Recipe updated: August 9th, 2024
Milk soup with dumplings is another classic recipe my mother made us kids for breakfast or for lunch when I was growing up. She probably ate milk soup with dumplings on more than one occasion when she was a kid, but she made it for us kids just once in a while. Milk soup with little mini dumplings is what I call this soup dumplings recipe.
The first time I remember eating milk soup with dumplings, I took a liking to it right away, just like my mother and my grandmother did, and I still love it today. With its creamy texture from the milk, and the texture of the tender dumplings, it is definitely the perfect comfort food for me.
Another dumpling recipe my mom would make us kids was her pan fried dumplings with syrup recipe. She would make this recipe once in a while for us, and when she did, we were thrilled.
🥣 What’s in Milk Soup with Dumplings?
This dumpling recipe is made with eggs, flour, and water to form the dumplings, and then milk and sugar are added, hence, milk soup with dumplings.
🥄 Key Ingredients
- 3 cups of milk – fat free, 1%, 2%, or whole milk
- 2 and 1/4 cups of all-purpose flour
- 1/3 cup of cold water
- 2 eggs
- 2 tablespoons of sugar
- 2 teaspoons of all-purpose flour (for the milk mixture)
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
👩🍳 How to Make Milk Soup with Dumplings
These step-by-step instructions are accompanied by detailed photos for enhanced clarity and guidance.
Step 1. Mix Flour and Salt
In a mixing bowl, put 2 and 1/4 cups of all-purpose flour together with 1/8 teaspoon of salt. Stir thoroughly with a fork until well blended. Set it aside for now.
Step 2. Put Eggs and Water in a Bowl
In a different bowl, beat 2 eggs using a fork, then add 1/3 cup of cold water together with the beaten eggs. Mix eggs and water until thoroughly blended.
Step 3. Combine Flour and Eggs
The next step is to add the beaten eggs and water mixture together with the flour mixture in the large bowl we just made. Mix it all up together with a fork or spoon.
Step 4. Form the Dumpling Dough into a Ball
Mix the dough with your hands until the flour and egg mixture turns into a round ball of dough. At this point, you can take it out of the bowl or work with it in the bowl for step 5 – see below.
Step 5. Shape the Dumplings
For this next step, I tore off pieces of dough and formed them into little shapes, and it doesn’t matter what the shapes are. Some can be little and some a little bit bigger. In other words, the size of the dumplings don’t have to be the same size, but close to it.
Tip: You can tear off pieces of dough, or roll the dough into small balls. Whatever is your preference. And as you can see in the photo, little pieces of dough break off from the other pieces, which is totally fine too. Those little, tiny pieces that break off help to thicken the soup.
Step 6. Add Water and Dumplings to a Pot
Put a large pot of water on the stove and bring it to a boil. A soup pot is ideal. As soon as the water starts to boil, turn the burner down so it’s just a low boil. Drop dumplings into the low boiling water, stirring constantly with a large spoon. A slotted spoon with a long handle works the best.
Note: It is advisable to wear heat-resistant oven mitts to protect yourself from the boiling steam from the hot liquid in the pot.
Step 7. Turn the Heat Down
After all the dumplings are in the pot, turn the burner down to medium-high heat and cook for five minutes. If the water is boiling out of the pot, turn the burner down to medium heat.
Note: When the dumpling dough is first put into the water, it will sink to the bottom of the pot. Some of the dumplings will stick to the pot, so that is why we need to keep stirring. But, as soon as the dough starts to float, which won’t take much time at all, then you can just stir once every couple of minutes.
Step 8. Do a Cold Water Rinse
After cooking the dumplings for five minutes, pour the dumplings into a colander in the sink to drain the water. Then, run cold water over the dumplings for about 30 seconds. Turn the water off, and let the dumplings sit in the sink and drain a bit more.
Note: Running cold water over the dumplings is a must. It washes away the starchy build up that collects on the dumplings during the cooking process.
Step 9. Add Milk and Sugar
In the meantime, while the excess water is draining from the dumplings in the colander, pour 3 cups of milk into a large saucepan. You can also rinse out the pot the dumplings were cooked in. Turn the heat to medium, stirring constantly. Then add the 2 tablespoons of sugar together with the milk. Mix thoroughly.
