ABOUT THE SOUP
It starts with a homemade chicken broth from the chicken, garlic, onions, & herbs boiling into a flavorful base. The kicker here: leeks! They are in the same flavor family of garlic & onions but they have a buttery, sweet & rich flavor that really kicks it up a notch. Next we add in the large carrots & throw in some herbs. My mom’s soup had a brothier consistency but I add a touch of creaminess to the soup by adding flour with the chicken broth to thicken it. Shred the chicken, simmer, & make the dumplings. What really took my mom’s soup up to the next level was the simple addition of black pepper cracked on top. I take this little touch & add the black pepper into the dumplings. Boil the dumpling in the soup & enjoy a hot, cozy meal!
Variations
Creaminess
whether you like your soup on the brothy side or super creamy you can make it the way you like with this recipe. I have the recipe set somewhere in the middle between brothy & creamy.
For a creamier style: substitute a cup of the chicken broth with a cup of half & half during the increments of adding flour.
For a brothier style: easily leave out the flour & simply just add the chicken broth
Peas or No Peas?
my mom always made chicken & dumplings with peas but I decided to opt out. I know some people despise peas while others can’t make a soup without them so add them at your desire
Herbs
I like to use thyme & rosemary in this soup because they compliment each other & the other flavors in the soup well. If you have fresh herbs on hand by all means use them over dried. I use dried more often because I always have them on hand but prefer fresh. If you have a favorite herb give it a try in the soup!
The Recipe
A classic winter soup with homemade chicken broth & packed with onions, shredded chicken, carrots, & dumplings with a kick of pepper.
NOTES: Boiling the chicken with the herbs from the start makes for an extra flavorful broth giving the herbs max amount of time to stew.
Ingredients
- 20oz chicken breasts
- 1 sm yellow onion
- 6 lg garlic cloves
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 Tablespoon dried thyme
- 1 teaspoon fresh rosemary
- 8 cups water
- 5-6 lg carrots
- 3 leeks (chopped)
- 3 Tablespoons flour
- black pepper & salt to taste DUMPLINGS
- 1 1/2 cup flour
- 1 Tablespoon baking powder
- 1 1/2 teaspoons black pepper
- 1 cup water
- pinch of salt
Directions
- Get a large pot placing the chicken, onion, garlic, herbs, & water inside. Bring to a boil & cook chicken for 10 minutes. The liquid will be the broth base for the soup
- While the chicken is boiling chop the carrots & leeks.
- After 10 minutes, remove the chicken from the boil & pour the broth into a bowl. Set aside.
- After cooling a few minutes, chop the onion & garlic from the boil. Heat the large pot on high with a splash of olive oil & saute the onion, garlic, carrots, & leeks until just browned & aromatic (about 8 min.).
- Once browned, sprinkle 1 tablespoon of flour onto the vegetables & pour in 1 cup of reserved broth. Stir & boil on high for 5 minutes stirring occasionally to prevent clumping.
- Repeat step 5 two more times. Shred the chicken with a fork in between increments. 7.After the third increment, pour in remaining broth & add the shredded chicken.
- Cover the soup & simmer for 30minutes.
- While soup is simmering, prepare the dumpling batter. Mix all dumpling ingredients together in a bowl stirring until a smooth paste-like consistency forms.
- After 30 minutes bring the soup back up to a high boil, uncover, & spoon in the dumpling batter. Cook dumplings in the soup for 10 minutes uncovered.
- Let cool & ladle some into your bowl for a cozy dinner!
AdieKaye on Hickory 