Chicken Dumpling Soup

There are few foods I find more comforting than chicken dumpling soup. It’s like having tiny, scrumptious loaves of bread bobbing around in your savory soup.

Chicken dumpling soup was not a regular staple in our household. Rather, it seemed to be only a special treat when my mom would bust out the flour and make a savory soup with dumplings. Perhaps this is because she once told me she made a huge pot of soup that was basically all dumpling and then ate herself sick.

I honestly can’t say I blame her.

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What are Dumplings?

Little doughy bits of heaven.

Dumplings have been around for thousands of years, with the first mention of them going back to Apicius, a Roman cookery book that dates back to the first century.

They exist in many different forms in just about every country in the world. Pot stickers, ravioli, and perogies are all types of stuffed dumplings.

The basic aspects of a dumpling are flour/bread and milk. Everything else can vary widely. One thing they have in common is they are all tender and tasty.

Ingredients for Chicken Dumpling Soup

The beauty of a chicken and vegetable soup is that you can use whatever you have on hand. Green beans, chopped peppers? Sautee ’em and toss them in the pot.

For this recipe I went pretty standard.

Soup

• 3 Cups of Chicken
• 2 Tbsp Butter
• 2 Large Carrots, chopped
• 1 Large onion, chopped
• 3 Ribs of Celery, chopped
• 1/4 Cup All Purpose Flour
• 6-7 Cups of Chicken Broth or stock
• Thyme
• Rosemary
• Parsley
• Salt and Pepper to taste

Dumplings

This is my Grandma Betty’s dumpling recipe as shared with me by my dear Aunt Cindy. Thanks for the family recipe book Auntie.

• 1 Beaten Egg
• 1/2 Cup Milk
• 1 1/2 Cups Flour
• 1/2 Tsp Baking Powder
• 1 tsp Sugar
• 1 tsp Salt
• Herbs (optional)

How to Make Chicken Dumpling Soup

Make the Chicken

First you must prepare the chicken. I like to use whole chickens that we butcher in the fall. Typically we have a few roosters to butcher each year and they are perfect for soup.

I toss a full chicken in the crock pot in the morning with some seasoning and broth to keep it moist. By afternoon the meat is tender and falling off the bone.

Alternatively, you could oven roast three or four chicken breasts. Rub them with olive oil and seasonings of your choice (thyme, rosemary, salt, pepper, etc.) and bake them on a cookie sheet for 25-30 minutes at 375 degrees F. I am paranoid about cooking chicken so I always temp check them too. They should be 165 degrees F. Once they have cooled, use a fork to shred the meat.

Prepare the Veggies

While the chicken is baking/roasting, prepare the rest of the ingredients.

Chop the carrot, onion, and celery. If you like a chunkier soup just a rough chop will do. If you want smaller bits, dice them instead of chopping.

Toss 2 Tbsp of butter in a large saucepot. Suatee the vegetables until the onions are translucent and you can prick the carrots with a fork.

Add the chicken, and sprinkle 1/4 a cup flour over the top of everything. Stir it up and cook for one minute.

Next, pour 6-7 cups of broth into the pot. This depends on how much broth you want the soup to have. For a thicker soup, use less broth. Stir, being sure to scrape the bottom of the pan. I like to use a wooden spoon.

Allow the soup to simmer on low for about five minutes.

Make Dumplings

Next, use a whisk to blend the egg, flour, baking powder, salt, sugar, milk, an any herbs you’d like, into a thick dough. When you scrape a spoon through it you want it to loosely hold its shape.

For herbs you can toss in parsley or another soft herb like basil. I wouldn’t use rosemary or thyme, anything that is too stiff. The dumplings don’t cook for long and the herbs would be tough.

Now here’s where you can vary a little. We like smaller dumplings in our soup. I use a baby size spoon and only fill it about halfway to get the size dumplings we like. My best advice is to make one and adjust your portion as needed.

Make sure the soup is at a low simmer. Dip the spoon in the hot broth, then scoop up a scant half a spoonful of dumpling batter. Dip the spoon in the broth again and the dumpling baby should slide off.

If the dough seems to loose, add flour in a tablespoon at a time until it is a little more stiff. You want somewhere between pancake and cookie batter.

Allow the dumplings to cook for a few minutes. The dumplings will all float around the top at first. Once they get broth logged they’ll sink into the soup.

I like to pull out a dumpling and test it. If it’s tender and cooked through then your soup is ready to eat!

Can I Make Gluten Free Chicken Dumpling Soup?

Sure thing! Swap out a gluten free flour alternative and make the rest of the recipe as directed. All purpose gluten free flour (with a binding agent like Xantham gum) should work fine. I know some folks use gluten free pancake mixes, too!

What kind of Flour Works Best for Dumplings?

I think that all purpose white flour makes the most tender dumplings. This batch I used our home ground wheat flour. I sifted it first to make it a little more fine.

If you wanted to add whole wheat flour you certainly could. I would substitute half the flour with whole wheat. Using all whole wheat I think would give you a tougher dumpling and they probably wouldn’t stick together as well.

Need a little more starch with your soup? Say no more. Check out this delicious oat bread recipe.

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