This recipe is based upon a one I received from a friend many years ago. Each time I made it, I’d tweak it with different store-bought options and different amounts of ingredients. Here is the final recipe. If you’d prefer not to make everything from scratch, I will include some of those shortcuts. I usually start with two whole chickens roasted or smoked for dinner the night before and use both sets of bones to make my stock. I’ve also made this with turkey after Thanksgiving and it is equally delicious. This makes approximately 7.5 quarts of soup and freezes very well.

Stock

Make this a day ahead (can be replaced with 4 quarts low sodium store bought chicken stock).

1 whole chicken (roasted and meat removed and refrigerated)
2 carrots (cut into 3 pieces)
2 celery stalks (cut into 3 pieces)
1 onion (cut into 4 sections)
2 bay leaves
1 tbsp peppercorns

Place chicken bones, drippings, skin, vegetables, bay leaves and peppercorns in a large Crockpot and cover with water. Set the temperature to low and let simmer for at least 8 hours or overnight. I place mine in the garage so the scent of the stock doesn’t linger in my home. Let cool then strain through a mesh strainer.

*Tip: save vegetable scraps in the freezer to use for your next stock.

 

Soup

2.25 cups carrots (chopped into bite sized pieces)
2.25 cups celery (chopped into bite sized pieces)
1 medium or 2 small onions (chopped into bite size pieces, approximately 1 cup)
2 bay leaves
Salt and pepper
2 tbsp olive oil
4 quarts stock
2.5 cups roasted, shredded chicken (can be replaced with cooked chicken breasts)

Heat olive oil over medium heat then add vegetables and bay leaves. Add 1 tsp salt and 1 tsp pepper. Sautee until soft. Add stock, reserving 1 cup, and bring to a boil. While you are waiting for vegetables to cook and stock to boil, make dumplings.

Dumplings

Can be replaced with store bought gnocchi - use small gnocchi or cut large ones in half.

3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
1 tbsp butter or shortening
1 cup milk (no-dairy milk also works)
1 cup stock

Combine flour, salt, and baking powder. Next, cut in butter and then mix in milk. The dough will be a little dry so slowly add stock until the dough just comes together. Don’t over work – that will make the dumplings tough.

When the soup starts to boil, pull marble sized pieces off the dough ball and drop into the soup. After all the dough is in the boiling stock, let cook for 10 minutes. Salt and pepper soup to taste.

Enjoy!