Country Classic Chicken Rivel Soup is one of those favorite Sunday family comforting meals that we must have to satisfy our belly cravings. As said, it’s definitely comforting and it hits the spot because it tastes like it came right out of Grandma’s recipe book.
This Country Classic Chicken Rivel Soup is the perfect solution to cold winter days and nights to warm those chilly bones up! Rivels are basically like dumplings that you drop into soup and are common in Pennsylvania Dutch / Amish cooking.
My husband makes this all the time and it’s always requested by our daughter, pretty much weekly. We promise you’ll love it too.
We use the crockpot method for the chicken by using thighs to get it then all nice and tender and then we finish it up by making it on the stovetop. Nothing too fancy, but the broth is rich and tasty because of the chicken thigh meat.
If you have an instapot, I’m sure you can speed up the process if you need to, if you wish instead of the crockpot method. I don’t have one yet, but if you’re familiar with the process, then by all means, go for it!
We usually do our crockpot process on Saturday and then finish it up on Sunday on the stovetop to get cozy chicken and rivel perfection.
More comforting dishes
Easy Sausage Crescent Roll Bake
Best Amish Style Country Dressing
Country Classic Chicken Rivel Soup
Ingredients
Crockpot Ingredients:
- 6 chicken thighs or chicken breasts
- 1 48 oz chicken broth
- 1 32 oz chicken broth
- 2 tablespoons chicken bouillon
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper
- 1 tablespoon parsley
Rivels:
- 2 cups flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 egg
- 1 1/2 cups warm water or milk of choice
Instructions
- Crockpot Ingredients:
- Place chicken, broth, bouillon, pepper and parsley in crockpot and cook 6 hours or overnight, until chicken is tender and can be shredded.
- Using tongs, take chicken out of broth and shred using a fork in a bowl and transfer broth and shredded chicken into a large saucepan and simmer until ready to bring to a boil. Make the dumplings.
- Rivels:
- In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, salt and baking powder and make a well in the center of the flour mixture. Add the egg and a little of the warm water and start stirring with a fork and continue adding the water until your mixture is a like a sticky noodle batter. Add more flour or less water to get your rivel consistency.
- Bring broth to boil, then drop dough by teaspoonfuls into the boiling soup, stirring constantly, then turn heat down so it's still bubbling but not boiling. Cook for 10-15 minutes or until rivels are cooked through.
- TIP: Test to see if the rivels are done by fishing out the biggest one you can find and cutting it in half. If it still looks dry/floury on the inside, let them cook a little longer
3 Comments
Karen Runk
December 30, 2020 at 2:54 pmThank you for this version of rivels. I was looking for a recipe including baking powder. I had already made a slow cooker broth from leftover turkey bones ready for rivels. Was surprised and delighted to find your recipe. I did add rivels to slow cooker knowing it would be better to transfer to another large pot, which I recommend, but it was late in the day! The rivels were a hit with my family.
I have been making rivels as my mother in law taught for decades. I’ve always used milk as I did this time. I will try them with water.
I recommend your recipe . Thanks for posting.
Kim@SimpleRealHomeCooking
December 30, 2020 at 3:11 pmWe’re so glad to hear they were a hit Karen! Thank you so much for your feedback! It’s definitely one of our favorite soups all year round, we’re so happy you used our recipe! Happy Holidays to you and your family! xo
Kathy S.
December 31, 2022 at 6:31 pmI really enjoyed this soup, but the rivelies my mother made are much different more solid, dense. They hold up to the most vigorous soups and stews. She’s from Herman, Pennsylvania and added the dumplings the second day to stretch the soup. Her children love them so much we put them into soups when first serving them. They are part of the recipe now. She used just flour, eggs, salt, pepper and enough water to bring it all together into a heavy sticky dough. Then she would dip a teaspoon into the boiling soup, scrape about half the teaspoon of dough and dip it into the soup till it fell off and continue. All the while the soup was boiling. Then covered the pot and in 10 minutes it’s finished. The dumplings double in size because of the eggs. It’s like they levene the dough.
Again this soup is really good except to me the dumplings are a little too delicate .