Chicken and Sourdough Dumplings | Easy Recipe

You will love this traditional comfort food of hearty chicken vegetable soup and healthy sourdough dumplings.

Who doesn’t like chicken and dumplings, especially if they are made with sourdough?

During the fall and winter, we are loving our soups and stews. This recipe is super delicious but I am kicking it up a notch by making the dumpling dough with sourdough. For me, this comforting meal blends the best of both worlds!

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Why you’ll love this recipe

A bowl of warming chicken soup is already so cozy in the cooler months of the year. Sourdough makes these homemade dumplings both easier to digest and gives them a more interesting, complex flavor.

However, the best part is that this recipe is actually very easy and pretty quick to make!

What are the ingredients for chicken and sourdough dumplings

This is a bit of a building block recipe. Here’s what you need:

• Chicken meat: We love roasting chicken for one dinner. Then I pick all the leftover meat off the bones. Feel free to buy chicken breasts or your preferred parts of the chicken.
• Good bone broth: Of course, you can use any bouillon, stock, or soup base that you have. But I love making my own chicken broth. Once I roast a whole chicken, I use the bones to make bone broth. Talking about zero-waste in the kitchen …
• Sourdough dumplings: If you don’t have a sourdough starter going, you can head over here and learn the easiest way to make one. Chances are you already have one, so you’re halfway there.
• Vegetables: I am using basic soup vegetables here such as onion, celery stalks, carrots, and potatoes. But feel free to add or substitute your own, such as mushrooms, sweet potatoes, broccoli, etc.
• Spices: Sea salt and black pepper are a given but you could add some poultry seasoning, too. I always love to add a bay leaf or two. Fresh thyme leaves and parsley would be some great herbs for this dish.

Useful tools and equipment

The good news is that you do not need any special equipment to make this chicken and dumplings recipe. Here are my favorite tools:

• Large enamel dutch oven: Of course, you can make this recipe in any large pot but I really like how cast iron dutch ovens hot the heat. I also feel that the look of those adds to the coziness of this dish.
• Large mixing bowl: This comes in handy for mixing the sourdough dumpling dough.
• Ladle: I love an old-fashioned stainless steel ladle to transfer the soup to the bowls.

How to make this chicken and sourdough dumplings recipe

1. Prepare the meat: If you are roasting a whole chicken, you can simply pick the meat off the bones. Alternatively, you can buy chicken breast meat, skinless chicken thighs, or your favorite chicken pieces. The simplest way is to boil them in some water or stock until done.
2. Make the soup base: To get the most gut-healing benefits, I prefer using my own chicken bone broth. However, you can use any store-bought chicken stock, bouillon, or broth.
3. Saute the vegetables: In a large soup pot or cast iron dutch oven over medium-high heat, heat up some olive oil. Add diced onions and cook until they are translucent. Add the remaining vegetables and cook until just a bit soft. Now add the cooked chicken meat and the broth. Simmer over low heat until all the vegetables are soft. Season the soup with a little salt and pepper to your liking.
4. In a separate medium bowl, combine flour, baking powder, salt, sourdough starter or sourdough discard, egg, and olive oil. Mix into a uniform dough. For a longer fermentation of the sourdough dumplings, you can cover the bowl with plastic wrap and set it aside for 2-4 hours.
5. With two large spoons, drop dumplings into the chicken soup. Put a lid on the pot and simmer for about 15 minutes or until the dumpling balls are cooked through.
6. Ladle generous portions of soup into soup bowls and add one to two dumplings to each bowl. Sprinkle with chopped parsley and serve while still hot.

Substitutions and variations

You might like to vary the ingredients or methods.

• While I feel that you can perfectly make this dish on your stove top, you can perfectly use a slow cooker or instant pot for making it.
• You could even make these chicken and sourdough dumplings in the oven.
• For making the dumplings, you can use all purpose flour. If you prefer, you can make them with spelt flour or einkorn flour as well.
• You can substitute the olive oil in the dumplings with melted butter or even whole milk.
• If you are short on time and for different types of dumplings, you can even use store-bought biscuit dough. In that case, prepare the dough according to the package instructions.
• For a thicker soup or stew, you can add about 2-4 tbsp of flour of your choice.
• If you’d like to make this soup creamier, you can add some cream or sour cream right before serving.

How to serve

This dish is best when served hot. For us, it is a complete meal, especially when we sprinkle a good amount of fresh herbs over it.

Nonetheless, you can serve this chicken and sourdough dumplings alongside a green salad and some dinner rolls or crusty artisan bread.

Make ahead of time?

This dish is great for making leftovers. You might even like to double or triple the recipe. You can then place any leftover in an airtight container.

These chicken and sourdough dumplings will keep in the refrigerator for up to 6 days.

You can also keep them in the freezer for about 3-4 months. Just let them thaw in the refrigerator and gently heat them up before serving.

Other … recipes you might like

Bone Broth

German Meatballs in White Sauce

German Sauerkraut Recipe

How to Make German Rouladen

Oma’s Noodle Casserole

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6-Quart Enameled Cast Iron Dutch Oven

Stainless steel mixing bowls

Stainless steel soup ladle

Let me know if you have any questions or comments!

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