This creamy Chicken and Dumpling Soup is the ultimate cold weather comfort food! Fluffy homemade dumplings swim in the creamiest chicken soup. It’s an EASY one-pot soup recipe that uses shredded rotisserie chicken to save time, making it equally perfect for weeknight dinners and seasonal gatherings!
“Delicious and full of flavor! Perfect for a chilly day. Definitely adding this to our fall/winter rotation!” – Sarah, So Much Food reader
Table of contents
- This Hearty One-Pot Soup Recipe is a Family Favorite!
- Kitchen Tools You’ll Need
- The Key Ingredients for the Chicken Soup and Dumplings
- How to Make Chicken and Dumpling Soup in 6 Steps
- Jenny’s Tips for Perfectly Tender Dumplings
- What to Serve with Chicken and Dumpling Soup
- More Chicken Soup Recipes You’ll Love
This Hearty One-Pot Soup Recipe is a Family Favorite!
This dreamy, creamy chicken and dumpling soup is completely homemade but comes together with minimal effort. Don’t be intimidated when I say it’s from scratch — this is one of the easiest soup recipes to make!
The sour cream dumplings come together in one bowl, mixed by hand, in under 5 minutes. The dumpling dough is dropped straight into the simmering soup, one spoonful at a time. There’s no rolling or shaping involved, which saves you so much time!
The soup itself is a one-pot wonder that only needs to simmer for 15 minutes to develop layers of flavor. This chicken soup with homemade dumplings is so creamy and rich without being too heavy. It’s the soup we turn to over and over again for cool nights, and I hope you will too!
Kitchen Tools You’ll Need
The Key Ingredients for the Chicken Soup and Dumplings
full list of ingredients, quantities & method in the recipe card at the end of the page.
- Chicken. I love using shredded rotisserie chicken here, but you can always poach or roast your own. You will need 3 cups of shredded chicken total; however you get there is up to you!
- Bacon. Bacon makes everything better! I use a bit of the rendered bacon fat to boost the flavor of the dumplings. You could skip the bacon, but it’s part of what makes this soup recipe so good.
- Veggies. I stuck to pretty classic veggies here and use onion, leek, carrot, and celery. You could skip the leek, but I love the flavor and texture it adds.
- All-Purpose Flour. You’ll need some flour to thicken the soup as well as make the dumplings.
- Spices. Dried sage and thyme give the soup tons of flavor.
- Dairy. You’ll need butter for the soup, sour cream and milk for the dumplings, and heavy cream to make the soup extra creamy.
- Chicken stock. I always have a store of homemade chicken stock in my freezer, but you can definitely use store-bought too.
- Chives. I love the subtle onion flavor that chives give the dumplings. You could use dried chives, but I always opt for fresh.
- Baking powder. Baking powder is the leavening agent in our dumplings to make sure they’re super plump and fluffy.
How to Make Chicken and Dumpling Soup in 6 Steps
- Render the bacon. Cook the bacon low and slow until it’s crispy and releases a bunch of its fat. I always save the bacon fat for the dumplings to add extra flavor. Once the bacon is crispy, remove it from the pot with a slotted spoon and transfer the bacon fat to a small heat-proof bowl.
- Make the dumpling dough. Combine all the remaining dumpling ingredients in the bowl with the bacon fat and mix with a rubber spatula until everything is well mixed. The dough should be thick.
- Saute the veggies. Once the vegetables have softened, add the flour and stir to really work it in. The flour must be cooked for a couple minutes to remove its raw flavor (this is very important!).
- Add the chicken broth, a bit at a time. Stir, stir, stir as you do so to prevent clumps from forming.
- Add the chicken and cream. Once the soup is simmering, add the shredded chicken, crispy bacon, and cream. Season the soup base to taste with salt and pepper. Bring to a gentle simmer.
