Chicken soup like your mom used to make. Literally, your mom. At my house growing up, chicken soup came from a red and white Campbell’s soup can. I remember the first time I had homemade chicken soup and truly, it was one of the best things I’d ever eaten. It was comfort in a bowl. And it can’t be replicated, no matter how hard Progresso tries.
Now…living in the South, the idea is that chicken and dumplings or chicken noodle soup MUST be made from scratch with the whole chicken and homemade broth. Let me fill you in on a little secret. I’ve been assured time and time again from cookbooks and the Food Network that homemade chicken broth is incomparable to the stuff you can buy in the store. I have tried to make homemade broth a number of times, and, quite honestly, I find it to be a great deal of work and I can’t taste enough of a difference to make it worth my time. The other thing is that if you’re making soup that involves hours and hours of work, you’re not going to make it a lot. And this soup is too good not to make a lot. So don’t listen to those ninnies who would have you believe that you’re less of a person for using bouillon cubes or canned chicken broth and welcome them to the 21st century. And reality.
Ingredients Needed
- Soup
- Carrots
- Celery
- Onion
- Fresh garlic
- Bay leaf
- Chicken broth
- Cooked chicken – rotisserie works great. You can just as easily cook your chicken right in the soup. I take a few chicken breasts and just gently poach them as the soup in simmering to cook the veggies. It all gets done at about the same time and you can just shred the chicken and toss it back in.
- Fresh or dried parsley
- Dried basil
- Evaporated milk
- Dumplings – Use biscuit mix, or make your own with the following ingredients.
- All-purpose flour
- Baking powder
- Kosher salt
- Milk
- Melted butter
Note: I really, really like dumplings in this soup. A lot. I love the texture and how they thicken up the soup just right. However, if you’re not a dumpling fan, you can use noodles. We have a recipe for homemade noodles, but if you buy them at the store, I strongly recommend that you get Kluski noodles like these ones pictured below. They taste homemade without actually having to make homemade noodles. That way, everybody wins
How to Make Chicken and Dumplings
- Basically we’re making an easy homemade chicken noodle soup. Start with the building blocks of most great soups: a sauté of onions, carrots, and celery.
- Then you’ll add chicken broth and a few seasonings, and let it simmer away.
- Now the secret for this creamy soup is quite brilliant. There’s no adding flour and making a roux or anything like that. It’s an easy-peasy can of evaporated milk, and you can even use low-fat. Add the chicken here as well.
- When it comes to the dumplings, you have a couple options. You can easily mix up some Bisquik dumplings. No shame in that! I’m also providing a quick homemade version that is almost just as fast. Both will be soft, tender, and delicious. It’s just a simple dough, and you drop it right in the simmering soup to cook. The flour from the dumplings thickens the soup just enough and it’s the perfect one-dish dinner.
Storing and Other Tips
- Store cooled leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator and consume within 3-4 days.
- For best results, store dumplings separately, or only make as many dumplings as you will eat and store the leftover soup. That way you can heat it up on the stove and cook your dumplings fresh.
Frequently Asked Questions
Of course! Make your soup ahead of time. Dumplings are best made fresh, which is quick and easy to do once you reheat your soup.
Chicken and Dumplings
Equipment
Ingredients
Soup
- 1 cup carrots sliced
- 2 ribs celery chopped
- 1 onion chopped
- 2-3 cloves garlic minced or pressed
- 1 bay leaf
- 6 cups chicken broth
- 1 lb. cooked chicken cut into bite-sized pieces (rotisserie is great)
- 1 handful fresh parsley, chopped or 1 tablespoon dried parsley
- ½ teaspoon basil
- 1 14-ounce can evaporated milk fat free is fine
- 1 recipe of Bisquik dumplings recipe is on the box, or use homemade dumpling recipe below
Homemade Dumplings
- 1 ½ cups all purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ¾ cup milk
- 2 tablespoons melted butter
Instructions
Start Soup
- In a large pot, heat some olive oil over medium heat and add carrots, celery, onions, and garlic. Saute for a few minutes and then add chicken broth, bay leaf, and basil. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat to a simmer. Cover and cook until carrots and celery are tender.
Start Dumplings
- If using Bisquick, follow directions as stated on the back of the box.If using the homemade recipe, sift together the dry ingredients. Add the melted butter to the flour mixture and use the fork to mix until just combined, small clumps form, and the mixture begins to resemble wet sand. Do not overmix.Make a well in the center of the mixture. Pour milk into the well. Using the fork, begin to incorporate the milk into the flour mixture until just combined, with no dry bits. Let the mixture rest for 5 to 10 minutes so that the flour can hydrate. The mix will be lumpy.
