• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Oh My Veggies logo

  • Recipes
    • Vegetarian Recipes
    • Vegan Recipes
    • Vegetarian Main Dishes
    • Vegetarian Appetizers
    • Vegetarian Breakfast Recipes
    • Vegetarian Side Dishes
    • Dessert Recipes
    • Snack Recipes
    • Drinks
    • Sauces, Spreads and Condiments
    • Holiday Recipes
    • From our Readers
  • Cooking Tips & Hints
    • Cooking Tips
    • Plant-Based Nutrition
    • Product Reviews
  • Shop Cookbooks
  • About Us
  • Nav Social Menu

    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • Twitter
menu icon
go to homepage
  • Find Recipes
  • Cookbooks
  • About Us
  • Free Meal Plan
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • Twitter
  • subscribe
    search icon
    Homepage link
    • Find Recipes
    • Cookbooks
    • About Us
    • Free Meal Plan
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • Twitter
  • ×

    Oh My Veggies » Vegetarian Recipes » Vegetarian Main Dishes

    Chickpeas and Dumplings

    Published: Feb 8, 2015 · by Nicole · Updated: Feb 15, 2021 · This post may contain affiliate links.

    Jump to Recipe - Print Recipe

    Chickpeas and Dumplings
    A few months ago, someone asked me if I had a recipe for a vegetarian version of Chicken and Dumplings. There are a lot of dishes on my mental list of things to make meatless, but that's one that I never really thought about, mostly because I've never had Chicken and Dumplings before. I forgot about it for a while, then I happened to see a Chicken and Dumplings recipe on Martha Stewart's website and thought maybe I'd give this whole Chicken and Dumplings thing a try. Minus the chicken, of course.

    The big honkin' question when you're making a meat-based recipe meatless is, "What will I replace the meat with?" I thought about using seitan, but I decided to go with chickpeas because I remembered that Thrifty Veggie Mama had used them in a vegetarian Chicken and Dumplings recipe too and chickpeas are more readily available than seitan. So we have dealt with the main obstacle!

    Chickpeas and Dumplings
    Making a recipe vegetarian isn't always just about switching out one ingredient for another though. For the Martha Stewart recipe I was adapting, I knew a lot of the flavor would come from the chicken, so I needed to add more flavors to the pot to keep the finished dish from being bland. I usually substitute vegetable broth for chicken broth, but in recipes where the chicken broth is a main component, I will sometimes use vegetarian chicken broth, either from the carton or from bouillon cubes. I decided to do that here; I also took some ideas from a Chicken and Dumplings recipe on Saveur and added white wine, extra thyme, and a bay leaf. The Saveur recipe included bacon too; I liked the idea of adding a little smokiness to the stew, so I included a half teaspoon of smoked paprika. This is enough to give the finished dish a subtle, smoky flavor without it being, "Oh, hey, you added smoked paprika to this!"

    Chris and I aren't fans of peas, so I took those out and added a parsnip and red potatoes instead. The chickpea-and-veggie stew is prepared in a big Dutch oven and once it comes to a boil, you drop spoonfuls of dumpling batter onto the top. When you put the lid on the Dutch oven, the dumplings will steam in the pot; 20 minutes later, your veggies are tender, your dumplings are firm and puffy, and you have a big pot of comfort food to keep you warm and full.

    Chickpeas and Dumplings

    A meatless version of Chicken and Dumplings, inspired by
    Thrifty Veggie Mama and
    Saveur, and adapted from
    Martha Stewart.
    Print Recipe Pin Recipe Email Recipe
    Total Time: 45 minutes
    Course: Main Course
    Cuisine: American
    Diet: Vegetarian
    Keyword: Chickpeas and Dumplings, meatless Chicken and Dumplings, vegetarian Chicken and Dumplings
    Servings: 4 -6 servings
    Calories: 312kcal
    Author: Oh My Veggies

    Ingredients

    • 3 tablespoons butter
    • 1 onion diced
    • 2 cloves garlic minced
    • 3 medium carrots peeled and sliced
    • 1 large parsnip sliced
    • 2 small red potatoes diced
    • 3 ribs celery sliced
    • 1 teaspoon dried thyme
    • 2 dried bay leaves
    • 1 cup all-purpose flour divided
    • 1 ¾ teaspoons baking powder
    • ½ teaspoon salt
    • ¾ teaspoon dried dill weed or 2 tablespoons fresh dill
    • ½ cup + 2 tablespoons milk
    • ½ cup white wine
    • 3 cups vegetable broth
    • 1 15-ounce can chickpeas (or 1 ½ cups cooked chickpeas)
    • ½ teaspoon smoked paprika
    • Salt and pepper to taste
    US Customary - Metric

