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 Dumpling Soup with onion, carrots, celery, potatoes and pate choux dough dumplings

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

  1. Prep all the ingredients. Slice the onion, carrots, celery, mince the garlic and chop the potatoes.
  2. 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.
  3. Sprinkle in the flour. Cook the flour, stirring it until it is incorporated into the vegetables.
  4. 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.
  5. Add the potatoes and cook at a simmer until the potatoes are cooked through, 10-15 minutes.
  6. 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.
  7. 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.
  8. 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.
  9. Transfer the dough to a pastry bag or ziptop bag and snip off one of the bottom corners.
  10. 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.
  11. 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.
  12. Cook the dumplings for about 8-10 minutes, at a simmer, until they are cooked through. They will increase in size and become puffy.
  13. 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.

Chicken and Dumpling Soup in a pot

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:

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Chicken and Dumpling Soup

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5 from 2 reviews

This chicken and dumpling soup is comfort in a bowl. Made with onion, carrots, celery, garlic and potatoes, the tender dumplings are the star of the show.

  • Author: Olga’s Flavor Factory
  • Prep Time: 15 mins
  • Cook Time: 40 mins
  • Total Time: 55 mins
  • Yield: 8 1x

Ingredients

Scale

Soup:

  • 2 Tablespoons butter or oil
  • 1 large onion, finely chopped
  • 34 carrots, peeled and sliced into ¼ inch circles
  • 23 celery ribs, sliced into ¼ inch pieces also
  • 4 garlic cloves, minced
  • 23 potatoes, peeled and diced
  • 2 Tablespoons all purpose flour
  • 12 sprigs of thyme, minced
  • 2 Tablespoons white wine, optional
  • 10 cups chicken broth
  • 1 1/22 cups cooked chicken
  • 2 Tablespoons fresh parsley and dill, minced (any fresh herbs will be wonderful in this soup: green onions, thyme, etc.)

Dumplings:

  • 1 cup chicken broth
  • 6 Tablespoons butter
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 cup all purpose flour
  • 4 large eggs

Instructions

Soup:

  1. Melt 2 Tablespoons of butter in pot over medium heat, add onions, carrots, celery and garlic. Season with salt and pepper to taste, and cook until tender and cooked through, 5-8 minutes. (If the vegetables start sticking to the pot and are still crunchy, add a bit of water to add a bit of steam and to help the vegetables cook through faster without burning.)
  2. Stir in the flour and cook for about 1 min, until all the flour is incorporated into the vegetables.
  3. Pour in the white wine, if using and some of the chicken broth, using a wooden spoon to mix in the floured vegetables, until everything is smooth. The broth will thicken up quickly. Add the rest of the broth, bring the soup to a boil, then reduce to a simmer.
  4. Add the potatoes and cook, covered, at a simmer, until the potatoes are cooked through, 10-15 minutes, depending on the size of the potatoes.
  5. Meanwhile, make the dumpling dough.
  6. Bring the broth, butter and salt to a boil.
  7. As soon as it boils, add the flour all at once and stir with a wooden spoon until the mixture starts to come together, approximately 1 min.
  8. Decrease the heat to low and continue stirring until mixture forms a ball and is no longer sticky, approximately 3 min. Transfer to a bowl and cool or use a mixer for 3-5 min, until it’s no longer steaming.
  9. Add eggs, one at a time.
  10. Place the dumpling dough into a ziplock bag and snip off a corner.
  11. When the potatoes have cooked through, pipe out the dumpling dough and cut about 1 1/2 inch in length with scissors directly over broth, making sure that the soup is simmering the whole time.
  12. Cook, covered, at a low simmer until the dumplings are cooked through, about 8-10 min.
  13. Add the chicken meat and heat just for a minute until it warms through. Then turn off the heat and garnish with fresh herbs.
  14. Serve warm. Store leftovers in the refrigerator for 3-5 days.

Notes

We love this soup so much and really enjoy the leftovers, since they reheat really well. This recipe makes a really big portion of soup, so please feel free to halve it if you want a smaller amount.

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22 Comments

    • Olga K.

      Thank you Pam! I really love this soup. Hope it turns out well for you. We always enjoy it, and it’s gret for leftovers too:)

  • natasha shishman

    I love me some chicken and dumplings 🙂 Made it last week and my husband and 5 year old son thought it was yummy! It was so easy to make the dumplings, and the chicken broth I made from scratch is a keeper. Thank you for such a great soup.

  • Helen

    Hi Olga, I’m doing this recipe right now… what substitute for white wine you would suggest? I have sweet red wine and marsala wine or should i omit white wine?

  • Oksana

    I modified this recipe just a bit; however I loved it! The dumplings were amazing. I wonder if there is a way to make them a bit more dense? Could I add more flour? I just felt like they were a bit too soft for my family. This recipe is definitely a KEEPER! 🙂

    • olgak7

      I’m not sure. Since the texture is exactly how I like it, it’s hard for me to say. I personally think they will be too dense if you add more flour, but maybe you will like it that way. Try it out. Cooking is all about modifying to your liking:).

  • Georgene

    I finally made this soup this past weekend and my family just raved about it. They asked if I would include it on the menu the next time they all come for a visit! Gladly! Thanks for another great recipe. And BTW, your dishes are beautiful. Would you mind sharing what they are. Thanks, and hope you are enjoying your lovely new home.

    • olgak7

      That’s awesome, Georgene! It’s a favorite with my husband and myself. I absolutely love the dumplings.
      I have no idea what kind of dishes they are. I usually buy different types of dishes at Home Goods, TJMaxx, thrift stores, etc. for the blog. Right now, most of my blogging dishes are still in boxes, so I can’t even look at the bottom of the bowl to tell you:).

  • Inna

    Our family just loves this soup; it’s super delicious, healthy and best of all really easy to make. Thank you for a wonderful recipe!

  • Maria DeLuca

    Hey Olga,
    I made your Broth and your Chicken and Dumpling soup today and everyone in my family loved it. I got 8 quarts of broth out of one batch and put 4 in the freezer and 2 in the fridge. Love your recipes and directions/videos. God bless you and your family and keep up the great content.






  • Christa Jenkins

    I was SO looking forward to the dumplings (and the soup of course, which was out-of-this-world-delish!!) but I’m not sure what I’ve done wrong. Followed the recipe exactly but the dumplings were like steaming egg whites and they had no “bite” at all. Very gummy. Maybe it has something to do with our high altitude here in Calgary, Alberta, Canada?

    • olgak7

      No, you can’t freeze the dumplings because the batter is too thin. If you want to do part of the process ahead of time, I would recommend making the batter and refrigerating up it for a few hours or up to a day in advance, then adding it to the soup when you are ready to make it.

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