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I want to share one of my favorite childhood comfort foods with you. Knoephla Soup is simply the best. It has German-Russian roots and has become a North Dakota classic, but I know it as a North Dakota favorite. This Knoephla Soup recipe comes from the heart of my grandmother’s kitchen and I hope Doris can impart a bit of that love to your family.
Knoephla soup is one of those dishes that 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 a great from-scratch take on the classic German recipe that you know and love, and is part of our knoephla soup series. Try this rich, buttery, creamy North Dakota classic today and make some knoephla soup!
Table of Contents
🥣 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 are what 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 checkboxes. This is not a light recipe, although some changes could be made to lighten it up a bit. I wouldn’t recommend any of them. 😉
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 I usually 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 back to a time and 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 who 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 preserving and sharing these same food traditions. When I make knoephla, I feel like I am creating connections with my heritage and I hope I can share some of those feelings with you.
Maybe sharing this recipe with you 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 recently shared 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 store-bought chicken stock, remember that your final product will reflect 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
I like to make my broth nice and thick, so this recipe starts with a small flour roux.
🥟 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 it is time to add the dumplings, just spoon up small portions and drop them into 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 affect how evenly they cook.
To be safe, just roll out your dumplings, but keep this little time-saving shortcut in mind for the future.
🍲 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 gradually thickens 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 stock works well too.
- If you are running short on time, you can shorten the prep 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?
That is awesome, and thank you so much for giving this traditional knoephla soup recipe a try. If you could leave a rating in the comment area below, it would be greatly appreciated. This lets me know how I’m doing and helps others decide whether they want to make this recipe. Most of all, thanks for visiting Ramshackle Pantry.
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Knoephla Soup Recipe
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 50 minutes
- Total Time: 1 Hour 10 Minutes
- Yield: 8 Bowls 1x
- Category: Soup
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: German
Description
If you need a delicious, comforting, creamy, dumpling soup, Knoephla Soup is right up your alley. This German-Russian dish is especially popular in parts of the Upper Midwest, and when you try it, you will know why.
Ingredients
- 4 tablespoons butter
- 4 celery stalks, chopped
- 4 carrots, chopped
- 1/4 cup flour
- 4 medium potatoes, chopped
- 8 cups chicken stock
- Salt to taste
- 1 cup heavy whipping cream
For Dumplings:
- 2 cups flour, plus more for dusting
- 2 eggs
- 1/2 cup milk
- 1 teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Melt butter – Add the butter to a large pot and melt over low heat.
- Add vegetables – Once melted, add carrots and celery
- Cook to soften – Cook on low for 5 minutes to soften.
- Add flour – Stir in 1/4 cup flour
- Combine flour – Add 1 cup of chicken stock and stir until the flour is fully incorporated.
- Add the rest of the stock
- Add potatoes
- Simmer – Increase the heat to bring the soup to a simmer, then adjust the heat as needed to maintain a gentle simmer until the potatoes are tender, about 30-40 minutes.
- Start dumplings – While the potatoes are cooking, make the dumplings as follows.
- Mix dumpling ingredients – Mix all dumpling ingredients in a bowl until well combined.
- Separate for ease – Divide into two pieces just to make it easier to work with.
- Roll dough – Roll each piece out by hand into a rope approximately 1 inch in diameter. If needed sprinkle with flour to make it easier to work with
- Cut dumplings – Cut into 1-inch dumpling pieces and set aside.
- Season – Add salt to taste.
- Add dumplings – Once the potatoes are tender, add the dumplings to the soup.
- Cook dumplings – Simmer for about 5 minutes, or until the dumplings are cooked through.
- Add cream – Remove from the heat, add the cream, and stir to combine.
- Serve
Notes
- Using homemade chicken stock will give the best results, but boxed stock works well too.
- If you are running short on time, you can shorten the prep 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 knoephla-style dumplings can save 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
Am I the only one who is getting vibes of chicken and dumplings from this recipe? It seems to be right in that vein, and I couldn’t help but make the comparions from reading up on it all the way to finally cooking it. There is that weird balance between rich comfort food from the cream and butter, and freshness with the trio of vegetables.
At my local church, I finally found an opening to showcase my cooking talents during the Pot Luck lunch. Not only for how well I can cook, but just how versatile I am and the surprises I am able to conjure up at any given moment. The only thing for certain when I am in the kitchen is that nothing is for certain. Throw me out of my comfort zone, as it was here with vegetarian cooking (I used vegetable stock to be safe), and it will be a mere task for me.
Let’s just say that we are one to a big winner with this one. A soup is often a good gamble, and this recipe cleaned house. I saw one guy in the congreatation go up and get at least three or four servings of it throughout the Pot Luck lunch. At the end, there were no left-overs. Which is the best thing that can be said about any meal. One African girl was disappointed she missed out when all the food was getting packed near the end, only for me to hand that last portion to her.
It also comes to a landmark where I cook something German for once. Und es war ein gutes Suppe geschmeckt.
I love this comment. The only thing you really got wrong is not having any leftovers, because it gets better the next day.
I married a Minnesotan and once we got blizzarded in at an uncle’s farm outside of Bismarck. Since they suddenly had lots of extra people spending the night, they pulled out the soup pot and taught me how to help make this soup. It was an amazing soup. They added bacon to theirs but explained this was not traditional! We kept up the tradition back east with our kids of once a year making this soup that we shared over several evenings with friends and visitors. The kids are grown and I haven’t made it in years. I was trying to remember the recipe, so thank you!! The tradition can start again this winter!
I hope it is as good as you remember! Also, I would imagine bacon would add a nice touch!
Turned out great!
Glad you liked it!
Very similar to the Pa Dutch my grandmother made, except she always put onion in it, cooked a chicken first and put the dumplings in on top of the chicken and veg. I could never make the dumplings light and fluffy like hers, mine were always sad. I think I will try your dumpling recipe.
Enjoy!
I tried this recipe many times and it is just like my Mother’s and Grandmother’s. It is totally amazng. I’m now makin it for my Godson and his family. Thank Youfoy shraring.
I love this comment so much and so happy your family likes it.
From Goodrich ND and my German family from Russia made this soup often. Bismarck has a restaurant that serves knoephla soup. Loved your story!
Excellent.my 12 year old grand daughter requests it often.
THAT makes me so happy that you get to share this with her like I shared it with my grandmother!
How fun to see you mention Enderlin. My Aunt Rita lives there.
My family is the South Dakotan flavor of Germans from Russians, and I grew up with a recipe very similar to this one. Many of the other knoephla soup recipes I’ve found don’t use celery but we always did and I think it’s a great addition!
Another game changer I learned from a North Dakotan German-Russian grandmother is using a spätzle maker to make the knoephla for the soup! A slightly different texture than traditional dumplings but time saving for me.
Full disclosure, I haven’t made your recipe yet, but I plan to for Christmas. I grew up in North Dakota, and my mom made Knoephla on a fairly regular basis, in soup, on salad, and by itself with breadcrumbs fried in butter. I haven’t had it in many years, but am thrilled to find your recipe, and hear your own story! Can’t wait to try it!
Make sure to let me know how it goes!