Vegetarian Dumpling Soup with Chickpeas

Overhead photo of a bowl of vegetarian dumpling soup with a spoon lifting a dumpling up out of the bowl.

Vegetarian Dumpling Soup with Chickpeas

This Vegetarian Dumpling Soup is comfort food at its best! If you're looking for a Vegetarian Chicken and Dumplings recipe, look no further! A broth packed with flavour, chickpeas for protein, and fluffy dumplings baked right in the soup, this recipe will have you feeling all the feels.

Course Main Course

Cuisine American

Diet Vegetarian

Keyword Vegetarian Dumpling Soup

Prep Time 15

Cook Time 30

Total Time 45

Servings

Calories 369kcal

Author Katie Trant

Ingredients

For the soup

2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 medium yellow onion diced
4 cloves garlic crushed
2 cups diced carrots
1 cup diced celery
1 cup diced potato
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 teaspoon dried parsley
2 bay leaves
2 Tablespoons flour
½ cup dry white wine
1 14- ounce can chickpeas drained and rinsed
½ teaspoon smoked paprika
4 cups vegetable broth
½ cup nutritional yeast
1 cup frozen peas
Fresh parsley for garnish

For the dumplings

1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon dried parsley
½ teaspoon fine-grain salt
2 Tablespoons melted butter
¾ cup milk

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Make the dumplings

In a medium-sized bowl whisk together the flour, baking powder, dried parsley, and salt.
1 ½ cups all-purpose flour, 2 teaspoons baking powder, ½ teaspoon dried parsley, ½ teaspoon fine-grain salt
Drizzle melted butter and milk over top, and use a fork to bring together a shaggy dough. It should be a texture similar to drop biscuits - thicker than pancake batter but a bit looser than scones.
2 Tablespoons melted butter, ¾ cup milk
Set aside to rest while you're preparing the soup.

Make the soup

Heat olive oil in a large heavy-bottomed pot over medium-high heat (I use my Le Creuset dutch oven for this).
2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
Add the diced onion and sauté for 3-5 minutes, until translucent. Add the garlic, and sauté for 2 additional minutes.
1 medium yellow onion, 4 cloves garlic
Add carrots, celery, potato, bay leaves, thyme, and parsley. Sauté for 3-5 minutes, stirring frequently.
2 cups diced carrots, 1 cup diced celery, 1 cup diced potato, 1 teaspoon dried thyme, 1 teaspoon dried parsley, 2 bay leaves
Add 2 tablespoons of flour, and sauté, stirring constantly, for 1-2 minutes until flour is just starting to brown.
2 Tablespoons flour
Add ½ cup of dry white wine, and stir, scraping the bottom of the pot, until it has evaporated.
½ cup dry white wine
Add vegetable broth, nutritional yeast, smoked paprika, and the chickpeas. Bring the mixture to a boil.
½ teaspoon smoked paprika, 4 cups vegetable broth, ½ cup nutritional yeast, 1 14- ounce can chickpeas
Reduce to a simmer, and drop the dumpling batter into the soup in heaping tablespoons - it should make about 10-12 dumplings. Make sure they're spaced out evenly and try to avoid having them touch each other if possible.
Place the lid on the pot, and let the soup simmer for 15 minutes. The dumplings should be floating when they're finished, and the vegetables tender. I usually test one dumpling to make sure they're cooked through - they should be light and fluffy inside.
Add 1 cup of frozen peas and stir through.
1 cup frozen peas
Remove the soup from the heat, and serve in bowls with a couple of dumplings per bowl. Garnish with fresh parsley.
Fresh parsley for garnish

Notes

Nutrition values are an estimate only
This soup has a lot of veggies in it, so I recommend you get all of your chopping done up front. That way, when you start actually making the soup, it'll come together really quickly. You can even do your chopping a day in advance and keep the veggies in an air-tight container in the fridge.
Does this soup reheat well? It sure does! Since I made many (MANY) test batches of this recipe, I ate Vegetarian Chicken and Dumplings for lunch for weeks on end. I would typically reheat it in the microwave, which worked great.
Can you freeze vegetarian dumpling soup? While most of my soups freeze like a dream, I have not tested freezing this recipe as I'm not convinced that the dumplings would freeze and reheat well. You can certainly freeze the soup base without the dumplings, bring to a simmer, and add the dumplings then.
Can I use a different flour for the dumplings? HNL regulars know that I love a good wholegrain flour, but I do NOT recommend going that route for this recipe. Trust me, I tested making whole wheat and spelt flour dumplings, and they were not nearly as good as the all-purpose flour version.
Can I make vegan dumpling soup? You sure can! The only non-vegan components of this recipe are the milk and butter in the dumpling batter, so simply replace them with melted vegan butter or olive oil, and a plant-based milk of your choice to make vegan dumplings.

Nutrition