Chicken and Dumpling Soup

Chicken and dumpling soup combines two incredible things – chicken and dumplings with the best chicken soup to make this incredibly satisfying meal. The dumplings are the best part – so airy and cloudlike with tons of flavor. You’ll want a dumpling in each bite!

Chicken and dumplings are so comforting and there are thousands of recipes with many variations out there. In this recipe, I combine the chicken and dumplings into a soup, making it really “brothy” and very satisfying.

I am absolutely in love with these dumplings. They are tender, airy and not doughy or leaden. Chicken broth and butter give them so much flavor. I saw Alton Brown making dumplings using a pate a choux pastry dough and I had to try it for myself. They were phenomenal! I added them to my usual chicken noodle soup recipe and it was the perfect combination.

It’s a family favorite – my two boys regularly request me to make it. They call the dumplings “pillows” and expect to get one in each spoonful:). The aromatic onion, carrots, celery and garlic give it the iconic chicken soup flavor. Most chicken and dumplings don’t use potatoes, but I really enjoy the addition of them in this soup.

Ingredients:

Soup

chicken broth and cooked chicken
onion
carrots
celery
garlic
all purpose flour
white wine, optional
potatoes
fresh herbs: parsley
salt, ground black pepper

Dumpling Dough

chicken broth
butter
salt
all purpose flour
eggs

How to Make Chicken and Dumpling Soup

Prep all the ingredients. Slice the onion, carrots, celery, mince the garlic and chop the potatoes.
Then, saute the aromatic vegetables. Melt the butter and add the onion, carrots, celery and garlic. Season with salt and pepper and cook for 5-8 minutes until all the vegetables are cooked through.
Sprinkle in the flour. Cook the flour, stirring it until it is incorporated into the vegetables.
Pour in the white wine, if using, then some of the chicken broth, stirring well, so the flour doesn’t clump up and becomes a smooth sauce. Add the rest of the broth. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer.
Add the potatoes and cook at a simmer until the potatoes are cooked through, 10-15 minutes.
Meanwhile, make the dumpling dough. (This is the same method as making pate a choux, that you would use to make eclairs or cream puffs. ) Bring the broth, butter and salt to a boil and cook just until all the butter is melted.
Add the flour, all at once and start mixing immediately and vigorously until it forms a ball. Cook on low heat for 1-2 minutes until the dough is smooth and cohesive.
Cool the dough so the eggs won’t scramble when you add them to the dough. To make this process faster, I place the dough in my stand mixer and using the paddle attachment start mixing it until it stops steaming. How cool is that? Then, add the eggs one at a time, mixing it in until the dough is smooth.
Transfer the dough to a pastry bag or ziptop bag and snip off one of the bottom corners.
When the chicken soup is done cooking and the potatoes are tender, add the dumplings, making sure the broth is simmering the whole time. You can pipe out the dough and use kitchen scissors to cut them into 1 1/2 inch pieces or use two small spoons to portion out the dumplings and drop them into the soup.
If the dumplings start to stick together, gently shake the pot and as the broth washes over the dumplings it will jostle them free and prevent them from sticking together.
Cook the dumplings for about 8-10 minutes, at a simmer, until they are cooked through. They will increase in size and become puffy.
Lastly, add the cooked chicken, just to warm it through and then garnish with lots of fresh herbs.

Reheating the Soup

This is such a comforting, satisfying soups that I always make a big batch so we can enjoy it more than once. It reheats so well and I love giving it to my children for lunch – so easy. (Of course, you can halve the recipe, if you don’t want such a large amount.

Here’s the best way to reheat this soup: If you reheat the soup on the stove, ladle out the amount that you will eat and heat it, covered, just until warmed through. Every time you reheat the soup, more of the broth will get absorbed into the potatoes and the dumplings.
Don’t bring it to a rolling boil. This will keep the dumplings from falling apart and overcooking. You may want to add a bit more water or broth the longer that you have it standing in the fridge to thin it out slightly.

Helpful Tips For the Best Chicken and Dumpling Soup

Use homemade chicken broth.

Homemade Chicken Broth will really make this soup and the dumplings extra flavorful and totally worth making from scratch. I often make a big batch and store it in my freezer and save the chicken to use in soups. Making the broth in advance will help to make the process a lot faster and easier.

Want to skip the potatoes?

Traditionally chicken and dumpling soup is not made with potatoes, so you can totally skip them. Use more carrots and celery to compensate and as soon as you add the flour and broth, you can start making the dumplings. You won’t have to wait for the potatoes to cook through first.

Can you freeze Chicken and Dumpling Soup?

I don’t recommend it. The dumplings and the potatoes will become really waterlogged and fall apart during the freezing and thawing processes. This soup is best served fresh.

Use a ziptop or pastry bag to add the dumplings to the soup.

This is such a great way to add the dumplings to the soup – makes them relatively the same size and is so easy and fun. Pipe them out while cutting off about 1 1/2 inch pieces with your kitchen scissors.
I sort of run the bottom blade of the scissors up as I pipe out the dough, which “cuts” the dough and then close the blades together, which snips them off the scissors and then drop into the broth.

The most tender and flavorful dumplings made with pate a choux dough in chicken soup.

More Comforting Chicken Soup Recipes: