Trader Joe’s Dumpling Bake

This Trader Joe’s Dumpling Bake is a cozy, flavor-packed dinner made with chicken dumplings baked in a creamy coconut milk and red Thai curry sauce.

Finished with a drizzle of crunchy chili oil, it’s an easy recipe that’s rich, comforting, and full of flavor. It’s obvious why this recipe went viral.

Fall is all about being cozy, and nothing is cozier than a casserole. But this is not your typical casserole; this Trader Joe’s dumpling bake features warm, spicy curry, rich and creamy coconut, and plump, juicy potsticker dumplings. It’s amazing on its own, but if you’re a carb lover like me, it’s even better with rice. Picture a bowl of this dumpling bake, the lights turned low, and you and your boo watching a feel-good movie and all is right with the world.

Dumpling bake

By now, I’m sure you’ve heard about the viral dumpling bake: a one-pan, creamy, spicy, and satisfying dish of potstickers baked in a coconut red curry sauce with wilted spinach. Dumpling bake is the perfect answer to “what’s for dinner?” when you forgot to plan ahead. Even better, you can grab all of the ingredients at Trader Joe’s, and it comes together in a flash.

Why bake dumplings?

As they bake, the flavorful curry sauce mixes with the coconut milk into a creamy, spicy sauce that thickens slightly in the oven while the dumplings become plump and juicy on the bottom and slightly crispy on top. It’s dumpling heaven.

What to buy at Trader Joe’s for dumpling bake

You only need 6 ingredients, all available at Trader Joe’s.

• 1 can coconut milk
• Trader Joe’s Thai red curry sauce
• Trader Joe’s Soyaki sauce
• 3 cloves garlic
• 1 bag of spinach
• 1 bag of Trader Joe’s frozen chicken gyoza potstickers

This isn’t a Trader Joe’s ad by the way, I just really love Trader Joe’s. The ingredients are pretty self-explanatory, but I’m going to touch on a couple of things below.

What is Trader Joe’s Thai red curry sauce?

The red curry sauce at Trader Joe’s is essentially red curry in a bottle. It’s ready to go as is and you can literally heat it up and add protein. Essentially, it’s Thai red curry paste pre-mixed with coconut milk as a time saver.

What is Trader Joe’s Soyaki sauce?

Soyaki is a Trader Joe’s sauce invention that has soy sauce, teriyaki sauce, garlic, ginger, and toasted sesame seeds. Basically it’s an all-purpose sweet and savory sauce that you can use to marinate or stir fry with. If you can’t get soyaki sauce, a great substitute is teriyaki sauce with toasted sesame seeds mixed in. For 3 tbsp of teriyaki sauce, you’ll need 1 tsp of toasted sesame seeds.

How to make Trader Joe’s viral dumpling bake

1. Preheat. Heat the oven to 375°F.
2. Mix. Start off by mixing together 1 can coconut milk, 1/2 cup Trader Joe’s Thai red curry sauce, 3 tbsp soyaki sauce, and 3 cloves of garlic, minced. You can either do this in a liquid measuring cup or bowl, or you can go ahead and do it in an oven safe baking dish.
3. Layer. Add the spinach to an oven safe baking dish. Grab the dumplings from the freezer and arrange on top of the spinach, in a single layer.
4. Pour. Pour the sauce evenly all over the dumplings and spinach. If you have a lid for your baking dish, put it on, otherwise cover tightly with foil.
5. Bake. Bake for 20 minutes or until hot and warmed through. If desired, remove the lid/foil for the last 5-10 minutes if you’d like a slightly crisp top.
6. Enjoy. Let cool slightly and top with Trader Joe’s crunchy chili onion.

Toppings

The best part of this dish is the toppings. I like to put all of these on ours:

• sliced green onions
• chopped cilantro
• toasted sesame seeds
• toasted sesame oil
• chili crisp

About vegetables

I used spinach here because it wilts quickly while the dumplings cook. If you want to use a thiccker vegetable such as broccoli, carrots, cabbage, or kale, cut them into tinier pieces if you want to keep the cooking time close to the recipe. Otherwise they will take longer and your dumplings may fall apart.

What size pan for viral one pan dumpling bake?

You want a pan or dish that’s not too big and not too small — the dumplings need to be half submerged in the sauce. A square 9×9 casserole dish works perfectly as does an 11×7 rectangle or a 12 inch oval or circular pan. You can play around here, what you’re looking for is a big enough dish to accommodate all of your dumplings in a single layer.

Which frozen dumplings are the best?

