Chicken Dumpling Soup - A Favorite in Our Home!

As you may know, we love soup. Especially Marshall.

I know it's Summer, and where I am it's in the 90's almost every day still, so posting a soup recipe may not be the most fitting for the season, but we eat soup all year long. If you're going to eat a hot meal anyway, why not make soup? I try to cook with what's in season when I can, but dumplings don't really have a season. If you're not a soup in the Summer kind of person, just pin this and save it for winter. You won't be sorry you did.

Though we have come across some really great soups, it's pretty hard to beat chicken dumpling. I have never actually measured ingredients for this, and I've probably never made it the same way twice, but I think I can do a decent job jotting this down as a recipe.

Chicken Dumpling Soup

For the stock:

• 1 whole chicken -- or a few pounds of bone-in skin-on chicken thighs
• 1 onion, cut in half, skin on
• 2 - 3 garlic cloves, cut in half, skin on
• 2 carrots, washed and cut in half
• A couple tablespoons of dried or a small handful of fresh herbs -- I've been using Italian seasoning and adding some extra thyme. Rosemary and thyme are a great combo too, really anything you like.
• 2 bay leaves -- optional
• Several peppercorns -- optional
• Water to cover all ingredients completely
• Salt to taste

This first step can be done two different ways.

Option 1 - Cut up whole chicken and brown both sides of each piece in a pan over medium heat with a bit of oil. Then remove from pan and add to a large pot. Leave the excess chicken fat in the pan so you can sauté the vegetables in it later.

Option 2 - Roast the chicken in a 400 degree oven for 45 minutes. Add whole chicken to a large pot. Skim fat from your roasting dish, or from the top of the pot while making the stock to sauté the vegetables in.

After choosing option 1 or option 2 and completing that step, add all other stock ingredients, except the salt, to the pot with the chicken. Bring up to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for an hour. Continue simmering, but take out a breast and a thigh (or approximately half of the chicken meat), pull the meat off the bones, set the meat aside for later, and then add the bones back to the pot. Continue simmering for an additional 3 hours or until the stock is strong enough. Keep in mind that it is unsalted at this point. I usually salt it around the four hour mark when I want to taste to see if it's done. If it isn't strong enough you can keep on simmering it to pull more flavor out of the meat and bones. Keep in mind that the longer you simmer it for, the less stock you will have. You will then need to strain it (Make sure there is a bowl to catch your broth under the strainer!) and discard everything except the broth itself. The chicken and vegetables should be flavorless and fairly mushy, so throw that out and save the meat you previously set aside to go in the soup. This should make 4 - 6 cups of stock. I usually make this a couple to a few days beforehand whenever I have the time. You could even freeze it! Don't be surprised when it is gelatinous after being chilled. This is normal, and even desirable, as it is from the collagen in the bones, which offers a multitude of health benefits.

If you have the time (which is something we all have an abundance of these days, right? Or maybe not) you could add more water and simmer it longer to pull out as much flavor and health benefits as possible.

For the soup:

• Excess chicken fat (from the beginning of the stock making process) -- Alternatively, use butter or oil
• 2-3 carrots, sliced
• 3-4 celery stalks, sliced
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 4-6 cups of homemade chicken stock
• 1 Tbsp. dried thyme -- Or any herbs you would like
• Chicken meat set aside from making stock
• 1 dumpling recipe (see below) -- Alternatively, use 4 oz. dry pasta
• Salt and pepper to taste

Place the pot you want to make your soup in over medium heat with the fat. Add the carrots, celery, and onions, and sauté for a few minutes until the onions are translucent. Add the thyme, stock, and the chicken and bring up to a heavy simmer. Drop dumpling dough in by small spoonfuls, or add the pasta. Let simmer for about 15 minutes. Taste for salt and pepper. Serve!

For the dumplings:

• 1 1/3 cups flour
• 2 eggs
• small amount of water, if necessary to pull the dough together -- It should be thick and fairly sticky

Add the flour and eggs to a small bowl. Stir the eggs and flour together with a wooden spoon until well combined, adding water if necessary. The dough should be dense and a little bit sticky. 

I also have to recommend that you eat this with some fresh, homemade bread.

Such as this

Yay for soup in the heat of Summer!