Chicken and Ricotta Dumpling Soup

What could be better than a cozy chicken soup? How 'bout a cozy chicken soup with ricotta dumplings? Rich, veggie-laden chicken broth is blessed with fluffy light cheesy ricotta dumplings. Meet the ultimate chicken and dumpling soup!

Growing up in SoCal, we went to Marie Callender's. It was one of my favorite restaurants because of their Fettuccine with Butter and Cream Sauce. If I didn't order that, I ordered their famous Chicken Pot Pie. In case you couldn't tell....I pretty much love everything related to bread, pasta..oh —and cheese. This Chicken and Ricotta Dumpling Soup blends all those things together into one big ole comfort food recipe.

Settle in, my bread and cheese loving friend.

Why You'll Love This Recipe

I already mentioned the whole bread and cheese reason but in case they're not enough...here are some more:

• Fresh cozy comfort. This is comfort in a bowl. Take a batch to a friend. Make it for the best Sunday supper or for The Big Game (you know what that is, right?)
• Easy to make ahead. Mix the uber easy dumpling recipe up in the morning to use later in the day. And make the broth, freeze it and thaw for dinner. Using a rotisserie chicken, you can have a warming soup on the table on a Wednesday in 30 minutes!
• Something different. Sometimes "something different" is enough, right?

Yes!!

Ingredients You'll Need

There are several ways you can make this soup. I'm giving you the 100% homemade version that's still super easy and the 75% homemade version that is just as good!

• Chicken. This is where the 75% or 100% choice comes in.
  • You cook the chicken using my 100% Foolproof Chicken Breast recipe and reserve the broth to add to the soup
  • You use a store-bought rotisserie chicken for the 75% version. You'll lose a little on flavor but you'll save 20 minutes in time.
• Veggies and Herbs. Carrots, celery, onions, thyme.
• Dumpling Ingredients. A super creamy ricotta (see below), parmesan (because two cheeses always are better than one), a tich of flour, along with some fresh parsley.

What is ricotta con latte?

These easy soup dumplings aren't a traditional bread dumpling in that their primary ingredient is ricotta. We are using an extra rich ricotta called ricotta con latte which essentially means "ricotta with milk". A more crumbly ricotta typically just has whey in it and it's the variety with milk that helps create a creamy smooth texture.

If you can't find it near you, don't worry! Use what you have and can find but if you can..by all means, pick it up!

How to Make the Chicken and Dumpling Soup

Alright - there are three layers to this soup:

• Broth
• Chicken
• Dumplings

Making the broth base

1. Saute the chopped celery, carrots and onion in some butter with some salt until softened, about 5 minutes or so. Add the garlic and fresh thyme for about 30 seconds until you can smell it.
2. Add some flour to make a roux and cook for about 2 minutes to cook off the flour taste.
3. Pour in the broth along with the broth base and stir until incorporated. Cook for 15 minutes until slightly thickened and add apple cider vinegar.

The Chicken

Here is where you can have some flexibility. You can cook the chicken using my Foolproof Chicken method or you can debone a rotisserie chicken. Your call!

Either way, shred the cooked chicken and stir into the soup.

Make the Dumplings

Now for the really fun and easy part! How to make ricotta dumplings!

Get yourself a medium sized mixing bowl and add:

1. With a whisk, beat the egg.
2. Whisk in the ricotta and parmesan cheese until creamy
3. Add the flour, baking powder, and parsley and stir with a wooden spoon until the dough comes together.
4. Drop the dumplings into the simmering stock and cover. Cook for 10 minutes or so!

See? Easy!

The dough will be very thick and pretty dry...it's all good!

-josie + nina

Substitutions

If you know how to make the recipe fit a certain diet, let the reader know here. Don't fake it - only provide guidance on topics you have actual experience with.

• Lettuce - instead of ice berg lettuce, you can use romaine lettuce or spinach
• Bun - use gluten free buns instead of white bread buns to make this gluten free
• Vegetarian - the beef hamburger can be replaced with a plant-based burger to make this vegetarian

Even if your reader doesn't follow a specific diet (eg. gluten free), they may have friends or family that they're cooking for that could use this. This is also a great idea to link out to another blogger with a similar recipe that fits a different diet.

Variations

One of my favorite things about recipes like this is they are "from the fridge" or pantry recipes. Go for it and clean out that fridge and pantry and feel free to add:

• Spinach and ricotta dumplings. Add a little chopped spinach to the ricotta mix (you can even forego the parsley if you want).
• Sausage. Some cooked ground Italian sausage can be added to the soup if you have some taking up space in the freezer.
• Creamy chicken and dumplings. A little half-and-half takes this chicken dumpling soup recipe from dreamy to creamy.

Equipment

You'll need a minimum of a wide 6 quart dutch oven or stock pot with a lid so that the dumplings have enough room to cook. My favorite is anything that is heavy duty stainless steel or enameled cast iron is great!