We’re seeing lows in the single digits here in Minnesota and while that might seem mild to us, it’s also perfect weather for a nice warm soup. This chicken and dumpling soup was my favorite soup my mom made growing up – and as I put that in writing, I think it might have been the ONLY soup she made when I was growing up. I don’t count Chili as a soup and since I’ve left home her soup repertoire has definitely expanded. But it’s not my favorite because it was the only soup we had, I genuinely really like it! First, having the soup meant we were having a Zup’s stuffed chicken the night before which I loved (particularly the stuffing!)! And second the dumplings in the soup – in my opinion are sooo much better than noodles. I love how pillowy soft and melt in your mouth tender they are!
It’s been six and a half years since Tory and I started this blog and I can’t believe it’s taken me this long to share this recipe! Admittedly, I was always a little afraid to try it or to get it right. It was one of those recipes that my mom just “made” like my Grandma made pie crust, by feel. So I didn’t have a good road map. That and the fact that I am married to someone who doesn’t like soup led me to procrastinating. Although, since I called mom, got the recipe (and by got the recipe I mean talked through the steps with her on the phone), tried it myself, made a few tweaks, and then made it again for the blog – I’ve made it several times since. And now, I find myself making it mostly by feel too – well except for the dumplings, still need to measure those and look at the recipe!
The first thing you need to make any chicken soup is this:
Maybe not the most glamorous picture in the world but it’s reality. Whatever you have left on the chicken carcass – whether homemade or a store-bought rotisserie chicken works great to make this soup. You don’t need a bunch of leftover chicken meat but you do want enough to be able to stir in at the end.
Now to turn that leftover chicken into soup, here is what you need to add to the party:
You are going to build this soup in a dutch oven or other large soup pot. The recipe I am sharing with you today made 18 cups for me which is 4.5 quarters, considering room for boiling and so things don’t overflow, you’ll want something a bit bigger than that. But there is also no real written rule for this soup – as long as you have a pot that you can submerge the chicken in and cover it with water (at least mostly), you’ll do fine. Even the amount of veggies you add later can vary – all based on how much broth or goodies you want in the soup.
Start by adding the chicken carcass to the pot. Before I do this, I like to pick off the big meat chunks and save those to stir in at the end. Leaving some on the bone is fine. Cover the chicken with water and add in some chopped onion, chopped celery, minced garlic, a bay leaf, and a bundle of a few sprigs of thyme (you can put the thyme into some cheese cloth if you object to little thyme leaves floating in the soup because some will fall off, although we’re going to add some chopped thyme later).
Now, we are making a stock by simmering it together, but I like to give it a head start and add a Tablespoon of Better than Bullion which is the equivalent of 3 bullion cubes. You don’t have to and you can certainly wait until it’s done simmer to try it – I like a nice flavorful base and this is a good balance for me that gives my homemade stock a little oomph.
While you are busy cutting up the onions and celery – cut up a little more for finishing the soup later – and some carrots. The onions and celery we put in now are going to give all their flavor to the stock and also get pretty mushy and fade into the stock. Adding some fresh ones to finish the soup is a great finishing touch.
Bring the soup to boil. If you notice any impurities or anything floating to the top this would be the time to skim them off with a spoon. Sometimes this happens and sometimes it doesn’t.
Cover and simmer for 2 to 3 hours. When it’s done simmering it’s going look like this – see how nice and golden the stock is? Yummmmmmmm! At this point you also want to taste it and add salt if needed. Add in little bits and give it some time to incorporate and taste again – it’s hard to take salt out once you add to much. You want enough salt that it enhances the flavor without making it taste salty.
Remove the chicken carcass using tongs, a slotted spoon or a spider strainer and pick the meat off the bones. Try to find and pick out that bay leaf as well. It will generally shred into bite sized pieces as you do this, but if it doesn’t tear it up a bit. Add the meat back to the stock along with any leftover meat you had from your meal that you didn’t boil in the stock.
