Winter Chicken Soup with Ricotta Dumplings.
Chicken and ricotta dumplings is the coziest winter soup you can make all season. A hearty, winter chicken soup base made with squash and kale, then stuffed with ricotta dumplings. Pure comfort food!
We’re supposed to get some actual snow today and I can’t think of anything better than a creamy, satisfying bowl of soup.
You know I always call these a “hug in a bowl” and that could not be more true for this recipe. A super cozy bowl of creamy chicken and vegetable soup, studded with ricotta dumplings.
I mean.
!!!!!!!
My classic chicken and dumplings soup is one of our most favorite meals EVER. It is pure comfort food. It is a dish that we turn to in the colder months – everyone in the house loves it – and it’s super cozy, warming and all around delicious. Personally, I think it’s the best chicken and dumplings I’ve ever had!
So I took that soup and gave it even MORE of a winter twist… if you can imagine. The base of this soup has butternut squash and baby kale. You can add just about any winter veggie – even a diced sweet potato would work. The result is such a hearty, wonderful base that could work as a soup on its own.
But!
Yes, but.
I’ve wanted to make ricotta dumplings for my soup for ages. We love ricotta gnocchi, and over the holidays, Max actually took a cooking class and learned how to make ricotta gnocchi. (It was so fun for him!)
When he came home with a huge container of his ricotta gnocchi, we put it to good use. We ate it with sauce of course, but I also stirred some into a clean-out-the-fridge soup. And that’s how this all began.
I used that classic dumpling recipe and swapped ricotta in for the buttermilk. Oh my gosh. The end result is such a light, cloud-like dumping – you won’t even believe it. And I think it makes the soup even better, because my chicken and dumplings is usually pretty dumpling-heavy, to ensure that everyone gets some dumpling.
The ricotta dumplings are AMAZING. They practically melt in your mouth and they are so easy to make.
I’ve always cooked my dumplings right in my chicken soup and I love it that way. Since the ricotta dumplings are lighter, some pieces of the dumplings do break off. We love that. It makes for a heartier soup that is perfectly filling and feels satisfying.
My chicken and dumpling recipes usually call for a dash of cream. It gives the soup the creaminess it needs without being too heavy or calling for a roux. In this case, you can also stir in a bit of ricotta to add to the creaminess. It won’t be entirely smooth, but it is so delicious and does add some satiety to the soup. So good.
To keep things simple, I use a rotisserie chicken. I almost always do this. If I don’t have leftover chicken in the fridge, I grab a rotisserie chicken and chop or shred it for my soups. It is so simple and makes this recipe an absolute breeze.
We really love the leftovers of this too. It does tend to get thicker and creamier as it sits, and the dumplings soak up some of the broth. But you can always add a drop of chicken stock or milk in the bowl when reheating and it tastes like it was made fresh. Maybe even better because the flavors really get a chance to become friends and get cozy!
Now how’s that for Monday comfort food?!
Chicken and Ricotta Dumplings
Winter Chicken Soup and Ricotta Dumplings
Ingredients
- 4 tablespoon unsalted butter
- 1 sweet onion, diced
- 2 carrots, peeled and chopped
- 1 cup chopped butternut squash
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- kosher salt and pepper
- ½ teaspoon dried thyme
- ½ teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 1/2 cups chopped/shredded cooked chicken
- 6 cups chicken stock
- ⅓ cup cream
- 5 ounces baby kale, or a few big handfuls
ricotta dumplings
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- ¾ cup ricotta cheese
- 1 large egg, lightly beaten
- 1 to 2 tablespoons milk, if needed
Instructions
- Heat the butter in a large pot over medium-low heat until melted. Stir in the onions, carrots, squash and garlic with a big pinch of salt and pepper. Stir in the dried thyme and oregano. Cook, stirring often, until the vegetables soften slightly, about 5 minutes.
- Stir in the chicken. Pour in the chicken stock and bring the mixture to a boil. Reduce it to a simmer, cover and cook for 10 to 15 minutes until the squash has softened.
- While the soup is simmering, make the dumplings. Stir together the flour, baking powder and salt. In a bowl, whisk together the ricotta and egg until combined. Add the ricotta mixture to the flour, and mix until it's all moistened and combined. It will be thick and almost like a dough. If it seems too thick (this will depend on your ricotta!) add a tablespoon of milk and stir. You don’t want to overmix.
