Pan-fried Bao Buns | Vegan Steamed Dumplings

How to make Yeast Dough

1. Mix the yeast with the water and sugar in a small bowl and set aside for around 5 minutes, until foamy.
2. Whisk together the flour and a pinch of salt in a large bowl. Pour in the water with yeast slowly and stir with a chopstick (or wooden spoon) until it clumps together. Transfer to a work surface and knead with your hands (or use a mixer with dough hooks) until a smooth and soft dough forms, about 5 minutes.
3. Put the dough back into the bowl. I suggest to lightly grease the bowl for easier removal. Cover the bowl with a damp kitchen towel and let rest for about 45 minutes, or until the ball has doubled in size.

When the yeast dough has doubled in size, it looks like this:

Use your favorite filling!

What I really love about this recipe is that you can basically use anything for the filling! So it’s a great way to use up leftover vegetables or even a veggie stir-fry from the day before. I added a colorful vegetable mixture of green leeks, white cabbage, carrots, red bell pepper, garlic, and smoked tofu because this was what I had at home.

However, feel free to use different vegetables, onions, spices, and flavors because anything will do! You can also sauté mushrooms with garlic and soy sauce for meaty bao buns filling instead of traditional pork if you prefer. Just make sure your filling is not very wet because this will make the dough soggy.

How to make Bao Buns (Soup Dumplings)

If you’ve never made dumplings before, it may be a little tricky to fold and wrap them. But if you take some patience and practice, it’ll be easier than expected. Nevertheless, they do not have to be perfect as the buns are going to be frying on each side. No matter how they look, these buns will be delicious!

Start to roll the prepared dough into a long log and cut into 10 pieces (or more for smaller buns). Work with one piece at a time and cover the rest with a clean kitchen towel to prevent the dough from drying out. Flatten one piece of dough with your palm, then roll it into a round wrapper with thinner edges, about 4.7-inch (12 cm) in diameter.

Add about 2-3 tablespoons of filling to the center, then fold the bun up and around the filling as you can see in the step-by-step photos, making sure to seal the top. Repeat with the remaining pieces of dough until all the bao buns are assembled.

Steamed or pan-fried Dumplings?

You can either steam the Baozi in a steamer so they’ll get all the way soft and rise up more like traditional yeast dumplings. But if you want the buns crispy from the outside, you can pan-fry them first in a pan as I did. Then pour in water, cover the pan and let the veggie bao buns steam, until cooked on the inside.

These Pan-fried Steamed Bao Buns are:

• Vegan (Vegetarian)
• Dairy-free
• Egg-free
• Meat-free
• Filled with vegetables
• Pan-fried, then steamed
• Crispy on the outside
• Soft on the inside
• Flavorful
• Healthy
• So delicious!
• Perfect as an appetizer, side dish, snack or main course!

More recipes for vegan dumplings like veggie bao buns to try:

• Spinach Ravioli with Mushrooms
• Ravioli Pockets ‚German Maultaschen‘
• Vegan Tortellini with Ricotta
• Pumpkin Jumbo Ravioli
• Crispy Pumpkin Gnocchi
• Sweet Potato Gnocchi
• Chinese Dumplings “Gyoza”
• Crispy Baked Vegan Dumplings

If you try this recipe for pan-fried veggie bao buns, please leave me a comment and rating! Your feedback is always very helpful for me and other readers. And if you take a photo of your soup dumplings, please make sure to tag me on Instagram @biancazapatka #biancazapatka because I love seeing your remakes! Happy cooking!

Pan-fried Bao Buns (Vegan Soup Dumplings)

Author: Bianca Zapatka

If you love vegan dumplings like potstickers, gyoza, ravioli or baozi, you’ll also love this simple step-by-step recipe for pan-fried steamed veggie Bao buns! These buns are also known as „sheng Jian​ bao“ and similar to pan-fried pork soup dumplings but I made mine vegan stuffed with healthy leek and more vegetables!

