The Best Frozen Dumplings Are A Brand You Probably Haven't Tried Before

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It's always a good idea to have a bag of dumplings in your freezer for a quick weeknight dinner. They also make a pretty good afternoon snack, but you have to get the right brand. Not all frozen dumplings are created equally, a fact we discovered when we ranked popular frozen dumplings you'll find in grocery stores. Some brands were quite disappointing with mushy, flavorless filling or a tendency to seriously stick to the pan. But an unexpected winner emerged in our frozen dumpling ranking, a brand you may not yet have tried since its frozen dumplings have only been around for a few years: Laoban Pork Soup Dumplings.

These dumplings cook up to be crispy on the bottom with pillowy tops that are filled with real chunks of Berkshire pork. They're easy to steam, are filled with soup that doesn't leak out when you're cooking them, and are packed with savory flavor. They taste like they were created with restaurant-quality in mind, and they were — these parcels were first crafted by a Washington D.C. dumpling restaurant founded in 2017. The founders went on to release their line of frozen dumplings in 2021 under the name of the restaurant — Laoban Dumplings. The company now sells 10 varieties of frozen dumplings and bao buns, and they're more widely available than you'd think. You can find them in the frozen aisles at Whole Foods, Target, Costco and Walmart, and online on Amazon.

Laoban's Pork Soup Dumplings are packed with flavor, bite-sized, and taste like you got them from a restaurant. They'll cook up in 10 minutes or less, and there are a few different ways to prepare them. Laoban Dumplings' culinary director Tim Ma suggests boiling or steaming the company's frozen dumplings to cook them quickly and easily (via YouTube). To get a golden crust on the bottom of each dumpling, pan-fry them in a covered pan with some oil and water -– steam from the boiling water will cook the tops and insides of the dumplings while the hot oil will create a crispy bottom. This is the method we used to cook the dumplings in our ranking.

Soup dumplings are great on their own, nestled in a ceramic spoon (that's how you eat soup dumplings like a pro). But, there are many ways to dress up Laoban's Pork Soup Dumplings, turning them into entirely new dishes. Serve them in a bath of peanut sauce or chile oil, use them as a savory salad topping, make them the centerpiece in lettuce wraps, and add them on top of noodle or rice bowls. And don't forget the unexpected side dish to serve with pork soup dumplings — pickled mustard greens with their zesty tang to round out the meal.