Vegetable Soup with Chicken Kneidlach (Dumplings)

Wednesday is Recipe Day at CookingManager.com.
Today’s recipe comes from Abbi of Confessions of a Startup Wife. See her blog for more recipes.
This is a lighter take on chicken vegetable soup that doesn’t take hours to make but you still get the chicken-y taste and feel of the “real thing”. It’s a nice dinner for mid week or quickie Friday night when you don’t have a lot of guests. It also takes kindly to improvisation.

Soup Ingredients:

  • 1 onion, diced
  • 2 baby leeks or 1 large, thinly sliced
  • 2-3 carrots, in half moons or smaller
  • 2 zucchini, quarter moons
  • 1 large chunk of pumpkin or 1 butternut squash, in largish cubes
  • 3-4 sprigs parsley
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • 2-3 tsp of chicken soup mix (yes, I know, it’s evil, but it really makes the dish. Use homemade stock if you have it or skip this if you prefer to ban the fake stuff from your life)
  • Optional vegetable additions: Mushrooms, green beans, crushed tomatoes (I’ve never tried it, but I think tomato based could be interesting), chickpeas, etc. You get the picture)

Kneidalach Ingredients:

  • 900 grams of ground chicken or dark/light meat turkey or mix
  • 4 Tbs matzo meal
  • 1 egg
  • 1 tsp garlic powder
  • s/p
  • Optional: Finely chopped parsley, if your family digs green flecks in their food.

Method:

Soup:
  1. Chop all vegetables.
  2. Saute onion and leeks for about 5 minutes.
  3. Add the rest of the vegetables except the pumpkin.
  4. Saute till all the veggies are soft and slightly browned, about 10 minutes. C
  5. Cover with water and 1 inch more, add seasonings, soup mix and parsley.
  6. Bring to a boil and simmer while you make the kneidlach (dumplings).
Knaidlach (dumplings):
  • Put the ground meat, matzo meal, seasonings and egg in a separate bowl.
  • Mix by hand until well combined.
  • Form into balls and drop into the simmering soup. You might want to raise the heat a bit to bring the pot back to a boil but make sure to lower it again.
Continue soup:
  • Add pumpkin and green beans/chick peas, if using.
  • Simmer for another 30-40 minutes.
  • Check one of the kneidlach by cutting in half and making sure there is no pink.
Serve with Tomato Bulghur Pilaf for a very satisfying meal (cook 1 cup bulghur with tsp of tomato paste, salt and pepper).
Visit my blog Confessions of a Startup Wife for more recipes like this.
Thanks, Abbi. I will have to try it, but without the chicken soup mix!
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Comments

  1. I am thinking my boys might like these meat kneidlach (I would probably use beef to make them happy).

    Thanks for the recipe, Abbi.

  2. Hmmmm. I like the idea of the chicken knaidlach. Worth a try. Also good for little kids.

  3. Leora- meat kneidalach is very Italian!

    Risa- very kid friendly. I’ve also made it for a sick friend and it was much appreciated.

    Shana tova everyone.

  4. Looks good. Easier than kreplach!