Chicken and Dumpling Soup
Chicken and Dumpling Soup is a modern take on the classic, with mini dumplings simmered together with tender chicken and vegetables in a flavorful broth! This Chicken Dumpling Soup is lighter than traditional chicken and dumplings with the same level of comfort!
Chicken Dumpling Soup
We’re having another Kitchen Conversation with Land O’Lakes! This time, the topic is Modernizing Vintage Recipes. We all have those family favorites that, let’s be honest, need a little refresh for our current dinner table. I came up with a vintage recipe that needs some updating to match our newly updated kitchen!
When we moved to North Carolina from the Midwest, one of the first things I noticed was the differences in cooking techniques.
In the South, cornbread is cooked in a skillet with bacon grease, unlike the tall, pillowy cornbread I was used to.
Grits are the breakfast side of choice, not home fries or cream of wheat.
And dumplings were noodles. Say what?!?
Chicken and Dumpling Soup Memories
Growing up, every chicken and dumplings recipe I ever ate had dumplings that were dropped from a spoon. Dumplings were dumped, not cut into noodles.
These morsels of dough simmered in the gravy until puffed into little balls of carby deliciousness. The irregular shapes and moist centers were part of the appeal.
Yet here in the South, friends tell stories of standing on a wooden stool while Great-Granny presses the dough out on the countertop. Then she let her grandbabies take turns cutting it into short, fat noodles with a pizza cutter.
Whether you prefer the dropped dumplings or noodle dumplings, one thing is for certain: A good chicken and dumplings recipe equals a hefty serving of nostalgia and a whole lot of love.
However… the last time I ate classic chicken and dumplings, I felt like I had a brick in my belly. I’m just not accustomed to eating such heavy dishes any more.
It made me think this vintage recipe was ready for a little “modernizing.”
So today I’ve made an updated version of my favorite chicken and dumplings recipe, Chicken and Dumpling Soup!
I ditched the heavy cream gravy and hulky dumplings for a thin, savory broth with mini parmesan-herb dumplings.
The fact that the chicken and dumplings aren’t drowning in gravy really allows the fresh, herbal flavors to shine. Also, this easy Chicken-n-Dumpling Soup takes much less time to cook because it uses chicken breasts instead of whole chicken.
I added a third of the butter I would normally use in my traditional chicken and dumplings recipe. Land O Lakes® Butter in Half Sticks made it easy to pull just the right amount out of the fridge. Using Land O Lakes® Butter with Olive Oil & Sea Salt created a rich, satisfying undertone.
Really, who needs gravy?
Modernizing is a good thing. Even when it comes to our most beloved dishes.
I honestly believe Grandma would approve.
Ingredients for Chicken and Dumplings Soup
This chicken soup with dumplings may look like it has a long ingredient list, but don’t get intimidated! It is super easy to make with some simple, pantry staples. Here’s what you’ll need:
For the Chicken Soup:
- 1 1/2 pounds chicken breast cut into 1/2-inch cubes
- 1 large onion peeled and diced
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 4 celery stalks thinly sliced
- 4 carrots thinly sliced
- 4 tablespoons Land O Lakes® Butter with Olive Oil & Sea Salt 1 half stick
- 1 teaspoon ground mustard
- 1/8 teaspoon ground turmeric for color
- 1 bay leaf
- 64 ounces low-sodium chicken stock
- 1/4 cup chopped parsley
- Pepper to taste
Chicken Soup Dumplings:
- 3/4 cup flour
- 3 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
- 1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves finely minced
- 1/2 teaspoon fresh rosemary finely minced
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon ground pepper
- 3/4 cup whole milk
How to Make Chicken Dumpling Soup
Instructions…
In a large sauce pot, melt the Land O Lakes® Butter with Olive Oil & Sea Salt over medium heat. Add onion, garlic, celery, and carrots. Cook for 8–10 minutes. Stir occasionally.
Add the mustard, turmeric, bay leaf, and chicken stock. Bring to a boil. Then cover, lower the heat, and simmer for 15 minutes.
Meanwhile, put the ingredients for the dumplings in a medium bowl. Mix with a fork until a wet doughy consistency is reached.
Once the soup base has cooked down for 15 minutes, bring the temperature back up to a boil. Stir in the chicken and parsley. Then use a spoon to drop scant 1/2-teaspoon lumps of dough into the soup. Simmer 5 minutes, until the chicken and dumplings are cooked through. Remove the bay leaf and serve warm.
See The Full (Printable) Recipe Card Below For This Chicken Dumpling Soup Recipe. Enjoy!
Frequently Asked Questions
A dumpling is a type of biscuit dough that is broken into small pieces and cooked through a steaming process like hot soup!
Store any leftover chicken soup in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3-4 days. Reheat in the microwave until heated through!
Check the printable recipe card below for the prep time, cook time, total time, and nutrition information including calories, carbohydrates, protein, cholesterol, sodium, and fiber percentages.
