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Easy Chicken and Dumpling Soup

A red bowl full of chicken soup with dumplings, carrots, and parsley

This Chicken and Dumpling Soup is filled with the dumplings I grew up eating. They’re somewhere between noodle and spatzle, but bigger. Comfort in a bowl.

If you’re looking for light and fluffy dumplings, you’re at the wrong recipe. These dumplings are just a bit heavier. They have texture. They’re somewhere between noodle and spätzle. But bigger.

Video: Easy Chicken And Dumpling Soup

Ingredients

First, you’ll need chicken broth or stock for the base. I always opt for a low-sodium or no-sodium version so that I can control the salt content.

For the vegetables, we’ll use matchstick carrots and an onion. Want some extra veggies? Add some celery with the carrots, or a couple handfuls of frozen peas in the last few minutes.

I like to use boneless skinless chicken thighs for this soup because they have lots of flavor. You’ll want these cut into small pieces so they cook quickly.

Other than that, you’ll need your dumpling ingredients that I go over below and some heavy cream to finish the soup.

How To Make Dumplings

How did I come up with these big lumpy dumplings? I watched my mom make them for years. When we were home for the day with stuffy noses my mom would make a quick batch of powdered Lipton chicken noodle soup. But she couldn’t leave it at that. Even when making processed food she had to add something of her own. She added quick homemade dumplings!

She doesn’t use a recipe for the dumpling dough. She pulls out a teacup, scoops in flour, adds salt and maybe baking powder. She stirs and then cracks in a large egg, dribbles in milk, and whisks it with a fork. She lifts the fork out of the cup and if thick bands of yellow pull up with it, she nods. That’s about right for the dumpling dough.

Having watched her make these so many times, and having eaten them so many times, these dumplings are pure comfort to me. And I think they will be for you as well. I have given you actual measurements though!

More Comforting Soup Recipes

If you love chicken soup, be sure to check out the recipe for this quick and delicious Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup. And if you’d like to make a more classic chicken and dumplings dinner (with soft and fluffy dumplings) in an easy way, head over to my Instant Pot Chicken and Dumplings. It’s seriously delicious.

You can browse through my entire soup collection, where there are over 70 delicious soup recipes, over here. And I’m also going to link to a few that I think you’ll particularly like, some of my all-time favorite soup recipes, right here for you:

Podcast Episode About Making Chicken and Dumpling Soup

Listen to me explain briefly about how to make this soup, along with some other great tips, by clicking the play button below:

Listen to more Recipe of the Day episodes here.

Print

Easy Chicken and Dumpling Soup Recipe

  • Author: Christine Pittman
  • Prep Time: 0 minutes
  • Cook Time: 15 minutes
  • Total Time: 15 minutes
  • Yield: 56 servings 1x
  • Category: Soup
  • Method: Stovetop
  • Cuisine: American

DESCRIPTION

This Chicken and Dumpling Soup has the dumplings that I grew up eating. They’re somewhere between noodle and spatzle, but bigger. It’s pure comfort in a bowl. Yield 10 cups.


Ingredients

Units Scale
  • 6 cups low-sodium chicken stock
  • 1 Tbsp. olive oil
  • 1 Tbsp. unsalted butter
  • 2 cups shredded carrot, roughly chopped
  • 1 medium onion, chopped
  • Small handful of fresh parsley leaves, chopped
  • 3 boneless skinless chicken thighs, cut into bite-sized pieces
  • Salt
  • 1 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1/4 tsp. baking powder
  • 2 eggs
  • 46 Tbsp. milk
  • 6 Tbsp. heavy whipping cream

Instructions

  1. Pour the stock into a large microwave-safe bowl and microwave on high for 6 minutes.
  2. Meanwhile, warm the olive oil and butter in a large pot or Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add the carrot and onion.
  3. When the microwave is done, add the broth to the pot along with the chicken and 1/2 teaspoon of salt. Stir and cover. Increase heat to high. When it comes to a boil, reduce to a simmer.
  4. While the broth is coming to a boil, make the dumpling dough in a small bowl by combining the flour with the baking powder and 1/4 teaspoon of salt. Add the eggs and whisk to combine. Add the parsley and then enough of the milk to make a stiff wet dough.
  5. Stir the soup and get it to a really low simmer. Drop the dough into the soup by the teaspoonful, dropping them all around the pot so they’re far apart and less likely to stick together. Don’t stir for 30 seconds and then stir gently.
  6. Increase heat to a stronger simmer, cover and cook, stirring occasionally until dumplings are cooked through, 3-4 minutes.
  7. Turn off the heat and add the whipping cream. Serve.

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This post originally appeared in December 2014 and was revised and republished in December 2022.