This time of year, when it starts to get cold outside, and we reach that point where summer and sun seem so far away that we’ll never reach them, I think it’s best to embrace this and wrap ourselves in the warm succor of something comforting. That’s not to say that comfort food is solely restricted to the winter months—though, for me, it may not be the text book definition for comfort food, but things like seafood risotto, couscous paella, peach shortcakes and Spaghetti with Tomatoes & Black Olives shout “Summer!” from the sun-drenched rooftops all the while wrapping me in a comforting warmth—but now is the time of year for the real heavy hitters.
Personally, I could live on mashed potatoes alone until spring comes back around. However, I’m not the only one I have to feed for the next several months so I have to expand my repertoire. Which leads me to Chicken & Dumpling Soup. It’s really like chicken noodle soup, but better—reason being that, once the dumplings have simmered in the soup they release their starches slightly and give this an almost creamy feeling without adding any actual cream.
Normally my issue with Chicken & Dumpling Soup lies with the dumplings themselves. They’re either too dense and doughy, or too light and fall apart; I don’t want biscuits floating in my soup, nor do I want little clumps of flour in it, making it look more like lumpy gravy than anything. The perfect solution is using some cornstarch in them to give them a light and fluffy texture, and only just enough milk to give you a stiff and sticky dough so they stay together. Drop them in to the fiercely boiling soup (so they don’t stick) in small t-spoon-sized dollops (they’ll expand) before covering and simmering until they’re cooked and tender.
I also like to simmer the chicken with some vegetables to give the broth of the soup some flavor, but I discard them when I strain the liquid—they’ve done their job, their flavor is gone and they’re the texture of baby food by this point (see my full rant on mooshy vegetables in the Shrimp & Chorizo Stew post). So once the chicken is shredded and added back to the pot, I add more chopped carrots and celery for some additional flavor and, because the dumplings go in shortly after, some al dente crunch. You could certainly add frozen peas if you wanted, but I’m just fine without them. For me, peas are what basically separate Chicken & Dumplings from chicken potpie. And my herb of choice for this is fresh dill; there’s something about the slightly anise-y hit, fresh and clean to start before going a little sour, that manages to both calm and accentuate the richness of this, striking the perfect balance.
What’s even better, is that if you have leftover turkey from the holidays and a turkey carcass you don’t know what to do with you can adapt this to recipe to use that up. In place of the whole chicken, simmer the bones from the turkey, preferably with any bits of meat still clung to it, in the water with the vegetables. Continue on with the rest of the recipe as noted, obviously throwing in shredded turkey meat into the finished soup in lieu of chicken.
Winter has never looked so good.
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| Servings | Prep Time |
| 6 | 15 minutes |
| Cook Time |
| 1-3/4 to 2 hours |
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This is total winter comfort food at its best; light and fluffy dumplings bobbing around in rich broth. With a scattering of feathery dill--fresh, with a sweet-sour lashing--it's the ultimate perfection. Best yet, you can use leftover holiday turkey bones and meat for it!
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- 1 chicken about 5 pounds, washed and trimmed of access fat
- 3 quarts cold water
- 2 medium carrots halved
- 1 medium yellow onion skin-on and quartered
- 2 celery ribs with leaves, halved
- 1 head garlic halved lengthwise
- 5 sprigs parsley
- 5 sprigs thyme
- 5 srprigs dill big branchy sprigs
- 1 t-spoon black peppercorns whole
- 2 bay leaves
- 2 t-spoons kosher salt
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 1 medium carrot chopped
- 1 celery rib chopped
- 1/4 cup fresh minced dill
- 1-3/4 cup flour
- 1/4 cup cornstarch
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1 t-spoon kosher salt
- 2 tablespoons butter melted
- Approx. 1 cup whole milk
- Heat the butter in a large stock pot (12-quarts at least) until hot and sizzling. Sear any of the giblets from the chicken in the hot fat, except the liver, until they’re browned and caramelized on all sides. Pour over about 1 quart of the water to shock the offal and cool the pan down.
- Lower the chicken into the pot, tumble over the vegetables, scatter over the herbs and peppercorns, and pour over the remaining water. It should be enough water that it barely covers the chicken, so add a little more if the chicken isn’t submerged.
- Bring to a boil, season with the salt, reduce the heat to low and simmer for 1½ hours.
- After the chicken is done simmering, remove it from the pot and set aside. Strain the liquid in the pot into a large bowl, through a fine-mesh sieve lined with cheesecloth. Return the strained liquid back to the pot and place over low heat to keep warm. Discard the solids from the colander. Skim most of the fat off the surface of the soup and discard this, too. Remove the skin from the chicken and shred all of the meat into bite-size pieces, returning the meat to the pot as you do so.
- Once all of the chicken is shredded and back in, plunk in the remaining chopped carrot and celery and simmer while you make the dumplings.
- Mix all of the dry ingredients together in a bowl until combined, then pour in the melted butter and milk. Stir this together just until combined, making sure you don’t over mix; otherwise they will be tough and too dense.
- Return the soup to a rolling boil and drop in tiny dollops of the dumplings (t-spoon sized drops, or use about half of a 0.50-ounce scooper). Cover the soup, turn the heat to low, and simmer for 12 – 15 minutes. Don’t uncover the pot while the dumplings cook—the steam helps to cook them evenly and keep the soft and pillowy.
- Once it’s done simmering, ladle the soup into serving bowls and scatter them evenly with the ¼ cup of minced dill and eat in total comfort.
- To make this using leftovers from Thanksgiving, simmer the turkey carcass in the water in place of the whole chicken. Continue on with the recipe as noted, obviously throwing in leftover shredded turkey in lieu of chicken.