Quick and Delicious Air Fryer Rice Paper Chicken Dumplings

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Cooking With Anadi

12K subscribers · ground chicken, ginger, garlic and scallions wrapped crisp

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A popular air fryer recipe I saw that had the Internet by storm was air fryer dumplings. I had some ground chicken and had exactly what would be needed for a simple yet flavorful dumpling filling. I love the idea of using rice paper for dumplings because it is much easier to use these than to make a dumpling dough! As I mention in my free motivational guide to explore your potential in the kitchen, Making Cooking Fun!, not only can going out to eat inspire you to make new recipes, but I highly recommend using media! Of course my blog can help inspire you, but I admit it’s fun to get inspiration from social media. I saw lots of shrimp rice paper dumplings, but being a chicken lover, I had to jump on these. Plus, you’ll love this recipe since you don’t have to cook the filling before adding - just add your raw mixture into the rice paper and air fry, and a delicious meal is ready in no time!

Be sure to watch the video to follow along in preparing the meat mixture and how to roll up our dumplings perfectly so that they don’t break while frying! It would mean a lot to me if you could please subscribe to my YouTube channel and hit the bell button so you receive all of the notifications when a new video recipe goes live! Let’s get cooking!

More crispy air fryer snacks: Air Fryer Chicken Nuggets, Venezuelan Rice Fritters and Air Fryer Waffle Fries.

Why Make Air Fryer Rice Paper Dumplings?

• Easy: It’s much easier to make rice paper dumplings than regular dumplings since you won’t have to make dough! Rice paper can be a little tricky to manipulate if you’re new, but I’ll give you all the tips and tricks to ensure that you master the technique!
• Fast: Making the meat filling, then assembling and cooking is super quick! You don’t need to cook the meat mixture in advance, which is a huge time saver! Also, air frying the dumplings will be done in a flash!
• High protein: This chicken dumpling recipe with rice paper are high in protein thanks to our chicken filling. Plus, they’re low in fat and contain less carbs than regular dumplings.
• Plenty of customizations: Want to customize the filling to make it your very own? I’ve got lots of options to suit your preferences listed later on in this post, so keep reading!

Questions You May Have!

Equipment for These Rice Paper Chicken Dumplings

• Cutting board
• Salt crock
• Air fryer
• Grater
• Baking tray
• Chef’s knife
• Mixing bowl
• Olive oil spray dispenser
• Baking sheet
• Garlic press
• Ramekin (to dip sauce!)

Ingredients for Air Fried Rice Paper Chicken Dumplings

• Rice paper wrappers: You’ll need 2 wrappers for each dumpling since we’ll be double wrapping them.
• Ground chicken: I use extra lean ground chicken.
• Green onions: Freshly chopped to add in the mixture and more for garnish.
• Ginger: Freshly grated ginger.
• Garlic: Whole garlic cloves, minced into the meat mixture.
• Soy sauce:‍ ‍A little bit to mix in the filling and add lots of umami flavor.
• Olive oil: To coat the top of the dumplings to help them get crispy in the air fryer and to prevent sticking.
• Salt: Although soy sauce is salty, a pinch of salt will help provide additional seasoning.

How to Make Air Fryer Rice Paper Dumplings

In a large bowl, mix together the ground chicken, green onions, ginger, garlic, and soy sauce. To test seasoning, cook a small (dime-sized) portion in a pan and adjust salt as needed.

Fill a large baking sheet or shallow dish with water. Dip a rice paper wrapper into the water, submerging completely on both sides. Let any excess water drip off and place the wrapper on a clean, dry surface. Allow it to soften for 10–30 seconds.

Repeat the dipping process with a second wrapper.

Place about 50–60 g of the chicken mixture in the center of the first softened wrapper. Fold it gently into a rectangular parcel. Then place the parcel onto the second softened wrapper and fold again to seal it completely.

Transfer the dumpling to a plate or tray, and lightly coat with oil to prevent sticking. Repeat with the remaining wrappers and filling.

