Each month, our staff shares unfussy recipe ideas that you can call upon any day of the week. Because yes, our editors love to cook, but sometimes we need to get dinner on the table 12 minutes ago. That\u2019s when we look to kitchen helpers, humble ingredients that can quickly turn into delicious meals. This month, it\u2019s all about store-bought dumplings.<\/em><\/p>\n Close your eyes and picture a dumpling. Perhaps you\u2019re seeing a crescent wrapper stuffed with pork, scallions, and ginger\u2014Japanese gyoza! Mind goes black. Another vision emerges, this time with a flaky shell. The filling? Spiced beef, raisins, and olives\u2014ah yes, it\u2019s Argentinian empanadas. Now one more pops into sight. It\u2019s bursting with potatoes, Kielbasa, and sauerkraut\u2014Polish pierogies, of course.<\/p>\n Nearly every culture has its version of a dumpling: mandu, ravioli, vareniki, the list goes on. Making them from scratch is a fun project with friends. Only on a lot of weeknights, there just isn\u2019t time\u2014but that doesn\u2019t mean there shouldn\u2019t still be dumplings.<\/p>\n Floated into brothy soups, tossed into salads like croutons, even splayed over a bed of yogurt, ready-made dumplings are the shortcut we turn to on the busiest of nights. Read on for our editors\u2019 go-to ways to use them.<\/p>\n Pelmeni + butter + yogurt<\/p>\n My favorite dumplings of the moment are Luda\u2019s Eastern European\u2013syle pork pelmeni (though the potato vareniki are also great with this treatment). Turning them into a meal is as simple as tossing the boiled dumplings in melted butter (as much as you think is prudent) and spooning the lot over a plate of Greek yogurt. I\u2019ll often put in a little extra work, like adding lemon juice or crushed spices\u2014caraway, chile flakes\u2014to the yogurt sauce. Sometimes I\u2019ll swap out the butter for olive oil. If you have a few minutes to spare, you could top the dumplings with shaved radishes, sauerkraut, or chopped scallions. But for quick satisfaction, the dumplings + butter + yogurt formula is delicious as-is. \u2014Joe Sevier, senior SEO and cooking editor<\/em><\/p>\n Transform store-bought dumplings into a restaurant-worthy meal using wilted greens, creamy garlicky yogurt, and plenty of chile butter.<\/p>\n View Recipe<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n Crispy potsticker salad<\/p>\n How do you make a salad hearty and filling when you don\u2019t have any leftover roast chicken or cooked grains around to bulk it out? Add seared potstickers. This freezer staple can turn any old salad into a dinner<\/em> salad, and fills in for both protein and croutons. You\u2019ll need crisp lettuce for this to really work (no sad soggy mixed greens), and other crunchy veg like cucumbers, red peppers, or canned water chestnuts. For dressing, keep it simple with a rice vinegar vinaigrette. \u2014J.S.<\/em><\/p>\n Gyoza with peanut sauce<\/p>\n I, like Joe, turn to carbs when I want a satisfying dinner salad. I like to dump steamed Thai Shrimp Gyoza from Trader Joe\u2019s into a bowl, with julienned carrots and Persian cucumber, plus crisp cilantro and mint. Then, in line with this recipe, I douse everything in a peanut sauce. I eyeball the measurements: peanut butter, soy sauce, sriracha, lime juice, rice vinegar, and honey. It\u2019s the sort of dressing I\u2019d be happy slurping with a spoon. \u2014Nina Moskowitz, associate editor, cooking<\/em><\/p>\n 20-minute egg drop soup<\/p>\n I\u2019ve made deputy food editor Hana Asbrink\u2019s frozen dumpling soup a million times. The broth\u2014store-bought, bolstered with soy sauce, fish sauce, and sesame oil\u2014is so flavorful, you\u2019d have no idea it came together in minutes. Depending on the night, I\u2019ve skipped the egg drop (fine if you have a hearty dumpling) and swapped frozen spinach instead of fresh for convenience. Whatever adjustments I make, it\u2019s the sort of steaming bowl that reliably makes me feel nourished, tended to, cared for. \u2014Emma Laperruque, director of cooking<\/em><\/p>\n Short-cut favorites like boxed stock, frozen dumplings, and bagged spinach join forces in a twist on comforting egg drop soup that\u2019s a breeze to make.<\/p>\n View Recipe<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n Empanadas with green sauce<\/p>\n Everytime my boyfriend and I arrive at his parent\u2019s house, they greet us with open arms and a pile of hot-out-the-oven empanadas (we\u2019re lucky!). They\u2019re well-spiced, with buttery ground meat leaching out. A box of these frozen reliables are a staple in their household, and I\u2019m starting to keep them stocked in mine. To make them into more of a meal, I serve the empanadas with an herbaceous green sauce: usually Greek yogurt blended with avocado, cilantro, lime, jalape\u00f1o, and olive oil. Alongside a vinegary bean salad, it\u2019s a meal that tastes like a familiar hug. \u2014N.M.<\/em><\/p>\n Sheet-pan ravioli<\/p>\n Turn on the oven to 425\u2109 and immediately throw a sheet pan inside. Once it\u2019s scorching hot, add cheese ravioli, spicy Italian sausage, broccoli rabe, and garlic. Cook it until blistered and brown, and top with a knob of butter, a squeeze of lemon juice, and mountain (yes, really a mountain) of grated Parmesan. Voila! \u2014N.M.<\/em><\/p>\n Speedy braised dumplings<\/p>\n When I need a 15-minute, one-pan meal, I look no further than senior Test Kitchen editor Jesse Szewczyk\u2019s buttery tomatoes and dumplings. I always have some kind of frozen gyoza-style dumpling (chicken, pork, shrimp, even veggie) in the freezer, and the tomatoes\u2014even out of season Campari or grape varieties\u2014melt into a rich, juicy, salty-sweet sauce. \u2014Rebecca Firkser, Test Kitchen editor<\/em><\/p>\n![\"Bowl](\"https:\/\/assets.bonappetit.com\/photos\/631a0a850d376dca32f933f1\/master\/w_775%2Cc_limit\/0908-1022familymeal-gyoza.jpg\"\/)
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