This creamy Chicken and Dumpling Soup is loaded with shredded tender chicken and delicious dill infused drop dumplings with a crispy pancetta topping for the ultimate comforting and cozy soup!
JUMP TO RECIPEIf you love classic Chicken and Dumplings, you'll love this super satisfying and creamy elevated soup version! This soup is made with rendered pancetta for both building the broth and a crispy bacon bit topping, and it loaded with fluffy, light, and delicious fresh dill dumplings.
Table of Contents
- Why you’ll love this recipe
- Ingredients
- Instructions and Recipe Notes
- Tools for this Recipe
- FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions)
- Storage and Reheating
- Serving Suggestions
- More Great Soup Recipes
Why you’ll love this recipe
Dilly Homemade Dumplings. This recipe uses a simple and delicious drop dumpling recipe, infused with the flavor of fresh chopped dill, which pairs perfectly with this creamy chicken soup.
Crispy Pancetta Topping. If you are a firm believer that bacon makes everything better, this soup is for you! For this soup, you'll start by rendering some diced pancetta in your soup pot, then removing it when it's nice and crispy to paper towels to drain. The pancetta fat infuses the veggies and the soup with bacon-y flavor, and the finished soup is served with crispy, homemade bacon bits on top!
One Pot Recipe. Aside from a mixing bowl to prepare your dumplings, this recipe is made start to finish in just one pan!
Ingredients
Meats
Diced pancetta (aka Italian style bacon). I use Citterio Cubetti, or store bought pre-cubed pancetta for this recipe. The tiny cubes are perfect for this recipe, since they render down to tiny bite sized pieces, kind of like elevated bacon bits. If you cant find pancetta, you could also use about 4 slices of thick cut bacon, cut into smaller pieces. In the end, you're looking for about 2 tablespoons of rendered fat in the pan after cooking, so if there is more from the bacon, remove all but 2 tbsp.
Chicken thighs. I simmer bone in chicken thighs right in the soup for this recipe. The simmering helps to infuse the broth with extra flavor, too! If you leave the skin on, you may need to skim excess fat from the top of the broth prior to adding the dumplings.
Aromatics
Leeks, carrots, celery, and garlic. These aromatics give the soup lots of flavor, from the slightly sweet an delicate flavor of the fresh chopped leeks, to the classic combo of carrots and celery. Pro tip for working with leeks: clean them very well, and remove to tough green tops. Leeks tend to harbor a lot of dirt inside, so I like to cut the tops off, slice them lengthwise, and run the layers under cool running water to make sure they're super clean before slicing into thin slices.
Fresh dill. You'll add fresh chopped dill to the soup, as well as to the dumplings for extra flavor (and it makes for pretty dumplings, too!). You can also garnish with it for an extra pop of flavor.
Dumplings
Flour and baking powder. These ingredients will serve as the base for the dumplings, and the baking powder give them their fluffy factor, so be sure to whisk them together well until fully incorporated.
Buttermilk and heavy cream. The dumpling recipe for this soup use a blend of heavy cream and buttermilk to keep them from getting too dense, as well as give them an extra bit of tanginess from the buttermilk. If you don't have buttermilk on hand, you can use regular milk, or make your own buttermilk by mixing ½ tablespoon of white vinegar or lemon juice with ½ cup whole milk, and letting stand for 5 minutes.
Instructions and Recipe Notes
Don't over-mix. Mix the wet and dry ingredients for the dumpling recipe until just combined. If you over mix, the dumplings can develop too much gluten, and become tough and dense.
Get things simmering (but not boiling) before adding the dumplings. Once your soup is ready to go, make sure to bring it down to a gentle simmer over medium-low heat. If the heat is too high, it can cause the dumplings to fall apart while cooking.
Don't pop the lid. Resist the urge to keep peaking while the dumplings cook and puff up in the broth so they come out nice and fluffy, an to keep cooking time to a minimum.
Use leftover chicken instead! You can add pre-cooked, shredded chicken, such as rotisserie chicken, instead of cooking the thighs right in the pot. Add at the end of cooking, just before cooking the dumplings so it retains its texture.
Use fresh dill. Fresh dill imparts a subtle, herb infused flavor to the soup an dumplings. Using dry could be overpowering, so I would not recommend swapping. If you like, you could swap for fresh flat leaf parsley instead.
Tools for this Recipe
A large Dutch Oven. This Chicken and Dumpling Soup comes together all in one pan, and the best pan for the job is a large Dutch Oven or soup pot with a tight fitting lid. I prefer to make this recipe in a Dutch oven, as it traps steam well for the dumplings, and holds heat remarkably well!
Mixing bowl, whisk, and spatula. You'll whisk together the dry ingredients for the dumpling recipe to get everything well incorporated. This helps to make sure the baking power does it's job, which is making fluffy, puffy dumplings. Once you stir in the wet ingredients, the dough will have a thicker, tackier consistency, which is easier to manage with a silicone spatula.
