Soup is for warming up the soul and bringing happiness to your day!
One of my favorite meals to enjoy (aside from Indian food, of course – lol) is a hot bowl of soup with some hot buttered bread on the side! It’s warming, comforting and just makes me feel so relaxed and cozy at home! Do you agree?
Chicken Soup is a universally loved soup and everyone has their own special recipe for it. I wanted to share my version of this soup recipe, but let you experience it with something very different – I add in broken mafaldine pasta (they look like very thin lasagna strips) and dumplings! BUT – these are not your regular dumplings…these are the most incredibly flavored, perfectly seasoned, loaded with herb flavor…Lemon Herb Dumplings.
Can I just tell you something?? The lemon in these dumplings add the best flavor to the soup broth as they cook in it. AND the herbs just elevate all the flavors in this entire dish. Plus – the soup thickens a bit becasue of the dumplings to make this even heartier and satisfying. Basically – you’re Chicken soup will go from “normal” to “oh my goodness….why didn’t I make this before?”
This recipe can easily be changed into a delicious VEGETARIAN soup by simply using vegetable broth in place of the chicken broth. You can omit the shredded chicken and replace with some hearty vegetable pieces like cauliflower, corn, sweet potato, regular potato, lima beans, green beans, larger carrot and celery pieces, etc. The list can go on and on for what you can put into this soup.
No matter what you decide to add into this soup recipe, you will really love this amazing comfort food with these incredible dumplings cooked right in it!
CHICKEN COMFORT SOUP w/ LEMON BASIL DUMPLINGS
Servings: 8
Ingredients:
- Chicken Soup
- 3 Tbsp. butter
- 1 medium onion – diced small
- 2 carrots – diced small
- 4 celery stalks – diced small
- 2 Tbsp. minced garlic
- 1 tsp. salt
- 1 tsp. black pepper
- 1 Tbsp. Italian seasoning
- 8 cups of chicken broth
- 8 oz. of broken mafaldine pasta (*can use any preferred pasta)
- 8-10 oz. of shredded rotisserie chicken
- Lemon Herb Dumplings
- 1.5 cups of all-purpose flour
- ½ cup of cornmeal
- 2 tsp. baking powder
- 1 tsp. salt
- 4 Tbsp. cold unsalted butter – cut into small cubes
- Mixed Herbs (1/2 tsp. rosemary, 1 tsp. basil, 1 tsp. parsley)
- Zest of 1 lemon (finely grated)
- 1 cup milk + 2-3 Tbsp. (as needed)
- Garnish soup with thinly sliced scallions
Note: For a VEGETARIAN SOUP – use Vegetable broth and add in mixed vegetables in place of all chicken ingredients.
Instructions:
- To make Soup:
- In a large Dutch oven or pot, heat butter on medium heat till melted and add in onions, carrots, celery, and garlic. Allow to cook for about 10 minutes on medium heat till veggies look like they have softened, and onions are translucent.
- Add in chicken stock and mix well to avoid any veggies from burning.
- Lower heat and add in chicken. Let simmer for about 10 minutes – mixing a few times in between.
- Add in pasta and let cook on low, while preparing the dumpling batter.
- Dumpling Prep:
- In a large mixing bowl, add all-purpose flour, cornmeal, baking powder, salt, butter, herbs, and lemon zest.
- Using your hands, mix all ingredients together, making sure to cut the butter into the mixture till everything is crumbly and a bit lumpy.
- Add in 1 cup of milk and gently mix till a firm dough begins to form (it may be a bit crumbly, which is fine.) – if the dough is too stiff, gradually add in the 2-3 Tbsp of milk, as needed till you have incorporated all the flour into the dough and it still feels a little firm at touch. (You do not want a soft, sticky dough as the dumplings will become too tough when cooked.)
- With a teaspoon, drop in small amounts directly into the hot soup.
- Half-cover the pot and allow to cook on low heat about 10 minutes.
- Once the pasta and dumplings are fully cooked, ladle into individual serving bowls and garnish with a few pieces of thinly sliced scallions before serving.
- Enjoy Hot.
1. Dumpling Batter 
3. Final
What do you think? Would you try this recipe?
Let me know your thoughts by commenting and/or tagging me with your soup pics on IG @cmspiceculture after you try my recipe!
Enjoy!
