This Easy Vegan Chicken and Dumplings recipe is made in one pot and is the ultimate comfort food. This recipe is easy to prepare, full of flavor, and will be a hit with the whole family!
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This comforting dish is packed with flavor and is perfect for the cooler months.
A creamy, rich, and hearty soup topped with fluffy biscuit dumplings.. mmmm!
This vegan version of the classic chicken and dumplings uses soy curls that are rehydrated in homemade vegan chicken stock and tossed in poultry seasoning.
Creamy vegetable soup, vegan chicken, and fluffy dumplings are a match made in heaven! You’re going to want to keep this recipe handy for sick days, cold winter nights, or when you’re in need of a warm and comforting meal.
Soup Ingredients
Soy Curls: Butler Soy Curls are dehydrated soy that is meaty in texture which makes them great to mimic chicken. It is rehydrated in vegan chicken broth and then tossed in poultry seasoning.
Vegan Butter: I use and love Earth Balance. Butter adds wonderful flavor and richness to our soup but you could use olive oil as well.
All-Purpose Flour: This is how our soup will be thickened. Mix it into the butter and vegetables until no raw flour is visible.
Vegetables: Carrots, yellow onions, and celery are the vegetables used in chicken and dumplings. You can add peas if desired!
Garlic: I highly recommend fresh minced garlic as it has the best flavor. I would avoid substituting this with garlic powder or jarred pre-minced garlic.
Coconut Milk: I refrigerated my can of coconut milk overnight and used the creamy part that settled at the top of the can. If you are avoiding coconut, you can use cashew cream.
Vegan Chicken Broth: My homemade version is made from nutritional yeast and a variety of seasonings. It adds a wonderful flavor that is highly recommended. Store-bought vegan chicken broth or vegetable stock will work as well.
Dumpling Ingredients
The dumplings in this dumpling soup resemble drop biscuits. So, they are dropped in liquid and cooked by closing the pot with a lid and steaming them. Once cooked, you should have the most delicious and fluffy biscuit.
All-Purpose Flour: Be sure to properly measure your flour to avoid dry dumplings. These dumplings should be fluffy and super soft when steamed.
Baking Powder: This will help the dumplings rise and become fluffy!
Dairy-Free Milk: I used unsweetened almond milk but you can use soy milk, oat milk, or your favorite plant-based milk.
Olive Oil: I used olive oil but a neutral oil like vegetable oil, avocado oil, or canola oil will work as well.
Helpful Equipment
You will need about 2 tablespoons of dumpling dough per dollop. The dough is sticky and soft so having a cookie scoop comes in handy. I recommend this medium-sized scoop.
Other helpful equipment: glass mixing bowls and 6qt Stock Pot. I used an 8qt and it works well but it's on the bigger side and isn't necessary. I would recommend a large dutch oven or large pot, preferably one that holds 4.5qts to 6qts.
How to Make This Recipe
Make the vegan chicken: Add the dried soy curls to the vegan chicken broth and soak for 10 minutes. Drain the broth and squeeze out the excess liquid.
Chop the soy curls into small pieces and toss them with poultry seasoning, salt, and black pepper. Poultry seasoning is optional but a delicious addition if you have it.
Heat a large soup pot on medium heat and add the olive oil. Brown the soy curls in the pot for a few minutes and then remove and set aside.
Make the soup: Add the vegan butter to the same pot and cook the diced onion, carrots, and celery for 5 minutes or until softened. Mince the garlic and cook for another 1 to 2 minutes.
Sprinkle the all-purpose flour, fresh thyme leaves, Italian seasoning, salt, and black pepper over the vegetables. Toss until no raw flour is visible.
Pour in the vegan chicken broth.
I use my homemade vegan chicken broth but store-bought vegan chicken broth or vegetable broth will work as well.
Add the coconut milk as well and stir to combine.
Bring to a simmer and cook for 10 minutes. Taste and adjust salt and black pepper.
Make the dumpling recipe by stirring the plant milk and apple cider vinegar together to create buttermilk.
Then, whisk together the all-purpose flour, baking powder, salt, and black pepper in a large bowl. Pour the buttermilk and olive oil into the flour mixture and stir to combine. The dough should be soft and sticky.
Add the soy curls back to the soup.
Add 2-3 tablespoon-sized dollops of the dumpling dough to the top of the soup. Cover and reduce heat to medium-low.
Cook for 18 minutes or until the dumplings are cooked through. You can cut open one of the dumplings to check if they are done if you're unsure.
Garnish with parsley and fresh thyme and enjoy!
Tips & Tricks
This hearty stew is the ultimate vegan comfort food. It is made with simple ingredients, is full of flavor, and is surprisingly easy to make. Here are a few simple tips to keep in mind when making this recipe.
If you use my homemade chicken broth, be sure to blend the dry mixture into a fine powder before mixing it into water.
Use a two-tablespoon medium-sized scoop to make sure your dumplings are the same size. The dough is sticky so the scoop makes this process a lot quicker and cleaner.
Properly measure the flour! Avoid packing the flour into the measuring cup by fluffy the flour with a fork then spooning the flour into the measuring cup and leveling it off.
Don't boil the soup. You want it to simmer just enough to steam the dumplings but avoid the soup from over-reducing and burning.
Don't lift the lid during the cooking process. Trust the process or your dumplings won't cook properly.
Substitutions & Additions
Soy Curls: Don't like soy curls? No worries! You can use baked tofu, chicken-style seitan, or store-bought vegetarian chicken instead. Any chicken alternative will work as long it is unbreaded as well as chickpeas or oyster mushrooms.
All-Purpose Flour: I haven't attempted to make this recipe gluten-free but if you give it a try and it works out, let me know!
Vegan Chicken Broth: This can easily be replaced with vegetable broth.
