Description
Cozy, creamy, and delicious, this Vegan Chicken and Dumplings is the perfect easy to make comfort food. Ready in just 30 minutes!
Ingredients
Units
Scale
For the Soup
- 8 ounce bag soy curls (see note 1 for substitutions)
- 3 cups vegan chicken broth (or vegetable broth) (see note 2)
- 6 tablespoons vegan butter (or oil) (see note 3 to make oil-free)
- 1 medium yellow or sweet onion, finely diced
- 3 medium carrots, peeled and thinly sliced
- 2-3 celery ribs, thinly sliced
- 2-4 cloves garlic, minced
- 4 tablespoons all purpose flour (see note 4 to make gluten-free)
- 3/4 teaspoon dried thyme (or any herb you like)
- 1/4 teaspoon (or more, to taste) freshly cracked black pepper
- 3-4 cups vegan chicken broth (or vegetable broth) (see note 2), add as desired
- 1/2 - 3/4 cup canned *full fat* coconut milk or cream (see note 5 for substitutions)
For the Vegan Soup Dumplings
- 2 cups unbleached all purpose flour (see note 4 to make gluten-free)
- 1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 - 1/2 teaspoon iodized salt (see note 6)
- 3/4 teaspoon dried thyme (or any herb you like)
- 1/4 teaspoon (or more, to taste) freshly cracked black pepper
- 1/2 cup room temperature or warm water
- 1/2 cup canned *full fat* coconut milk or cream (or melted vegan butter or olive/avocado oil)
Instructions
- Rehydrate soy curls: Add the soy curls to a large bowl, discarding the powder at the bottom of the package. You can keep this powder to throw in pasta sauce or chili, but I don’t prefer it to stay in this recipe. Now pour the vegan chicken broth on top of the soy curls and press them down with the back of a spoon or a spatula so they all get coated. Add a bit of water if there isn’t enough liquid but this always seems to be enough liquid for me when I use a whole 8 ounce bag of soy curls. Let the soy curls sit until we’re ready to add them to the soup.
- Heat vegan butter: Melt the vegan butter (if using) in a large nonstick pot over medium high heat. I prefer to use a very wide dutch oven so I can fit all the dumplings. If not using vegan butter, you can do olive oil, avocado oil, or another oil OR if you’re oil-free, keep adding broth or water a tablespoon at a time while you cook the veggies and stir constantly to keep from burning or sticking.
- Add veggies: Add the onions, celery, and carrots to the pot and stir frequently for 3 minutes until somewhat softened. Add the garlic and cook for 30 seconds more.
- Add flour: Now sprinkle in the flour (if using), and stir constantly for 30-40 seconds until the powder has absorbed and your vegetables look like they’re coated in wet flour. Trust the process--I know this part is a little strange if you haven’t tried it before!
- Add spices and broth: Add in the spices and the broth now. Stir well and bring to a boil.
- Make dough: While it comes to a boil, make the dough. Add the flour, baking powder, salt, dried thyme, and black pepper to a medium bowl and whisk until combined. Make a well in the center with the back of a strong wooden spoon or spatula. Pour the water and coconut milk/cream (or melted vegan butter/oil) into the center of the well and mix until a cohesive dough forms. If it’s really sloshy and wet, sprinkle in a bit more flour. This is a pretty forgiving dough. When it’s thick not really dry but also not really sticky, it’s ready. Cover with a kitchen towel until ready to add to the soup.
- Add soy curls: Now you can add the rehydrated soy curls--and add any remaining broth from the bowl too. Stir them in.
- Simmer: Turn the heat down to medium low--we basically want to keep the pot at a strong simmer (with small bubbles).
- Make dumplings: Using a large cookie scoop (or whatever size you want, just try to make them all about the same size and note that smaller dumplings will cook faster!), scoop out around 8 balls of dough and drop them one at a time into the pot. Keep in mind they will puff up so try to give each a bit of breathing room in the pot. It's OK if they touch after 30 seconds or so, but in that initial dunk they can stick a little, so just give them a little time.
- Cook: Ladle some of the broth over them (you can add a bit more if you need to) and cover. Simmer for 15-20 minutes, removing the lid every so often to ladle more broth over the tops so they don’t dry out. When they’re done, they will be firm to the touch. You can remove one and cut it open to test if it’s done--it won’t be gummy inside, instead it would look kind of like a baked biscuit. Try not to overcook your dumplings, as they may become hard.
- Serve: When they’re done, turn off your stove burner and stir in the canned coconut milk (or substitute). Serve and enjoy!
- Store: Refrigerate leftover vegan chicken and dumplings for up to 3-4 days. I recommend storing dumplings separately. When you reheat, you can combine them in your bowl and microwave them or heat in a small saucepan on the stovetop (on medium low) until desired temperature is reached.
Notes
- Note 1: The “chicken” in my vegan chicken and dumplings is soy curl based because it’s simple and delicious. Butler soy curls can be purchased online through an online retailer or Butler’s website. Can substitute seitan chicken chunks, chickpeas or butter beans, young jackfruit (try my vegan shredded chicken recipe for an easy method to cook jackfruit to taste like chicken) or a store-bought vegan chicken alternative like Gardein or Lightlife. Baked tofu will also work.
- Note 2: I personally love Better Than Bouillon No Chicken Base mixed with water (I do a lower paste to water ratio than the jar suggests to reduce the sodium content) as it’s economical and it stores well. You could also buy prepared Imitation Chicken Broth though I feel this needs a little salt added but you can taste test and season to your preference. Any other brand of vegan chicken bouillon will work well, or of course you can also use vegetable broth. If you go the vegetable broth route, I’d throw in a little poultry seasoning which is just herbs and is easy to find in most grocery stores--it will help the soup taste chicken-y.
- Note 3: Just use broth or water while you are cooking the veggies to make this oil-free. Make sure to use a good nonstick pot--I love this All Clad B1 Nonstick Pot for oil-free cooking. Saute the veggies over medium high heat and stir almost constantly--we don’t want to burn or even brown these vegetables. Add a splash (about a tablespoon) of broth or water any time the veggies start to stick.
- Note 4: If you are gluten-free, try using rice flour or a one to one GF flour such as King Arthur Measure for Measure Gluten-Free Flour or Bob’s Red Mill 1:1 Gluten-Free Flour. I can’t guarantee it will work but I’d love to hear your results if you try it!
- Note 5: You can substitute cashew cream (blend raw cashews and water), sunflower seed cream (blend raw sunflower seeds and water), or a thick non-dairy milk. But I really don’t think you can taste the coconut if that’s what you’re worried about. Get an unsweetened good quality canned coconut milk (like Thai Kitchen, Nature’s Harvest, etc.).
- Note 6: I used iodized salt in this recipe. If you’re using sea salt, use a bit more as it is less finely ground as iodized table salt.
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 25 minutes
- Category: Soup
- Method: Stove top
- Cuisine: American
Keywords: Vegan soup, Vegan Chicken and Dumplings, Vegan Dumplings, Easy soups, Dinner