Meanwhile, preheat your air fryer to 400°F (200°C).

Air fry the dumplings at 400°F for 10–15 minutes, flipping halfway through, until golden and crisp on all sides.

Drizzle with your stir fry sauce and garnish with sliced green onions.

Serve hot!

Tips & Tricks for the Best Air Fryer Rice Paper Dumplings

• Using two rice paper wrappers gives the dumplings a sturdier structure and helps them get extra crispy in the air fryer without tearing or bursting.
• Keep the filling to about 50–60 g (roughly 3–4 tablespoons). Overfilling can make the dumplings hard to wrap and more likely to tear or burst while cooking.
• Rice paper becomes sticky and delicate fast. Only soak what you’re ready to use, and work one or two at a time to prevent them from sticking to your surface or each other.
• Depending on your air fryer model, cooking times may vary. The dumplings are done when both sides are golden brown and the wrapper is crisp.

Variations for Air Fryer Rice Paper Dumplings

• Protein: You can use other meats such as ground pork, ground beef, or even ground turkey. If you want these to be vegetarian, you can use tofu.
• Greens: You can swap the green onions for chives.
• Sesame oil: You can use toasted sesame oil in the meat mixture if you would like for a nutty aroma.
• Veggies: Feel free to add veggies of your choice for some additional crunch and some vitamins! Veggies that would be delicious here include chopped carrots, mushrooms, cabbage and/or onions.
• Gluten-free: Ensure that your soy sauce is certified gluten-free, or substitute with coconut aminos or tamari.
• Garnish: If desired, you can garnish your dumplings with white sesame seeds and/or black sesame seeds.
• Wrapper: If you are out of rice paper, softened collard green leaves make a fun wrapper.

How to Serve Air Fryer Rice Paper Dumplings

As you’ll see in the pictures, I’ve served my dumplings with my Simple Stir Fry Sauce recipe. You can prepare it as your chicken marinates and your air fryer preheats! However, there are lots of other dipping options you can choose from:

• Soy sauce
• Chili garlic sauce
• Sriracha

If you’re looking for mains to have for dinner, here are some options that will accompany these chicken dumplings perfectly:

• Fried Rice: Try out my Shrimp Fried Rice, Spicy Paneer Fried Rice, Super Simple Egg Fried Rice, or Better Than Takeout Beef Fried Rice.
• Noodles: Weeknight Tofu Noodles Stir Fry,
• Other Asian-inspired dishes:Keto Egg Roll in a Bowl,Sushi Cones 5 Ways, Teriyaki Shrimp Stir Fry with Veggies and Udon Noodles, Chicken Hakka Noodles.

Getting Every Rice Paper Dumpling Crispy

The biggest key to crisp — not chewy — dumplings is airflow. Arrange them in a single layer in the air fryer basket with a little space between each one, and work in batches if they won't all fit; a crowded basket traps steam and softens the wrappers instead of crisping them. Give each parcel a light coat of oil before it goes in so it browns evenly, flip halfway through, and finish with a scatter of sliced green onions for a fresh, sharp bite against the golden shells.

More Air Fryer Crispy Goodness!

• Air Fryer Garlic Parmesan Chicken Wings
• Cheesy Air Fryer Jalapeno Poppers
• Indian-Street Style Air Fryer Potatoes
• Spicy Air Fryer BBQ Chicken Wings

Love a good dumpling? Try my steamed chicken momos next.

No Air Fryer? Oven and Pan-Fry Methods

This recipe is written for an air fryer, but the dumplings are not fussy about how they get crisp — they only need dry heat and a bit of oil on the outside. To bake them, heat the oven to 400°F, the same temperature the air fryer runs at, and line a sheet pan with parchment paper so the wrappers do not weld themselves to it. Arrange the parcels in a single layer with space between them, brush or spray them lightly with oil, and bake for around 20 to 25 minutes, turning them once halfway. An oven moves far less air than an air fryer basket, so give them longer than the 10 to 15 minutes in the recipe card and pull them when both sides are golden and the wrapper has gone properly crisp, rather than going by the clock.

