15 Dim Sum Recipes You Can Make at Home

Har gow shrimp dumplings recipe — The Spruce Eats / Ulyana Verbytska

Dim sum is the Chinese style of serving an array of small plates of savory and sweet foods, that together, make up a delicious meal. These feasts are traditionally enjoyed by groups of family and friends over long brunches, accompanied by piping hot cups of tea.

The most popular dim sum dishes include steamed, boiled, and fried dumplings, bite-sized meats, steamed buns, spring rolls, rice and noodle dishes, and creamy desserts. These are served in no particular order, and the fun is in sharing the different dishes, and enjoying the variety of tastes.

Whether you want to create your own Instagram-worthy dim sum party or are looking for tasty appetizer recipes, enjoy these delicious dim sum recipes you can make at home.

01 of 15

Siu Mai (Steamed Pork and Shrimp Dumplings)

The Spruce / Maxwell Cozzi

Siu mai dumplings are a favorite at dim sum houses, and one of the easiest Chinese dumplings to make at home. The delicious filling of ground pork, plump pink shrimp, mushrooms, scallions, and ginger, is formed inside a wonton wrapper, with the top left open to let the savory filling peek out. Be sure to line your steamer basket with parchment paper for easy removal of dumplings.
02 of 15

Har Gow (Chinese Steamed Shrimp Dumplings)

The Spruce / Maxwell Cozzi

No dim sum experience would be complete without these popular steamed shrimp dumplings. Sweet shrimp are nestled inside translucent wrappers with mild Chinese vegetables, creating a tease for the senses. Coat your fingertips, equipment, and work surface with a thin coating of vegetable oil when working with the thin, stretchy dough to keep it from sticking.
03 of 15

Char Siu Bao (Chinese Steamed Pork Buns)

The Spruce / Abbey Littlejohn

Steamed pork buns are savory, sweet, rich barbecued pork enclosed inside light and fluffy yeast dough, making them a filling, favorite dim sum dish. Preparing the dough for these Chinese-style pork buns is easy, but be sure to allow time for the dough to rise twice. You can also steam them ahead and freeze, for quick re-heating at meal time.

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04 of 15

Spareribs With Black Bean Sauce

The Spruce / Kristina Vanni

Chinese pork spareribs with black bean sauce are a popular dim sum dish for the kids. This recipe suggests using a prepared black bean sauce, along with a little soy sauce, rice wine, and red pepper flakes, as a shortcut to creating the luscious dark sauce that coats the stir-fried ribs.

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05 of 15

Lo Mai Gai (Sticky Rice Lotus Leaf Wraps)

The Spruce / Maxwell Cozzi

Opening up a fragrant lotus leaf to discover the filling of sticky rice, meat, and vegetables is a fun adventure at the table. The delicious, aromatic filling includes steamed glutinous rice (available at Asian grocery stores), marinated chicken breast, seasoned sausages, and soaked dried mushrooms. Each ingredient requires care before being stir-fried together and enclosed in the leaf wrapper, but the result is worth it!
06 of 15

Jiaozi (Chinese Dumplings)

The Spruce / Diana Chistruga

Whether you serve them steamed or fried, these tasty dumplings filled with ground pork or beef, and Chinese vegetables, are sure to disappear from the table quickly. You can follow the instructions for a homemade dough, or make life easier with store-bought wonton wrappers. Don't overcrowd the pot when boiling the dumplings, to prevent sticking.
07 of 15

Chinese Pork Spring Rolls

John E. Kelly/Photodisc/Getty Images

Spring rolls are a must-have dim sum snack, and make a great party appetizer. The tasty, hot filling in this recipe combines Chinese barbecued pork, chopped black mushrooms, shredded carrots, and bean sprouts, all stir-fried in a quick sauce and loaded into spring roll wrappers, for deep-frying.
08 of 15

Paper-Wrapped Chicken

Boo Lee/Flickr/CC by 2.0

Tender, marinated chicken breast chunks, mushrooms, and scallions are folded into parchment paper envelopes, and deep-fried until hot, fragrant, and cooked through. Fry the packets in batches, letting finished packets drain on paper towels, and serve them unopened, so your guests can enjoy the fun of unwrapping.

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09 of 15

Dim Sum Shrimp Toast With Water Chestnuts

goodiesfirst/Flickr/CC BY 2.0

Delight your dim sum guests with scrumptious, open-faced fried shrimp and vegetable sandwiches. Use a crusty bread for this recipe, such as country loaf or French baguette, and pre-bake the bread slices as suggested, to prevent them becoming soggy when deep-fried. Add toasted sesame seeds at the end, for a pretty presentation.
10 of 15

Chinese Fried Shrimp Balls

The Spruce / Eric Kleinberg

Nicely seasoned balls of juicy minced shrimp and crunchy water chestnuts are deep-fried in oil until crisp and golden, in this dim sum recipe that also makes a fabulous party appetizer. To make the recipe gluten-free, use gluten-free versions of the soy sauce and cornstarch.
11 of 15

Vegetarian Wontons

Nisa and Ulli Maier Photography/Moment/Getty Images

Delight vegetarians at your dim sum table with this recipe for tasty, deep-fried veggie wontons that makes enough to serve a crowd. Wonton wrappers are filled with a mixture of creamy mashed tofu and crunchy Chinese vegetables, deep-fried until golden and crispy. Serve with soy sauce for dipping.
12 of 15

Char Siu (Chinese-Style Barbecued Pork)

The Spruce Eats

Lacquered barbecued pork is a traditional Chinese dish enjoyed at dim sum meals, either on its own, on top of noodles, or stuffed inside of doughy buns. Use inexpensive pork shoulder for this recipe, which marinates the meat for a few hours in a sweet and tangy, homemade Asian barbecue sauce, and oven-roasted to perfection.

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13 of 15

Chinese Sausage Fried Rice

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Chinese sausage adds its intensely sweet flavor to this quick and easy fried rice recipe, which makes great use of leftover cooked rice and makes a kid-pleasing weeknight meal. It is full of nutrition and great flavor from sausage chunks, scrambled eggs, frozen peas, shredded carrot, rice, oyster sauce, and soy sauce.
14 of 15

Steamed Spareribs in Black Bean Sauce

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To make this traditional dish, meaty pork ribs are dressed in a sauce of fermented black beans, ginger, garlic, tangerine zest, soy sauce rice wine, and sesame oil, then steamed over boiling water until they are tender and ready to eat. Yum!
15 of 15

Dairy-Free Mango Pudding

The Spruce Eats

Make this favorite, fruity, creamy dim sum dessert at home with our 5-ingredient recipe. Ripe mangoes are pureed in your food processor or blender, then combined with coconut milk and sweetened gelatin, and refrigerated for at least 2 hours to set.