Finish Soup
- When carrots and celery are almost done, add chicken and chopped parsley. Add evaporated milk and remove bay leaf.
- Increase heat to boiling and add dumpling dough by the small spoonful (they'll puff up). Cook until until dumplings are cooked through (they should appear moist but feel firm; this is after about 4-5 minutes). If you're using raw chicken, simply add it in when the soup originally comes to a simmer and cook until internal temp reaches 165 degrees.
Storing Leftovers
- When storing leftovers, only add dumplings or noodles to what you know you'll eat immediately. The noodles/dumplings will soak up all the liquid in the soup when you store it as leftovers, so you'll have overly-mushy noodles and chicken with no broth if you don't. The other thing you can do is add all of the dumplings or all of the noodles, and then store the dumplings or noodles separately from the rest of the soup. That's easy to do with dumplings, not so much with noodles.
Notes
- Nutritional information was calculated using the homemade dumpling recipe.
- Store cooled leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator and consume within 3-4 days.
- For best results, store dumplings separately, or only make as many dumplings as you will eat and store the leftover soup. That way you can heat it up on the stove and cook your dumplings fresh.
Questions & Reviews
This soup is top notch! My family loved it. I have been making homemade chicken noodle soup for years, but I love this recipe even more. The basil adds a brightness and the milk makes it creamy. You can’t go wrong with this recipe. It is delicious with the dumplings or homemade egg noodles.
I just wanted to throw this idea out there if any of you needed an idea for leftovers. My best friend often makes a big batch of chicken and dumplings and then the next day after things have thickened up, etc, she makes a chicken (and dumpling) pot pie! It’s one of my favorite things ever!
Mary: I hate to break it to you but American cheese is not real cheese. It’s processed.
Anyone figure out how to make this in the crock pot? I am assuming to put everything except the noodles and evaporated milk in, cook for a few hours and then add the soup to the stovetop, allow to boil and add the noodles and evaporated milk? Anything different? Should I cook the onions first per the recipe? Has anyone tried it in the crock pot? I am worried that the veggies will be way too soft and mushy…
Homemade Chicken stock *is* a lot better – and it is so easy in a slow cooker –
http://smittenkitchen.com/blog/2013/11/perfect-uncluttered-chicken-stock/
3 lbs chicken wings , 1 onion , i clove garlic and some salt. And time. That’s all– my slow cooker is too small so I put it in a covered pot overnight in the oven at 225. Or all day at work. Then strain it. That’s all. Because the wing meat is so stringy you can pitch it in the trash without remorse.
IMPORTANT NOTE: DO NOT feed the waterlogged chicken meat to your dogs unless you really want to spend a number of gross hours with a wet vac and then pay to have your carpets cleaned. DO throw that waterlogged stringy chicken away.
That said, if you have a lot of *other* stuff ( like lots of vegetables, cream and dumplings ) going on in your soup – you can really safely use the box/can stuff.
But don’t hate on homemade stock. It is easy and delicious. But you are 100% correct it is not needed for chicken and dumplings.
great recipe, didnt have canned milk but used whole milk very good and hearty, just what we needed? thanks planning on making your orange beef recipe tomorrow… cant wait, love your site!
I make homemade mac and cheese and this is my recipe. 1 pound of noodles. Cook by directions to Al-dente. In a 2 cup measure cup put in about 1 1/2c. of cubed Velveeta cheese,add 1/2 c. of milk, 1 tablespoon of onion powder, 1 tsp. garlic powder, 1/2 tsp. pepper, microwave until melted.Stir,should make 2 cups if not add more milk. When noodles are done drain water, add cheese mixture and stir. Ready to serve. Easy and good. my son no longer likes the boxed stuff he says it’s too plain. There is no flavor. 🙂
I found out the hard way many years ago with cooking the noodles in the soup. I now pre cook the noodles and then add. They don’t soak up nearly all the broth.
I’ve made the stove top directions and LOVE this soup, but I would really like to make it in a crockpot. Instructions, please?
Honestly, I don’t know if the crockpot would cook the dumplings fast enough. One thing you could do is pop everything into the crockpot (except the dumplings, obviously) first thing in the morning and then transfer it to the stovetop when you’re ready to eat and cook the dumplings that way. Or you could live on the edge and add the dumpling dough about an hour before dinner, turn it on high, and pray for the best. 🙂
sooo…it says this is a crockpot meal, buuuut there aren’t any crockpot directions. Help, please?