I don’t know if you can get any more North Dakotan than knoephla/knephla soup. If your ancestors were early pioneers to this state, chances are high that you have eaten this soup. (Or if you’ve been to Kroll’s Diner, you’ve probably had it, too!)
Everyone has their own way of making it, each a little different than the other. I used to use store-bought knoephlas, but have since learned that homemade knoephla dough is fairly easy to make. I also never used to add chicken (sometimes I still don’t), but my husband always had it that way growing up, and I must say that it is quite tasty as well.
So, here’s how I make this old-fashioned soup. Keep in mind, it usually ends up a little different every time because I don’t always follow the recipe exactly as written. I’ve made it so many times that it’s just become a make-as-I-go soup, adding and tasting as needed. 🙂
Soup Ingredients:
- 1 32 oz. carton chicken broth/stock
- 1/2 small onion, minced
- 2 carrots, sliced thinly
- Celery seed, just a few shakes
- 1 bay leaf
- 3 small potatoes (or 1 large), diced
- 4 cups water
- 1 cup chopped rotisserie chicken (or canned chicken breast if you’re in a pinch) *Adding chicken is optional.
- 1-2 tsp. chicken base
- 1/2 tsp. black pepper
- 2 cups heavy cream (half & half or milk work too, but this is nice and rich)
- 1 tsp. dried parsley flakes
Knoephla Dough:
- 1 1/2 cups flour
- 1 egg
- 1/2 cup milk
- 1/4 tsp. baking powder
- 1/8 tsp. salt
Here’s what to do:
- In a stockpot or large sauce pan, combine onions, carrots, celery seed, bay leaf, and chicken broth. Bring to boil.
- In the meantime, dice the potatoes. I like to then soak the potatoes in water so they don’t change color. It looks like my three potatoes equal about 1 1/2 cups diced.
- Mix up the knoephla dough in a medium mixing bowl. It might still be a little sticky.
- By this time, the carrots and onions should be softened. Add 4 cups of water. Then drain the potatoes and add them to the soup. Return to a boil. (It doesn’t have to be a raging boil.)
- Now for the knoephla. Flour your hands and work surface. Sprinkle flour over the dough if it’s too sticky. Take a chunk of dough, roll it between your two hands, thus forming ropes. Flour your hands as needed. Cut each rope into small pieces using a scissors. Let the pieces drop right into the pot of boiling water. Continue doing this until all of your dough has been used up.
- Continue to cook until the potatoes are tender, about 10 minutes.
- Turn down heat to low. Remove the bay leaf, and add chicken (optional), pepper, chicken base (add enough to suit your taste), parsley, and cream. Sometimes I will even add a couple teaspoons of butter (I learned this from my grandma). Stir.
- If you are ready to eat, dish up. I like to let my soup sit covered on the burner for 30 minutes or so before serving. I think it just gets better with time.
Yum! On a cold day, this is the best! 🙂
*I have also tried making knoephla using a spaetzle maker. While it was easy and fairly mess-free, I still prefer the taste and texture of the hand-cut knoephlas.
*Store-bought spaetzles are also another great, time-saving substitute for hand-cut knoephla.
I hope you are having a warm and wonderful day.
And if you are going to be eating knoephla soup, enjoy the taste of North Dakota!
Do you use 2 cartons of chicken broth?
LikeLike
Reply
I use one, but you could certainly use two and then reduce the amount of chicken base added at the end.
LikeLike
Reply
When you cover it & leave it on the burner, is the burner still on?
LikeLike
Reply
Sometimes I leave it on low, and sometimes I shut it off. If you leave it on, be sure to stir it occassionally.
LikeLike
Reply
This sounds very much like Knoepfle-Soup from Schwaben in the Southeast of Germany. I wonder whether people from Schwaben went to Northdakota and brought the recipe with them. As people from Schwaben were and still are penny-sticklers, the original recipe might very well be made from veggie broth or soup with Knoepfle, and the chicken left for Sundays or special occasion.
LikeLike
Reply
I would guess that you are right! From my understanding, this recipe came over with the Germans from Russia when they immigrated to North Dakota. My ancestors were originally from Germany, but then moved to Russia, and then moved to North Dakota around 1900.
See AlsoTahini Sheet Pan Chicken and Roasted Vegetables • Homemaker's Habitat3 delicious old-fashioned country fried chicken recipes from the '50s - Click AmericanaCasserole Recipes With Chicken - G/DF Options | Your New Foods27 Best Ground Veal Recipes You'll LoveAs for the chicken, sometimes I add it and sometimes I don’t. I usually add it if I have leftover chicken to use up. I like it without as well. 🙂
Thanks for commenting!
