When someone mentions a steamed dish, your brain probably jumps to vegetables first, maybe followed by certain seafood options. And sure, those are incredibly simple to steam—but the world of steaming goes far beyond the basics!
Let’s talk about the amazing variety you can create with steam. Ever considered dim sum specialties like fluffy steamed buns or savory steamed pork buns? How about tender steamed chicken that’s juicy and flavorful? These are just the beginning!
Here’s where it gets really exciting: steaming isn’t limited to savory dishes. Picture this—a moist steamed carrot cake, a delicate steamed sponge cake, or rich steamed chocolate pudding. Yes, these are absolutely real, and they’re surprisingly delicious!
Whether you’re working with a traditional wok setup or a standard steamer, the possibilities are endless. From classic dim sum favorites to innovative desserts, steaming is an incredibly versatile cooking method that deserves more attention.
This collection covers it all: those beloved steamed pork buns you’d find at a dim sum restaurant, perfectly prepared steamed chicken, light and airy steamed buns, plus all your expected vegetables and seafood options prepared as a steamed dish.
Ready to expand your steaming repertoire beyond the ordinary? Let’s dive in and discover just how creative you can get with this gentle, healthy cooking technique!
21. Chinese Steamed Egg Custard
If you love steamed dishes, Chinese steamed eggs (often called water egg) will quickly become your new obsession. This beloved traditional dish appears throughout China and represents true comfort food that never disappoints.
Here’s the Chinese way to create this silky masterpiece: beat eggs until they reach an omelette-like consistency, then gently steam them to perfection.
You might see it listed as egg custard on restaurant menus, but whatever the name, the result is always spectacular.
Want to master this healthy breakfast staple? Learning to steam eggs Chinese style is easier than you think, though there are some helpful tips and tricks to know.
The steaming duration depends on several factors—your egg size, whether they’re cold from the fridge, and even your altitude can affect timing.
Many people use a wok for this preparation, following the authentic Chinese way of cooking. The technique produces eggs that are impossibly soft, smooth, and tender—qualities that make this dish a comforting favorite for Chinese children and adults alike.
Once you try Chinese Steamed Egg Custard, you’ll be amazed by its delicate texture and gentle flavor. It’s one of those dishes that proves simplicity can be absolutely stunning.
Whether you love steamed foods already or you’re just discovering them, this traditional preparation showcases why the Chinese way of steaming eggs has remained popular for generations!
20. Xiǎo Lóng Bāo – Chinese Steamed Soup Dumplings
Chinese Soup Dumplings, known as xiaolongbao (xiǎo lóng bāo – 小笼包), might just be humanity’s most perfect single-bite culinary creation. Curious about how soup gets inside the dumpling? Our recipe reveals this delicious secret!
Never tasted soup dumplings and lack nearby Chinese restaurants that serve them? Good news awaits. Home preparation of soup dumplings is entirely achievable.
19. Gua Bao Buns – Vegetarian Asian Steamed Bao Buns
Are you a bao bun enthusiast? They’re ideal for creating Asian-inspired sandwiches, crafted from wonderfully simple ingredients—even superior to bakery versions!
Bao buns are incredibly handy to have available. Making Gua Bao is a personal favorite, and these buns are essential for that dish. While perfect for gua bao, countless other fillings work beautifully in these versatile buns.
18. Vegan Spicy Hunan Steamed Tofu with Mushrooms
This dish features caramelized oyster mushrooms scattered atop silky steamed tofu, finished with a sauce combining pickled duo jiao chili peppers, ginger, scallions, and generous white pepper.
Simply put, it’s an exceptionally flavorful, protein-rich, mushroom-meaty vegan creation that potentially surpasses its animal protein counterpart!
Surprising? We’re even more amazed than you are…
17. Cantonese Steamed Fish
This classic Cantonese preparation ranks among the simplest methods for cooking whole fish or fillets.
Lean white fish is simply steamed and seasoned with soy sauce and wine’s umami richness, then finished with a careful tableside hot oil drizzle that sizzles dramatically, releasing the aromatic bouquet of fresh ginger, scallions, and cilantro piled atop.
You’ll require a lidded pan wide enough for your serving plate, deep enough to accommodate the fish, plate, and steaming rack below.
16. Jing Yuk Beng – Authentic Chinese Steamed Pork Patty Recipe with Chinese Sausage and Preserved Vegetables
This authentic Chinese steamed pork patty (蒸肉餠, jing yuk beng) delivers a delicious umami blend from Chinese sausage and preserved vegetables mixed with minced pork. Juicy and rich, it’s genuine Asian comfort food alongside steamed rice.
The mixing technique holds the secret to maximum flavor. While combining pork and seasonings, stir in one direction exclusively for five minutes. This emulsifies the fat, producing richer taste and superior texture.
15. Steamed Chinese Sponge Cake
Here’s another oven-free cake option. Prepare it with just ten ingredients: eggs, caster sugar, light brown sugar, salt, vanilla extract, baking soda, evaporated milk, flour, baking powder, and canola (or grapeseed) oil.
The result is soft, moist, and remarkably filling—completed entirely on your stovetop in under an hour.
14. Chocolate Steamed Pudding
This chocolate pudding follows the English definition, not the Americanized Jell-O interpretation. It’s wonderfully rich, dense, and unbelievably soft.
The ingredients list appears lengthy, but don’t be intimidated. Nearly everything included is a standard baking ingredient or spice. Seeking a delicious holiday treat? This pudding might be your answer.
13. Steamed Cinnamon Apples – Sweet and Savory Dessert
Whether it’s Halloween eve, New Year’s Eve, or peak summer heat, steamed cinnamon apples somehow evoke autumn perfectly. They’re deliciously aromatic—I adore eating them, though the house fragrance they create is almost even better.
Most people bake their cinnamon apples, which works fine, but steaming produces juicier, more flavorful results. Plus, it requires only apples, cinnamon, and enough water to cover the pan bottom.
Peeling and cutting the apples constitutes the hardest work. Once on the stove, they cook in approximately five minutes. Simply drain and toss with cinnamon. Voilà! A nutritious, delicious dessert ready in fifteen minutes or less.
12. Sweet, Tasty, and Fruity Steamed Pears with Rock Sugar
If fall or winter brings recurring sore throats and coughs, memorize this recipe. It’s sweet, tasty, and fruity enough for dessert enjoyment.
However, the Chinese traditionally use it for cough relief! Boiling or steaming both work. I prefer steaming because it creates a more syrupy, soothing consistency.
11. Delicious Steamed Clams in Garlic Butter
I could simply say “ditto garlic butter sauce,” but you deserve more detail. These clams match the mussels’ simplicity, with garlic butter sauce providing optimal flavor.
They achieve perfect harmony of garlic, butter, herb, and umami notes—delicious enough to convert even seafood skeptics. Preparation takes under thirty minutes for four servings, though extras are recommended.
Once you start, stopping becomes difficult.
10. Tamales – Favorite Steamed Recipe
Yes, tamales demand substantial work and time. Still, I firmly believe the final product justifies every ounce of effort invested.
However, if time is limited, try this steamed tamales recipe. Pot-ready preparation takes roughly forty-five minutes, with cooking requiring one to seventy-five minutes. Best of all, they’re equally soft, tender, and flavorful as all-day tamales.
9. Make Steamed Mussels at Home
If cooking seafood at home intimidates you, start with steamed mussels. They’re incredibly easy to prepare, with failure nearly impossible.
Simply prepare your base—white wine, garlic, chicken stock, shallots, plus a few additions—then add mussels to the pot for steaming. The broth infuses tremendous flavor into the mussels, even penetrating shells to tenderize and marinate the meat.
Just thinking about it makes my mouth water.
8. Easy to Make Steamed Broccoli
Steamed broccoli’s best feature is its simplicity! Fifteen minutes and nothing but broccoli plus water are needed. Salt, pepper, and herbs are optional additions, though this tasty side dish requires nothing extra.
Broccoli also maintains most of its flavor after steaming—always a bonus.
