German Knoephla Dumpling Soup

The perfect bite with a bit of everything!

As a kid, do you remember those cheapy frozen chicken pot pies that had the perfectly cut cubes of potato and carrots in them?  Came in a red box?  Growing up, they were one of my most favorite lunches on the weekend or as a snack.  For nostalgia's sake, I would love to sneak one into my grocery cart if I could pretend to forget what chemically is all in those pot pies just for the sake of tasting that delicious chicken gravy that's inside them.  That was the best part for me!  And I couldn't be happier when I discovered this recipe nearly perfectly mimics the taste of that lovely chicken gravy.  *glee*

I have seen knoephla soup on various sites recently and I always kept it in the back of my head to try.  I even marked it into my favorites folder and then couldn't find it a week later when I wanted to make it. There seems to be some debate on the origins of this soup, whether it be Russian or German.  Knoephla, I've come to learn, is sorta kinda German for "little knob".  Traditional knoephla soup is a thick chicken and potato stoup (to borrow from Rachel Ray's terminology) and is popular up north in the Dakotas and Minnesota areas thanks to some emigrants way back when.  My version here is a mix between several I found on the web - including Angel in the Kitchen and Taste of Home and one or two others.  Each one seemed just a tad different but kept hold of that chicken and potato base.  (and I couldn't find frozen little dumplings at my store...they only had flat dumpling strips which worked but just needed broken up into smaller pieces before simmering.  You could totally make homemade dumplings but I'm sick still and not up to the extra effort.)

On a scale of 1-10, the comfort factor is like a 12 on this soup.  Even though it has fresh veggies in it, I can't imagine a kid anywhere turning his nose up to it - its just that yummyrific.  I cut mine into small cubes so they softened up quick.  I usually prefer a chunkier cut in a thick soup but somehow, small dice seemed perfect as it reminded me of those pot pies from my childhood.  While mine has no onion or celery in it, as I think is more traditional, and while I think they would be awesome in here too but I really like this as is.  *shrug*  Some of the other pictures I saw had soup that was very white and milky almost akin to the potato soup I grew up with on mom's table and looked rather bland upon reading the ingredients.  This is more dressed up, probably not a traditional preparation but its certainly delectable and will happily go into my winter months soup rotation.  :)


Knoephla Dumpling Soup

2 Tablespoons unsalted butter
Large shallot, minced
1 clove of garlic, minced
2 carrots, diced
2 medium Yukon gold potatoes, peeled and diced
1 good sized bay leaf
2 Tablespoons of chicken flavored granules
1 teaspoon dried parsley flakes
1 can condensed cream of chicken soup
1 cup water
2 small cans chicken broth or stock
2 cups frozen dumplings
1/4 cup heavy cream

Melt butter in a dutch oven pot over medium heat. Add minced shallot and garlic to the melted butter and sweat for about 1 minute then add your diced carrots and potatoes. Generously sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Cook for 5 minutes or until they begin to soften some.

Add broth and water to the veggies.  Whisk in the cream of chicken soup until smooth.  Drop in one good sized bay leaf and add parsley.  Bring soup to a boil and slow add dumplings.  Stir well to make sure they don't clump up.

Reduce heat to a simmer and cover. Cover and simmer about 30 minutes, stirring frequently, until veggies and dumplings are tender.   Remove from heat and slowly stir in the heavy cream.

Makes about 4 really big bowlfuls.  

I served mine with a super odd biscuit recipe I'll be sharing later in the week...good, but different!  Stay tuned!  Also, been playing with some formatting of posts...so if things look different, sorry!