25 Easy Steamed Momos Ideas for Dinner

Every idea in this list builds on one tested base: a simple dough of 250 g plain flour and 130 ml lukewarm water, filled, pleated and steamed for 8 to 14 minutes depending on the filling. You do not need special equipment — a bamboo steamer is nice, but a metal colander set over a pot with a lid works just as well. One batch makes about 24 momos for a fraction of what a takeaway portion costs, and uncooked momos freeze beautifully for up to 2 months. Below you'll find chicken, pork, beef, prawn, paneer, tofu and even dessert versions, so there is a steamed momo here for every dinner table.

This is the base recipe at the bottom of this page: chicken thigh mince seasoned with grated ginger, garlic, spring onion, soy sauce and toasted sesame oil. Thigh mince matters — it carries more fat than breast, so the filling steams up juicy instead of dry and crumbly. Stir the filling in one direction for a couple of minutes until it turns sticky; that binds it so it doesn't fall apart when you bite in. Steam for 12 minutes over water at a steady rolling simmer (100°C / 212°F) until the wrappers look slightly translucent and no longer feel tacky. Serve hot with the tomato-sesame chutney from the Serving Suggestions section.

When you want momos on the table in 25 minutes, skip the dough and buy a pack of round gyoza or dumpling wrappers from the freezer aisle of an Asian supermarket. They are usually 9 to 10 cm across — exactly the size you would roll by hand. Because shop wrappers are drier than fresh dough, run a wet fingertip generously around the full edge before pleating or they will pop open in the steamer. They are also thinner, so cut the steaming time to 8 to 10 minutes. Make the base chicken or veg filling while the wrappers thaw and you have a genuine weeknight dinner.

Jhol momo is a Nepali favourite where steamed momos sit half-submerged in a thin, tangy, warming broth instead of next to a thick dip. Blend 3 charred tomatoes, 3 tablespoons of toasted sesame seeds, 1 garlic clove, a thumb of ginger, half a teaspoon of ground cumin, a squeeze of lemon and 250 ml of warm water or chicken stock, then season with salt. The sesame gives the jhol body so it clings to each momo without being heavy. Pour it over the momos warm, not boiling, so the wrappers stay intact. It turns 8 momos into a complete bowl of dinner.

Mix 150 g of grated mozzarella with 150 g of well-drained tinned sweetcorn, 2 sliced spring onions and a quarter teaspoon of chilli flakes. The cheese melts completely during a 10-minute steam, so every bite pulls into a savoury, milky stretch that kids go quiet for. Seal these extra carefully — pinch the pleats twice — because molten cheese finds any gap and leaks onto the steamer. Pat the sweetcorn dry with kitchen paper first, otherwise the filling waters out and makes the wrapper soggy. Serve with ketchup for children and chilli-garlic sauce for adults.

Instead of sealing the momo shut, gather the wrapper up around the filling like a siu mai and leave the top open, then press a single pea or a pinch of grated carrot into the exposed filling. This is the easiest shape for beginners because there is no pleating to master, and the visible filling makes a striking platter for guests. Slightly overfill each one — about 1¼ tablespoons — and flatten the base so they stand upright in the steamer. Steam for the same 12 minutes as the base recipe; the open top lets steam cook the filling directly, so they never come out underdone.

Swap half or all of the plain flour for chapati flour (atta) for a nuttier, more rustic wrapper with extra fibre. Wholemeal flour drinks up more liquid, so add 1 to 2 extra tablespoons of lukewarm water and rest the dough for 40 minutes instead of 30 to let the bran soften. Roll the wrappers a touch thinner than usual because atta dough is denser and can turn chewy if thick. The sturdier wrapper is brilliant with juicy fillings like the pork and chive momos in idea 16 — it holds the juices without splitting. Steaming time stays the same at 12 minutes.