Step 10. Mix Dumplings with Milk
Turn the burner to low heat and continue to stir. Add the dumplings together with the milk and sugar.
Note: The milk will scorch on the bottom of the pan if not stirred, in other words, black on the bottom, sticking to the pan. This will also make the milk taste burnt, even though the milk doesn’t look burnt.
Step 11. Thicken the Milk
Keep stirring the ingredients while adding two teaspoons of flour together with the milk and dumplings. This will thicken up the milk a tad bit. Cook the milk and dumplings on a gentle simmer for about four minutes, stirring constantly, then turn the burner off.
Step 12. Taste It
I add a little bit of sugar from the sugar bowl to my cup of milk soup with dumplings, about a teaspoon of sugar at a time. This dumplings soup is a little sweet-tasting anyway, so you don’t have to add any more sugar if you prefer not to. You can always do a taste test and then decide.
🛒 Recipe Variations
- Sprinkle a little bit of cinnamon on top of your bowl of milk soup.
- Drizzle some honey on top of your serving.
- Have some buttered toast sprinkled with sugar and cinnamon to go along with your milk soup with dumplings.
☝️ FAQs
Put leftover milk soup with dumplings in an airtight container, then put it in the refrigerator. Reheat it in the microwave or in a saucepan on the stove top. Consume it within a couple of days.
Yes, you can freeze leftover milk soup. Put it in a freezer-safe container. It will last for about 4 months in the freezer. Let it thaw for a few hours in the refrigerator, then reheat it on the stove or in the microwave.
✍️ Final Thoughts
During the 1930s life was tough for a lot of folks, and that included my mother when she was a child living on the farm with her family.
We all know back then the basic food commodities were flour, salt, sugar, butter, and of course, eggs from the chickens and milk from the cows.
My Grandma had 11 children and when her husband passed at the age of 47, her youngest child was only 1 year old. Under those circumstances, she needed to make meals that were filling and didn’t cost a lot of money. She used the basic food commodities she had to create many breakfasts, lunches, and dinners for her family. My Grandma and my mom both lived to be 94 and 1/2 years old!
📂 Recipe Card
Milk Soup with Dumplings
🫕 Equipment
- 1 Colander
🧂 Ingredients
- 3 cups milk
- 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/3 cup cold water
- 2 eggs
- 2 tbsp granulated sugar
- 2 tsp all-purpose flour (for the milk mixture)
- 1/8 tsp table salt
👩🍳 Instructions
The Dumplings
- Put the flour and salt in a small bowl. Mix thoroughly.
- In a different bowl, beat the eggs, then add the cold water.
- Add the eggs and water mixture with the flour mixture. Mix it all up.
- Use your hands to form a round ball of dough.
- Tear off pieces of dough and form them into little shapes. None have to be the same size, but close to it.
- Put a big pot of water on the stove and bring it to a boil.
- Add the dumplings to the boiling water, stirring constantly until they start to float. Turn the heat to medium. Cook for 5 minutes.
- Drain the dumplings in a colander. Run cold water over the dumplings for about 30 seconds, then let the dumplings sit in the sink and drain a bit more.
The Milk
- Pour the milk into the same large pot that was used to cook the dumplings.
- Turn the heat to medium, stirring constantly. Add the sugar to the milk. Mix thoroughly.
- Keep the burner on medium heat and keep stirring as milk will scorch on the bottom of the pot if not stirred. If that's too hot, turn the burner down.
- Add the dumplings to the milk and sugar.
- Keep stirring the ingredients and add the flour to the milk and dumplings. This will thicken the milk a little bit.
- Cook for about 4 minutes, stirring constantly, until the milk and dumplings are heated through.
*️⃣ Recipe Notes
- You can add a teaspoon of sugar to your bowl of milk soup with dumplings if you prefer a sweeter taste.
- Buttered toast goes great with this milk soup.
💙 More Recipes You Will Love
If you love dumpling recipe ideas, then you must try our chicken soup dumplings. It is so good!More Recipes
A wife, a mother to a son and a daughter, and a grandmother to three granddaughters. Flo loves sharing recipes passed down from her own mother, her mother-in-law, and her grandmother as well as new recipes created with her daughter, Tamara Ray.
More by Flo ➜