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Prep Time 30 mins

Cook Time 20 mins

Resting Time 45 mins

Course Appetizer, Lunch & Dinner, Main Course, Side Dish, Snack

Servings 10 Bao Buns

Calories 183 kcal

Ingredients

Dough (*see notes for yeast-free option)

• ⅔ cup (160 ml) warm water approx. 95°F (35°C)
• 2 ¼ tsp (2 1/4 tsp) instant yeast
• 1 tsp sugar optional
• 2 ½ cup (300 g) all-purpose flour + more for dusting

Veggie Filling

• 1-2 tbsp sesame oil ⁣ for frying
• 1 stick leek finely chopped
• 7 oz (200 g) white cabbage shredded
• 1 large carrot shredded
• 1 red bell pepper finely chopped
• 2 garlic cloves minced
• 7 oz (200 g) smoked tofu finely chopped (or sub mushrooms, *see notes)
• 1 tbsp soy sauce or tamari sauce
• salt to taste⁣
• 1 tsp chili paste e.g. sriracha or sambal oelek (optional)

For frying & steaming

• 1 tbsp oil
• ¼ cup (60 ml) water

To serve (optional)

• 2 tbsp sesame seeds
• spring onions or other herbs
• dipping sauce

Instructions 

Making the dough (*see step-by-step photos above)

• Mix the yeast with the water and sugar in a small bowl and set aside for around 5 minutes.
• Whisk together the flour and a pinch of salt in a large bowl. Pour in the water with yeast slowly and stir with a chopstick (or wooden spoon) until it clumps together. Transfer to a work surface and knead with your hands (or use a mixer with dough hooks) until a smooth and soft dough forms, about 5 minutes.
• Put the dough back in the bowl, cover and let rest for about 45 minutes, or until the ball has doubled in size.

Preparing the filling (*see step-by-step photos above)

• Heat the oil in a pan and finely chop the vegetables. (Click here for step-by-step instruction on how to prepare leeks easily). Add the leek, cabbage, carrots, bell pepper, and garlic to the pan and sauté for 2-3 minutes, until the veggies are slightly tender.
• Then add the tofu, soy sauce, salt and chili to taste. Mix well and set aside to cool.

Assembling the buns

• Once the dough has doubled in size, punch it down, and knead it briefly to remove all air bubbles.
• Then roll it into a long log and cut into 10 pieces (or more for smaller buns). Work with one piece at a time and cover the rest with a clean kitchen towel to prevent them from drying out.
• Flatten one piece of dough with your palm and roll it into a round wrapper with thinner edges, about 4.7-inch (12 cm) in diameter.
• Add about 2-3 tablespoons of filling to the center, then fold the bun up and around the filling as shown in the step-by-step photos above, making sure to seal the top. Repeat until all the buns are assembled.

Cooking the buns

• Heat the oil in a non-stick pan over medium heat. Place the buns in the pan with the pinched-side up (make sure to not overcrowd the pan!), and cook for about 2-3 minutes. Once the bottoms are golden-brown and crispy, flip them over and carefully, pour in ¼ cup of water to create steam. Immediately cover the pan, reduce to low heat and allow buns to steam for about 10 minutes, or until the water has evaporated.
• Remove from pan, sprinkle with sesame seeds and green onions, and serve with the dipping sauce as desired. Enjoy!

Notes

• Dough: You can also make a traditional dumpling dough without yeast (click here for the recipe). But take a note that the dough won’t be as fluffy and soft.
• Tofu: If using mushrooms instead of tofu, I recommend frying the chopped mushrooms in the beginning for 2 minutes before adding the other veggies.
• Filling: You can basically use any veggies for the filling as written in the blog post above the recipe card. Just make sure to chop them finely and squeeze any excess liquid as needed to prevent a soggy filling. If you have any leftover filling, you can serve it on the side or use it for other recipes.
• Steam/Pan-fry: You can also just steam the buns (without pan-frying). Simply brush some oil on the bottom of each bun, then place them into the steamer and cook for about 12-15 minutes in total.
• To freeze the uncooked buns, place them in a single layer on a baking tray or wooden board, leaving some space between each to prevent them from sticking. Freeze for 1-2 hours, then transfer to a freezer bag. You can reheat them by pan-frying in the same way as instructed.
• Please read my blog post for further information about this recipe.

Nutritions

Serving: 1Serving | Calories: 183kcal | Carbohydrates: 25.8g | Protein: 7.1g | Fat: 5g | Saturated Fat: 0.4g | Fiber: 2.3g

Nutrition is calculated automatically and should be used as estimate.

Did you make this recipe?Mention @biancazapatka or tag #biancazapatka!