Sourdough Dumplings
Sourdough dumplings are the ultimate comfort food. Boiled in a pot of hot chicken soup, you have yourself the perfect cozy winter meal. I grew up loving dumplings, so I wanted to find a way to use my sourdough starter to make them and the results are delicious!
Related: Chicken soup recipe
Related: Sourdough Discard Bagels
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how to make sourdough dumplings
These sourdough dumplings are rich with flavor and healthy nutrients – but they are also so comforting when dropped into some delicious soup.
Sourdough Dumpling Ingredients
Sourdough starter – this can be pulled straight from the fridge, or active and bubbly.
All-purpose flour – einkorn, or whole wheat flour can also be used for this recipe.
Baking powder
Sea salt – I use sea salt for all my recipes since it has healthy trace minerals; whereas, table salt is pretty much devoid of nutrients.
Olive oil – adds great flavor!
Egg
Dried basil – you could use thyme or any other dried herbs that you have on hand.
Black pepper to taste – I like to use this inside the sourdough dumpling dough as well as sprinkled on top. If you aren’t a huge black pepper fan, omit one or both options.
Instructions for making sourdough dumplings
- Add your ingredients to a bowl and whisk.
- The dough should come out quite thick and sticky.
- If you’re making dumplings as part of a soup or stew, prepare the soup until the point of simmering on the stovetop. If not, bring a pot of water to a simmer.
- Over low-medium heat drop your dumpling dough using a tablespoon or cookie scoop into the pot of soup or water.
- Drop each dumpling separate from each other – you’ll want to make them in two batches so they don’t stick together. Place about 4-5 in the first batch and 4-5 in the second batch.
- Using your scoop dunk your sourdough dumplings underneath the liquid so it runs over the top of the dumplings.
- Place your lid on your pot or dutch oven and let simmer for about 15 minutes.
- Remove the lid and using a wooden spoon, remove your dumplings. Cut one in half to make sure it’s done before removing the rest.
- Drop the next batch in the liquid, cover, and cook until done.
- Using a ladle, scoop some of your soup with a dumpling or two into a bowl!
Drop your dumplings in this chicken soup recipe
Sourdough Dumpling Tips
Sourdough dumplings are seriously so easy! Here are a couple of tips that will help you along the way.
- Don’t overwork the dough – just like with any recipe using dough, if you overwork the dough the result will be less than satisfactory. Sourdough dumpling dough just need to be mixed until all the ingredients are combined.
- Let the dumpling batter rest – Give the baking powder time to activate in your sourdough dumpling batter by giving it time to rest before dropping into your liquid.
- Leave the lid on – sourdough dumplings cook using the steaming method. If you remove the lid you will remove that steamy goodness.
- Cook on low – every stove top is different, but you should make sure your burner is on the low side so your dumplings slow cook and become light and fluffy.
- Slice open – to check and make sure your dumplings are done, remove one and slice into it with a knife – if it feels gooey and raw then it’s not done. If it’s like a fluffy bread, then it’s done!
Storing Sourdough Dumplings
Refrigerator Storage
Store sourdough dumpling chicken soup or just the dumplings in an airtight container in the fridge for up to three days.
Reheating from refrigerator
To reheat from the refrigerator you can place the sourdough dumpling soup in the microwave or stovetop and heat on low until heated through completely.
Freezer Storage
To freeze cooked sourdough dumplings place on a parchment-lined baking sheet in tablespoon-sized balls and place in the freezer until frozen through. Then wrap individually in plastic wrap and place in a freezer bag. Store up to 3 months.
Or you can store leftover chicken and dumpling soup. To do this, let the cooked chicken and dumplings cool, then place them in a freezer bag in the freezer for up to 3 months.
Reheating from frozen
To reheat sourdough dumplings from frozen, pull them out and let them thaw for about 30 minutes prior to dropping in soup.
To reheat chicken and dumpling soup from frozen, let it thaw out for about 30 minutes to 1 hour until it is a liquid again. Then place on the stove over low heat (or microwave) until heated through.
In a Pinch Instructions
- Use sourdough discard – these sourdough dumplings can easily be made with discard straight from the fridge.
- Prep ahead of time and freeze – this makes for a super-easy way to beef up soup in a pinch. See freezing instructions above.
Sourdough Dumpling Serving Suggestions
- Chicken Soup – This is my favorite recipe for these dumplings.
- Lemon chicken soup – replace the gnocchi in this recipe for these sourdough dumplings.
- Creamy Lemon Sage Chicken – drop the dumplings in water to boil then serve up with my creamy lemon sage chicken. SO GOOD.
Ways to cook dumplings
The three most popular ways to cook dumplings are to steam, boil, or fry. They can be filled with different ingredients or nothing at all. Also, they can be made into a drop dumpling (ball of dough) or a rolled dumpling (similar to an egg noodle).
