I love chicken and dumplings.
I especially love them when it’s cold, and man, has it been cold this year!
The biggest problem I’ve had with most keto versions of chicken and dumplings I’ve seen is that the dumplings are too big and round. This is probably just a cultural culinary difference, but the dumplings I grew up eating were made of a thinly rolled out dough that was just pinched off and tossed into the soup, or was cut into small-ish rectangles or squares before adding to the pot to cook. When that’s what you grow up eating, those large ball dumplings don’t quite cut it.
To rectify this egregious dumpling oversight, I modified my own, hand-written chicken and dumplings recipe by scaling back a hair on the veg, using konjac instead of flour to thicken, and coming up with a fairly sturdy version of Fathead dough to roll out and use as dumplings.
The results were nothing short of special. A close friend of mine actually (jokingly) proposed when she tried my chicken and dumplings, and her husband quipped to her, “Get in line, sister!” So, this recipe has made me quite popular with loved ones, and I hope it will do the same for you!
Notes: I’m attaching a picture of what the dumplings looked like when I’d rolled and cut them, so you can get a good visual idea of what you’re looking for.
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This would be easy to turn into chicken noodle soup by replacing the dumplings with Miracle Noodles. This is one of the few recipes wherein I use a lot of volume measurements instead of weights. That’s because those parts work best with volume ratios.
Ingredients
- For the Dumplings:
- 1 c part skim, low moisture mozzarella cheese, shredded
- 1/3 c fine almond flour
- 1/4 tsp konjac/glucommanan powder
- pinch salt
- 4 tbsp. coconut flour, divided
- 1 large egg
- For the Soup:
- 1 3/4 lb (28 oz/ 794 g) cooked and shredded chicken, mixture of white and dark meat
- 3.5 oz (100 g) celery, diced
- 1 3/4 oz (50 g) onion, diced
- 1/2 stick (2 oz/ 57 g) butter
- 2 quarts (64 fl oz/ 1893 ml) chicken stock
- 2 bay leaves
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp pepper
- 1/4 tsp smoked paprika
- 1/4 tsp dried thyme
- 1/4 tsp garlic powder
- 1 c (8 fl oz/ 237 ml) heavy cream
- 2 tsp konjac/glucommanan powder
Instructions
- To make the Dumplings:
- Heat mozzarella in the microwave at 30 second intervals, until completely melted.
- Stir in almond flour, konjac, and half the coconut flour.
- Add egg and mix well.
- Work in the rest of the coconut flour, kneading briefly with your hands to make sure it’s well incorporated.
- Roll out on parchment paper, until it’s very thin. Between 1/4 and 1/8 of an inch thin. Think about a thin, flat noodle.
- If the dough wants to stick or becomes unpliable, heat in the microwave 15 seconds to reheat the mozzarella, then continue.
- With a pizza cutter, cut long strips, about 1 inch wide. Then cut across, width-wise, in 1 inch strips, to make rough squares.
- Let stand while you’re making the soup.
- To make the Soup:
- Melt the butter over medium heat in a stock pot or other deep pot.
- Saute the vegetables over medium heat until just tender.
- Add the chicken, stock, and seasonings to the pot. Bring to a simmer and cook for ten minutes for flavors to meld and develop.
- Once it’s done simmering, whisk the konjac/glucommanan into the heavy cream and stir into the soup.
- Turn the heat to high and bring the mixture to a full, rolling boil.
- Once it’s boiling hard, drop the dumplings into the soup, being sure to separate them as you go.
- DO NOT STIR. I’m serious!
- Once the dumplings are all in the pot, cook for another two minutes or so at a full boil. If you must agitate the soup, gently use the handles on the side to move the pot in a circular motion.
- Once the two minutes are up, remove from heat, then fish out your bay leaves and discard them.
- Serve immediately.
Notes
The servings are substantial, so you may be able to stretch this soup into 12 or more servings.
Per 1/10 recipe: 326 cal, 28.4 g protein, 20.6 g fat, 6.2 g carbs, 2.6 g fiber, 3.6 g NET carbs
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1/10 of the soup
Keywords: chicken and dumplings, chicken soup, soup
Hello,
I love chicken and dumpling soup! And yours looks very appetizing! I do have a question though…when I make soup, I try to find a recipe that I can freeze. Otherwise, as a single person household: 1) I end up having to eat soup everyday until it’s gone and 2) I like having a serving of soup that I can grab out of the freezer and heat up for dinner or for lunch.
Have you tried freezing it? And if so, did it the consistency hold up?
Thanks
Kim
The soup will be fine. The question is really more whether or not the dumplings will hold up. I know for sure they’re fine in the fridge, for several days, but I’ve not had an opportunity to freeze any. The fam eats it way too quickly. My best educated guess would be that the dumplings may not hold their shape when reheating from frozen, but the soup itself will be completely fine.
When I make it again, I’ll save a bowl for the freezer and see how it does. I’ll be sure to update the recipe with the info, too.
This was very delicious except it became chicken soup with no dumplings. The “dumplings” melted and became a part of the soup. My family ate it but as I am the only one keto, they probably wouldn’t eat it again as is. I loved it though. Thanks for the recipe!!
You’re very welcome, and I’m sorry the dumplings didn’t hold up for you. Mine held up through cooking, as well as reheating after being in the fridge for several days as leftovers. It might be a sizing issue, as very small dumplings (even the “real” kind) do tend to dissolve.
If you decide to try it again, I would roll it out to 1/4″ thickness and cut into somewhat larger squares, maybe 1 1/2 to 2″. Try to get them into the pot quickly, and once you get them all in only boil for maybe another two minutes, just to make sure they’re cooked through, then pull it right off the heat.
Thank you for the feedback, and I’m glad you enjoyed the flavor!
I haven’t made these dumplings, but with “real” dumplings if you boil too hard the dumplings will dissolve. Took me serving several pots of chicken soup to figure out what I had done wrong! 🙂