Vegan "Chicken" and Dumplings

This vegan/vegetarian no chicken stew is ultra creamy and still provides protein, thanks to chickpeas, soy milk, and other wholesome ingredients.

Course Main Course, Soup

Cuisine American

Prep Time 20

Cook Time 40

Total Time 1

Servings 2-cup servings

Calories 447kcal

Author Lizzie Streit, MS, RDN

Ingredients

For the soup

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 medium yellow onion diced, about 1.5 cups
2 medium carrots peeled, trimmed, and diced, about 1 cup
2 ribs celery diced, about 1 cup
3 cloves garlic minced, or sub 1 teaspoon garlic powder
1.5 teaspoons poultry seasoning
½ teaspoon kosher salt
½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
3 tablespoons all purpose flour
1 cup unsweetened soy milk
4 cups vegetable broth
15.5 ounce chickpeas drained and rinsed
1.5 cups frozen peas
3 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

For the dumplings

1 cup all purpose flour
1.5 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon garlic powder
¼ teaspoon kosher salt
½ cup unsweetened soy milk
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Warm olive oil in a soup pot over medium heat. Add the diced onion, carrots, and celery, and cook for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until softened.
Stir in the garlic, poultry seasoning, salt, and pepper. Cook for a couple minutes until fragrant. Sprinkle in the 3 tablespoons of flour and stir to coat the veggies.
Slowly pour in the 1 cup of soy milk, stirring as you pour. The coating on the veggies should now be thick and creamy.
Pour the vegetable broth into the pot, stirring well. Increase heat to bring to a boil, cover, then reduce heat to maintain a simmer. Cook for 5 minutes.
While the veggies are cooking, make the dumpling dough. In a mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, garlic powder, and salt. Pour in the soy milk and olive oil. Stir with a rubber spatula until combined. The dough should be sticky.
Fill a bowl with water. Place the bowl with the dumpling dough and the bowl with water next to the pot of soup.
After the veggies have cooked 5 minutes, uncover the soup. Add the chickpeas and frozen peas. Then, begin to drop the dumplings into the pot. To do this, dip a spoon in the water bowl, then use the spoon to scoop out about 1.5 teaspoons of dough. Dip your fingers in the water and use them to roughly shape the dough into a ball as you slide it into the pot. Repeat until all of the dough has been separated into dumplings and spooned into the pot. Dip your spoon and your fingers in the water as needed during the process (it's so helpful to prevent sticky fingers). You will get about 20 to 22 dumplings. They should be floating on top of the pot. They will also expand while they cook, so 1.5 teaspoons of dough may not seem like enough, but the dumplings will get much bigger.
Make sure the heat is adjusted to maintain a simmer, then cover the pot and cook undisturbed for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, gently stir the soup and stir in the chopped parsley. Test a dumpling for doneness by cutting it open to see if it's cooked through inside or by inserting a toothpick in the center to see if it comes out clean. If they need a little more time, cover the pot again and cook for 5 more minutes. Taste, and adjust seasonings as desired.
Ladle the soup into bowls, scooping out about 5 dumplings per serving. Enjoy!
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Notes

Shortcut option: Use refrigerated biscuits cut into quarters instead of making homemade dumplings. Just make sure they are vegan if you want them to be.
Storage: Leftovers will keep well in an airtight container in the fridge for 2 to 3 days. Reheat on the stove in a pot over medium heat, stirring occasionally, or in the microwave in intervals.
Poultry seasoning sub: I like to use poultry seasoning to get the flavors to be similar to chicken and dumplings, but you can make a homemade blend if you don't have it on hand. Combine ½ teaspoon each dried sage and thyme and ¼ teaspoon each dried parsley, rosemary, and marjoram. Add a pinch of nutmeg if desired.

Nutrition