At this point, you can continue making the soup or you can cool it down and refrigerate it (or here in the Minnesota winter set it outside with a lid on) until you’re ready to make it a day or two later. Just bring it back to a simmer before you get started with the rest of the directions. And like a good homemade stock that you make with the bones the soup will get a little jelly-like when it cools – that’s the collagen, it adds a nice richness to the soup.
Bring it back to a boil. While it’s coming to a boil, you want to make the dumpling dry mix. Start mixing flour, baking powder, salt and dry milk in a bowl. Then cut in some butter. Note: I used dry milk because I don’t always have milk on hand. If you want to use milk – omit the dry milk and stir in milk instead of water later).
When you’re ready to continue, stir in some fresh onion, more celery and some sliced carrots as well as 2 teaspoons of fresh thyme.
Bring it back to a boil. Mix in some water (or milk if you didn’t use dry milk) into the dumpling mixture. Stir just until it comes together – the same way you would for muffins or pancakes.
Drop the dumpling mix into the boiling soup using 2 spoons – one to scoop and another to push it off into the pot. I like to drop it onto pieces of veggies not the boiling water if I can so it’s cushions the splash a little bit.
Reduce to a simmer and simmer uncovered for 10 minutes. Cover the pot and simmer another 10 minutes.
After 10 minutes, take the cover off and you should have cooked dumplings floating in a nice warm hot tub of chicken soup.
It’s time to ladle it up into your serving bowls.
I highly recommend letting it cool for a few minutes before digging it in. I’ve burned my tongue many times because I am too impatient for hot soup.
I like to freeze leftovers of this soup – I find the dumplings hold up really well to freezing. Just thaw and microwave or heat in a small saucepan until warm. Stir gently – you might get a little breaking of the dumplings but it shouldn’t be too much.
I got 8 extra servings for the freezer from this batch.
Feels great to have a nice warm meal and a stock of soup in the freezer!
- 1 chicken carcass (or turkey too – although you’ll want a bigger pot)
- 1 T better than bullion
- 1 onion, chopped and divided in half
- 3 stalks celery, chopped and divided in half
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 bay leaf
- Fresh thyme, about 4-6 sprigs whole and 2 t chopped
- 1 cup sliced carrots
- Salt
- Dumplings:
- 4 T cold butter, cut into small pieces
- 2 c flour
- 2 ¾ t baking powder
- 1 t salt
- 1 c milk (enough dry milk mix to make 1 cup mix plus 1 cup of water)
- Add your chicken carcass to a large dutch oven or soup pot and add enough water to cover or almost cover (almost 5 quarts for my pot)
- Add in half of the onion, half of the celery, garlic, bay leaf, and the bundle of thyme.
- Bring soup to a boil and reduce to a simmer. Cover and simmer for two to three hours. Taste for seasoning and add more salt if needed.
- Remove chicken from the broth with a slotted spoon or spider strainer. Pick chicken from the bones and return the chicken to the broth.
- Add the remaining onion and celery, carrots and chopped thyme.
- Return to a boil.
- In a medium bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, salt and enough dry milk mix to make 1 c of milk (if using real milk skip this step). Cut in the butter. Gently stir in water or milk (if not using dry milk mix). Stir just until combined, don’t over mix.
- Using 2 spoons drop the dumpling mix onto the boiling soup (carefully!) Use one spoon to scoop and the other spoon to scrape it off into the pot.
- Reduce to a simmer and simmer uncovered for 10 minutes.
- Cover and continue simmering for another 10 minutes.
- Uncover and serve. Just be sure to let it cool a bit before digging in.
- Refrigerate leftovers or portion them into single servings and freeze them.
[…] with a homemade broth so, I went to Costco and bought 2 rotisserie chickens. I started with Mom’s Chicken and Dumpling Soup it’s one of my favorites. And then because I had extra chicken and carrots, onions and celery I […]