The $7.99 Target Freezer Find My Whole Family Devours

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.