This is how to cook Frozen potstickers in air fryer or Ninja Foodi perfectly. There is a trick to how to cook frozen dumplings without defrosting and we will show you step by step how to get the meat tender with a bit of a crispy dough outside you’ll love.
If you haven’t tried potstickers in air fryer yet, they’re so good! You can start from frozen and they come out tender on the inside with a crunch on the outside. Just like the restaurant but cheaper. Skip the spitting oil to get them crispy and try one of our favorite easy air fryer recipes.
We started this journey making air fryer frozen french fries. They were such a game changer we tried other frozen items and oh WOW we were obsessed. Not only was it so much faster to get warm but the texture on the outside is so much better than boiling in water.
Ninja Foodi Frozen Potstickers
There is a trick to getting these just right, we will share the two steps to this process. It is easy but defrosting just a bit at the beginning is key. You can use a Ninja Foodi, Cosori or any other brand but with this multi-cooker you just need to remember to use the lid that is attached for these directions.
Tips: My Favorite models are the Cosori or making Ninja Foodi recipes with the lid that is attached.
It is best practice to put food into a hot basket. This is how to preheat air fryer first before adding your food so it becomes as crispy as possible. For best results, here’s a printable free air fryer cooking time chart here for your fridge.
There are many brands out there and a variety of fillings inside too. You can typically find beef, chicken, pork and vegetable which would be vegetarian. All of these would need the same steps we share below in order to get warmed on the inside and crispy on the outside.
Here we featured a bag of Ling Ling potstickers (could be called dumplings) but have used others as well. The only difference between these terms really is the shape of the outside. These are half moons and the other usually look more like a present. Doesn’t change the temp. or timing.
I started with some mini won tons I found next to these. They were really tiny but the same method worked so I thought I’d share. The thing is with these you really want the insides to be tender but crisp outsides.
That isn’t super easy to do if you throw them in. You need to “cook” the insides so they’re soft first. The best way to do involves some wet paper towels and a microwave. That only takes about 2 minutes to get each piece soft and ready to throw inside your electric air fryer.
Tips for Success
The trick to the perfect bite is to fold 4-6 thick paper towels in half. 4 for just a few, 6 if you’re cooking quite a bit. Squeeze out the excess and then lay the halved towels out flat on a plate. (see above) Lay what you want to cook in the middle and then fold the sides up and around them. This will essentially allow them to steam in the heat and get the middle nice and tender.
If you want to make frozen won tons, follow these same steps. To make a homemade version you could follow our Palt Recipe.
Cook Time
The larger your pieces are the more time you will need. For mini frozen won tons it’s 1-1.5 minutes or so. These larger frozen potstickers took closer to 2-2.5 minutes of time. Just touch the center of each, rewrap and add 30 seconds more at a time until they’re soft. We do the same thing to make frozen pierogies in air fryer.
Once that step is done you just need to preheat the machine, spray the outside and give it time to crisp on the outsides. A bit more olive oil spray each time you open and flip them will make sure they don’t dry out.
How to Cook Frozen Potstickers in Air Fryer
Time needed: 6 minutes
Potstickers in air fryer
- Defrost
Fold 4 – 6 thick paper towels in half (so it’s 2-3 paper towels long, twice as thick). Run under faucet to wet, squeeze gently to remove excess water. Lay on a plate with frozen potstickers in the middle. Fold wet paper towels over the top of them. Microwave for 2 minutes, or until the middle of each is not frozen or hard any longer.
- Preheat
Preheat air fryer to 400 degrees F for 5 minutes.
- Crisp
Put defrosted potstickers into basket and spray generously with olive oil spray. Set to 6 minutes total. Flip every 2 minutes and spray tops each time you flip over. Remove once they’re as crispy as you’d like them to be. Enjoy immediately with soy sauce to dip in.
- Mini won tons
For mini frozen won tons follow the same directions, but microwave for 2 minutes and air fry for closer to 4 minutes flipping once until as crunchy as you want.
You can see the before (top) and after (bottom) here. Without having to deep fry them and risk getting splattered with oil to get them crunchy, this is a good alternative.
Frozen Potstickers in Air Fryer Recipe
Equipment
- 1 air fryer
- paper towels
- 1 plate
Ingredients
- 6-8 large potstickers, frozen
- 1 spray olive oil spray
Instructions
- Fold 4 paper towels in half (so it's 2 paper towels long, twice as thick). Run under faucet to wet, squeeze gently to remove excess water.
- Lay on a plate with frozen potstickers in the middle. Fold wet paper towels over the top of them.
- Microwave for 2 minutes, or until the middle of each is not frozen/hard any longer.
- Preheat air fryer to 400 degrees F for 5 minutes.
- Put defrosted potstickers into basket and spray generously with olive oil spray.
- Set to 6 minutes total. Flip every 2 minutes and spray tops each time you flip over.
- Remove once they're as crispy as you'd like them to be.
Video
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
FAQ
I only have 2 choices where we live but if you’re in a larger area you might have more. Bibigo has a chicken and veggie one that tops the list, followed by the one’s at Trader Joe’s, Wei Chuan and Shirakiku have styles that are more like dumplings. I feel like the dumpling or won ton versions with a thinner, wetter wrapper turn out best.
Before making air fryer potstickers I used to put them in a pan with some water. With a lid on they’d steam to soften. Then I’d have to drain the water, add butter into the pan and let them brown that way. We prefer this method now.
Yes, we did that in the first step. You could stop after that and not air fry to crisp if you wanted. Just wet thick paper towels, wrap them inside and microwave for 2 minutes to soften.
Other easy air fryer snacks you’ll love
You can make air fryer egg rolls some time. My kiddos love making air fryer frozen corn dogs that are frozen too.
- You can use a CrispLid on your Instant Pot to make all of these too but I really would recommend a separate electric air fryer.
- Want to make something similar but totally homemade?? Try our air fryer won tons or…..