LikeLike
Reply
Do you add the 4 cups of water to the chicken soup or is that used to boil the kneophla and potatoes? When do you add the base and the heavy cream?
LikeLike
Reply
Hi, I add the 4 cups of water to the chicken broth/carrot/onion mixture (Step 4). I always add the cream and chicken base after the potatoes are done (step 7). Hope that helps!
LikeLike
Reply
My Mother was from Denhoff ND She made these but sometimes she would just boil them in water with potatoes then fry them in lard with the potatoes and little cubes of bread I make them but I live in Louisiana now and they have no idea what to do with them LOL
LikeLiked by 1 person
Reply
I love fried knoephla! Yum!
LikeLike
Reply
My grandma Schneider was from Goodrich and she use to do the same thing with her knephlas. Yummy
LikeLike
Reply
Your only limits are set by your imagination. You have some amazing food down there that could pair with this. Fried Knoephla with crawfish would be absolutely Awesome!!! Or boiled with shrimp… It would be like a northern version of Jambalaya using the Knoephla instead of rice. Imagine fried Knoephla topping off a seafood boil. Using a stiffer Knoephla would be a good idea going this route. Just add a little more flour.
LikeLike
Reply
knoephla is a german soup, wonderfulthat its part of north dakota trdition
LikeLike
Reply
Great recipe ! I followed the directions exactly as written and my soup turned out absolutely delicious !! Thank you !
LikeLike
Reply
Thank you! I’m so glad to hear you liked it!
LikeLike
Reply
Oh … Except I used actual celery not celery seed… Bowl is half gone prior to photo ð
Sent from Yahoo Mail for iPad
LikeLike
We also like to make knoephla separate, cooked in chicken or beef broth and added to a large cast iron fry pan of cooked diced potato, onion, celery and thin sliced beef sausage. Sometimes I change it up depending on what vegetable is in the frig.
LikeLike
Reply
That sounds delicious!
LikeLike
Reply
I’m a western North Dakota native. One grandma was a German immigrant from Russia and Grandpa a German immigrant from Germany. They lived in Hebron ND… growing up, my mom made nip about 3x a month. The recipe I grew up with was flour, water, and salt for the dough, boil it, then add it to a frying pan that had bread crumbs fried in butter and heat it through. As an adult, once all my sisters and I could afford it, we added hamburger to the frying pan, and sometimes put sauerkraut over the top. All 5 of us kids migrated to Kansas as adults, but about 3x a year one of us makes a HUGE batch of nip and all the rest come eat it! Thanks for the memories 🙂 Marcy (Kateley) Harlan
LikeLike
Reply
Thank you for this! I love knoephla and kraut as well, yet almost never take the time to make it. I may have to do that this week. 😊
LikeLike
Reply
Scrolling to find recipe, cause i was too lazy to look thru my recipies for my Moms. SW ND girl here, so was happy to see this blog. Yes Grandparents were Germans from Russia. Many family recipies handed down.
It made up a nice size pot. Its simmering now, cant wait to have some for dinner, taste tests were awesome!! ThanksLikeLike
Reply
I tripled the batch and was very good. What I did for the dumplings is, I added chicken base to the flour to give them more of a flavor. Turned out good, I like them just as good as the recipe called for. I didn’t have celery seeds so I just used celery leaves. I also added some butter at the end of the cooking right after I put the cream in.
LikeLike
Reply
This is the most tasteless soup I’ve ever made . I went over the recipe a few times to see if I had missed something, nope.
LikeLike
Reply
Recipe says to add soup base to your taste 👍
LikeLike
Reply
can you boil knephla the night before to make a hot dish the next day
LikeLike
Reply
Yes, I have made it ahead of time and it works just fine. 🙂
LikeLike
Reply
This recipe sounds wonderful 😋! I can’t wait for winter to make this,as I live in central Florida and it’s hot as Hades here now in mid August.
LikeLike
Reply
I’ve made this with beef shanks we called it pinch noodle soup I’ll have to try this sounds scrumptious
LikeLike
Reply
Can’t wait to try that your recipe out!
I’m first generation American Hungarian.
Soup was a staple in our home growing up.
We call those lucios dumplings nokedli.
Also served with chicken paprikash.
Yummm !LikeLike
Reply
