Nothing screams comfort food like a good bowl of chicken dumpling soup. When the temperatures get into the cooler months of the year this is a must have recipe that’s fairly easy to make. It’s a little time consuming, so set aside 2-3 hours, but the rewards are great and the leftovers are even better than the first day, as the flavors really come together the longer it sits. The only problem with many of the other recipes out there is that they often get the dumplings wrong. What initially might look like a good bowl of soup ends up turning out to be a disappointment, with dumplings that are gluey, dense, dark globs of dough that feel like a brick in your stomach… but it doesn’t have to be that way.
Yes, it IS hard to find a recipe that truly knows what they are doing when it comes to making a dumpling. But after perfecting this recipe over the course of 10 years with little micro adjustments along the way and at one time living next to an Amish community, I believe I have solved the mystery. I make them they way they were meant to be enjoyed. Mine are light, moist, pillowy, flavor clouds that are loaded with that home cooked taste that we all have come to know and love. The secret lies within the flour and the corn meal. You’ll need a soft wheat for making a light and fluffy dumpling.
As for the chicken part of this recipe, I like to smoke 4-5 breasts the day before, cool them and chop them up the day I’m preparing this recipe. If you don’t have time for that, you can get a store bought rotisserie chicken, bake one, or boil one in the stock to extract the many health benefits of a bone broth. You’ll be just fine, whichever method you choose for the protein, because the important elements of this recipe are in place. The dumplings are perfect, the broth is light and creamy and if you’ve gone down the path that I do, then you’ve added the extra deliciousness of a smoked meat to the pot.
For our Texas residents, be sure to source great ingredients like hormone-free chicken and organic vegetables from your local H-E-B Grocery store. You’ll also be able to find all three of our BBQ Sauces, which are sold exclusively on the condiment isle beginning in January 2021.
Please keep in mind that this recipe will feed our family of four for 3 days. You can freeze it, or store it for up to 5 days in the refrigerator.
Chicken and Dumpling Soup Recipe
Equipment
- grill
- 10 Quart Stock Pot
- Measuring spoons and cups
- Long Handled Wooden Spoon
Ingredients
- 1 5 Pound Roaster Chicken or 5 large chicken breasts for all white meat
- 1 Can Peas add last
- 8 Stalks Celery 1/4" dice
- 7 Large Carrots 1/4" coined
- 3 Large Sweet Onions 1/2" dice
- 2 Tsp Thyme
- 7-10 Garlic Cloves smash and dice (add double if you love garlic)
- 5 Bay Leaves
- 1 Cup Parsley fine rough chop
- 16 Cups Organic Chicken Stock 4 cartons
- 3 Tbsp Kosher Salt
- 2 Cups Whole Milk divide
- 4 Cups Filtered Water
Dumplings
- 3 Cups Flour White Lily (Soft Wheat)
- 1 Cup Corn Meal
- 2 Tbsp Baking Powder
- 4 Tsp Parsley fine chop
- 2 Tsp Course Kosher Salt Blue Box
- 1 Tsp Paprika
- 6 Tbsp Butter, Shortening, or Tallow softened
- 2 Cups Whole Milk Warm for 2 minutes in microwave
Instructions
- Scale all ingredients and have ready. carrots, onions, celery, garlic and transfer to stock pot.
- Add in Chicken Stock (4 cartons is 16 cups)
- Add in Bay Leaves, Salt, Thyme,
- Turn stove on medium heat. Gently stir ingredients
- Allow pot to come up to a slow simmer and begin to cook vegetables. (30-45 minutes)
- Add in chopped cooked chicken now. You can smoke your own the day before, or add in shredded rotisserie chicken.
- add in roughly chopped parsley
- Note: Peas will be added last after dumplings are cooked, otherwise they will turn to mush.
Dumplings
- Mix all dry ingredients for dumplings with a whisk
- add in butter, shortening or tallow (we like tallow)
- add in finely chopped parsley.
- begin to mix with a large spoon. until slighty tacky and transfer to a board
- You might need to add 1/4 to 1/2 cup of flour to your board so the dough doesn't stick. Begin to knead for 10 minuted and then roll into a tube so that you can pinch off dough balls
- The dumplings expand 2-3 times their size, so try to keep them in the ballpark of 1/4 -1/2 teaspoon in size when rolled in your hand. (see photo)
- Now, drop dough balls into simmmering stock pot. 10-15 at a time. When they pop back up and float you can add in your next batch. It will seem like a lot, but keep going and move them around with a wooden spoon if necessary.
- After all dough balls have turned into dumplings, lower the heat and add in peas and last 2 cups of milk. Gently stir.
- You are now ready to eat. We often think this recipe is EVEN better the second day, so enjoy!.
