Description
Southern-style chicken & dumplings soup brings comfort to chilly nights with tender meat and pillowy dumplings. Hearty ingredients blend seamlessly, offering warm satisfaction you’ll savor down to the last spoonful.
Ingredients
Scale
- 6 cups (1.5 liters / 51 fl oz) chicken broth
- 2 cups (300 g / 10.5 oz) cooked shredded chicken
- ½ cup (120 ml / 4 fl oz) heavy cream or whole milk
- 1 medium onion, diced
- 2 medium carrots, peeled and sliced
- 2 celery stalks, sliced
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- ⅓ cup (40 g / 1.4 oz) all-purpose flour
- 1 cup (125 g / 4.4 oz) all-purpose flour
- ½ cup (120 ml / 4 fl oz) milk
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1 bay leaf
- ½ teaspoon salt
- Salt and pepper, to taste
- Fresh parsley, chopped
Instructions
- Aromatic Foundation: Melt butter in a large pot and sauté onions, carrots, celery, and garlic until vegetables soften and release their natural sweetness, creating a flavor-rich base.
- Liquid Transformation: Dust vegetables with flour to create a smooth roux, then gradually whisk in chicken broth until the mixture becomes silky and lump-free. Introduce thyme and bay leaf to infuse depth and complexity.
- Protein Integration: Fold shredded chicken into the simmering liquid, allowing the ingredients to meld and develop rich, harmonious flavors over gentle heat.
- Dumpling Crafting: Mix flour, baking powder, and salt, then incorporate milk and melted butter to form a delicate, airy batter with a light, cloud-like consistency.
- Dumpling Steaming: Delicately drop spoonfuls of dumpling batter into the bubbling soup, covering the pot to allow the dumplings to expand and transform into fluffy, tender clouds.
- Final Refinement: Stir in heavy cream to enhance the soup’s luxurious texture, adjust seasoning, and remove the bay leaf to ensure a perfectly balanced flavor profile.
- Presentation: Ladle the comforting soup into warm bowls, garnishing with freshly chopped parsley to add a vibrant, herbaceous finish that elevates the entire dish.
Notes
- Prevent Lumpy Roux: Whisk flour into melted butter slowly and consistently, ensuring smooth incorporation without clumping for a silky soup base.
- Dumpling Texture Trick: Avoid overmixing dumpling batter; mix just until ingredients combine to maintain light, airy texture and prevent dense dumplings.
- Control Soup Consistency: Adjust chicken broth quantity based on desired thickness, adding more liquid if soup becomes too dense during cooking.
- Enhance Flavor Depth: Consider adding a splash of white wine or a dash of herbs like rosemary to elevate the soup’s complexity and aromatic profile.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 35 minutes
- Category: Dinner, Snacks
- Method: Simmering
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 5
- Calories: 300
- Sugar: 4 g
- Sodium: 800 mg
- Fat: 12 g
- Saturated Fat: 7 g
- Unsaturated Fat: 4 g
- Trans Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 30 g
- Fiber: 2 g
- Protein: 20 g
- Cholesterol: 80 mg