Best frozen dumplings in Seattle? Our Metropolitan Market top 5
The life of a food writer isn't always glamorous.
If I'm not out at restaurants during the day, I'll often throw a tray of frozen soup dumplings in the microwave. It's a utilitarian option: Quick. Easy. Gets the job done.
But a recent lunch hosted by New York City-based restaurant Mimi Cheng's had me questioning my frozen dumpling choices. After eating Berkshire pork and chive dumplings and ones with chicken, bok choy and zucchini, I left thinking: Surely there are better frozen options out there than a sad tray, right?
Mimi Cheng's line of frozen dumplings recently debuted at Metropolitan Market and Whole Foods in Seattle. So we decided to have a frozen dumpling taste test.
A spin through the Met Market frozen aisle confirms that we are spoiled for choice. In addition to Mimi Cheng's, you'll find dumplings from four other restaurants that have pivoted to the frozen game, including Bellevue-based MìLà. There are specialty dumplings stocked in the frozen aisle from New Jersey-based Deep Indian Kitchen, Washington D.C.'s Laoban, and Wow Bao in Chicago, too.
What's a girl to do? Well … buy a lot of dumplings and invite a few friends over to eat them steamed, boiled and pan-fried, then compare notes.
Spoiler alert: They weren't all winners. Some were strangely dry or had tough wrappers, while others begged for sauce without providing a sauce packet or even a sauce recommendation.
But there were winners. Frozen dumplings that cooked up juicy, gingery and downright delicious, straight from the supermarket to your freezer to your plate.
Out of the 10 flavors we tried, these were the top five.
MìLà pork and shrimp
$8.99 for a bag of nine
We still remember when this dumpling was called XCJ, a pandemic-era pivot from Jennifer Liao and Caleb Wang. You can still get these dumplings fresh at the Bellevue restaurant, but you can also find them at Costco and just about every local grocery store. The classic bag of pork and shrimp dumplings comes with a steamer liner (or two) with instructions for steam cooking or pan-frying printed on the back. Steaming is the best way to enjoy these dumplings, which cook up plump and juicy with savory soup and tender filling.
Laoban ginger chicken
$7.99 for nine
The cooking instructions for these dumplings include steamed, boiled, pan-fried or air-fried. I chose to pan-fry them, which took about 10 minutes. The dumplings achieved a nice golden-brown crust on one side while the tops of the dumplings remained tender and chewy. There is a healthy, truly wonderful amount of ginger in these chicken dumplings. And you'll find a slight sweetness in the bite from a touch of honey alongside plenty of garlic and soy. These were incredibly juicy, especially when compared head-to-head with a pan-fried dumpling from Mimi Cheng's, which ended up dry and somewhat lifeless. We also tasted a pork and chive dumpling from Laoban, but it was "too porky" (I can't believe I'm typing this), which left the dumpling filling tasting aggressively meaty while still ringing one note. Go for the lovely, gingery chicken instead.
Wow Bao chicken
$6.19 for six
This tray of six dumplings gets popped into a microwave for two minutes, reheating in a tray. For anyone familiar with the popular Trader Joe's microwaveable soup dumplings, consider trading in those for the Wow Bao version. There is a good amount of ginger in the filling, which brightens up the dumpling, and there's also a deeply satisfying soup inside, plus a fairly delicate wrapper that holds up to the microwave without getting overcooked. Wow Bao makes a pork dumpling that's not bad, but the chicken beat it out in this taste test.
Deep Indian Kitchen butter chicken momo
$9.69 for a bag of eight
These momos can either be microwaved directly in the bag or steamed; they come with a small bag of deep green coriander chutney. During our taste test, they steamed up in about five minutes, leaving the finished product plump with a creamy tomato sauce coating well-spiced chicken. These are flavor bombs that get enhanced by the slightly spicy chutney. Still, they were great on their own, with a wrapper that had just the right thickness and level of chew.
Deep Indian Kitchen chicken tikka momo
$9.69 for eight
Similar to the butter chicken flavor from Deep Indian Kitchen, these momos can be microwaved or steamed, and they come with the same chutney. The chutney works just as well with both flavors, as the momos share several ingredients. The chicken tikka dumpling has a bit more of a vinegar punch to it. Paprika and turmeric are also listed among the ingredients, which led to a more vibrant-feeling, slightly spicier dumpling than the creamy, comforting butter chicken.
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This story was originally published May 28, 2026 at 6:49 AM.