Trader Joe's Biscuit Hack For Lightning Fast Dumpling Soup
Soup deserves to be comfort food year-round, which means having a few recipes in your back pocket that don't require spending the afternoon bent over a stove. After all, when it's 75 degrees Fahrenheit out, you don't want to fuss over a mirepoix or homemade stock. Grab a box of bone broth and some chicken from the store, and turn to this easy trick for dumpling soup, courtesy of everyone's favorite grocery store, Trader Joe's.
If you don't follow the Trader Joe's podcast, you may have missed their "Knack for Hacks" episode, in which the hosts go through their favorite time-saving secrets with TJ's products. One involves Trader Joe's Organic Biscuits, which come in a Pillsbury-style cardboard tube and need to be kept refrigerated. These easy biscuits make for a delicious side to a filling bowl of chicken soup, but they cook just as well inside the soup.
Fans of Southern chicken and dumplings will be familiar with this idea, which pairs broth, meat, and biscuit dough in one bowl to make something that will really stick to your bones. And it will take less than half an hour to pull off — just in time for a weeknight dinner.
Chicken and dumplings, TJ's style
To use Trader Joe's biscuits for dumpling soup — as explained on the podcast — sweat some mirepoix, aromatics, and woody herbs like rosemary and thyme in a pot, then dump them in your boxed broth. While that's going, pop your biscuits open and cut each one into quarters. You can toss them in the broth as is, roll them in the palm of your hand to form little balls, or cut them into strips and roll them into biscuit noodles.
Once the broth is hot, toss in some pre-shredded or cubed cooked chicken along with your dumplings. They will cook in about fifteen minutes, and while they do, the starch from the biscuit dough will seep into the broth, making it thick and creamy the same way pasta water adds body to sauces. The dumplings will come out soft and silky.
For an even richer broth, add a bit of cream or evaporated milk, or toss in some spinach for a little extra veg. Some people use cream of chicken soup, which works well if you want to dispense with the cooking altogether. A slow cooker can also be used in lieu of a pot, but you'll want to par-bake the biscuits and toss them in at the end to prevent them from getting mushy.