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Here’s an easy and hearty chicken and dumpling soup that will win you over. It calls for very simple, healthy ingredients and will make you think of your Mom. The dumplings are soft and satisfying. This soup is quick to make and if you’re really pressed for time, it will still turn out delicious if you sub the dumplings with pasta, but the dumplings really aren’t very difficult to make. Craving – satisfied :).
Ingredients for Dumpling Soup Base:
2 sticks of celery, finely diced
1 small/medium onion, finely diced
3 Tbsp olive oil
2 large carrots, thinly sliced
6 cups reduced sodium chicken broth + 6 cups water
1 Tbsp salt, or to taste (I used sea salt)
3-4 medium potatoes (about 1 1/2 lbs), peeled and cut into bite-sized pieces
1/2 lb boneless skinless chicken breast (1 large chicken breast), diced
2 bay leaves
2 Tbsp Chopped Dill and/or 2 Tbsp Chopped Parsley (I used both)
Ingredients for the Dumplings:
2 cups flour, sifted
2 large eggs
1 Tbsp sour cream
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp sugar
6 Tbsp (3/4 stick) melted Butter
How to Make Chicken and Dumpling Soup:
1. In a 5 Qt soup pot, over medium heat, add 3 Tbsp olive oil and saute 2 sticks diced celery and small finely diced onion until softened (5 min). Add thinly sliced carrots and continue to cook until onions and celery are golden (3-4 min).
2. Into the same pot, pour in 6 cups chicken broth and 6 cups water along with 1 Tbsp salt and all of your chopped potatoes. Bring to a boil then cook 10 minutes, or until potatoes are nearly done.
3. Meanwhile, make your dumplings: Sift 2 cups flour, 1/2 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp sugar into a medium bowl. P.S. I measured 2 cups flour before sifting – scoop it into the measuring cup, then scrape off the top for an accurate measurement. Make a well in the center and add 2 eggs with 1 Tbsp sour cream. Fold together with a spatula. Your dough will look like scraps of cloth. Pour in 6 Tbsp melted butter and stir/ knead with spatula until butter is well incorporated and dough is uniform in texture and color. It should be very soft but won’t stick to your hands.
4. Transfer dough to a smooth cutting board. Separate your dough into two pieces, roll each piece into a long slim log and cut thin slices from each log. Don’t cut them too big since they expand in the soup. You want them to be small and bite-sized. The dough should not stick to the knife or cutting board because of all the butter in it.
5. After boiling potatoes about 10 minutes, keep the pot at a boil and add 2 bay leaves, diced chicken and prepared dumplings. Continue boiling over medium/low heat another 10 minutes or until dumplings are tender and chicken is cooked through.
6. Season to taste – I added about 1/2 tsp more of salt. Stir in your fresh dill or parsley (or both) and remove from heat.
Chicken and Dumpling Soup
Ingredients
- 2 sticks of celery, finely diced
- 1 small/medium onion, finely diced
- 3 Tbsp olive oil
- 2 large carrots, thinly sliced
- 6 cups reduced sodium chicken broth + 6 cups water
- 1 Tbsp salt, or to taste (I used sea salt)
- 3-4 medium potatoes, about 1 1/2 lbs, peeled and cut into bite-sized pieces
- 1/2 lb boneless skinless chicken breast, 1 large chicken breast, diced
- 2 bay leaves
- 2 Tbsp Chopped Dill and/or 2 Tbsp Chopped Parsley, I used both
Instructions
- In a 5 Qt soup pot, over medium heat, add 3 Tbsp olive oil and saute 2 sticks diced celery and small finely diced onion until softened (5 min). Add thinly sliced carrots and continue to cook until onions and celery are golden (3-4 min).
- Into the same pot, pour in 6 cups chicken broth and 6 cups water along with 1 Tbsp salt and all of your chopped potatoes. Bring to a boil then cook 10 minutes, or until potatoes are nearly done.
- Meanwhile, make your dumplings: Sift 2 cups flour, 1/2 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp sugar into a medium bowl. P.S. I measured 2 cups flour before sifting - scoop it into the measuring cup, then scrape off the top for an accurate measurement. Make a well in the center and add 2 eggs with 1 Tbsp sour cream. Fold together with a spatula. Your dough will look like scraps of cloth. Pour in 6 Tbsp melted butter and stir/ knead with spatula until butter is well incorporated and dough is uniform in texture and color. It should be very soft but won't stick to your hands.
- Transfer dough to a smooth cutting board. Separate your dough into two pieces, roll each piece into a long slim log and cut thin slices from each log. Don't cut them too big since they expand in the soup. You want them to be small and bite-sized. The dough should not stick to the knife or cutting board because of all the butter in it.
- After boiling potatoes about 10 minutes, keep the pot at a boil and add 2 bay leaves, diced chicken and prepared dumplings. Continue boiling over medium/low heat another 10 minutes or until dumplings are tender and chicken is cooked through.
