The $7.99 Target Freezer Find My Whole Family Devours

I can’t leave the store without a bag (or two or three).

You know the drill. You pop by Target to grab some paper towels, and the next thing you know you’ve got a full cart. It happens to the best of us. And one thing that is consistently in my Target cart these days is a bag of MìLà’s frozen soup dumplings. Forget the paper towels—I’m making a special trip to Target just for these dumplings!

If you’re unfamiliar with soup dumplings, here’s the deal. It’s a dumpling filled with meat (in this case, pork) and a little bit of soup broth. That’s right, the soup is coming from inside the dumpling.

The first time I made soup dumplings for my two kids, ages five and 12, they were an instant hit. Dumplings in general are always a win for dinner or lunch at my house, and soup is also a favorite, so it makes sense that the kiddos would fall head over heels for these satisfying, savory dumplings.

Why I Love MìLà’s Frozen Soup Dumplings

I am a proud dumpling devotee. I make weekly trips to my neighborhood Asian grocery store to stock up on my favorite potstickers, wontons, shumai, and bao, and my chest freezer closely resembles the dumpling aisle at H Mart.

I’ve been buying MìLà’s Frozen Soup Dumplings for a few years now, since they were known as Xiao Chi Jie or XCJ. The brand started from a restaurant in Bellevue, WA, and they quickly grew their online presence. I tried then-XCJ dumplings in 2020, back when I couldn’t stop buying food online, and I’ve been a huge fan ever since. When I saw them for sale at Target, I let out a happy little squeak that made my fellow shoppers do a double take.

MìLà’s Frozen Soup Dumplings have a supple, delicate wrapper and a meaty, savory pork filling with a luscious aromatic broth. I’m not sure exactly how many I could eat in one sitting, but I can tell you that I haven’t hit the threshold yet.

How I Serve MìLà’s Frozen Soup Dumplings

We are a family that loves Chinese food, but I don’t always love paying for takeout or delivery. Between the cost of the food and the tip, it can start to feel pretty expensive. Instead, I like to make my own DIY Chinese takeout with an easy egg drop soup, pork and veggie-loaded fried rice, and dumplings aplenty.

I use my steamer basket to steam these dumplings in just over 10 minutes. If you don’t have a steamer basket, this is me begging you to get one. They’re around $30 and they yield the most consistently perfect dumplings—a no-brainer for dumpling lovers like us. Using my two-story steamer basket, I can cook about 20 dumplings at a time. Since they’re just steaming away in there, I’m free to work on other things.

Once the dumplings have steamed, I like to serve them one of two ways: If I’m enjoying a bowl of dumplings for lunch, I’ll drown them in my favorite chili crisp and sprinkle them with scallions. For Chinese Takeout Night, I like to serve them with a dipping sauce of black vinegar mixed with soy sauce and a few slivers of fresh ginger. My kids love practicing grabbing the dumplings with their chopsticks and dipping them in the little bowls of sauce.

Read the original article on Simply Recipes.