Real Food, Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free
We all look for ways to use up the leftover turkey after Thanksgiving. I think last year, I made a Chicken Enchilada Soup and just replaced the chicken with the leftover turkey. It was very good, but this year I want to do something more traditional. My grandmother used to make Turkey and Dumplings after Thanksgiving. I haven’t had it in years. I just figured it’s one of those things that wouldn’t be good in its gluten free form. Well this week, I set out to figure out a recipe that I could enjoy. This Gluten Free Turkey Dumpling Soup is perfect for the day after Thanksgiving, or any cold winter night.
TURKEY OR CHICKEN?
This can be made with leftover turkey or chicken. When I recipe tested this, I used a rotisserie chicken. After removing all the meat from the bone, I cut the pieces into small, bite-sized cubes. If you don’t have pre-cooked turkey or chicken, you can make your own as an additional step.
When I find whole, organic free range birds on sale, I stock up. I cook one immediately and freeze the rest. To cook a whole chicken for future soup or casserole use, I put the thawed chicken in my Instant Pot. I cover the chicken with filtered water and add several generous pinches of sea salt. I cook the chicken on high pressure for 30 minutes and allow the pot to slow release. The whole process generally takes 60-90 minutes. I then pull the chicken and reserve the bones for making stock. I freeze the chicken in quart glass jars. When I pack the jar with chicken, I then pour in enough stock to cover the chicken. This prevents freezer burn. I leave an inch of air at the top, and freeze jars on their side to prevent cracking.
VEGETABLES AND HERBS
Choose vegetables that you like. I always start with the standard onion, celery, garlic, and carrots. Sometimes I add frozen peas or green beans. I think the most important factor is the use of fresh herbs. If you start cooking with fresh herbs, you’ll definitely notice a difference over the use of dried herbs. Use what you have, but I highly encourage you to grow a little indoor herb garden for year round herb access.
THE ROUX
Generally, a roux is made with butter and flour. This recipe can be made entirely dairy free if you sub olive oil for the ghee. If you’d like a bit of that buttery flavor, you can always split the difference and add just a bit of ghee and make up the rest with oil. Your personal preference can reign here.
THE FLOUR
When I recipe tested this Gluten Free Turkey Dumpling Soup, I used King Arthur’s Gluten Free Measure for Measure Flour. It’s principally made from rice flour, brown rice flour, sorghum flour, tapioca starch, and potato starch. I generally prefer oat flour or chickpea flour for their nutritional content, but sometimes ease of use is nice too. These dumplings had some rise, just like a traditional flour would demonstrate. They held together nicely and had good flavor. The only drawback I found was that the end result was a bit gummier than a traditional dumpling. That said, these dumplings successfully fill the role of holiday comfort food.
I hope this Gluten Free Turkey Dumpling Soup warms your holiday weekend!
Gluten Free Turkey Dumpling Soup
Ingredients
- large stock pot
- mixing bowl
FOR THE SOUP:
- 2-3 cups cooked turkey or chicken
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 onion, diced
- 5 celery stalks, chopped
- 5 carrots, chopped
- 6 small garlic cloves, minced
- 2 tbsp ghee and 2 tbsp olive oil (or for dairy free – 4 tbsp olive oil)
- 6 tbsp gluten free flour blend
- 10 c chicken stock
- 2 tsp sea salt (less if using store bough chicken stock)
- 2 tsp dried tarragon (more if using fresh)
- 1 tsp dried thyme (more if using fresh)
- 1 tsp white pepper
- 1 c frozen peas or frozen green beans (optional)
- 1 c dairy free milk
- 4 tbsp fresh parsley, minced
FOR THE DUMPLINGS:
- 2 c gluten free flour
- 1 tbsp baking powder (be sure your baking powder is fresh)
- 1 tsp sea salt
- 1 tsp white pepper
- 2/3 c chicken stock
- 2/3 c dairy free milk
Instructions
- Chop the cooked turkey or chicken into bite sized pieces. (See notes above if needing to cook chicken.) Prepare the chopped onion, celery, carrots, and garlic as well.
- Heat a large stock pot over medium heat. When hot, add the 2 tbsp olive oil. Add the chopped onion, celery, carrots, and garlic. Sauté until everything begins to soften. This should take 3-5 minutes.
- To the softened vegetables, for a buttery flavor, add 2 tbsp ghee and 2 tbsp olive oil (or for dairy free – 4 tbsp olive oil). Stir to combine. Slowly, add the 6 tbsp gluten free flour. Whisk the flour into the vegetables. Continue stirring as you add more flour. Stir continually so that there are no clumps.
- Once the flour is well combined, slowly whisk in the chicken stock. This will thin the roux. Add the stock slowly so that you avoid clumps. When all the stock has been added, the sauce should be thick and creamy.
- Stir in all of the seasonings (sea salt, tarragon, thyme, and white pepper) and add the frozen vegetables. Reduce the heat to a low simmer.
- Prepare the dumplings. To a mixing bowl, add the 2 cups of gluten free four, baking powder, sea salt, and white pepper. Make a small well in the center of this flour mixture. To the well, add the chicken stock and dairy free milk. With a fork, begin to stir in the well, pulling more flour from the walls. Continue to stir until everything is well combined. Use a spatula if necessary to turn the dough over and collect flour from the walls of the bowl.
- Once the dough is well combined, make the dumplings. With a spoon, gather a small amount of dough. Use your hands to roll this into a ball. I like for these dumplings to be a little less than an inch in diameter. I can generally make around 24 dumplings from this mixture. If the dough gets sticky as you work, sprinkle a bit of gluten free flour over the dough or onto your hands.
- Once the dumplings are ready, add them to the simmering soup one at a time. Be sure they are not piled atop one another, but spread out as much as possible. Cover the soup and allow the dumplings to cook for 15 minutes.
- After the 15 minutes, remove the lid from the soup. Add a cup of dairy free milk and the fresh chopped parsley. Stir to combine. Once this milk is warmed, the soup is ready to serve. I generally serve the soup into each bowl and then ladle in 2-3 dumplings.
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