore beans, and these Korean-Style butter beans are so delicious. They only take 10 minutes to make and they're the perfect bean side dish to serve with your gorgeous gyozas, mandu, dim sum, or any dumpling of your choice. I love topping mine with an egg, but that's totally optional.

This lemongrass and tofu noodle curry is so warming and comforting. I love eating dumplings with this recipe, they go so well. I just place the dumplings right into the bowl and slurp away. I hope you enjoy it!

12. CHINESE STEAMED AUBERGINE

The silky and smooth texture of these steamed eggplants are so delicious. They're one of my favourite side dishes for any asian dish. You could also serve these with noodles if you want an extra bit of body to the dish.

13. STICKY PORK BAO

This sticky pork Bao Bun (aka Gua Bao) recipe is surprisingly simple and absolutely delicious! You've honestly got to give it a try! It's a more complex side dish to make when serving with dumplings, but if you're making a feast, then it's absolutely perfect!

14. BUTTERBEAN CURRY

This is my super simple butter bean and spinach curry that only uses a handful of spices and a few other ingredients. So, if you don't know what to eat dumplings with, then this recipe is perfect because it takes less than 30 minutes to make and is a gorgeous weeknight dinner and even better with a plate of dumplings.

15. KIMCHI

What a wonderful and tangy side dish to make. Especially, if you're serving Mandu, the Korean dumpling. Kimchi is a fabulously tart, spicy, and sweet fermented dish that can either be bought from a supermarket or made in advance. I have a really simple "cheat" recipe that takes less than 15 minutes to make and stores for up to 3 months in an airtight jar. What you'll need, you'll find below:

• 1 Chinese cabbage
• Flaky salt
• 1 white onion, finely sliced
• 1 apple, peeled and finely sliced
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 inch ginger, minced
• 100g gochugaru flakes
• 50g sugar
• 3 tablespoon light soy sauce
• 4 spring onions, roughly chopped

Slice your Chinese cabbage in half lengthways and rub each leaf with salt, thoroughly. Leave in a bowl and set aside.

Meanwhile, in a large bowl, combine your chopped onion, apple, garlic, ginger, gochugaru flakes, sugar, soy sauce in a bowl and give it a good mix. Taste the paste and adjust to your liking. Rinse off the cabbage leaves so not salt remains, then add the cabbage leaves to your kimchi bowl and mix thoroughly, coating all the leaves.

Add in your spring onions and toss once again. Then set aside in an airtight jar or container, place in the fridge, and voila!

NOW FOR THE BEST SIDE DISHES TO SERVE WITH EUROPEAN DUMPLINGS

European dumplings range from beef suet dumplings (UK), to Pierogi from Poland, to Marillenknödel from Austria. There is such a variety, so here are a few side dishes I'd choose to pair with European dumplings.

16. LOADED MASHED POTATO

A wholesome and comforting dish to all, loaded mashed potato is such a great dish to serve alongside various European dumplings. Make your mashed potato with lots of butter, milk, salt, and pepper, then top it with ingredients that match the dumplings you're eating it with. I love topping mine with fried leeks, bacon, and sour cream, but let your imagination run wild and go for whatever you fancy!

17. BAKED MOZZARELLA PASTA

Similar to Asian dumplings being served with a stir fried noodle dish, European dumplings are great served with pasta dishes, and this Baked Mozzarella Pasta is one of my favourites. It's cheesy, full of flavour, and really simple to make.

18. CHEESY 'NDUJA SLIDER

There's nothing quite like a big slab of gorgeous bread, topped with cheesy, spicy sausage. This is one of my favourite side dishes for anything, but it works really well with dumplings. It adds a bit of spice, bit of colour, and an extra portion of carb to fill you up. Enjoy!

19. POTATO SALAD

There are dozens of potato salad varieties out there, but one of my favourites is a simple British-style potato salad. It uses the following ingredients: mayonnaise, sour cream, celery, wholegrain mustard, black pepper, salt, and potatoes. Depending on the type of dumpling you're serving, you might want to adapt the flavours of your potato salad. Feel free to add in some feta, harissa paste, or smoke paprika.

20. GREEN SALAD

Another staple when it comes to a European meal, the green salad. I think it adds colour to the table and a lovely crunch and freshness to compliment the dumpling dish. Personally, I love adding gem lettuce, vine tomatoes, cucumber, feta, olives, some Serrano ham, and a lovely vinaigrette dressing to my salad bowl. Feel free to experiment with flavours and ingredients!

21. POLLO PICANTA PASTA

Inspired by Zizzi's Casareccia Pollo Piccante pasta recipe, this super simple pollo piccante (aka spicy chicken pasta) is so delicious and only requires a handful of ingredients. It's the perfect side dish to a big plate of dumplings!

22. FRIED GREENS

You can never go wrong with a plate full of fried greens. For European style dumplings, I love to fry some green beans in garlic and olive oil. With a dash of pepper and salt, they're the perfect side dish. They add a bit of crunch, bit of colour, and a lovely flavoursome bite.

23. PINK BEETROOT PASTA

Made with beetroot, garlic, and feta cheese, this Pink Pasta is honestly so delicious. Brimmed to the rim with flavour and colour, it goes so well with a load of tasty dumplings. You could also just make the sauce and serve it as a dipping sauce for the dumplings!

For all of the garlic girls and guys out there, this Garlic & Chilli Confit Orzo is for you! It's simple to make and has a delicate flavour palette to it, to balance well with whatever dumpling choice you've gone for.

25. VEGETABLE SOUP

If it's a cold day, and you want something warming to serve alongside your European dumplings, a smooth and creamy vegetable soup could be the perfect side. Making soup is really simple and a great way to use up any leftover veg in your fridge. Begin by frying some onions and garlic in a large saucepan followed by any other extra veg like carrots, broccoli, potatoes, or cauliflower. Fry for a few minutes and then pour in some chicken or veg stock to cover the veggies. Leave to simmer for 20 minutes or until the veggies are all soft. Blend them up with a hand blender, then add in some milk to make the soup less viscous. Enjoy!

NOW FOR THE BEST SIDE DISHES TO SERVE WITH AMERICAN DUMPLINGS

American dumplings range from US Chicken & Dumplings, to Empanadas from Argentina. There is such a variety, so here are a few side dishes I'd choose to pair with American dumplings.

26. ROASTED VEGETABLES

From roast potatoes to brussels sprouts, there's nothing better than a platter of gorgeously roasted vegetables. Get a load of veggies, place them on a baking tray, drizzle with olive oil, pepper, salt, oregano, rosemary, and bake in the oven for 40 minutes at 160C fan.

27. DEEP FRIED STUFFED OLIVES

Whether you choose to make these as a starter, or a side, they're great to serve up with some dumplings. They're crunchy and an absolute crowd-pleaser. You can stuff them with whatever you fancy, I've chosen to stuff them with chorizo and feta cheese. Let me know if you give them a go!

28. MEATBALL SANDWICH

You can't go wrong with a sandwich. If you've got some dumplings to finish off, but want something that you can take to lunch that is also great for meal prep, then you'll love this meatball sandwich.

29. LOADED NACHOS

If you're serving up Empanadas or Tamales, then a side of loaded nachos would complete your table.

I love loading nachos with cheese, sour cream, salsa and guacamole, but feel free to top the nachos with whatever you fancy. You can either serve them cold, or place them in the oven to melt and get all gooey.

30. FRIES

This might be a basic one to finish on, but fries go with every kind of dumpling. They're a great table filler and have an ability to fit with any flavour or ingredient that goes with it. So, whether you're eating Indian Momo or Chicken & Dumplings, they'll fit right in.