Colour the dough naturally by swapping the kneading water: blitz 2 tablespoons of cooked beetroot with the 130 ml of water for a rose-pink dough, or blend a handful of blanched spinach into the water for green. Split one batch of dough in two and colour each half differently, then serve them mixed for a two-tone platter. The vegetable purée changes the colour dramatically but barely changes the flavour, and the shades actually brighten as the momos steam. Add an extra teaspoon of flour if the purée makes the dough tacky. Fill, pleat and steam exactly as the base recipe.

The whole filling is 300 g of finely chopped chestnut mushrooms, 2 minced garlic cloves, 2 sliced spring onions, 1 tablespoon of soy sauce and 1 tablespoon of oil. Sauté the mushrooms over medium-high heat for about 8 minutes until every drop of their liquid has cooked off — this is the step that keeps the wrappers from going soggy. Mushrooms bring a deep, meaty umami, so these satisfy meat eaters despite being fully plant-based. Cool the filling completely before wrapping, then steam for 9 to 10 minutes since the filling is already cooked.

For a crowd, double the base recipe to about 48 momos and steam in relays, keeping finished batches warm in the covered steamer off the heat while the next batch cooks. Arrange them in a ring on a large platter around three small bowls: tomato-sesame chutney, a coriander-mint yogurt dip (blend 30 g coriander, 15 g mint, 150 g yogurt, 1 green chilli, salt), and chilli-garlic oil. Mix wrapper colours from idea 7 to make the wreath look deliberate rather than thrown together. Budget 6 to 8 momos per guest if there are other dishes, 10 to 12 if momos are the whole dinner.

Borrow the soup dumpling trick: chill 100 ml of strong chicken stock until it sets firmly (whisk in 1 teaspoon of powdered gelatine while hot if your stock stays liquid), dice the jelly small and fold it through the chicken filling just before wrapping. In the steamer the jelly melts back into hot broth, so each momo hides a spoonful of soup. Pleat these tightly with no gaps and steam seam-side up for 12 minutes so nothing escapes. Warn everyone to bite a small corner and sip first — the inside is genuinely hot. It is the idea guests talk about afterwards.

Stir 2 tablespoons of schezwan sauce (from a jar or homemade) into the base chicken or veg filling along with an extra minced garlic clove. The sauce seasons the filling from the inside, so the heat is built in rather than painted on, and the momos stay steamed rather than fried like most street versions. Steam for the standard 12 minutes, then serve with extra schezwan sauce loosened with a teaspoon of vinegar for dipping. If your crowd loves heat, add a quarter teaspoon of crushed dried red chilli to the filling too. These pair well with a cooling cucumber salad.

Chop 300 g of raw peeled prawns so half becomes a rough paste and half stays in small chunks — the paste binds, the chunks give you something to bite. Season with 1 tablespoon of grated ginger, 2 sliced spring onions, a quarter teaspoon of white pepper and a teaspoon of sesame oil. Prawns overcook quickly, so steam these for just 8 to 9 minutes, until the filling turns pink and opaque through the translucent wrapper. Roll the wrappers extra thin for these; a delicate skin suits the sweet, light filling. A dip of soy sauce with a splash of rice vinegar beats heavy chutney here.

Momos began in Tibet, where they are classically filled with minced yak or beef, so this version is the closest to the original. Use 400 g of beef mince at 15 to 20 percent fat, seasoned with a finely chopped onion, 2 garlic cloves, 1 tablespoon of ginger and, if you can find it, a quarter teaspoon of ground Sichuan pepper, a warming spice much loved in Himalayan cooking. Beat 3 tablespoons of cold beef stock into the mince a spoonful at a time until absorbed; this old technique is what makes the filling juicy rather than dense. Steam for 13 to 14 minutes, until the beef reaches 71°C / 160°F inside.

A Delhi restaurant trend worth copying: season the base chicken filling with 1 teaspoon of garam masala and 1 tablespoon of tomato purée, then serve the steamed momos sitting in a quick makhani sauce. For the sauce, melt 25 g of butter, add 200 ml of passata, 3 tablespoons of double cream, half a teaspoon of garam masala and a pinch of crushed kasuri methi, and simmer 5 minutes. Spoon the warm sauce into shallow bowls and set 6 momos on top like a jhol. The buttery tomato sauce soaks into the wrappers and turns momos into a proper knife-and-fork dinner.