Slotted spoon and paper towels. You'll start the soup by rendering the fat from the pancetta, and getting it nice and crispy. You'll leave the rendered fat in the pan for cooking the veggies, and remove the crispy pancetta to a paper towel lined plate to drain, so it stays nice and crispy when you top the finished soup with it!
Chicken and Dumpling Soup with Dill and Pancetta
Equipment
- large soup pot or Dutch oven, with lid
- large mixing bowl, for dumplings
- Whisk, spatula, wooden spoon, spoons or cookie scoop
Ingredients
- 4 oz diced pancetta, such as Citterio Cubetti
- 2 medium leeks, tough green parts removed, cleaned, and sliced thinly
- 3 medium carrots, peeled and finely diced
- 3 ribs celery, finely diced
- 4 cloves garlic, minced or pressed
- 2 sprigs fresh thyme (or 1 teaspoon dried thyme)
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 2 tablespoon butter
- ¼ cup all-purpose flour
- 6 cups chicken stock or broth
- 1 ½ lbs bone-in chicken thighs (about 4 thighs)
- 1 ½ teaspoon Kosher salt, or more to taste
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 1 tablespoon fresh dill, finely chopped
Dill Dumplings
- 1 ¼ cup all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon Kosher salt
- ¼ cup fresh dill, finely chopped
- ½ cup buttermilk, (may sub whole milk)
- ½ cup heavy cream
Instructions
- Add pancetta to a cold soup pot or Dutch oven and set over medium-low heat. Cook, stirring occasionally until crisp 10-15 minutes. 2. Remove pancetta with a slotted spoon and drain on paper towels . Leave 2 tablespoon rendered fat in the pan (if it’s a little less, that’s OK). 3. Bring heat to medium. Add the leeks, carrots and celery and cook 5 -7 minutes, until slightly softened. 4. Add garlic and cook for 1 minute, until fragrant. 5. Add fresh thyme sprigs, chopped dill and dried oregano, and stir to combine. Add in the butter and melt. Add flour and stir well to incorporate. Cook 1 minute. 6. Slowly add chicken stock, stirring to combine. Using a wooden spoon, scrape up any brown bits/fond from the bottom of the pot. Bring pot to a boil over high heat and add chicken thighs and salt. 7. Cook the chicken over medium heat, covered until fully cooked (about 15-20 minutes). Chicken should register 180 degrees. 8. Once the chicken is cooked through, remove it from the pot & carefully shred it with two forks. Add meat back to soup, and discard the bones and skin (if using). 9. Remove thyme sprigs and discard. 10. Add heavy cream to the pot and bring to a boil. Taste for salt and pepper, and season to taste. Once boiling, reduce heat to medium-low and bring to a bare simmer. At this point, of you see any excess fat forming on the edges of the broth, gently skim it off with a pale or spoon. Preparing the dumplings 1. While the chicken cooks, prepare the dumplings mixture. In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, chopped dill, and salt, and whisk to combine. 2. Pour in the buttermilk and heavy cream, and fold the ingredients into each other with a silicone spatula until a dough forms. It may look a little dry at first, but it will come together. Avoid over mixing, or the dough can become tough and chewy. 3. To drop the dough, use a small cookie scoop or 2 spoons to form roughly 1 tablespoon-sized dumplings, dropping the dumplings into the pot one by one, with a bit of space around them so they don’t stick together. 4. Once all the dumplings have been added to the pot, cover with a lid & simmer for 8-10 minutes, or until the dumplings are puffy & cooked through. 5. Ladle the soup into bowls and top with crispy pancetta additional chopped dill (if desired).
FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions)
Can I make the soup ahead of time?
You can make the soup a day or so ahead of time. If planning ahead, I would recommend waiting to prepare and add the dumplings until ready to serve, since they can become a little denser as they soak up the broth. Just bring the soup to a gentle simmer to warm through, and proceed with the recipe to make the dumplings.
Can you overcook the dumplings?
Unfortunately, you can. While you shouldn't pop the lid, be sure to be conscious of the timing to avoid overcooking them, which can result in broken apart dumplings.
Can the soup be frozen?
While I wish I could say yes, I would not recommend storing this soup in the freezer, as it contains cream, which could break, and the dumplings would disintegrate.
Storage and Reheating
Store any leftover soup in the refrigerator in an airtight container for up to 4 days. If you like, you could also prepare a half batch of dumplings, then make new dumplings for the next night your serve the soup to keep them nice and fluffy. I will say I have reheated the dumplings, and while they aren't as fluffy an amazing as they were when I first made the soup, they are still pretty tasty reheated.
Serving Suggestions
This soup goes great with some warm bread and butter or garlic bread, or a nice side salad! This hearty soup is also great as it is, and makes a super satisfying and filling meal on it's own!
More Great Soup Recipes
Use up that leftover chicken in the fridge with my Easy and Comforting Leftover Rotisserie Chicken Noodle Soup!
Try my easy, creamy Chicken Poblano Soup!
Try my light and delicious Creamy Chicken Tortellini Soup with Leeks!
Use up your leftover holiday ham bone with my easy Crock Pot Ham Bone and Bean Soup!
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