    Instructions

    • Melt the butter in a large Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the onion, garlic, carrots, parsnip, potatoes, celery, thyme, and bay leaves. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the onions are translucent, 5-8 minutes.
    • While the veggies are cooking, whisk together ¾ cup flour, baking powder, salt, and dill in a medium bowl. Use a fork to gradually stir in ½ cup of milk. The batter should be slightly thicker than pancake batter and drop easily from a spoon; if it's too thick, add the additional milk 1 tablespoon at a time. Set aside.
    • Sprinkle the remaining flour over the veggies and stir to coat; cook for 30 seconds. Pour in the white wine and cook until evaporated, about 2 minutes. Add the broth, chickpeas, paprika and salt and pepper to the Dutch oven; bring to a slow boil, stirring occasionally, then reduce the heat to low. Drop the dumpling batter into the pot in heaping tablespoonfuls. You should have enough batter for 8-10 dumplings--be sure to keep them evenly spaced because they'll expand as they cook! Cover the Dutch oven and simmer for 20 minutes, or until the potatoes are tender and the dumplings are firm. Remove the bay leaves before serving and season with additional salt and pepper, if needed.

    Nutrition

    Calories: 312kcalCarbohydrates: 61gProtein: 8gFat: 2gSaturated Fat: 1gPolyunsaturated Fat: 1gMonounsaturated Fat: 1gCholesterol: 4mgSodium: 1267mgPotassium: 956mgFiber: 7gSugar: 11gVitamin A: 8255IUVitamin C: 21mgCalcium: 217mgIron: 3mg
    Craving more veg-friendly recipes? Shop our collection of vegetarian and vegan cookbooks, including our new Vegan Thanksgiving and Vegan Christmas cookbooks!

    This post was originally published on February 12, 2014.

    « Meal Plan: Cuban Quinoa, Red Pepper & Mozzarella Sandwiches & More
    Roasted Broccoli and Lemon Pasta »

    Vegetarian Main Dishes, Vegetarian Recipes carrots, chickpeas, main dishes, Make it Meatless Series, parsnips, potatoes, stew, winter

    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Bessie says

      February 24, 2015 at 4:08 pm

      Oh wow. the kids (& I) are going to LOVE this for lunch at the weekend! - Thanks for sharing!

      Reply
    2. Megan says

      March 23, 2015 at 7:32 pm

      This was so delicious!!! Thank you do much for sharing!
      I ended up subbing more brith for the wine and it was great! Thanks again!

      Reply
    3. Alex says

      April 07, 2015 at 2:20 pm

      Incredibly tasty soup! Total comfort food and easy to prepare. Thanks for sharing 🙂

      Reply
    4. Crista says

      April 23, 2015 at 9:21 pm

      GREAT recipe! I'm kind of obsessed....

      Reply
    5. Angele says

      May 08, 2015 at 8:18 pm

      This sounds so good, but I've never heard of no-chicken broth before and highly doubt I would find any, so would veggie broth do the same? Use to love chicken and dumpling soup back when I was a meat eater

      Reply
      • Kiersten Frase says

        May 14, 2015 at 3:24 pm

        You can definitely use veggie broth instead. 🙂

        Reply
    6. Emily says

      May 15, 2015 at 12:34 pm

      This recipe looks so delicious? I do not have a Dutch oven though. Can I make this in a crockpot or large soup pot?

      Reply
    7. Monica says

      November 02, 2015 at 7:49 pm

      Instead of chickpeas I used the Beyond Meat brand chicken strips. I just shredded them up and added them in right before the dumplings. I omitted the wine, parsnips and the veggie broth. I completely forgot to add my "better than bouillon" and just added water! And I added mushrooms. I think this is one of the best things I've ever made! Even though I left out the broth it was still seasoned really well, not at all bland. It was so good and the dumplings were way simpler than I thought! I am going to be making this again for sure!

      Reply
      • Kiersten says

        November 04, 2015 at 9:01 pm

        It sounds like you pretty much made your own recipe, but I'm glad you enjoyed it! 😀

        Reply
    8. Lauren says

      January 04, 2016 at 6:11 pm

      This is such a good recipe. I have made it several times for my family who would prefer a meal contains meat. They love this dish. I love that is inexpensive to make. The flavor is surprisingly complex. I think it is because good fundamentals of cooking. Great work. Thanks for sharing.

