Quinoa Chicken Soup With Gluten-Free Dumplings

We're having another cold fall day where a bowl of soup sounds perfect for lunch (or dinner). Soup is definitely a comfort food for me. And since I really enjoy both the taste and nutritional benefit of quinoa, I tried it in my favorite soup. You could use rice instead, but I've gotten so used to it this way, I couldn't imagine eating it the way it was before with the rice. This is a light, yet filling soup. Make it more hearty by adding dumplings or extra meat and quinoa.

Quinoa Chicken Soup With Dumplings                 print recipe

1 T. olive oil
1/2 c. chopped onion
3/4 c. chopped celery
5 c. chicken broth
1 1/2 c. chopped carrot
2 t. tarragon
1 1/2  - 2 c. cooked quinoa
1 - 1 1/2 c. diced cooked chicken
2 1/2 T. cornstarch
2 1/2 T. water

dumpling batter, if desired


Heat olive oil in large soup pot on medium heat. Saute onion and celery for 5 minutes. Add broth, carrots, tarragon and quinoa. Bring to boil and simmer on low/medium for 15 minutes. Meanwhile, mix water and cornstarch together until dissolved, prepare chicken, and lastly, make dumpling batter, if desired.

Stir cornstarch liquid into hot broth. Add chicken. Simmer until chicken is heated through and serve, or make dumplings. To make dumplings, see linked recipe or use your own recipe. Drop dough by teaspoonfuls into hot soup and simmer on low for 20 minutes, keeping covered. Serve soup, but allow it to cool a little before eating. Serves 6-8.

Notes:  I like to make my broth from scratch. I usually end up with about 5 cups of broth, which is the reason for using 5 cups in the recipe. Adjust the recipe as needed with the amount of broth you have. I use my leftover quinoa, but you should be able to cook quinoa in the broth just like you can rice. I would simmer it at least twice as long.

Enjoy!