It’s time to stock my freezer with some portions of homemade chicken soup for the cold winter ahead. I’ve made a classic chicken noodle soup in the past, but I wanted to try a little something different this time.
The word “dumpling” has a million different culinary definitions. Okay, that might be a slight exaggeration, but just about every culture has its own version of dumplings and they’re all different. The dumplings that I grew up with were fluffy biscuit-like lumps that floated on top of soup like little delicious clouds. I wanted some of those dumplings. This is not a recipe for the thick, noodle-like dumpling similar to what you’d get at Cracker Barrel.
Prep Time: 30 mins
Cook Time: 4hrs 20mins
Total Time: 4hrs 50mins
Servings: 6
INGREDIENTS:
Soup
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1 yellow onion
- 3 ribs celery
- 1/2 lb. carrots (about 4)
- 1 large chicken breast* (about 3/4 lb.)
- 1 whole bay leaf
- 1 tsp dried basil
- 1 tsp dried thyme
- freshly cracked black pepper
- 4 cups water
- 1 tsp salt (or to taste)
Dumplings
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 Tbsp dried parsley
- 6 Tbsp cold butter
- 3/4 tsp sugar
- 2/3 cup milk
INSTRUCTIONS:
- Mince the garlic, dice the onion, and slice the carrots and celery into small pieces.
- Add the garlic, onion, carrot, celery, bay leaf, basil, thyme, chicken breast, water, and some freshly cracked pepper to a slow cooker.
- Stir to combine and then cook on high for four hours or low for eight hours.
- After cooking for four hours on high or eight hours on low, remove the chicken from the broth and place it on a cutting board (if you cooked on low heat, turn it to high now).
- Use two forks to shred the chicken. Return the chicken to the pot and stir in 1 tsp of salt to the soup.
- Keep the slow cooker covered as much as possible during this process to retain heat and maintain the temperature.
- Allow the soup to continue to cook on high while you mix the dumpling batter.
- In a medium bowl combine the flour, baking powder, salt, parsley, and sugar.
- Mix well. Add butter in small chunks and cut it in or work it in with your hands until the mixture resembles damp sand.
- Add the milk and stir until a very soft paste-like mixture forms.
- Remove the lid from the slow cooker and drop the dumpling batter into the soup by the heaping spoonful.
- Return the lid to the slow cooker and allow the dumplings to steam for 20 minutes.
- After 20 minutes they should have fluffed and expanded from the heat.
- Although they may look moist on the outside, they will be light and fluffy on the inside. Serve hot.
NUTRITIONAL INFO:
Serving: 1Serving | Calories: 439kcal | Carbohydrates: 56.52g | Protein: 21.13g | Fat: 15.03g | Sodium: 1057.4mg | Fiber: 3g