Divide the dough into 6 g pieces instead of 10 g, roll 7 cm circles and fill each with just 1 teaspoon of a mild filling — chicken with grated carrot works, and leave out the pepper. Use the simple half-moon fold rather than pleats; small hands can press the edges shut themselves, which turns dinner prep into an activity. Minis steam in only 8 minutes, so watch them and pull them as soon as the wrappers turn translucent. One batch of dough makes about 40 minis, and leftovers pack well into next-day lunchboxes. Serve with a no-heat tomato ketchup dip.

Use 400 g of regular (not lean) pork mince with 50 g of chopped garlic chives — or ordinary chives plus one extra garlic clove — 1 tablespoon of soy sauce and 1 teaspoon of grated ginger. Beat 2 tablespoons of cold water into the pork until the mixture turns tacky and slightly springy; the fat and absorbed water baste the filling as it steams. Pork momos are a classic pairing in Nepal and Tibet for good reason: the sweetness of pork and the grassy bite of chives need almost nothing else. Steam for 13 to 14 minutes, until the pork reaches 71°C / 160°F.

Shred and finely chop 250 g of leftover roast chicken, then bring it back to life with 2 tablespoons of leftover gravy or full-fat cream cheese, 2 sliced spring onions and a pinch of white pepper. Cooked chicken is dry on its own, so that spoonful of gravy or cream cheese is not optional — it is what makes the filling juicy again. Because everything inside is already cooked, you only steam long enough to cook the wrapper: 8 to 9 minutes. This is the perfect Monday dinner after a Sunday roast and costs almost nothing. A dollop of cranberry sauce as the dip sounds odd and works brilliantly.

Crumble 200 g of paneer and mix it with 150 g of blanched spinach that you have squeezed hard in a clean tea towel and chopped, plus half a teaspoon of ground cumin, one minced green chilli and salt. Squeezing the spinach properly is the whole game — any water left in it steams out and soaks the wrapper. Paneer keeps its shape and stays creamy at steaming temperature, so the filling is rich without any meat. Steam for 10 minutes, since nothing inside is raw. These are elegant enough for guests, especially made with the green spinach dough from idea 7.

Fill the wrappers with 150 g of grated low-moisture mozzarella, 6 finely chopped sun-dried tomatoes, 6 torn basil leaves and half a teaspoon of dried oregano. Use sun-dried tomatoes instead of pizza sauce inside — wet sauce bursts the seams, but the concentrated tomatoes give bigger flavour with no leaks. Steam for 10 minutes, then serve with a bowl of warm marinara for dunking so you still get the saucy pizza experience. This is the crossover dinner for a family where half wants dumplings and half wants pizza. A pinch of chilli flakes in the marinara sharpens everything up.

Press 250 g of extra-firm tofu under a weighted plate for 15 minutes, crumble it, and mix with 100 g of roughly chopped shelled edamame, 1 tablespoon of soy sauce, 1 teaspoon of sesame oil and 1 tablespoon of grated ginger. The base dough contains no egg or dairy, so the whole momo is vegan as written. Pressing the tofu first means it soaks up the seasoning instead of leaking water, and the edamame adds a sweet pop and extra protein. Steam for 10 minutes and finish with a scatter of toasted sesame seeds. Serve with chilli crisp or the tomato-sesame chutney.

Boil 350 g of floury potatoes, mash them coarsely, and season with half a teaspoon each of ground cumin, ground coriander and garam masala, 50 g of peas and a handful of chopped coriander leaves. Think of these as a steamed samosa: cheap, sturdy, filling and impossible to get wrong, because the filling is fully cooked before it ever meets the wrapper. That also means a short steam of 8 to 9 minutes, just enough to cook the dough. Leave the mash a little chunky so the texture is rustic rather than pasty. Brilliant with the coriander-mint yogurt dip from idea 9.

