Over the weekend, I attended my first ever music festival as a pregnant woman. It was not nearly as hard or daunting as I expected. I got my steps in, listened to some tunes, shook my booty and ate my way through the festival. When I came home, I had what many festival goers leave with: festival flu. All day at work I day dreamed about being cozy in my house, napping and eating a warm bowl of soup.
I mean, what else goes with 80 degree fall weather? Why a warm bowl of chicken pot pie soup , obviously. So despite this abnormally warm fall weather we are having in Houston, catch me on my couch, bowl of chicken pot pie soul in my lap watching the newest episode of This Is Us.
What I love about this recipe is that its easy without compromising taste. I used HEB rotisserie chicken and broth. However, I DID make the dumplings from SCRATCH. I even added fresh thyme to make the dumplings pop. This is definitely, comfort food at its best. Best part? It only takes 30 minutes!
Chicken and Dumplings Soup
Ingredients:
4 tablespoons butter divided
2 carrots diced small
2 stalks celery plus their leaves diced
1 onion diced
1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour divided
4 cups chicken stock/broth
1 cup whole milk divided
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves or 1/2 teaspoon dried, plus more for garnish
2 cups cooked diced or shredded chicken
extra salt and pepper
Pro tip: maybe double up on the chicken stock to make a bit more soupy.
Instructions
Saute the carrots, celery, and onions in 2 tablespoons of the butter in a large pot over medium high heat until browned and soft (about 3 minutes).
Add 1/4 cup flour, stir to coat.
Add chicken broth (4 cups) and bring to a boil.
Turn the heat down to simmer and add 1/2 cup milk and the chicken. Season with salt and pepper.
Meanwhile, to make the dumplings, mix together the remaining 1 cup of flour, 1 teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon baking powder, and 1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves. Stir in the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter, melted, until flour mixture is crumbly looking. Add the remaining 1/2 cup of milk and stir until JUST combined. Do NOT over mix, or your dumplings may be dense.
Add spoonfuls of the dumpling mixture to the simmering pot- I recommend using a small cookie scoop for this (a tablespoon can also be used).
Cover and simmer on low for 15 minutes, or until dumplings are fluffy, cooked, and float to the top.
Serve garnished with extra fresh thyme and fresh ground pepper, if desired.
Enjoy!