Aunt Lynn’s Chicken & Dumpling Soup

I remember being on the school bus with a jolt of excitement because I knew I was coming home to chicken and dumpling soup for dinner. During the snowy months (and especially around Christmas), there was NOTHING better. My mom wouldn’t make this just any day of the year - it was a treat, something to look forward to. I remember standing on the stepping stool so I could see into the pot and sometimes I’d volunteer to “help” stir the dumplings. There was only one rule - “no peeking!” once the lid was on!

Best for snowy days, snuggled in with your family. :)

Ingredients

Dumplings

• 2 cups Betty Crocker Bisquick
• 2/3 cup whole milk

Soup

• 2 quarts chicken broth (store bought or homemade)
• 2 carrots, peeled and diced
• 1/2 of a yellow onion, diced
• 2 celery stalks, diced
• 1 bay leaf
• ½ cup white wine
• 2 boneless skinless chicken breasts
• Salt and pepper
• Egg noodles (Pennsylvania dutch extra wide are best); use about ⅓ of the bag
• Optional: fresh thyme and parsley

Instructions

• In a big dutch oven, sauteé the onion, carrot, and celery with olive oil over medium heat
• Add the thyme and bay leaf.
• Pour in the wine and deglaze the pan, scraping up all the bits from the bottom. Cook until the wine evaporates by half.
• Add the 2 quarts of broth and the chicken breasts and bring to a low but steady boil.
• Meanwhile, make the dumplings. Get a mixing bowl and add the 2 cups of Bisquick mix + the milk. Stir until evenly incorporated - it should be a sticky dough.
• Bring the soup back up to a rolling boil and drop the dumpling mix by the spoonful into the soup. They will drop, then float. Use all of the dough.
• TIME IT: Lower heat to medium-low. Cook for 10 minutes, uncovered.
• The tricky part. Once 10 minutes has passed, make an opening between the dumplings with a spoon and carefully add the egg noodles to the broth underneath.
• Add salt and lots of cracked pepper to the dumplings.
• TIME IT AGAIN: 10 more minutes, but with the lid on this time. No peeking!
• After 10 minutes, remove the lid, and TA-DA! The dumplings should be finished (test with a fork - they should be dry and fluffy on the inside!).
• Turn off the heat and serve! Sprinkle bowls with fresh parsley if you have it.