Kimchi Cabbage Dumplings – The Easy Freezer-Friendly Cabbage Crush Recipe
Tested & Approved
by Sophie Lane
Most kimchi dumplings go wrong in the same place: a watery, bland filling that leaks the second it hits the pan. This cabbage dumplings recipe fixes that by crushing fresh cabbage and kimchi together, wringing out the liquid, then folding that liquid back in as a concentrated seasoning paste — so every dumpling is packed with flavor and holds its shape, straight from the freezer.
Published: August 13, 2026
Simple, everyday ingredients and clear, step-by-step instructions — every recipe made in Dorothy"s kitchen before it reaches yours. Jump to the full recipe card below.
PrintKimchi Cabbage Dumplings – The Easy Freezer-Friendly Cabbage Crush Recipe
Juicy kimchi and cabbage dumplings with a crush-and-reserve technique that keeps the filling flavorful, not watery, and freezes beautifully.
- Prep Time: 40 minutes
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Total Time: 50 minutes
- Yield: 4 1x
- Method: Pan-fry and steam
- Cuisine: Korean
Ingredients
- 2 cups napa cabbage, finely chopped
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 cup well-fermented kimchi, chopped, juice squeezed and reserved
- 1/2 lb ground pork (or half pork, half firm tofu for a lighter mix)
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tsp fresh ginger, grated
- 2 green onions, finely sliced
- 1 tbsp gochugaru (Korean chili flakes)
- 1 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 tsp sesame oil
- 1 tsp sugar
- 1 tsp toasted sesame seeds
- 1 package round dumpling wrappers (about 40)
- Cornstarch or flour, for dusting the tray
- Neutral oil, for pan-frying
- Water, for steaming and sealing
Instructions
- Toss the chopped napa cabbage with the salt and let it sit in a colander for 15 minutes.
- Using your hands, crush and squeeze the salted cabbage hard, like working sauerkraut, until it releases liquid. Squeeze out the liquid into a small bowl and reserve it; set the crushed cabbage aside.
- Squeeze the chopped kimchi separately, adding its juice to the same reserved bowl of liquid.
- Whisk the gochugaru, soy sauce, sesame oil, sugar, garlic, and ginger into the reserved cabbage-kimchi liquid to make a concentrated seasoning paste.
- In a large bowl, combine the ground pork, crushed cabbage, squeezed kimchi, green onions, sesame seeds, and the seasoning paste. Mix by hand until just combined and slightly sticky — do not overmix.
- Place a wrapper in your palm, add about 1 tablespoon of filling to the center, wet the edges with water, and pleat closed into a half-moon or your preferred fold.
- Repeat with remaining wrappers and filling, dusting finished dumplings lightly with cornstarch so they don"t stick.
- To cook fresh: heat oil in a nonstick pan over medium-high, arrange dumplings flat-side down, and fry 2 minutes until golden. Add 1/4 cup water, cover immediately, and steam 4-5 minutes until the water evaporates and wrappers turn translucent.
- To freeze: arrange uncooked dumplings in a single layer on a parchment-lined tray, freeze until solid (about 2 hours), then transfer to a freezer bag. Cook straight from frozen using the same method, adding 2-3 extra minutes covered.
Notes
Use well-fermented, sour kimchi for the deepest flavor — young kimchi won"t give you enough tang. Don"t skip reserving the squeezed-out liquid; it"s where most of the seasoning lives. For a vegetarian version, swap the pork for finely crumbled firm tofu that"s been pressed dry, and add an extra teaspoon of sesame oil for richness.
The problem with almost every cabbage dumplings recipe online is that it treats cabbage like an afterthought — chop it, salt it, squeeze it, toss it in. But cabbage holds an enormous amount of water, and if you don"t deal with that water intentionally, it either waterlogs your filling or gets dumped down the drain along with a good chunk of flavor. This version does something different: it crushes the salted cabbage by hand, hard, the way you"d work a batch of sauerkraut, until it breaks down and releases a genuinely seasoned liquid — cabbage juice mixed with the salt, sugar, and any kimchi brine clinging to it. That liquid doesn"t get discarded. It gets whisked into the gochugaru, garlic, and sesame oil that season the pork, so the filling is built on concentrated cabbage flavor instead of diluted by it.
The other move here is using fresh napa cabbage and fermented kimchi in a roughly even split, not kimchi alone. Straight kimchi filling turns mushy and one-note once it"s cooked — all sour, no crunch. Fresh crushed cabbage keeps a little bite and mellows the tang, while the kimchi still does the heavy lifting on funk and depth. If your kimchi is very ripe and sour, chop it slightly finer and squeeze it separately before combining — it releases more liquid than younger kimchi and can throw off the ratio.
The common mistake with any cabbage dumplings recipe is skipping the squeeze step entirely, or squeezing so hard the filling turns pasty and dry. You want the cabbage to still feel slightly damp, not bone-dry — think wrung-out sponge, not paper towel. Over-squeezed filling won"t bind properly and steams up crumbly. Under-squeezed filling blows out your wrappers. Fifteen minutes of salting time and one firm hand-crush is really all it takes; don"t rush the salting or you won"t extract enough liquid to matter.
For the freezer: lay filled, uncooked dumplings in a single layer on a parchment-lined tray with space between them and freeze until solid, about two hours, before bagging. Skip this step and they"ll fuse into one giant dumpling brick. Cook them straight from frozen — no thawing — using the same pan-fry-then-steam method, just add an extra two to three minutes covered so the filling heats through. If you"d rather boil, drop them frozen into simmering water and wait for them to float, then give them one more minute.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why is my cabbage dumplings filling watery?
You likely skipped or rushed the salting and crushing step. Salt the cabbage for a full 15 minutes and crush it firmly by hand to force out excess liquid before mixing it into the filling.
Can I use only kimchi without fresh cabbage?
You can, but the filling turns soft and one-note once cooked. Mixing in fresh crushed cabbage keeps some crunch and balances the kimchi's tang, which makes for a better texture overall.
How do I freeze cabbage dumplings without them sticking together?
Freeze them uncooked in a single layer on a parchment-lined tray until solid, about 2 hours, before transferring to a freezer bag. This keeps each dumpling separate so you can grab exactly what you need.
Can I cook frozen dumplings without thawing first?
Yes, cook them straight from frozen using the same pan-fry-then-steam method, just add 2-3 extra minutes covered so the filling heats through completely.
Get our 10 best recipes — free
Join the Rapid Recipes newsletter and we’ll email you our 10 most-loved recipes as a free PDF.
Free PDF + new recipes every week. Unsubscribe anytime.