      Reply
    9. andrea says

      April 29, 2016 at 8:12 pm

      I made this a few months ago and LOVED it. My dumplings turned out perfect. The last time I tried dumplings they came out as golf balls. Im making it tonight because I had white wine in the fridge and instead of using onions I used leeks I had in the fridge which were going to no use as well. Im hoping it comes out just as yummy. Its cooking at the moment and Im at the edge of my seat hoping its as good as the last time! Im so used to trying internet recipes and being unhappy with the results, this was a 10/10. Smells good so far!

      Reply
      • Kiersten says

        May 05, 2016 at 9:06 am

        I'm so glad you enjoyed the recipe! 🙂

        Reply
    10. Joanne says

      May 17, 2016 at 6:09 am

      I just wondered what the calorie count on this recipe is?
      Is it listed somewhere and I'm missing it?

      Reply
    11. Ms-Rach says

      October 15, 2016 at 10:05 pm

      Yum! We modified for vegan with almond milk in the dumplings. This really hit the spot on a rainy day.

      Reply
    12. Gloria says

      January 08, 2017 at 12:11 pm

      HI,
      I am making this for my supper tonight and was wondering if the can of chickpeas is drained and rinsed?

      Reply
      • Alissa says

        January 10, 2017 at 9:19 am

        Hi Gloria! Yes, they should be drained and rinsed. We usually try to specify in our recipes, but I'd say always drain and rinse when in doubt. 🙂

        Reply
    13. nicole says

      October 10, 2017 at 12:11 pm

      I actually made the dumplings out of garbanzo bean flour(same as chick peas), which is way more nutritious than all purpose flouer, and it was delicious!! I think you should consider changing the recipe 🙂

      Reply
      • Preston says

        October 16, 2017 at 7:27 pm

        Hi Nicole! We'll be sure to try this out sometime!

        Reply
    14. Lisa says

      October 16, 2017 at 9:47 am

      Made this last night. It was excellent!! Thanks for the recipe. I used gluten free flour and almond milk for the dumplings and they turned out great!

      Reply
    15. Lisa says

      December 07, 2017 at 11:17 am

      This recipe is super delicious! Even after I doubled the recipe the last time, it wasn't enough to satisfy my hunger for it. Along with some of the other folks, I used gluten free flower and almond milk for the dumplings. Worked great. Thanks for sharing!

      Reply
      • Katie Trant says

        December 10, 2017 at 1:41 pm

        Yay! Thanks Lisa!

        Reply
    16. Lisa says

      March 29, 2018 at 2:14 pm

      I made this for dinner last night (have made it before too) and my husband brought the leftovers for lunch today. He just texted me that "Chickpea dumplings are the best." Thanks so much for this great recipe. It makes me happy to cook dishes like this that I know are healthy and delicious!

      Reply
    17. Stefanie says

      March 27, 2019 at 10:16 pm

      My family and I love this recipe. It’s so easy to make and always turns out perfectly. (I use almond milk and smart balance to make it vegan). It’s one of my “go to” recipes when I’m craving comfort food. Thanks!

      Reply
    « Older Comments

    Something to say? Leave a comment. Cancel reply

    Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

    Recipe Rating




    Primary Sidebar

    image of the author

    Nicole is a life long vegetarian and the author of the popular vegan cookbook, Weeknight One Pot Vegan Cooking. She loves sharing her recipes and showing the world just how easy and delicious meatless meals can be!
    Learn more here.

    signature of author

    get a free 5 day vegetarian meal plan

    shop our vegetarian and vegan cookbooks

    Trending Recipes

    • Strawberry Mojito Popsicles (Don't Forget the Rum!)
    • Thai Veggie Pizza
    • Strawberry Cheesecake Overnight Oats
    • Spinach Mushroom Frittata

    Footer

    ↑ back to top

    • Shop Cookbooks
    • About Us
    • Work with Me
    • Contact
    • Privacy Policy
    • Terms of Use

    Still hungry? Check out our delicious family of blogs.

    link to VegKitchen.com - vegan recipes website
    link to deliciouseveryday.com - a vegetarian and vegan recipes website
    link to allshecooks.com - a food blog
    link to wandertooth.com - a travel website

    As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

    Copyright © 2021 Hook & Porter Media

    16.7K shares