Herby chicken and dumpling soup

Chicken soup is one of the ultimate comfort foods. With delicious warm broth, chicken and veg, this version kicks it up another notch with herby dumplings.

Credit: Mary Makes It Easy

• serves

  8

• prep

  20 minutes

• cook

  1:30 hour

• difficulty

  Easy

Ingredients

Chicken and broth

• 1.3-1.5 kg whole chicken
• 2 onions, peeled and cut into large chunks
• 3 stalks celery, cut into large chunks
• 2 carrots, cut into large chunks
• 6 garlic cloves, peeled and smashed
• Handful parsley stalks, leaves reserved
• 2 tsp peppercorns
• 1½ tsp kosher salt

Soup and dumplings

• 1½ tbsp butter, divided
• 1 onion, diced
• 2 carrots, diced
• 2 stalks celery, diced
• Kosher salt
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 1½ cups (195 g) plain (all-purpose) flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• ¾ cup (187 ml) buttermilk
• ¼ cup finely chopped chives
• Reserved parsley leaves, finely chopped
• 2-3 handfuls baby spinach
• ½ cup (125 ml) cream, 18% or 35%
• ½ lemon, juiced

Cooling time: 20 minutes.

Instructions

1. For the chicken and broth, add the chicken to a large stockpot along with the onion, celery, carrots, garlic, parsley stalks, peppercorns and salt. Top with 3 litres of cold tap water. Bring to a boil over high heat then cover, reduce the heat to medium-low, and simmer for 1 to 1½ hours or until the chicken is cooked through and will easily pull away from the bone. While simmering, occasionally skim away any foam that rises to the surface.
2. Using a pair of tongs, carefully remove the chicken from the pot and set aside in a large bowl until cool enough to handle, about 20 minutes. Meanwhile, strain the broth through a fine mesh sieve into a large bowl and set aside.
3. For the soup, return the pot to the stove and place over medium heat. Melt the butter in the pot then transfer 3 tsp of the melted butter to a small bowl and set aside. Add the diced onion, carrots, and celery to the pot with the remaining butter, season with salt and pepper, and cook for 4 to 5 minutes or until softened and lightly golden brown. Carefully pour in the broth and bring to a boil for 10 minutes.
4. In a large bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder and ¾ teaspoon of salt. Add in the buttermilk and the reserved melted butter as well as the chives and half of the parsley. Stir just to combine and set aside.
5. Meanwhile, remove the skin from the chicken and pull the meat from the bones. Using two forks, shred the meat into large bite-sized hunks.
6. Add the chicken into the pot and stir in the spinach, cream, lemon juice, and remaining parsley. Using two spoons or a small spring-loaded ice cream scoop, drop 16 to 18 dumplings into the pot leaving some space between each. Cover the pot with a lid, turn the heat down to low, and cook for 15 minutes or until the dumplings are cooked through.

Note

• To save time, you can replace the chicken and broth with 8 cups of store-bought chicken broth and a grocery store rotisserie chicken. Also, for brighter spinach, feel free to add the raw spinach to serving bowls and ladle the hot soup overtop.

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.