Lightened Chicken and Dumplings Soup - Pound Dropper (2024)

FAQs

How do I thicken up my chicken and dumplings? ›

Use Cornstarch to Thicken Chicken and Dumplings

To give that a little thicker texture we're going to add 1 cup of cool water to 2 tablespoons of cornstarch and stir it up well. Make sure the soup is brought back to a good boil and go ahead and stir in the cornstarch mixture.

Chicken & Dumpling Recipe FAQ

You can thicken this dish by adding more flour, or even cornstarch. Create a slurry with either of these ingredients and milk or water, then stir into your broth base until you get your desired consistency.

Microwave the dumplings on high for 2 minutes, then season the broth with soy sauce, chili crisp, and sesame oil, and garnish with scallions and sesame seeds.

Lower your heat so that your broth is just barely barely barely boiling and drop these pieces in one at a time. It is important that you DO NOT STIR. We are not going to stir these as we don't want our dumplings cooking up. If you do stir, you will basically cause your dumplings to dissolve.

If you find that your filling has too much liquid, I recommend draining the entire mixture in a colander. Another trick that I learned from my mother is to add a teaspoon of cornstarch or breadcrumbs to help soak up the liquid.

Don't Overwork the Dumpling Dough

Stir everything together until the wet and dry ingredients are combined and you don't see any more dry flour. The dough might look a little lumpy, but that's okay! Overworking the dough is one of the easiest ways to end up with tough dumplings.

Heavy cream

Use heavy cream as a keto-friendly thickening option for your soups and broths. Heavy cream has more fat than regular whole milk, so you can add it to your soup recipes without worrying about it curdling.

You can also use flour or cornflour to thicken a soup. Put a tablespoon of either into a small bowl and stir in 2-3 tbsp of the soup until you have a smooth mixture.

Foods like rice, bread, potatoes and beans are naturally high in starches, which, when broken down, act as a thickening agent. With rice, the grains will break down into the soup as it's simmered and stirred, releasing the starches and thickening the soup.

Cover and steam until fully cooked through (10 minutes for shrimp-only siu mai; 12–14 minutes for soup dumplings). Look for the dumpling skin to become slightly translucent, and for a visible well of liquid to form at the bottom of the dumpling. Serve immediately.

How to jazz up Trader Joe's soup dumplings? ›

Add some frozen dumplings to a bowl, pour in enough chicken (or veggie or another) broth to cover the dumplings, and microwave for two minutes. Most creators also opt to add a splash of soy sauce, a little chili crisp or Sriracha, and garnish with some sliced scallions and sesame seeds.

To test if dumplings are done, stick a toothpick or skewer into the dumpling after the specified cook time. If the skewer comes out clean, the dumplings are done. If it comes out wet or sticky, cover and let cook a bit longer. Floating isn't as good of a gauge of doneness, so stick with a toothpick.

When cooking the dumplings, keep the pot at a gentle simmer. An aggressive simmer or boiling will break them apart. Keep the heat low and keep your pot covered so that they steam.

Cover and simmer until dumplings are cooked through, about 15 minutes. Once you have covered the pan, do not uncover and peek while the dumplings are cooking! In order for the dumplings to be light and fluffy, they must steam, not boil. Uncovering the pan releases the steam.

You can also use flour or cornflour to thicken a soup. Put a tablespoon of either into a small bowl and stir in 2-3 tbsp of the soup until you have a smooth mixture. Stir this back into the soup and bring it to a simmer.

Instead of steaming these dumplings in water, we simmer them in a vinegary cornstarch and flour slurry that creates a lacy, crunchy golden crust as the water evaporates and the dumplings brown.

Cornstarch! In his book How to Cook Everything Vegetarian, Mark Bittman recommends mixing 1-2 tablespoons of cornstarch with the same amount of water, and tossing this into the stir fry just when it's almost done. It thickens in seconds, picking up the flavors of everything already in the dish and coating evenly.