Chicken-and-Dumpling Soup

  3.8 – 29 reviews  • Chicken Recipes
Level: Intermediate
Total: 2 hr 50 min
Prep: 30 min
Cook: 2 hr 20 min
Yield: 8 servings
Level: Intermediate
Total: 2 hr 50 min
Prep: 30 min
Cook: 2 hr 20 min
Yield: 8 servings

Ingredients

  1. 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
  2. 4 cloves garlic, minced
  3. 2 carrots, diced
  4. 1 bulb celery root, peeled and finely diced
  5. 1 turnip, peeled and finely diced
  6. 1 rutabaga, peeled and finely diced
  7. 1 onion, finely diced
  8. 1 bulb fennel, finely diced
  9. Kosher salt
  10. 4 cups white wine
  11. 1 tablespoon fennel seeds, toasted
  12. 4 sprigs fresh thyme
  13. 2 bay leaves
  14. 1 2 1/2 -pound organic chicken
  15. 1 cup milk
  16. 1/2 cup chicken fat (sold fresh or frozen in tubs at gourmet stores)
  17. 2 tablespoons chopped fresh tarragon
  18. 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
  19. Freshly ground pepper
  20. 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
  21. 3 large eggs
  22. 1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley

Instructions

  1. Melt the butter in a 6-quart pot over medium heat. Add the garlic, carrots, celery root, turnip, rutabaga, onion, diced fennel and a large pinch of salt; cook until the vegetables are tender, about 5 minutes.
  2. Add the wine, 6 cups water, fennel seeds, thyme and bay leaves; bring to a simmer. Add the chicken and simmer for 2 hours. Remove the chicken and let cool. Pick off the meat in shreds; set aside.
  3. About 15 minutes before the chicken has finished simmering, prepare the dumplings: Combine the milk, chicken fat, 1 tablespoon tarragon, the nutmeg and 1/2 teaspoon each salt and pepper in a medium saucepan; bring to a simmer over medium heat. Remove from heat; add the flour and stir vigorously with a wooden spoon until the liquid is absorbed. Whisk in the eggs, one at a time, to make a thick dough.
  4. Bring the soup to a boil. Form the dough into eight dumplings (an ice cream scoop is perfect for this); drop into the soup. Cover and cook until the dumplings float to the surface, about 10 minutes.
  5. Add the chicken meat, parsley and the remaining 1 tablespoon tarragon to the soup; stir carefully and divide among warm bowls.

Nutrition Facts

Serving Size 1 of 8 servings
Calories 613
Total Fat 32 g
Saturated Fat 10 g
Carbohydrates 34 g
Dietary Fiber 5 g
Sugar 8 g
Protein 26 g
Cholesterol 160 mg
Sodium 1144 mg
Serving Size 1 of 8 servings
Calories 613
Total Fat 32 g
Saturated Fat 10 g
Carbohydrates 34 g
Dietary Fiber 5 g
Sugar 8 g
Protein 26 g
Cholesterol 160 mg
Sodium 1144 mg

Reviews

Michelle Roberts
This is great recipe! It IS CHICKEN AND DUMPLINGS people not salad w/brown rice! Fat is needed to flavor the dumplings in most all recipes. Thank you chef from a southern lady!
Michael Roman
I’m from the south and this is one of our favvvorite dishes.. but this recipe doesn’t do it justice. Far too many unnecessary ingredients and far too much effort for this simple dish. Sorry, but this one is a miss for me. 
Kaitlin Jones
I loved the dumplings. People worried or complaining about the fat should not make the recipe and quit writing nasty comments. The recipe calls for fat in the ingredients so cooks know before the dish is cooked. If you don’t agree with the recipe than don’t cook it.
Thomas Perez
ITS AMAZINGLY GOOD SOUP AND MY FAVORITE SOUP OF ALL
Angela Hernandez
The broth and dumplings had very little flavor. Simmering a smallish chicken for so long made the flesh dry and inedible and turned the veggies into mush. Sorry, Michael. This is not up to your usual standard of excellence.
Mary Brown
Watery and almost favorless–far too much time and effort for so little flavor. I am hopeful that it tastes better as leftovers, because I served up two bowls immediately upon finshing the dumplings and could not have been more disappointed. I suspect stock instead of water might have helped. I have no idea how, or why, so many folks are singing this dish’s praises. Let down.
Jose Newman
I tried it & it was sure good. I am use to the old fashioned okie Chicken & Dumplings. This was sure different & delicious. But I always like a little bit of spice so I added a few chili flakes. I make home made dog food out of boiled chickens so I save the fat that I skim off the top & freeze it. Chicken fat is much healthier for you than any other kind. However I do save all my beef fat for making soap. So nothing goes to waste at my house. Between chickens, rabbits, horses, compost pile, etc all is used. Good recipe again as usual Michael Symon. *THUMBS UP*
Robert Cooper
This is an excellent recipe, what is the big deal about chicken fat?? It is as healthy as any other fat. Symon is an Iron Chef, I trust his recipe.
David Johnson
My boyfriend and I both really liked this soup. And I would go so far as to say that he “Loved” it. I did modify the recipe slightly – I roasted the chicken (I had a 5.5lbs chicken and not all the meat was going into the soup about half of the time it needed to fully cook and then I drained the juices and fat into a bowl to chill – pulled the chicken meat off the bones and then added that to the soup where the chicken would get another hour of cooking. I wasn’t wild about the idea of boiling the chicken with all the veggies and then having to get it out of there. It worked out great and I didn’t have to buy chicken fat. The Dumplings expanded much larger than I thought they would so if I make this again, I’ll make them smaller. They were amazing however.

I only wish the recipe was organized differently and the ingredients were better grouped. It was a little hard to read – but that might just be me needing new glasses!

Thomas Henderson
I did not make the soup but made the dumplings to go into my day after thanksgiving soup. Unfortunately, I had disposed of the turkey fat that I had collected the previous day. Won’t do that again! I made them with shortening and whatever chicken fat I was able to collect from the carcass. They were still wonderful, but next time, chicken or turkey fat! As for the people that think using fat is bad and especially the person from Bakersfield, remember all things in moderation. Can you eat something like this everyday, no way and not even if you work out daily. But every once in a while in a bowl of soup that was basically fat free and loaded with nice veggies, you betcha! I would rather live life enjoying great food than to live longer begrudging everything I have to do to ensure I have a few extra days.

 

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