- Drop in the dumpling dough, then simmer for 15 minutes. I prefer using a large cooking scoop to scoop up the dumpling dough and drop it into the simmering soup. Once the dumplings are puffy and cooked through, ladle the soup into bowls. Top with more chives and serve hot!
Jenny’s Tips for Perfectly Tender Dumplings
Mix the dry ingredients first. So that you get evenly mixed dumplings, whisk your flour, spices, salt, chives, and baking powder together in a mixing bowl.
*Then* mix the wet ingredients. Whisk the rest of the wet ingredients together in a small bowl with the bacon fat until smooth.
Fold the wet ingredients in to the dry. The trick to tender dumplings is to mix everything very gently. I use a rubber spatula to fold the wet ingredients into the dry until just mixed. Once no clumps of flour remain, your dumpling dough is ready to go!
Use a cookie scoop or small measuring cup. Using a pre-set measurement like a large cookie scoop or 1/4 cup measuring scoop ensures that your dumplings are even in size and that they cook evenly. You could always just drop them in the soup by the spoonful, but I find that a cookie scoop yields perfectly plump and even dumplings without getting your hands dirty.
What to Serve with Chicken and Dumpling Soup
Normally I love serving fluffy brioche rolls with my soups and stews, but since this recipe is made with dumplings I like to keep things simple with a fresh side salad.
If you do give this recipe a try, I love hearing about it! Leave a comment with a star rating below. Be sure to subscribe to my weekly newsletter and never miss a new recipe! You can also snap a photo & tag @JENNYGOYCOCHEA on Instagram.
More Chicken Soup Recipes You’ll Love
- Chicken Curry Noodle Soup
- Thai Basil Chicken Wonton Soup
- Creamy Chicken Orzo Soup
- Chicken Tortellini Soup
- Dill Chicken Noodle Soup
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One-Pot Creamy Chicken and Dumpling Soup Recipe
Ingredients
Dumplings
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper
- 3 tablespoons minced fresh chives
- 2/3 cup sour cream
- 1/4 cup + 1 tablespoon whole milk
- 3 tablespoons reserved bacon fat or melted butter
Soup
- 5 strips bacon, diced
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1 small yellow onion, diced
- 1 leek (white and light green parts only) sliced
- 3 carrots, peeled and diced
- 3 ribs celery, diced
- 1/4 cup flour
- 1 teaspoon dried rubbed sage
- 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
- 6 cups chicken stock (homemade is best!)
- 3 cups shredded cooked chicken
- 1 cup heavy cream
- kosher salt, to taste
- freshly cracked pepper, to taste
Instructions
- Place a 4 qt dutch oven over medium-low heat and add the bacon. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the bacon is crispy and some of the fat has rendered. Use a slotted spoon to transfer the bacon to a small place and transfer 3 tablespoons of bacon fat to a small heat-proof bowl.
- In a mixing bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, salt, pepper, and chives for the dumplings. Whisk until combined. Add the sour cream and milk to the small bowl with the bacon fat and whisk until smooth. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and fold the mixture together until no streaks of flour remain. Cover and set aside.
- Melt 4 tablespoons of butter in the dutch oven over medium heat. Once the butter is hot and foamy, add the diced onion, carrot, leek, and celery. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 3-4 minutes until the vegetables start to get soft. Add the sage and thyme and cook for 1 minute more. Sprinkle the flour on top of the veggies and stir to incorporate the flour into the veggies and butter. Cook, stirring constantly, for 2-3 minutes.
- Add the chicken stock to the pot one cup at a time, stirring well between each addition. Bring to a simmer. Once the pot is simmering, add the shredded chicken, cream, and bacon back to the pot. Bring to a gentle simmer and season to taste with salt and pepper.
- Using a cookie scoop, gently drop the dumplings into the soup, giving a little space between each. Reduce the heat to low, cover, and simmer for 15-17 minutes. The dumplings should be fluffy and plump. Ladle the soup into bowls and top with more chives, if desired.
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