Sourdough chicken and dumplings are the ultimate comfort food — rich, hearty chicken soup with pillow sourdough dumplings that can be made with active starter or discard!
Quick Recipe Overview: Sourdough Chicken and Dumplings
⏱️ Ready In: ~1 hours 30 minutes
🍽️ Serves: 6
🔥 Calories: ~488 per serving
🧺 Main Ingredients: Chicken, broth, vegetables, sourdough discard, flour, butter, milk
🥗 Dietary Info: Made from scratch; use active starter or discard
❤️ Why You’ll Love It: Sourdough chicken and dumplings bring together a rich, slow-simmered chicken soup and soft, fluffy dumplings made with sourdough starter for a cozy, comforting meal that’s hearty, family-friendly, and perfect for cold days or feeding a crowd.
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“These are a must have so savory with a hint of sourdough tang. I’ll be making these again and again. Great recipe. Thank you!” – Roseann
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- True comfort food: Cozy, hearty sourdough chicken dumplings made completely from scratch.
- Quick Dumplings: A simple, practical way to use extra starter without long fermentation.
- Soft, fluffy dumplings: Tender dumplings that cook up pillowy and light right in the broth.
- Family-friendly & filling: A one-pot meal that feeds a crowd and reheats well.
The quick sourdough dumplings in this recipe can be used in any brothy soup and actually come from my sourdough biscuit dough recipe!
Spend the day cooking with me for my large family – homemade sourdough chicken dumpling soup is on the menu for lunch!
Key Ingredients
- Chicken – Cooked, shredded or chopped chicken forms the hearty base of this comfort-food classic. I personally start this dish by roasting a whole chicken which adds tons of flavor – but any kind of cooked chicken will do.
- Chicken broth – A rich, flavorful broth creates the cozy, savory soup base.
- Vegetables – Onion, carrots, celery, and peas can be substituted for seasonal veggies you have on hand. I’ve added leeks, shallots, diced sweet potato, diced pumpkin, etc.
- Sourdough starter – You can use active starter or discard in the dumpling dough.
- Butter – Butter adds richness to both the soup and the dumplings. You can substitute neutral oil for butter.
- Milk or cream – Creates a creamy, comforting finish without overpowering the broth. Use fermented sour cream for easier digestion.
Step-By-Step Instructions for Sourdough Chicken and Dumplings
Step 1 – Sauté the Vegetables: In a large Dutch oven or soup pot, melt butter and sauté onion, carrots, peas, and celery until softened. Add garlic and cook 30 seconds more.
Step 2 – Build the Soup: Sprinkle in seasonings and flour, stir until it coats the vegetables. Slowly pour in chicken broth while stirring, then bring to a gentle simmer. Simmer while making the dumplings.
Step 3 – Make the Dumpling Dough: Add dry dumpling ingredients to the mixing bowl, cut in butter, add milk and egg, mix to form a shaggy dough.
Step 4 – Cut the Dumplings: Turn the dough out onto a floured surface, knead a few times, roll out into a rectangle, use a pizza cutter to cut into ½-inch squares.
Step 5 – Add Dumplings to Soup: Use a bench scraper to transfer the dumplings to the soup, just drop them in and simmer for 10 minutes.
Step 6 – Add the Chicken, cream, and shredded cheese: Continue simmering for 10 minutes on low. Serve hot.
If you need help with sourdough vocabulary, check out my Complete Guide to Sourdough Terms!
Sourdough Chicken and Dumplings FAQs
Sourdough chicken and dumplings are a comforting, from-scratch soup made with tender cooked chicken simmered in broth and fluffy dumplings made using sourdough discard for added flavor and softness.
Yes, sourdough chicken and dumplings are typically made with sourdough discard. The discard adds flavor and tenderness to the dumplings without requiring a long fermentation.
No, sourdough chicken and dumplings do not taste sour. The sourdough discard adds a mild depth of flavor, but the dumplings remain soft and neutral.
Sourdough chicken and dumplings can become gummy if the dumplings are overmixed, cooked at too high of a boil, or undercooked. Keep the soup at a gentle simmer and avoid lifting the lid while the dumplings steam.
