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I want to share one of my favorite childhood comfort foods with you. Knoephla Soup is simply the best. It is of German origin and a Swabian classic dish. This Knoephla Soup recipe comes from the heart of my Grandmother’s kitchen and I hope Doris can impart a bit of that love on your family.
Knoephla soup is one of those recipes that both tastes delicious and brings me back to childhood. If you don’t know what knoephla soup is, you are in for a treat. If you do, this recipe is really a great from-scratch take on the classic German recipe that you know, love, and is part of our knoephla soup series. Try out this rich, buttery, creamy traditional German soup today and make some Knoephla soup!
What Is Knoephla Soup?
It is a chicken-based dumpling soup that has cream, butter, and a few different vegetables. Typically, you will find potatoes, carrots, and celery in the soup. Then, there are the dumplings, which make it Knoephla Soup. We previously wrote about the origins and history of German Knöpfle dumplings and this soup, so that can give you a good historical context.
If I were to plainly describe it, I would say it is a fat-filled, creamy, dumpling soup. Knoephla soup is hearty, tasty, and hits many comfort food check boxes. This is not a light recipe, although some changes could be made to lighten it up a bit. None of those changes I would recommend. 😉
Memories of Knoephla Soup
On a personal note, I have very fond memories of this soup. I know that many people looking at food blogs don’t want to hear the story and usually, I do not include stories. This one is different, as this soup holds a place in my heart. Scroll to the bottom if you just want to get to the recipe.
I cooked this soup with my grandmother, Doris, and remember being a young kid trying to help her make this soup. Food can bring people to a time-place and this brings me to my grandma’s kitchen in the early 1980s. I can imagine the first time I cooked this with her and visualize everything about their kitchen in Enderlin, North Dakota.
Not only does this recipe bring me closer to my loved ones that are no longer here, but I think it provides a connection with my heritage and the world. I am celebrating a dish that my ancestors made. Other people in my region are doing the same thing. When make knoephla, I feel like I am creating connections with my heritage and I hope I can share some of those feelings with you.
Me sharing this recipe with you maybe will inspire you to make it and we can have that connection. Just you, me, and Doris sharing this bond through food. No matter our backgrounds and how different we think we are, food is something we all share. A great dish can bring unlikely people together. Who knows. Perhaps, our bond will extend to your family when they taste this lovely soup.
Use Homemade Chicken Stock If You Can
We just got done sharing our Chicken Stock recipe and I would recommend using this, or a similar, recipe to make the best soup. I also understand that this could take some time and the boxed chicken stock is a reasonable substitute. If you do substitute your chicken stock, remember that your final product will be reflective of the ingredients you choose. If you pick a higher quality store-bought chicken stock, you are going to have a better soup.
Flour Roux For Thickening
This is not necessary, but I like to make my broth nice and thick. The flour dumplings and a rich stock are going to help with this, but one thing I like to do is to add some flour at the beginning, as well. If I make a little roux at the beginning, it can help create a knoephla soup that is thick and delicious.
The Dumplings
The dumpling recipe is relatively straightforward and requires only a few ingredients. These can be made while your potatoes and veggies are cooking. In my instructions, I roll them out, but I gotta tell you my occasional cheat. I will mix the ingredients in the bowl and instead of rolling them out, I will take a small spoon and when the time is appropriate, just spoon them up and dump them in the soup.
This only saves a few minutes and there are a few drawbacks. Since I am adding the dumplings over a longer interval, I do get some inconsistent cook times. Additionally, the size of the dumplings isn’t uniform which can have an impact on both cooking time and how big they are.
To be safe, just roll out your dumplings, but in the future just keep these small timesavers in your pocket for thought.
Knoephla Soup Leftovers Are The Best
Sometimes I think about making this soup and then just putting it in the fridge overnight because the leftovers are THAT good. I think what happens is that the flour from the dumplings sort of invades the rest of the soup and you get this super nice, thick dumpling soup. I absolutely adore knoephla soup leftovers and wouldn’t even consider making this soup without an expectation that I am making enough for leftovers.
Tips For Making This Recipe
- Using homemade chicken stock will give the best results, but boxed works well, as well.
- If you are running short on time, you can shorten the cooking process by not rolling out the dough and using a spoon to quickly make the dumplings. I recommend rolling, but I do this shortcut occasionally.
- Frozen dumplings would be fine for saving time, but homemade is better!
Products I Used In This Recipe
Did You Try This Recipe?
I am so glad you gave it a try or are going to. It is a very popular soup in my region and one of the dishes of my life I adore. If you like what we are doing here, please take a minute to subscribe to get updates via email, follow me on Instagram, and follow me on Pinterest. Let us know how your cook went in the comment area below and give us a rating.
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Knoephla Soup Recipe
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 40 minutes
- Total Time: 1 Hour
- Yield: 8 Bowls 1x
- Category: Soup
- Method: Boil
- Cuisine: German
Description
If you need a delicious, comforting, creamy, dumpling soup, Knoephla Soup is right up your alley. This German dish is very popular in some regions of the upper midwest and when you try it, you will know why.