- Uncover the soup. Stir in the cream. Stir in the kale.
- Scoop spoonfuls of the dumplings in the soup while it is simmering. Simmer for 10 to 12 minutes, then flip the dumplings over with a spoon. Simmer for 8 to 10 minutes more.
- Taste and season the soup with more salt and pepper if needed. You can serve this with a dollop of ricotta on top or even stir some more ricotta into the soup.
Did you make this recipe?
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I appreciate you so much!
I… might… steal most of the dumplings.
23 Comments on “Winter Chicken Soup with Ricotta Dumplings.”
Hi there! This soup looks divine, and I can’t wait to make it. However, I reviewed the recipe numerous times and can’t find the chicken in the ingredients. Does it have chicken? If so, how much? The chicken is mentioned in step 2. Thanks!
ah!! sorry, left the chicken out of chicken soup, haha. i fixed it, thank you!!
FYI, the chicken is still missing from the ingredients list when you go to print the recipe.
:)
Looks so good! I’m Italian, and my family has always preferred and made ricotta gnocci to the potato kind. With the kids, I’ve started a tradition of having them roll the gnocci on Christmas eve morning with me for our dinner. This looks amazing.
Another add to delicious chicken soups….again from my crazy Italian family. Marbles and grass. Essentially chicken and escarole soup (Escarole being the grass). I then fry dumplings made out of 1 part flour, 1 part egg. (I cup of flour to one egg..multiplied by however much you want) with some salt mixed it. Those get put into the soup and spend the day soaking up the broth. This was always my go to comfort food as a kid, and thankfully my kids love it now.
that sounds amazing!!! thanks for sharing!!
I’m going to make but I don’t see how much chicken to use. Am I missing something?
We adore your chicken and dumplings and I was just thinking that I needed to get the ingredients since I haven’t made it yet this winter.
Now, I’m going to try this one with the ricotta dumplings. Sounds amazing!
I checked your site this morning and decided we were having this for dinner!
It is delicious! The only thing I subbed was spinach for the kale since I needed to use it up. Honestly even my very picky husband liked it!! The soup is so tasty and the dumplings are the best ever.
Thanks for a great recipe!
i’m so glad!! that makes me so happy janet! xo
This looks delicious! What kind of cream is used?
LOVED this recipe! Perfect dinner for a snowy, gray Monday in January but it’s so good we’ll be making it often and not just on snow days.
Love Love love ❤️❤️❤️
Sounds like a wonderful meal, can’t wait to cook this tonight
Another delicious recipe from HSE!!! I subbed sweet potato for the squash but otherwise made the recipe as written. The dumplings were so fluffy.
This soup was fantastic! As suggested, I swapped sweet potato for the squash. Also used spinach for the kale. Sorry, I just don’t like kale. And used sage instead of oregano. Wow!
OMG! Absolutely delicious! I find good recipes online, but not always great recipes. This is a great one. Thank you.
looks amazing.what size should dumplings be? how many will it make?
Great combo of comfort food plus a decent amount of veggies. The dumplings were so tender, perfect clouds of deliciousness!
Easy to sun other veggies into this and the dumplings come together quickly! Thank you!
made this tonite.all enjoyed it.subbed spinach 4 kale.used white sweet potato for squash.so I didn’t need to go out.ricotta dumplings were delicious.keeper.
Could you do this in a slow cooker? If so how would you recommend doing so. Thank you 😊
L O V E I T !!! I have made this delicious soup at least 5 times this year! It is so good that each time I make it, I end up sharing it with friends just so they can taste it! I have tried it with squash and sweet potato, depending on what I have (or both!) and I usually add just a little more kale just to squeak some more greens into my life! The ricotta dumplings are divine!
This was fantastic. Comfort food at its best. I adapted the recipe for the slow cooker with no change in ingredients. I put uncooked chicken breast and vegetables in for 4 hours. I removed and shredded the chicken then returned it to the slow cooker. I added the kale. I added the dumplings and turned it to high for one hour. I then added the cream for the last 15 minutes.