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Hey, hi! So is anyone else in full on fall mode, or what?
Granted, I know a lot of you are really just starting to see the first signs of fall, but over on my mountain, it’s been fall for at least a month and I have totally been embracing it! I am talking apple picking, Halloween movie watching, and holiday planning…yes, I am slightly ahead of things on that one, but I kind of have to be!
Oddly, I’m actually in Florida today, where the high is set to be eighty-eighty degrees. Totally not fall weather, but visiting the Wizarding World of Harry Potter is kind of the best thing ever. More on our trip later in the week, today we have broccoli cheddar chicken and dumpling soup to talk about!
PS. if you guys want to follow along with me at Harry Potter World make sure to check out my Instagram and snapchat! We’re doing some seriously fun things today!! Can you say chocolate frogs and butterbeer? Yes, please!
So, do any of you guys ever go to Panera Bread and order the Broccoli Cheddar Soup served in the bread bowl?
I feel like I’ve talked about this before, but that soup used to be my favorite, and whenever mom would take me shopping on grey, late fall weekends in Ohio we would stop in at Panera bread for lunch. I’d either get the broccoli cheddar soup or the chicken noodle soup. I had to beg mom for the bread bowl, since it was a little bit more pricey, but she usually caved in.
SO delish and honestly one of my favorite fall foods, pretty sure it’s moms too. Oh, and I heard that Asher just had her first soup and bread bowl experience and absolutely LOVED it! So I guess it’s unanimous, the girls in this fam all have a common favorite fall comfort food (let’s be honest here though, soup in a bread bowl is great any time of year).
Unfortunately there aren’t any Panera Bread locations where we live now, I’m sure there must be some in Denver, but that’s an hour and a half away. Fortunately, I’ve come up with my own version.
YES.
I’ve actually made quite a few versions over the years…
Example One: Broccoli Cheddar Soup with Fried Cheese Curds
Example Two: Flakey Broccoli Cheddar Soup Mini Pies
Example Three: Curried Butternut Squash Broccoli Cheddar and Goat Cheese Soup
Ahh yeah, so basically a new broccoli cheddar recipe every fall. It’s cool though cause we all love this combo, right?
Alright, so here’s the deal with this dumpling soup. It’s a mash-up of chicken and dumpling soup + broccoli cheddar soup and it’s a wonderful marriage of cozy flavors. Think about it this way, creamy chicken and dumpling soup, but with broccoli and tons of cheddar cheese. Like tons! 🙂
AND there’s even a little parmesan cheese mixed into the dumpling batter. It is PERFECTION… and perfectly easy too! Warm and cozy soup for the first week of October, can you say Monday dinner done right??
It’s a must make! 🙂
Broccoli Cheddar Chicken and Dumpling Soup.
Servings: 4 Servings
Calories Per Serving: 1095 kcal
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 3/4 pound boneless skinless chicken breasts or thighs
- kosher salt + pepper
- 1 yellow onion finely chopped
- 4 carrots chopped
- 4 fresh thyme sprigs
- 6 cups low sodium chicken broth
- 1/2 cup apple cider
- 4 cups fresh or frozen broccoli florets
- 1/2 cup whole milk
- 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1 1/2 cups butter milk
- 1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
- 3 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese
Instructions
- Heat a large soup pot over medium-high heat. Add the olive oil and butter. Season the chicken with salt + pepper. When the oil shimmers, add the chicken and sear on both sides. Remove the chicken from the pot.
- To the pot, add the onions and season with salt + pepper. Cook, stirring often until the onions are fragrant and lightly caramelized, about 5 minutes. Add the carrots and thyme sprigs, cook 5 minutes more, then slowly pour in the chicken broth and cider. Add the chicken and broccoli to the pot. Bring the mixture to a low boil, cover and simmer for 15-20 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through and the broccoli tender. Remove the thyme sprigs and chicken from the pot and let cool slightly, then shred with two forks or your hands, discard the thyme.
- Transfer 3/4 of the soup to a blender and blend until the broccoli is finely chopped. Return the soup to the pot and stir in the milk and nutmeg. Bring the soup to a boil.