- Season to taste - I added about 1/2 tsp more of salt. Stir in your fresh dill or parsley (or both) and remove from heat.
Hi! Quick question for ya,, how much bouillon do you need for the recipe? I’m all out of chicken broth but do have bouillon. Thank you 😊
Hi Shannon. I’m not quite sure on the exact amount. You may have to just add it to taste. I hope you love the recipe!
My dumplings did not cook through for some reason….any ideas why?
Hi Lauren! It could be that they needed to boil a little while longer. Depending on the size, they could take longer. You’ll want to boil them until they are tender. Also, be sure to measure your ingredients correctly, using too much flour can result in this. I’ve attached my tutorial on how to measure ingredients here for reference. I hope that helps.
Mine turned out pretty good, the only thing I would change is not boiling the potatoes quite as long. They got a bit mushy after the 20 minutes total of boiling them. The dumplings turned out fantastic. To anyone who is confused about the dumplings- they are closer to “Southern style” dumplings than the biscuit-y northern ones.
Thank you for sharing that with us, Rebecca!
I made the soup today in between my meetings at home and it turned out amazing. I used rotisserie chicken breast for my chicken and the dumplings, which was my first time making by myself, were amazing. I used kitchen aid mixer because i was lazy but ended up taking it out and needing to firm up and kneed it in the end. Anyway, wouldn’t change anything – I just added double parsley and dill for the extra auromas. Thank you Natashen’ka!!!
You are very welcome! Thank you for sharing with us. So glad you enjoyed this recipe.
This soup was great. I never made dumplings and they turned out wonderful.
Great to hear that it turned out great, Dodie. Thank you for the review!
Do you cover the pot to cook the dumplings in your Chicken soup recipe?
Hi Roger, I cook them uncovered.
Can you just use a can of biscuits for the dumplings instead of trying to make them homemade?
Hi Kai, I haven’t tested that to advise. If you experiment, let me know how you liked the recipe.
it might be helpful to have a picture of how small the log for the dumplings should be.
Hi Tammy, we have a photo of the small log listed under step 4 in the recipe post. See the bottom right photo for reference. I hope this helps.
Natasha we love this soup and make it all the time. It is one of our favorites, but would like to make the broth thicker. How can I do that?
Hi Sonia, check out the section about thickening stew in our beef stew recipe which may help.
I did have to doctor my dumplings a bit. They were crumbly. I added a dash or so of milk. Then they got sticky so I added another melted Tbsp of butter. Rolled them out but into thin slices and cut them in half for small dumplings and they were perfect! I used dried dill but fresh parsley. I brought this for camping in October and everyone loved it. Thank you for my now go-to recipe all my family loved
I’m so happy you all enjoyed this recipe!
Hi does this soup freeze well ?
Hi Brenda, I haven’t tested freezing this recipe to advise. If you happen to experiment I would love to know how you like that.
So easy. My husband handed me the recipe, and I cut it in half. Because I didn’t understand the dumplings, I sliced them pretty thick…. mistake. After reading the reviews online, and the recipe in full… I realized they truly needed to be sliced thin. Not your typical dumplings. I plan on making it again and slicing the dough thin (just like the recipe states). Oh…. and it tastes super yummy with a dollop of sour cream!
I’m glad you enjoyed the flavor of this recipe. Thanks for sharing that with us!
We literally make this recipe every few weeks because we crave it and it yields so much food! A real staple/go-to in our household. The only variation I’ve tried it subbing ricotta for sour cream, which was also VERY delicious.
I’m so glad you enjoyed that Savannah! Thank you for the wonderful feedback.
The soup itself is amazing but the dumplings are awful. They’re so dense and have a terrible texture.
Hi Madi, I am always happy to help troubleshoot. Did you change anything in proportions or make any substitutions?
I followed your dumpling recipe exactly, and mine came out grainy and taste like raw flour, after boiling them for 10 minutes. I’m going to try and boil them a bit longer, but so far, I have no idea why mine weren’t as I oressive as yours 😕
Hi Deborah! We are happy to troubleshoot, the dough is normally supposed to be very soft. It’s difficult to say without being there, but maybe the proportions of wet to dry ingredients were off when making the dumplings?
I am looking to try your recipe and was looking through the reviews, and saw one of your reviewers mentioned spaetzle. To let you know, it is German egg noodles/dumplings. The ingredients are very simple, AP flour, eggs, water/milk and salt and pepper. They are amazing, I mainly use them in a family recipe of potato soup, my kids had me start adding them to my other soups and stews. There are many recipes using spatzle, check them out, and make them your own, you won’t be sorry.
I will have to do that! Thank you for sharing that with me, Jane!! 🙂
Outstanding! Did not change a thing.
I’m so glad you enjoyed it!