Types of Dumplings
The dumplings in this recipe are called drop dumplings but there are many types of dumplings from all over the world! Here’s a list of some popular types of dumplings.
- Banh Bot Loc – Vietnam
- Buuz – Mongolia
- Cha Siu Bao – China
- Chuchvara – Central Asia
- Coxinhas – Brazil
- Empanadas – South America
- Gyoza – Japan
- Har Gow – China
- Khinkali – Georgia
- Knish – Eastern Europe
- Pierogi – Poland
- Samosa – India
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more comfort food
Spiced pumpkin and chorizo soup
Roasted Garlic Sourdough Bread
faq – sourdough dumplings
If you’re making drop dumplings your dough should be very thick and sticky – similar to a thick batter.
The best flour for dumplings is all-purpose flour.
Hard dumplings is the result of cooking them too long.
Make sure your liquid is very hot prior to dropping your dumplings. The liquid shouldn’t be at a rolling boil but it should be at a simmer with little bubbles on the surface. This will prevent your dumplings from becoming soggy.
Yes, cover your dumplings while cooking so the steam can help cook them.
Your dumplings will float to the surface and expand in size when they’re done. To be sure your dumplings are fully cooked you can take one out and cut in half to see if it is fully cooked on the inside. If it is still doughy on the inside it’s not done, if it looks like bread then it’s done.
Yes, dumplings will float after being boiled for a couple of minutes.
Dumplings will become gooey if your liquid isn’t hot enough before dropping them in.
Yes, your dumplings will float to the surface when they’re done.
Drop dumplings usually take about 15 minutes to cook completely through.
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Related: Chicken Soup Recipe for Dumplings
Print the Sourdough Dumpling Recipe
Sourdough Dumplings
Ingredients
Equipment
Method
- Prepare your ingredients. If you're using fresh milled flour, mill about 140 grams of wheat berries. Pull your starter out of the fridge.
- Whisk all ingredients in a large bowl.
- The dough should come out quite thick and sticky.
- If you're making dumplings as part of a soup or stew, prepare the soup until the point of simmering on the stovetop. If not, bring a pot of water to a simmer.
- Over low-medium heat drop your dumpling dough using a tablespoon or cookie scoop into the pot of soup or water.
- Drop each dumpling separate from eachother – you'll want to make them in two batches so they don't stick together. Place about 4-5 in the first batch and 4-5 in the second batch.
- Using your scoop dunk your sourdough dumplings underneath the liquid so it runs over the top of the dumplings.
- Place your lid on your pot or dutch oven and let simmer for about 15 minutes.
- Remove the lid and using a wooden spoon, remove your dumplings. Drop the next batch in the liquid, cover and cook until done.
- Using a ladel, scoop some of your soup with a dumpling or two into a bowl!
Notes
sourdough dumpling tips
Sourdough dumplings are seriously so easy! Here are a couple of tips that will help you along the way.- Dont overwork the dough – just like with any recipe using dough, if you overwork the dough the result will be less than satisfactory. Sourdough dumpling dough just need to be mixed until all the ingredients are combined.
- Let the dumpling batter rest – Give the baking powder time to activate in your sourdough dumpling batter by giving it time to rest before dropping into your liquid.
- Leave the lid on – sourdough dumplings cook using the steaming method. If you remove the lid you will remove that steamy goodness.
- Cook on low – every stove top is different, but you should make sure your burner is on the low side so your dumplings slow cook and become light and fluffy.
- Slice open – to check and make sure your dumplings are done, remove one and slice into it with a knife – if it feels gooey and raw then it’s not done. If it’s like a fluffy bread, then it’s done!
Storing sourdough dumplings
REFRIGERATOR STORAGE
Store sourdough dumpling chicken soup or just the dumplings in an airtight container in the fridge for up to three days.Reheating from refrigerator
To reheat from the refrigerator you can place the sourdough dumpling soup in the microwave or stovetop and heat on low until heated through completely.FREEZER STORAGE
To freeze cooked sourdough dumplings place on a parchment-lined baking sheet in tablespoon-sized balls and place in the freezer until frozen through. Then wrap individually in plastic wrap and place in a freezer bag. Store up to 3 months. Or you can store leftover chicken and dumpling soup. To do this, let the cooked chicken and dumplings cool, then place them in a freezer bag in the freezer for up to 3 months.Reheating from frozen
To reheat sourdough dumplings from frozen, pull them out and let them thaw for about 30 minutes prior to dropping in soup. To reheat chicken and dumpling soup from frozen, let it thaw out for about 30 minutes to 1 hour until it is a liquid again. Then place on the stove over low heat (or microwave) until heated through.about me