You can also pan fry them, which is the fastest of the three methods. Heat a bit of oil in a nonstick skillet over medium, lay the dumplings flat side down and cook two to three minutes a side until each face is browned. You are effectively shallow-frying the same rice paper sheets that make spring rolls crackle, so they take on color quickly and can go from golden to too dark in under a minute. Keep them moving and do not walk away from the pan.

One assembly note that applies whichever method you use: fold the parcels on a clean, dry cutting board rather than straight onto the counter. Rice paper grips a damp surface and tears the moment you try to lift it, and a board you can wipe down between dumplings is what protects the two-wrapper structure this recipe depends on.

What Is (and Is Not) in These Chicken Rice Paper Dumplings

The filling here is deliberately short: raw extra lean ground chicken, green onions, grated ginger, minced garlic and a little soy sauce, plus a pinch of salt. There is no cabbage, no carrots, no bell peppers and no tofu in the base recipe, and no pork either. Those only show up in the variations above if you want extra crunch or a different protein, so if you are expecting a vegetable-packed dumpling, add them yourself. These are also not deep-fried. The only oil is the light coating on the outside of each parcel, which is what turns the double layer of rice paper crisp in the air fryer.

One batch makes 8 dumplings, and each one works out to about 211 calories with 13 g of protein, 19 g of carbs, 9 g of fat and 323 mg of sodium. If your air fryer basket is small, cook them in batches so the dumplings are not touching, which keeps each one crisp on every side. Leftovers keep best cooled completely and stored in an airtight container, and a few minutes back in the air fryer brings the crunch back far better than a microwave would. For dipping, my simple stir fry sauce is what you see in the photos, and soy sauce, chili garlic sauce, sriracha or a little sweet chili sauce all work well too.

Compared with traditional dumplings, the biggest difference is texture. There is no dough to knead or roll, and the double layer of rice paper bakes into a thin, crackly shell instead of the soft, chewy wrapper you get from a steamed or boiled dumpling. The taste comes almost entirely from the filling, where the soy sauce adds the savory umami and the ginger, garlic and green onions keep it fresh, so a quick dip in a sauce with a little heat balances it nicely. Dip the wrappers in a shallow dish of water for just 10 to 30 seconds so the liquid softens them without making them too limp to fold.

Rice Paper Wrappers, Double Wrapping and Easy Add-Ins

Rice paper wrappers are sold at most grocery stores and at any Asian market, usually in a dry stack of thin, translucent sheets. For this recipe you use two sheets per dumpling, which is the double wrapping that gives the dumplings their sturdy layers and keeps them from tearing in the basket. Dip each sheet in water for 10 to 30 seconds, fold the first around about 3 to 4 tablespoons of the raw filling, then set the parcel on the second sheet and seal it. Because the filling is raw chicken seasoned with ginger, garlic and green onions, those aromatics do most of the flavor work, so it pays to grate and mince them finely.

If you want to bulk up the filling, finely chopped carrots, cabbage or bell peppers all fit well, and ground pork or tofu can replace the chicken. Cooked dumplings can be finished with sesame seeds, and a sweet chili sauce is an easy quick dip alongside the stir fry sauce. For leftovers, let the dumplings cool and keep them in an airtight container in the fridge, then re-crisp them in the air fryer rather than microwaving them, so the wrapper keeps its crunch.

How to Check the Seasoning Before You Wrap

Because the chicken filling goes into the rice paper raw, you cannot taste it as you go, so test the seasoning first. Mix the ground chicken, green onions, ginger, garlic and soy sauce in a large bowl, then cook a small, dime-sized piece in a pan and taste it. Soy sauce is already salty, so add a pinch of salt only if the test bite needs it. This one extra minute is what keeps the finished dumplings from tasting bland, and it is the main reason the texture inside stays juicy and the flavor stays well balanced once the crisp wrapper is on the outside.

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