Coconut Milk: I used canned full-fat coconut milk but it does not taste like coconut if you're worried about that. But if you avoid coconut, you can use Vegan Heavy Cream.
Italian Seasoning: I used my homemade Italian Seasoning Blend. See that blog post for a list of substitutes.
Fresh Thyme: You can use dried thyme instead. Typically it is recommended to use 1 teaspoon of dried herbs to replace 1 tablespoon of fresh herbs.
Serving Ideas
This vegan chicken soup with drop dumplings is hearty and filling and perfectly served on its own.
But could be great served with a side salad or roasted or steamed vegetables. Asparagus, green beans, or broccoli would be great.
Storage & Reheating
Chicken and dumplings are best served fresh because the dumplings tend to soak up the liquid. But if you live in a small household like mine, leftovers are going to happen.
The soup will be thicker the next day, but it's still incredibly delicious!
Storage: Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days.
Reheating: Reheat leftovers in a pot on the stovetop or in the microwave until warmed through.
Freeze: Freeze in a freezer-safe container for up to 3 months.
Frequently Asked Questions
Soy curls are dehydrated soy that is meaty in texture which makes them great to mimic chicken or beef in recipes. I love using them because they are truly a sponge for flavor.
Soy curls are available on amazon or on their official website. Sometimes they are hard to find in stores but check your local health food shop.
Soy curls soak up flavor so they can be marinaded in soy sauce, vegetable broth, vegan chicken stock, or simply water and then tossed with seasonings or sauce. They can be fried, air-fried, sautéed, or baked.
18 minutes at a medium-low simmer with a lid on always cooks the dumplings perfectly for me. If you’re unsure, you can cut one dumpling in half to make sure the dough is cooked through and fluffy.
You could use a mix like Bisquick but these homemade dumplings are incredibly easy and much tastier. You might be surprised by how simple it is to make this recipe.
More Soup Recipes
Recipe
Easy Vegan Chicken and Dumplings
Ingredients
Vegan Chicken
- 4 ounces Soy Curls
- 2 cups Vegan Chicken Broth or vegetable broth
- ½ teaspoon Poultry Seasoning optional
- Pinch of Salt and Black Pepper
- 1 tablespoon Olive Oil for browning
Stew
- 4 tablespoons Vegan Butter
- 1 cup Yellow Onion diced
- 1 cup Carrots diced
- ¾ cup Celery diced
- 5 Garlic Cloves minced
- ¼ cup All-Purpose Flour
- 1 tablespoon Fresh Thyme
- 1 teaspoon Italian Seasoning
- ½ teaspoon Salt more to taste
- ½ teaspoon Black Pepper more to taste
- 4 cups Vegan Chicken Broth or vegetable broth
- 1 cup Full-Fat Coconut Milk
Dumplings
- ¾ cup Plant Milk unsweetened
- 2 teaspoons Apple Cider Vinegar
- 2 cups All-Purpose Flour properly measured
- 1 tablespoon Baking Powder
- ¾ teaspoon Salt
- ¼ teaspoon Black Pepper
- ¼ cup Olive Oil
Instructions
- Add the dried soy curls to the vegan chicken broth and soak for 10 minutes. Drain the broth and squeeze out the excess liquid.
- Chop the soy curls into small pieces and toss with poultry seasoning, salt, and black pepper.
- Heat a large soup pot on medium heat and add the olive oil. Brown the soy curls in the pot for a few minutes and then remove and set aside.
- Add the vegan butter to the same pot and cook the diced onion, carrots, and celery for 5 minutes or until softened. Mince the garlic and cook for another 1 to 2 minutes.
- Sprinkle the all-purpose flour, fresh thyme leaves, italian seasoning, salt, and black pepper over the vegetables. Toss until no raw flour is visible.
- Pour in the vegan chicken broth and the coconut milk and stir to combine. Bring to a simmer and cook for 10 minutes. Taste and adjust salt and black pepper.
- Make the dumplings by stirring together the plant milk and apple cider vinegar together to create buttermilk. Then, whisk together the all-purpose flour, baking powder, salt, and black pepper in a separte bowl.Pour the buttermilk and olive oil into the flour mixture and stir to combine. The dough should be soft and sticky.
- Add the soy curls back to the soup and stir to combine.
- Add 2 to 3 tablespoon-sized dollops of the dumpling dough to the top of the soup. Bring to a simmer then cover and reduce heat to medium-low. Don't boil the soup. You want it to simmer just enough to steam the dumplings but avoid the soup from over-reducing and burning.
- Cook for 18 minutes or until the dumplings are cooked through. You can cut open one of the dumplings to check if they are done if you're unsure.
- Garnish with parsley and fresh thyme and enjoy!
Notes
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Dan Pitman says
This was fantastic! I substituted some pre made vegan chicken (diced) to save a little time, but the soup and dumplings turned out great!
Thank you for another wonderful recipe I will add to my fall and winter rotation!
Liv says
Love the addition of premade vegan chicken. I've done that too and it's delicious! So happy you enjoyed it. Thank you for leaving a review, Dan! 🙂
Suee33 says
This is just simply amazing!! Just one of the top dishes I have made in awhile. We can't get over just how wonderful it taste - no extra pepper or salt needed. This is truly a keeper - thinking Thanksgiving. Why in creation would you harm a chicken when you can get this kind of flavor!! I would not harm a chicken for any reason - nor eat their eggs. Peace and Love.
Thank you for an outstanding recipe.
Liv says
Wow! Thank you so much for this kind review. I'm so glad you enjoyed 🙂
Alexis says
My southern heart was happy to see this and everyone at dinner loved this and asked for the recipe. Will be making this all winter long.
Liv says
It's a favorite over here too! Thank you for leaving a review 🙂