Homemade Chicken & Dumpling Soup
Homemade Chicken & Dumpling Soup
Just like Grandma use to make! Seems like I’m on a soup kick! Weather and quarantine are calling for soup…Full of fresh veggies, chicken and plump dumplings. Super easy recipe ... Plenty to feed your family for lunch or dinner!
Homemade Chicken & Dumpling Soup
Yield: 8 – 10 servings
Ingredients:
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 large onion, diced
3-4 cloves garlic, minced
4 stalks celery with leaves, diced
3 – 4 carrots, quartered & diced
2 large chicken breasts, whole... boneless & skinless
8 cups water
2 bay leaves
1/2 teaspoon each: thyme, rosemary & turmeric (for color)
1/4 cup fresh parsley leaves & stems, chopped
2 tablespoons chicken soup base
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 cup milk
2 tablespoons flour
Extra salt & pepper, as desired to tasteDumplings:
3/4 cup milk
1 cup flour
1/3 cup grated parmesan cheese
1/2 teaspoon thyme
1/4 teaspoon rosemary
Pinch salt & grind of fresh pepper
Equipment needed:
Large soup kettle, ~ 6 quart
Cutting board
Chef knife
Rubber spatula
Measuring utensils, liquid & dry measuring cups, spoons
Small mixing bowl
Small spatula
Ladle
I love making and eating this soup! Reminds me of my Grandma & how she used to make homemade soup like this... creamy, rich and delicious!! Full of healthy ingredients too. I have adjusted the fat a bit to improve the “health” aspect, without sacrificing any of the flavor. If you can chop, dice and mince... you can make this pot of soup. Budget friendly and your family will love it... beside a great way to get the kids to eat extra veggies in the process. Fire the heat under your soup pot and let’s cook!!
Begin by cutting up the onions, celery and garlic first. Place the oil and butter in the pot and allow to melt. Once melted add the onion and garlic to sauté ... while these are cooking you can chop the carrots and parsley. Cooking is all about dovetailing the cooking process, so it’s all done at the same time... “efficiency is king” in the kitchen!! When the onions are slightly tender and aromatic, add the carrots and parsley. Pour in the water and sprinkle on the seasonings. Give everything a stir or two to blend it all together and bring the pot to a boil. Once boiling, drop in the whole chicken breasts. Cover and allow to simmer for 15 minutes.
After the chicken has simmered, using tongs remove it from the liquid to cool. I can touch pretty molten food products from years of experience, but you might want to wait ~ 10 minutes before shredding into small strips. Shredded chicken seems to disperse better in soup than chopped chunks... ensuring every bite has a bit of chicken in it!! While the chicken is cooling add the soup base and give the soup a taste. Adjust the seasonings as needed.
As the chicken is cooling, you can make the dumpling dough. Place the milk and seasoning in a small mixing bowl first, then the flour. This will prevent the flour from sticking to the bottom of the bowl as you stir it together. Using a small spatula, mix ingredients together while scraping the sides until a soft dough is formed. The dough will seem rather runny, but that’s fine. It will cook up to the most yummy, soft dumplings ever! Using a tablespoon or small dipper, scoop up dough and drop into simmering soup. Spread them out so they don’t stick together in the broth. Allow to simmer for ~ 5 minutes.
Last step!! In a liquid measuring cup combine the cold milk and 2 tablespoons of flour & stir well with the small spatula or fork you just used for the dumplings... No sense making more to clean up! Pour into soup and stir to blend and thicken slightly. These last ingredients make this soup so creamy and luscious! If you’d rather a broth-based soup, that’s fine... leave out this last step.
Soups on!! Grab a ladle and dish up a few bowls of this delicious soup! Make sure everyone gets at least one dumpling. I often make another batch of dumpling dough for the second meal too. Always seems that there are never enough dumplings!! ENJOY!!