Jamaican Spinners (Dumplings) Recipe

By Cynthia Nelson

Updated 09/04/17

Wheat flour
knape/E+/Getty Images
Ratings (25)
  • Total: 18 mins
  • Prep: 3 mins
  • Cook: 15 mins
  • Yield: 24 dumplings (serves 4)
Nutritional Guidelines (per serving)
100 Calories
3g Fat
16g Carbs
2g Protein
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Nutrition Facts
Servings: 24 dumplings (serves 4)
Amount per serving
Calories 100
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 3g 4%
Saturated Fat 1g 4%
Cholesterol 0mg 0%
Sodium 427mg 19%
Total Carbohydrate 16g 6%
Dietary Fiber 2g 6%
Protein 2g
Calcium 47mg 4%
*The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.
(Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate.)

This three-ingredient recipe for spinners or Jamaican dumplings is very popular in the cuisine.

The dumplings are typically made of all-purpose flour sometimes adding a cornmeal. They can be boiled and eaten as a side dish or cooked in soups and stews.

These dumplings also are known as spinners and sinkers because their long and tapered shape cause them to sink and spin while they cook, whereas traditional dumplings just bob and float.

Ingredients

  • 1 cup all-purpose flour
  • pinch of salt
  • water to make a stiff dough

Steps to Make It

  1. In a small bowl, whisk together flour and salt.

  2. Add enough water to make a stiff dough.

  3. Once the dough is formed, pinch off about 1/2 ounce of dough and roll it between your hands to from a softly tapered cylindrical shape. Repeat until all of the dough has been transformed to spinners.

  4. The spinners can be cooked in a pot of boiling salted water or added to soup or stews 15 minutes before the dish is due to finish cooking.

You Also Might Like

  • Caribbean Cornmeal Dumplings Recipe: These dumplings are hearty and filling on their own, but they can be eaten with sautéed salt fish or a saucy stew. When made smaller, they're perfect for cooking in soups.

  • Caribbean Fufu Dumplings Recipe: Fufu dumplings do not contain any flour. They are made with the boiled and mashed flesh of yams that is rolled into balls and eaten with soups and stews.

  • Simple Caribbean Dumpling Recipe: This easy recipe for boiled dumpling is made with all-purpose flour and optional baking powder for extra fluffiness.

Serve Spinners with These

  • Caribbean Cowheel Soup Recipe: Instead of the simple dumpling recipe listed above, try spinners in this traditional and much-loved cowheel soup cooked with split peas and vegetables. Cowheel is sold in most markets and supermarkets in the Caribbean. It might be available from your butcher in the States. If not, substitute oxtails.

  • Caribbean Beef Tripe Soup Recipe: Spinners would be delicious cooked in this beefy broth to create a truly hearty soup that can substitute as a meal.

  • Caribbean Beef Soup Recipe:  Saturday is soup day in Jamaica and this soup made with beef stew meat is typical of the kinds of soups reserved for the weekend. It's a long-simmered soup that gets a boost from split peas, plantains, sweet potatoes, okra, carrots, and dumplings. The cooking process can be speeded up by cooking in a pressure cooker.