The Best Chicken and Dumplings Soup (Traditional Pennsylvania Dutch Soup)
Chicken and dumplings soup is simple and nourishing comfort in a bowl. This traditional Pennsylvania Dutch soup is a family recipe handed down and staple in our family. Tiny homemade, pillowy soft dumplings, tender chunks of chicken, and kernels of fresh sweet corn in a rich homemade chicken broth. It doesn’t get any better than this!
This recipe has all my heart and takes me back to my Pennsylvania Dutch roots. I’ve pretty much been perfecting this recipe since I was a little girl. I can vividly remember my mom making this and actually making and cutting out her own noodles. I didn’t go that far in this recipe, but I have found a way to make those noodles/dumplings in an easier way, still sticking to the authenticity in taste.
This recipe for Pennsylvania Dutch Chicken Corn Soup with Rivels, or dumplings is my take on an old-fashioned PA Dutch country classic.
What are rivals?
In short, rivels are a PA Dutch form of dumpling. Rivels have similar ingredients to egg noodles, but rather than being flattened and sliced, rivels are dropped into soup in small chunks, and are similar to small, tough dumplings. I promise you, these are so simple to make. You can just sound super fancy when you explain to others that you are making Pennsylvania Dutch rivels!
This staple comfort soup is a timeless Pennsylvania Dutch favorite, and will warm you up from the inside out. I love making this recipe throughout the year. I will always make it after we roast or smoke a whole chicken. A rotisserie chicken would be perfect for this recipe.
How do you make authentic pennsylvania dutch chicken soup?
With this recipe we will walk through how to make your own broth. This recipe will steer you in the right direction for making the best PA Dutch chicken soup! You will want to use your own judgement in taste, and I always get extra chicken broth & bouillon on hand, just in case I need to enhance flavors. You can skip the noodles/dumplings or add some thin noodles in their place.
Ingredients
To make this comforting and nourishing soup traditional pennsylvania dutch chicken soup with dumplings, you’ll need a few ingredients that you can get at almost any grocery store or even online.
Here’s what we are working with:
- Rotisserie chicken
- Chicken broth (if not using chicken carcass)
- Italian seasoning
- garlic powder
- sea salt
- freshly ground black pepper
- dill weed
- corn
- celery
- onion
- carrots
- chives
- hard boiled eggs
- all-purpose flour
- milk
- egg
How to make traditional pennsylvania dutch chicken noodle soup
- Start with a whole chicken, a rotisserie chicken works well. Remove the meat and set aside.
- Make the broth: cover the chicken carcass in a large dutch oven with water. Add salt, pepper, Italian seasoning, garlic powder and a pinch of dill and bring to a boil. Let simmer for 20-25 minutes.
- You will want to strain the broth and reserve it in a large bowl and discard the chicken carcass.
- In the same dutch oven sautée very finely diced carrots, celery, and onion with salt, pepper and garlic powder. Mix in the chicken and then cover with the broth.
- Drain the can of corn, add it in along with hard-boiled eggs cut into bite size pieces.
- Mix the flour, beaten egg, and milk well. I add a few teaspoons of the broth and chopped chives, too, just for flavor.
- Once the mixture is very well blended, use a fork to drop by very teeny balls into the soup. (Make sure broth is boiling). They are not supposed to be pretty, so don’t worry about rolling them or making them uniform! You can add some broken thin noodles instead if you want to skip this step.
- Continue stirring over a boil for about 10 minutes. The dumplings should have a dough texture. Add more salt & pepper as needed, or another chicken bouillon and water, if necessary.
- Add fresh chopped parsley or chives.
can I meal prep chicken and dumplings soup?
Yes! Soup is one of my favorite things to prep. You can make a big batch of it to have on a Sunday and still have plenty to get you through the week. You can easily meal prep this chicken and dumplings soup recipe. Additionally, it can be frozen and then reheated for a quick and easy nourishing meal. This chicken soup recipe makes better leftovers as the flavors have time to mesh together. This recipe can be divided into 4 meal prep containers to keep you fueled throughout the week!
That’s all I’ve got for the chicken soup with dumplings recipe!
I hope you enjoy my pennsylvania dutch chicken noodle soup recipe as much as our little tribe has time and time again. Please leave us a star review and comment if you make this traditional pa dutch soup recipe.
If you have any questions or comments, feel free leave them below. I answer every single question as quickly as I can.
Happy cooking! And thanks for being part of my tribe, The Tasteful Tribe!
Chicken Soup With Dumplings (Traditional Pennsylvania Dutch Soup)
- GFGluten-Free
- SFSugar Free
Ingredients
- 1 rotisserie chicken, meat removed, carcass set aside for broth (if making homemade)
- 6 cups water , enough to cover chicken carcass
- salt and pepper, to taste
- 1 tsp Italian seasoning
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 pinch pinch dried dill
- 2 cans corn , (yellow, white or mix), 14.5 oz each
- 3 stalks celery, finely diced
- 1 large onion, finely diced
- 2 whole carrots, finely diced
- 3 tsp fresh parsley or chives, finely diced
- salt and pepper, to taste
- 4 hard-boiled eggs
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- ½ cup milk
- 1 egg , beaten
Instructions
- Start with a whole chicken, a rotisserie chicken works well. Remove the meat and set aside.
- Make the broth: cover the chicken carcass in a large dutch oven with water. Add salt, pepper, Italian seasoning, garlic powder and a pinch of dill and bring to a boil. Let simmer for 10 minutes. You will want to strain the broth and reserve it in a large bowl and discard the chicken carcass.
- In the same dutch oven sautée very finely diced carrots, celery, and onion with salt and pepper. Mix in the chicken and then cover with the reserved broth.
- Drain the cans of corn, add it in along with hard-boiled eggs cut into bite size pieces.
- Mix the flour, beaten egg, and milk well. I add a few teaspoons of the broth and chopped chives, too, just for flavor.
- Once the mixture is very well blended, use a fork to drop very teeny balls into the soup; be sure that broth is boiling. They are not supposed to be pretty, so don't worry about rolling them or making them uniform! You can add some broken thin noodles instead if you want to skip this step.
- Continue stirring over a boil for about 5 minutes. The dumplings should have a dough texture. Add more salt & pepper as needed, and water, if necessary.
- Add fresh chopped parsley or chives.
Did you make this recipe? Don’t forget to tag thetastefultribe on instagram @thetastefultribe if you try this traditional pennsylvania dutch chicken with dumplings soup recipe. We love seeing your version of the recipe! You can also post your pictures to our facebook page!