The Trader Joe’s chicken gyoza is perfect of course, but what if you’re not around a TJs? There are so many frozen dumpling options out there, so the best is definitely a personal preference sort of thing. In the case of the viral dumpling bake, I think the best dumplings are gyoza or potstickers. They come in that classic curved moon dumpling shape and bake up nicely because they typically have thinner dumpling skins.

Dumpling bake soup

Dumplings in soup is pretty elite and a soup take on the viral dumpling bake is a no-brainer. Dumpling bake soup is amazing because you don’t need to turn on the oven and it comes together so much more quickly. To make, add 2 cups chicken broth, 1 can coconut milk, 1/2 cup curry sauce, 3 tbsp soyaki sauce, and 3 cloves of minced garlic to a large pot. Bring to a simmer over medium high heat and when bubbly, add in the potstickers. Cook until the potstickers are heated through, about 7 minutes. The chicken gyoza potstickers from Trader Joe’s are fully cooked, so all we’re looking for here is for the dumplings to be nice and hot throughout. When the 7 minutes are up, stir in the spinach to wilt. Enjoy soup!

Viral dumpling bake tips and tricks

No thawing – don’t thaw the dumplings before cooking them, frozen dumplings are always cooked straight from frozen. The beautiful thing about the Trader Joe’s chicken gyoza potstickers is that they’re fully cooked so you don’t really need to worry about them being raw or cooking all the way through.

Cover the pan – If you have a casserole dish with a lid, you can use that or if not, just cover with foil. You want to create a nice sauna situation for the dumplings to steam. If you want a bit of a crispy top, you can take the lid/foil off for the last 5-10 minutes of the bake.

Dumpling bake without Trader Joe’s

The original viral version of this dish was regular Thai red curry paste instead of Trader Joe’s bottled curry sauce so you don’t need a Trader Joe’s if you happen to live somewhere far away from one. Use any frozen gyoza or potstickers you like and make the sauce with:

• 1 can coconut milk
• 1–2 tbsp Thai red curry paste, or to taste
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 tsp fresh ginger, grated

Then replace Soyaki with teriyaki or sweet soy sauce or similar as well as lao gan ma (or homemade!) chili crisp.

How to store

If you have leftovers, simply store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to three days. I wouldn’t recommend freezing it once it’s already been baked, but if you’re looking to make this ahead of time, I have a little section on that down below.

How to reheat

Simply reheat in the microwave or in a 350°F oven until warmed through. If needed, loosen the sauce with a bit of broth before warming.

Make ahead dumpling bake

This recipe comes together pretty quickly which makes it great for both quick weeknight dinners and making ahead. These are my tips on how to do a make ahead dumpling bake:

1. Make the sauce. In a liquid measuring cup or bowl, whisk together the coconut milk, red curry sauce, soyaki, and garlic. Cover tightly and store in the fridge.
2. Assemble and bake. 10 to 15 minutes before you want to eat, preheat the oven to 375°F. While the oven is preheating, assemble a pan of dumplings. Add the spinach in and around the sides. Give the red curry sauce a quick whisk and pour evenly over the spinach and dumplings. Cover tightly with the foil and bake for 20 minutes or until hot and warmed through.

What to serve with dumpling bake

Dumpling bake on its own is great for a light meal, but I like to serve it with rice being sure to spoon the sauce on top. You can also serve it with:

Happy Dumpling Baking!
xoxo Steph

Viral Trader Joe’s Dumpling Bake

The coziest one pan dinner you can buy at one store

Serves 4

4.67 from 3 votes

Prep Time 5 minutes mins

Cook Time 20 minutes mins

Total Time 25 minutes mins

• 13.5 oz coconut milk 1 can
• 1/2 cup Trader Joe’s Thai Style Red Curry Sauce
• 3 tbsp Trader Joe’s Soyaki Sauce
• 3 cloves garlic minced
• 1 bag Trader Joe’s Organic Baby Spinach 6 oz
• 1 bag Trader Joe’s Frozen Chicken Gyoza potstickers 16 oz
• Trader Joe’s crunchy chili onion optional

• 1 Baking Dish 9×9

The original dumpling bake was popularized by Danielle Brown of HealthyGirl Kitchen in 2025.
Estimated nutrition based on light coconut milk and it’s probably less because you won’t be drinking all that sauce, or will you? 👀

Nutrition Facts

Viral Trader Joe’s Dumpling Bake

Amount Per Serving

Calories 348
Calories from Fat 78

% Daily Value*

Fat 8.7g13%

Saturated Fat 4.4g28%

Cholesterol 17mg6%

Sodium 982mg43%

Potassium 301mg9%

Carbohydrates 57.1g19%

Fiber 5.8g24%

Sugar 6.8g8%

Protein 14g28%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.