Chicken Soup with Dumpling Noodles Recipe
Chicken and dumplings is a thick soup with chicken and soft dumplings, popular in American homes especially in autumn and winter. It’s something between broth, stew, and cream soup, very filling and warming. In many families it’s a “cold remedy” dish or something for the evening after a long, chilly day.
Chicken and dumplings is a classic of American Southern cooking, often served as a hearty one-pot meal for colder days. In many homes it replaces serving meat, potatoes, and gravy separately, because the dumplings steamed on the surface of the soup act as the soft, starchy side.
Chicken soup with dumpling noodles is American comfort food in its purest form – thick, creamy, full of soft dumplings and tender meat. It combines elements of broth, stew and cream soup, so it fills you up like a main course and warms you better than an electric blanket. In many homes it appears with the first autumn chill or when someone comes back frozen after a long walk with the dog.
Dlaczego ta wersja działa
- Bone-in chicken thighs give a deeper, meatier flavor than breast and don’t dry out in the soup.
- Sautéing the vegetables in butter builds a flavor closer to a stew than a simple broth.
- Dumplings with baking powder rise in the steam of the soup and turn out fluffy, not rubbery.
- Thickening with flour gives a creamy texture without using cream or long reduction.
Chef's tips
The dumplings will be soft and fluffy if you don’t overmix the dough – just bring the ingredients together with a spoon, without kneading, like American drop dumplings. It’s very important not to lift the lid for the first 10 minutes after placing the dumplings on the soup – the steam needs to “inflate” them, and frequent peeking will make them dense. Season the soup only after adding the flour thickener, because the stock reduces a lot and it’s easy to oversalt if you do it earlier.
How to serve
This soup is best served in large, deep bowls with extra parsley and freshly ground black pepper on top – it works perfectly as a stand-alone after-work dinner. You can add a simple cucumber and dill salad or a bowl of pickles to cut through the creaminess and richness of the dish. To drink, serve lightly sparkling water with lemon, ginger tea, or a glass of light white wine if you’re making it for a weekend dinner with friends.
Na co uważać
- Don’t mix the dumpling dough for too long – just combine the ingredients, otherwise the dumplings will turn tough.
- Once you drop in the dumplings, don’t lift the lid for the first 10 minutes or they’ll collapse and turn dense.
- Salt the soup only after thickening – a reducing broth is easy to oversalt.
Zamienniki
- Instead of thighs you can use a whole chicken cut into pieces, extending the cooking time by a few minutes.
- You can replace part of the chicken stock with vegetable stock if you want a lighter flavor.
- The milk in the dumpling dough can be swapped for a neutral plant milk, such as oat milk.
Ingredients
- chicken leg - 800 g
- carrot - 2 pieces
- celery stalk - 2 stalks
- onion - 1 piece
- garlic - 2 cloves
- chicken stock - 1.5 l
- bay leaf - 2 pieces
- butter - 40 g
- wheat flour - 160 g
- baking powder - 1.5 teaspoons
- milk - 120 ml
- parsley finely chopped - 2 tablespoons
- salt - 1.5 teaspoons
- black pepper ground - 0.5 teaspoons
Preparation
- Rinse the chicken, place it in a large pot, cover with the stock and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer on low for about 20 minutes, skimming off any foam from the surface.
- Peel the carrot and slice into half-moons, wash the celery and slice it, peel the onion and dice it finely, and mince the garlic.
- After 20 minutes of cooking, take the chicken out onto a plate, remove the skin, separate the meat from the bones and shred it into smaller pieces. You can put the bones back into the pot for the rest of the cooking time for extra flavor.
- In a pan melt half of the butter, add the onion, carrot and celery. Sauté for 5–7 minutes over medium heat, stirring, until the vegetables soften slightly but do not brown. Add the garlic and cook for 1 more minute.
- Transfer the vegetables to the pot with the stock, add the bay leaves, salt and pepper. Simmer on low heat for about 10 minutes.
- Meanwhile, prepare the dumpling dough: in a bowl mix 120 g flour with the baking powder and a pinch of salt. Add the milk and the remaining melted butter, stir with a spoon until you get a thick, sticky dough.
- Remove the chicken bones from the pot, if you added them earlier, and discard. Add the shredded chicken meat to the soup.
- From the remaining flour (40 g) and a little cold water make a smooth paste without lumps, pour it into the soup in a thin stream, stirring to thicken it slightly. Cook for 2–3 minutes.
- Using a teaspoon, scoop portions of the dumpling dough and gently place them on the surface of the simmering soup. Cover the pot with a lid and cook on low heat for 12–15 minutes, not lifting the lid for the first 10 minutes so the dumplings can rise properly.
- Finally, sprinkle the soup with chopped parsley, stir gently and taste; season with more salt and pepper if needed.
Storage
No storage information available for this dish.
I most often cook this soup on Sunday afternoons when someone at home starts coughing a little – the pot is scraped clean before it even has time to cool properly. I always set aside one portion in a container for Monday’s work lunch, because after a night in the fridge it tastes even better.