7. Amazing Steamed Potatoes
Potatoes taste amazing regardless of preparation method. Since we’re discussing steamed recipes, this one explains steaming baby Yukon potatoes.
You’ll need only potatoes, butter, salt, and preferred herbs. Uncertain about herb selection? My general guideline: garlic never disappoints.
6. Delicious Steamed Cabbage
Steamed cabbage requires slightly longer than steamed spinach (approximately twenty minutes total cooking time), but it’s equally delicious.
I find this cabbage makes a very appealing side dish with several butter tablespoons, garlic, salt, and pepper, garnished with dried parsley and red pepper flakes.
5. Steamed Sticky Rice
I can’t believe I overlooked mentioning rice in the introduction when discussing typical steamed foods! Rice is the quintessential steamed food, requiring only rice and water.
Naturally, once finished, additions become tempting. I favor sweet rice, adding butter, sugar, and just a milk dash.
4. Flavorful Steamed Spinach
Steamed spinach is a flavorful side ready in just over five minutes. You’ll need only salt, pepper, garlic, butter, and lemon juice.
If family members dislike spinach, increase the garlic. It provides phenomenal taste that masks the greens’ bitterness.
3. Mediterranean Steamed Salmon with Veg
Imagine making a tasty, nutritious, complete dinner in thirty minutes or less. This Mediterranean steamed salmon recipe makes it possible.
The salmon is tender and succulent with abundant flavor from lemons, garlic, white wine, salt, pepper, coriander, cumin, and Aleppo pepper.
You’ll also receive a substantial vegetable serving. Beyond the parsley bed, green onions and yellow onions await enjoyment.
Add crusty bread for juice-dipping, and you’ve essentially created a complete meal.
2. Juicy and Tasty Steamed Carrot Cake
Cakes typically conjure oven imagery—understandably, since “bake a cake” is the common phrase. However, this delicious carrot cake never encounters an oven interior.
Instead, stovetop steaming does the work. It delivers the fantastic carrot cake taste we know and (mostly) love, but infinitely softer and moister. Steaming traps moisture inside rather than baking it out and creating dryness.
Seeking the juiciest, tastiest carrot cake around? This recipe provides the answer.
1. Vegetables in a Steamer Basket (Expand Woks of Life!)
Let’s address the most obvious recipe first. This provides three steamed veggie options: microwave, stovetop, or steamer basket.
Any vegetables work. Standard choices typically include carrots, cauliflower, and broccoli, though leafy greens, peas, squash, potatoes, and more steam beautifully.
Remember adding lemon pepper-garlic butter sauce before cooking finishes. It provides such fantastic veggie flavor.
20+ Steamed Recipes: The Woks of Life Guide to Steam Cooking
Discover 21 easy steamed recipes! Our guide covers steam cooking, from healthy steamed buns and dim sum to satisfying dishes and even steamed desserts.
Ingredients
- Chinese Steamed Egg Custard
- Xiǎo Lóng Bāo - Chinese Steamed Soup Dumplings
- Gua Bao Buns - Vegetarian Asian Steamed Bao Buns
- Vegan Spicy Hunan Steamed Tofu with Mushrooms
- Cantonese Steamed Fish
- Jing Yuk Beng - Authentic Chinese Steamed Pork Patty Recipe
- Chinese Steamed Sponge Cake
- Steamed Chocolate Pudding
- Steamed Cinnamon Apples
- Steamed Pears with Rock Sugar
- Steamed Clams in Garlic Butter
- Tamales
- Steamed Mussels
- Steamed Broccoli
- Steamed Potatoes
- Steamed Cabbage
- Steamed Rice
- Steamed Spinach
- Mediterranean Steamed Salmon
- Steamed Carrot Cake
- Steamed Vegetables
Instructions
- Choose any steamed recipes from the post that you like.
- Click on the link below the photo to get the full recipes and instructions.
- Try the best steamed recipes and share your photo under my pin on Pinterest!
I share healthy recipes, clean eating ideas, and meal plans for weight loss, as well as give you the best tips on wellness, pregnancy, and parenting advice.