Lean Dough for Dumplings
Very easy to make, with minimal ingredients. Lean Dough for Dumplings is made only from flour and water, yet it turns out very elastic, rolls out well, and is easy to shape. This dough will help you not only during fasting, because dumplings made from it come out soft and tender.
Updated : 15 May, 2026
Easy
About 45 min.
Ingredients
3 cup
Wheat flour
1 cup
Water
0.5 teaspoon
Salt
Table
Table of volume measurements:
- teaspoon - 5 ml
- dessert spoon - 10 ml
- tablespoon - 20 ml
- glass - 200 ml
Preparation
Step 1
How do you make lean dough for dumplings? Prepare the ingredients. Use filtered or bottled water, because the taste of the future dumplings depends on the taste of the water, so do not overlook this. You may need more or less flour. It all depends on its quality and moisture content. You will also need a small extra amount for rolling out and shaping the dumplings later.
Step 2
Warm the water slightly so it becomes lukewarm. Water at this temperature helps the gluten develop faster and better, which is especially important in a lean version without eggs, since eggs normally help provide elasticity. Add the salt to the water and stir.
Step 3
Sift the flour into a large bowl. Do not add all the flour at once, start with 2 cups. Then add more as needed. Make a well in the center. Gradually pour in the water while stirring constantly.
Step 4
At this point the dough will still be loose, so begin gradually adding more flour. At first it will be easy to mix with a fork, then you will need to knead it by hand.
Step 5
Knead the dough for about 10 minutes, until it becomes smooth and elastic and almost stops sticking to your hands. For this amount of ingredients, I used a little more than 3 cups of flour.
Step 6
Shape the dough into a ball and dust it with flour on all sides. Cover the bowl with the dough with a towel and leave it to rest for 20-30 minutes. During this time, the gluten will develop well and the dough will become very elastic. As another option, you can place the dough in a bag and store it in the refrigerator.
Step 7
When you continue shaping the dumplings, roll out the dough on a work surface dusted with flour. I prefer to shape dumplings not by cutting rounds out of one large sheet, but by rolling out separate small circles from little pieces of dough.
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