Knead half a teaspoon of ground turmeric into the dough with the water for a deep golden wrapper, then fill with a confetti of finely diced carrot, red pepper and purple cabbage. Toss the diced vegetables with half a teaspoon of salt, leave for 10 minutes, then squeeze them dry — salting pulls out the water that would otherwise pool inside the momo. Season the drained veg with soy sauce, ginger and a teaspoon of sesame oil. The gold wrapper against the multicoloured filling makes this the prettiest cut-open photo on the table. Steam for 10 minutes.

Strip the filling back to basics — chicken mince or finely shredded cabbage with just ginger and salt — and let a spoonful of chilli crisp do all the seasoning at the table. For a quick homemade version, heat 4 tablespoons of neutral oil to 180°C / 350°F (shimmering, with a wisp of smoke) and pour it over 1 tablespoon of dried chilli flakes, 1 teaspoon of sesame seeds and a pinch of salt in a heatproof bowl. The minimal filling means the soft wrapper and the crunchy, smoky oil are the stars. This is the momo equivalent of buttered pasta with parmesan: restrained and completely satisfying. Steam for the standard 12 minutes for chicken, 9 for cabbage.

Mix 1 tablespoon of tandoori masala and 2 tablespoons of thick Greek-style yogurt into the base chicken filling, then steam as normal for 12 minutes. Straight from the steamer, brush each momo lightly with melted butter and dust with a pinch of chaat masala for that sour-savoury street-stall finish. If you want a hint of char for a party, flash the steamed momos under a grill preheated to 240°C / 465°F for 2 minutes — they stay soft inside but pick up smoky edges. The yogurt keeps the spiced chicken tender, exactly as it does in a real tandoori marinade. Serve with the mint-coriander dip.

Chocolate momos are a genuine street-food hit in Delhi and Kathmandu, and they are a fun way to end a dumpling dinner. Knead 1 tablespoon of cocoa powder into the dough, then fill each wrapper with 2 squares of chopped dark chocolate and a teaspoon of chopped hazelnuts. Steam for only 6 to 7 minutes — just until the wrapper is cooked — so the centre stays molten. Dust with icing sugar and serve warm within a few minutes, because the chocolate firms up as it cools. A drizzle of condensed milk over the top is how the street stalls finish them.

Use lukewarm water for the dough and do not skip the 30-minute covered rest — it relaxes the gluten so wrappers roll thin without springing back. Roll each wrapper so the edges are thinner than the centre; the edges double up when pleated, and this trick stops the top knot turning doughy. Keep both the dough and finished momos under a damp tea towel at all times, because dried-out edges will not seal. Cap the filling at 1 level tablespoon per wrapper — overfilled momos burst in the steamer. Before wrapping all 24, microwave a teaspoon of filling for 30 seconds and taste it, then adjust the salt while you still can. Finally, leave 2 cm between momos in the steamer; they swell as they cook and will weld together if touching.

The classic partner is a tomato-sesame chutney: char 3 tomatoes and 2 dried red chillies in a dry pan until blistered, then blend with 1 tablespoon of toasted sesame seeds, 1 garlic clove and salt to a pourable dip. Plan on 6 to 8 momos per adult when you serve a side, or 10 to 12 if momos are the entire dinner. For sides, a bowl of hot and sour soup or Tibetan thukpa noodle soup keeps the meal in the same family, while a quick cucumber salad with rice vinegar cuts the richness of meat fillings. Bring the momos to the table straight from the steamer — even in the basket itself — because they are at their softest in the first 10 minutes.

Steamed momos keep in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days; let them cool fully first so condensation does not soften the wrappers. The best make-ahead route is freezing them uncooked: arrange freshly pleated momos on a floured tray so they do not touch, freeze solid for 2 hours, then transfer to a freezer bag for up to 2 months. Steam frozen momos straight from the freezer without thawing, adding 4 to 5 minutes to the usual time. To reheat cooked momos, re-steam for 3 to 4 minutes, or microwave them covered with a damp piece of kitchen paper for 60 to 90 seconds on high. Avoid reheating uncovered in the oven — dry heat turns the wrappers leathery.