We all have those days. Days when you’re on your way home from work and craving something homemade but can’t figure out what to make. A comfort food you can have on the table in less than an hour but tastes like you’ve cooked all day. I’ve been tinkering with this recipe for over a year now. I wanted a flavorful chicken soup that started with a rotisserie chicken and fluffy dumplings made with a baking mix. Feel free to change the recipe and make it your own. Add more vegetables. Use flat dumplings instead of fluffy ones. Enjoy!
Chicken Soup with Fluffy Thyme Dumplings
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided
2 tablespoons all purpose flour
1 and 1/2 cups baby carrots; each carrot cut in three pieces
1 cup sweet onion, 1/2-inch dice
1 cup celery, 1/2-inch dice
2 tablespoons all purpose flour
Two, 32 ounce cartons, 33% lower sodium chicken broth
1 rotisserie chicken or 1/2 mega size rotisserie chicken
6 sprigs of thyme
This recipe uses the skin, some of the bones and the juices from the rotisserie chicken as it’s flavor base. (Don’t worry we will fish the bones and skin out of the soup later!) In a large stockpot melt 2 tablespoons unsalted butter over medium high heat. Add carrots, onion, and celery. Cook until onions are translucent. Add 1 tablespoon butter to skillet. Sprinkle flour over vegetables and stir constantly for 2 minutes. Add 1 cup broth and stir until thickened. Add 1 more cup broth and stir until thickened. Gradually add remaining broth. Stir until smooth.
Remove chicken from bones. Set aside. Place bones from body of bird, skin, and juices from the rotisserie chicken in stockpot with vegetables. Add thyme. Bring to a boil and simmer while cutting up chicken into bite size pieces. Add cut up chicken. Simmer vegetables, gravy, chicken meat, bones and skin for 30 minutes. Make dumplings while the soup is simmering. After 30 minutes remove chicken bones and skin from stockpot. Discard skin and bones. Makes 8-10 servings.
Thyme Dumplings
2 cups baking mix
1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves
1/2 teaspoon poultry seasoning
3/4 cup 2% milk
1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
Stir baking mix, thyme leaves and poultry seasoning together in a large bowl. Combine milk and melted butter. Pour liquid into dry ingredients and stir. Drop dumplings by heaping tablespoons on top of soup. Cover stockpot with lid and cook 10 minutes without peeking. Don’t peek! Remove lid and check middle of a dumpling to make sure it is cooked all the way through. Enjoy!
Published in The News and Neighbor on October 12, 2022.
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