- To make the dumplings. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt. Add the buttermilk and mix until just combined. Fold in the parmesan.
- Drop a tablespoon of the dough into the boiling soup. Continue until you've worked your way through all the dough. You should end up with 10-12 dumplings. Cover the pot so the dumplings can cook for about 5 minutes.
- Carefully move the dumplings aside and stir in the cheddar cheese and shredded chicken to the soup and heat through. Ladle the dumplings and soup into bowls and serve with an extra handful of shredded cheddar, if desired. EAT!
Sooo? Dinner? Tonight? Yes, let’s!
Hello!
As per usual, this recipe looks fabulous!
2 Questions for you –
Do you think that the cream could be substituted with milk? Or would that throw off the consistency/ creaminess too much?
And I’m hoping to make this on a Sunday and use as lunches – would you recommend doing the biscuits on the side, or will they keep just fine if I bake them on top?
Thank you!! 🙂
Oops!! Just realized I posted this on the wrong recipe – too many bookmarks!
Apologies!!
Hey Rebecca! Milk should work just great and as for the dumplings, yes, I would make them on the side. You can bake them at 350 OR simmer them in the chicken and them remove them from the chicken to store. This way they will not soak up all the sauce. Let me know if you have questions. Thank you! 🙂
I made this and we found it tasty, though my husband noted that it looks like “someone already ate the soup and threw it up back into the pot”. Ha! So it’s not very aesthetically pleasing. Also, my kids wouldn’t touch it… maybe same reason. I love your recipes, though, so thanks for sharing this one.
Well I am happy you found it tasty, Polina. Thank you!
I made this for dinner last night and am eating it now for lunch, yum, thanks for this recipe! My husband loved it and was really impressed it is so delicious! This is definitely going to be a recipe staple and cooked often this fall and coming winter!
Yes! SO awesome to hear Felicia, I am so happy you and your husband loved this one! Thank you!
Made this for dinner last night and it was a hit! Major delish!
That is so great to hear!! Thanks so much Liz!
Sounds delicious but your ingredient lists baking soda (should be powder???) and does not specify how much salt to add to the dumplings.
Thank you so much for pointing out my mistake. Recipe should use baking powder and I have fixed the recipe. Let me know if you have other questions. Thanks! 🙂
Looks yummy! I have 2 questions for you:
1. Can I substitute dried thyme instead of fresh? If so, how much do you think?
2. In the list of ingredients it says baking soda, but in the recipe instructions you refer to baking powder. Which should be used for the dumplings?
Thanks!
Hey Taylor! Yes, use 2 teaspoons dried thyme and thank you so much for pointing the baking soda out. The recipe is supposed to use baking powder and not soda. I have fixed the recipe. THANK YOU! Let me know if you have other questions. Thanks! 🙂
This looks awesome! I’m going to make it tonight 🙂
I hope you love it Emily! Thank you!
So hearty, so good!!
Thank you Mick!
That soup will always be my favorite at Panera but this version looks infinitely better. Those dumplings!!
So happy you think so! Haha thank you so much Gina!
Nothing pairs perfectly with falling leaves more than either chicken and dumpling soup or broccoli cheddar soup. Combining the two is absolute genius, you’ve totally created the ultimate fall comfort food!
Perfect! I hope you love this Meg, Thanks!
I just moved into my first house and you’ve just given me my inaugural recipe.
Perfect! Thanks Kacie, I hope you love it!
One of my all time favorites, especially for Fall!
Thanks so much Matt!!
I NEED this in my belly ASAP. <3
Haha thank you Jennifer!
chicken and dumpling soup is one of my favorites! This is seriously comfort food to the max! and I’ve been watching your ig stories. . have fun at the Wizarding World of Harry Potter!!!
Thank you so much Alice!!
It’s like you read my mind with this! I was looking up broccoli cheddar and chicken soup recipes for hours yesterday and could not find any that looked good that did not use a canned soup! Now to just figure out how to make the dumplings gluten free!
Thank you!!
Perfect timing!! Haha thank you Allie, I hope you love it!