Yes, sourdough chicken and dumplings can be frozen, though the soup base freezes best. Dumplings may soften slightly when reheated, but the flavor remains delicious.
Store leftover sourdough chicken and dumplings in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4–5 days. Reheat gently on the stovetop for best texture.
Expert Tips
- Use a gentle simmer: Keep the soup at a low simmer, not a rolling boil, so the dumplings steam and stay fluffy instead of breaking apart.
- Don’t overmix the dumplings: Knead just until combined—overmixing develops gluten and leads to dense or gummy dumplings.
- Keep the lid on: Resist lifting the lid while the dumplings cook; trapped steam is what helps them puff up properly.
- Taste at the end: Adjust salt and pepper after the dumplings cook, since the broth reduces slightly as it simmers.
- Reheat gently: Warm leftovers slowly on the stovetop to keep the dumplings tender.
Storage
- Refrigerator: Store leftover sourdough chicken and dumplings in an airtight container for up to 4–5 days.
- Freezer: Freeze cooled soup in freezer-safe containers for up to 3 months (the base freezes best; dumplings may soften slightly when reheated).
- Reheating: Reheat gently on the stovetop over low heat, adding a splash of broth or water if needed.
If you love this recipe, please leave a ⭐ 5-star ⭐ rating below! If you have questions or suggestions – drop a comment!
Sourdough Chicken and Dumplings
Ingredients
Equipment
Method
- Sauté the Veggies: In a large Dutch oven or heavy pot, melt butter and sauté onion, carrots, peas, and celery until softened. Add garlic and cook 30 seconds.
- Make the Broth Base: Stir in seasonings. Sprinkle in flour and stir until it coats the veggies, then slowly pour in chicken broth while stirring to prevent lumps. Bring to a simmer.
- Mix Dumpling Dough: In a bowl, whisk flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar. Cut in cold butter until crumbly, then stir in sourdough starter, egg, and milk just until combined. Turn out onto floured surface, knead a few times, roll out ¼-inch thick, and cut into ½-inch squares.
- Drop Dumplings: Keep the soup at a gentle simmer (not a rolling boil). Use a bench scraper to transfer dumplings into simmering soup.
- Cover + Cook: Cover tightly and simmer for 10 minutes or until dumplings are puffed and cooked through. Avoid lifting the lid while they steam.
- Finish: Stir in chicken, cream, and shredded cheese, and continue simmering another 10 minutes. Serve hot.
Nutrition
Notes
- Cooked chicken: Use fully cooked, shredded, or chopped chicken; rotisserie chicken works well and saves time.
- Gentle simmer: Keep the soup at a low simmer when cooking dumplings—boiling can make them dense or gummy.
- Dumpling texture: Mix and knead just until combined, then roll out the dough; overmixing leads to tough dumplings.
- Sourdough flavor: Sourdough starter adds depth without making the dumplings taste sour.
- Consistency: If the soup thickens too much after sitting, add a splash of broth when reheating.
- Freezer tip: The soup base freezes best; dumplings may soften slightly after thawing but remain flavorful.
Tried this recipe?
Let us know how it was!About the Author
Welcome to Hopewell Heights, I’m Steph – seasoned sourdough baker, homesteader, homemaker, homeschooling mom of 5, and creator behind this Heritage American food blog. I hope you enjoy my family’s favorite, from-scratch recipes!
Love this!!
The most delicious comfort food of the year so far!
These are a must have so savory with a hint of sd tang. I’ll be making these again and again. Great recipe. Thank you
This recipe was so good! I made the dumplings with mostly fresh milled soft white wheat flour and they came out great! I maybe should have made them a bit bigger. My husband loved this recipe as well. I didn’t measure out all my seasonings but used most of the same ingredients. I didn’t have Italian seasoning so I just used dried parsley and dried oregano and used beef bone broth. I didn’t have heavy cream so I only added a bit of whole milk to recipe. I also didn’t have celery so I just added more carrots and few yellow potatoes and added celery salt. Definitely planning to make this again! Thanks for the recipe:)
Loved it, tasted great. Family loved it too.
Absolutely delicious and fun to make!
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