Chicken and Dumplings Soup
Ingredients
For the Soup:
- 1 1/2 pounds chicken breast cut into 1/2-inch cubes
- 1 large onion peeled and diced
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 4 celery stalks thinly sliced
- 4 carrots thinly sliced
- 4 tablespoons Land O Lakes® Butter with Olive Oil & Sea Salt 1 half stick
- 1 teaspoon ground mustard
- 1/8 teaspoon ground turmeric for color
- 1 bay leaf
- 64 ounces low-sodium chicken stock
- 1/4 cup chopped parsley
- Pepper to taste
Dumplings:
- 3/4 cup flour
- 3 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
- 1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves finely minced
- 1/2 teaspoon fresh rosemary finely minced
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon ground pepper
- 3/4 cup whole milk
Instructions
- In a large sauce pot, melt the Land O Lakes® Butter with Olive Oil & Sea Salt over medium heat. Add onion, garlic, celery and carrots. Cook for 8–10 minutes. Stir occasionally.
- Add the mustard, turmeric, bay leaf and chicken stock. Bring to a boil. Then cover, lower the heat, and simmer for 15 minutes.
- Meanwhile, put the ingredients for the dumplings in a medium bowl. Mix with a fork until a wet doughy consistency is reached.
- Once the soup base has cooked down for 15 minutes, bring the temperature back up to a boil. Stir in the chicken and parsley. Then use a spoon to drop scant 1/2-teaspoon lumps of dough into the soup. Simmer 5 minutes, until the chicken and dumplings are cooked through. Remove the bay leaf and serve warm.
Video
Nutrition
Disclosure: A Spicy Perspective has partnered with Land O’Lakes for an exclusive endorsement of Land O Lakes® Butter for their Kitchen Conversation blogger program. This blog post is sponsored by Land O’Lakes.
I remake cinnamon rolls all the time. I gained 50 lbs during my pregnancy because I made so many batches of rolls! I tried everything from sour dough to using fruit fillings. I just love sweet bread!!!
A lot of vintage dishes have canned or processed foods that you use to make them-I would make everything from scratch! :)
I love this idea! Not until I was an adult did I really appreciate chicken and dumplings, and this makes it even tastier. I recently updated my mom’s Hamburger Soup recipe. Never really heavy, instead I updated by adding more vegetables and an increasing the variety.
I would have to say homemade mac and cheese! I would add some healthy items! Your dumpling recipe looks delish! Will have to try it soon!
I’d really like to update one of my mother or grandmother’s desserts or side dishes. I’m enjoying the versatility of Greek yogurt and how it can be used in so many healthy ways.
I’d love to makeover macaroni and cheese. I can never find the perfect recipe for it.
A Favorite Side Dish My Grandma Made Was Fried Apple, I Could Do Stuffed Baked Apples Inspired From That Recipe!
My favorite vintage piece that I have is a tube pan that I got from my great-Grandmother. It is has never failed me when I make my pound cakes.
Oh this soup! I’m craving this big bowl of comfort!
I LOVE your chicken and dumplings, Sommer! It was so great to be together with Land O’Lakes in Austin and talk about our recipes. I loved spending time with you again! xo
You too, Brenda! Can’t wait to see you again!
I don’t even like gravy! I think grandma would approve!
This looks amazing! Pineapple Upside DOwn Cake is a vintage recipe, at least to me – I’d modernize it with mangoes!
Wow, that looks so good! Just like is should, colorful, soupy and comforting! YUM!
Can never say no to chicken and dumplings!!
I have no idea how I’d make it over since it’s perfect as is, but maybe I’d update my mom’s stuffed peppers.
i have never heard of chicken and dumplings with ‘gravy’. although I am a rolled and cut dumpling person, the rest of my chicken and dumplings are pretty much as you have in your recipe – sans the carrots. it is usually very brothy and not heavy at all.
That’s interesting, all the chicken-n-dumplings recipes I’ve ever had are in a really thick creamy soup-base, or gravy. Well I’m glad I finally tried it your way. :)
it’s our all time comfort food here, and living in Houston, we usually wait until October before we have it – good tip on the turmeric, I used to use a drop of yellow food coloring – then I quit because I could never FIND my food colorings. even though we are due for 100 degree heat this week and next, I think i’ll make this again anyway your post got me in the MOOD. thanks!!
I think what you’re tasting/experiencing with the “gravy” – is that when dumpling dough was dropped into the chicken-stock-based soup – to “boil”/cook the dumplings – the flour in the dumplings produced the “gravy” (changed the stock to a thicker consistency). It’s not actually gravy – but it sort of becomes gravy when the flour mixes with the soup base.
Whereas making homemade noodles that have been dried slightly do not thicken the soup base. I love to make chicken and dumplings from the bisquick recipe – where you drop the dough into the simmering soup… definitely thicker than soup when it’s done, and absolutely yummy.
I try to make over my 4 cheese mac and cheese – and still haven’t perfected it!!
My favorite vintage dish is my grandmothers orange cake. I remade it by using an angelfood cake as the base. I use about half of the orange glaze. It’s not near as unhealthy now but still makes me happy