Ingredients
- 4 Tablespoons Butter
- 4 Celery Stocks, chopped
- 4 Carrots, Chopped
- 1/4 Cups flour
- 4 Medium Potatoes, Chopped
- 8 Cups Chicken Stock
- Salt to taste
- 1 Cup Heavy Whipping Cream
For Dumplings:
- 2 cups flour
- 2 eggs
- 1/2 cup milk
- 1 Teaspoon salt
Instructions
- In large pot, add butter and put on low to allow butter to melt
- Once melted, add carrots and celery
- Cook on low for 5 minutes
- Stir in 1/4 cup flour
- Add 1 cup of Chicken Stock to the soup and mix to incorporate the flour
- Add rest of stock
- Add potatoes
- Turn to medium-high and cook until potatoes are tender (about 30-40 minutes)
- While potatoes are cooking make dumplings
- Mix all dumpling ingredients in a bowl and combine well
- Divide into two pieces just to make easier to work with
- Roll each piece out with your hand so it is approximately 1 inch in diameter and like a rope
- If needed sprinkle with flour to make easier to work with
- cut into 1-inch dumpling pieces and set aside.
- Add any needed salt to the soup.
- Once potatoes are tender, add dumplings to soup
- Cook for 5 minutes
- Remove from heat
- Add cream and stir
- serve
Notes
- Using homemade chicken stock will give the best results, but boxed works well, as well.
- If you are running short on time, you can shorten the cooking process by not rolling out the dough and using a spoon to quickly make the dumplings. I recommend rolling, but I do this shortcut occasionally.
- Frozen dumplings would be fine for saving time, but homemade is better!
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1/8 Total
- Calories: 414 Calories
- Sugar: 6 g
- Sodium: 1892 mg
- Fat: 20 g
- Saturated Fat: 11 g
- Unsaturated Fat: 2 g
- Trans Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 47 g
- Fiber: 6 g
- Protein: 11 g
- Cholesterol: 102 mg
Its called : Knöpffles Soup or SUPPE…lol
Great recipe and great eating!! Keep it coming!
Thanks so much James!
This sounds delicious, but quite different from my mom’s. She grew up on a homestead in Saskatchewan, her parents immigrated from the Ukraine area of Russia in 1900. I’m sure they made it with whatever was on hand. They always had potatoes, onions and flour. Probably saved the chicken for Sunday chicken noodle soup! She just boiled potatoes in salted water with a bay leaf and peppercorns. Added the knopfle and cooked until they rose to the top. Added milk or cream and stirred in lightly browned onion pieces. I will give yours a try!
Nice to hear! This is how my mom made it as well. Sometimes added a dollop of cottage cheese. So simple and frugal. I loved it and still do! But I will try this recipe for sure.
Any idea why when I made it the dumpling mix became glue like in texture
I would check the amount of liquid you put into it and ensure it is on point. Too much milk and it might end up a bit more gluey. Even if it is a little gluey, you should be able to loosely roll it out and add as dumplings. Or even use a spoon and add to the water as it is boiling. It wouldn’t be the world’s end to add a bit more flour, either.
I had a student’s family make a version of this. I’ve been searching for a similar version to no avail. This is perfect. I needed just a bit more flour but had some pretty large eggs. My toddler said “super yummy”
I am glad you (and the toddler) liked it! Thanks for visiting. 🙂
Hi Ben
Made your Grandma’s knoephla soup today and it turned out perfect. Thank you so much for the video and recipe.
I have had it at Krolls Diner before and it was good. But I would have to say your recipe is much better !!!
Brad
Awesome! So glad you liked it Brad.
Have you ever put shredded chicken in it? I’m making this soup tonight and I keep going back and forth on adding chicken.
It would be good with it. It just is not traditional to add chicken. If you want chicken in it… add chicken! 🙂
I grew up in a small German town and Knoephla Soup was king in the winter. The older lady’s in town would even come to our school once a month in the winter and with the help of us students we’d make enormous batches of Knoephla Soup for the whole school and community. Let me tell you no skipped lunch on that day and everyone from town would show up for a free lunch. It brought the community together and taught all us kids some very valuable skills. I us the same recipe today they taught us in school and my whole family adores it. I even have to make it every Christmas Eve for my in-laws, who after trying it for the first time shortly after their son and I started dating told him point blank if he didn’t marry me they’d disown him (that was almost 20 years ago). Needless to say Knoephla Soup will always be a big part of our family for generations to come and it’s so great to see it being passed on by someone with such a rich history with the soup as well. GREAT JOB!
So happy to hear your story!
Is there a specific type of potato that works best? Russet or Yukon?
I think either would work good in this recipe. Yukon really is a nicer potato for soup (imo), but either would be great.
Well found another way to use leftover Thanksgiving meal…
Used some turkey, leftover turkey stock gravy, appetizer celery and carrots. Leftovers peas and corn. Added potatoes. Some more leftover turkey stock. Made dumplings and added heavy cream.And yum grand kids and everyone loves it..
.
Turkey is a great substitute for this soup!
Can you make this in a slow cooker?
I have not made this in a slow cooker, but I bet it could work. I would still do steps 1-5 in a pot to make the thickener. Also, I would worry a little bit about the dumplings sticking together.
The broth has to be boiling to get the right consistency for the Knoephla. Also the cream can “break”, which means the milk solids and the water separate. Maybe ok to put in crockpot to keep warm at a potluck, but don’t try to make it in one.