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This cozy tomato dumpling soup is filled with dumplings made of ricotta and Parmesan cheese and flavored with fresh basil.
I first saw this soup recipe in a cookbook from my mother-in-law. The thought of a tomato dumpling soup sounded so intriguing that it stuck in my mind. Luckily, we have fresh basil at our local farmers market in the winter, thanks to the wonders of hydroponic growing.
Alex and I decided to use an upcoming dinner with dear friends as an excuse to pair local winter basil with a warming soup, and it was a huge hit. It’s tangy and comforting, punctuated by doughy savory dumplings. Here’s a few tips and the recipe!
Tips for tomato dumpling soup
What’s not to love about dumplings? They’re homey, comforting, and in the middle of tomato soup they’re like a deconstructed sort of pizza. The recipe is easy enough for a weeknight, but splashy enough to work for a special dinner. Here are a few notes about this tomato dumpling soup recipe:
- Making tomato dumpling soup is truly simple: just saute minced garlic, then add tomatoes, veggie broth, and chopped basil and simmer.
- Man, these dumplings are SO GOOD. They’re made simply with flour, ricotta cheese, Parmesan cheese, and egg. If you’d like, you can substitute in up to ⅓ whole wheat flour for a heartier flavor.
- After mixing the dumpling dough, you place them right into the soup to cook. It’s so fun to watch them turn from dough blogs into delicious dumplings!
More cozy tomato soup recipes
Once you’ve made one delicious tomato dumpling soup, it’s hard not to want to make another! We’ve got several delicious and cozy soup recipes here, so here are a few variations on the theme:
- Tomato Basil Gnocchi Soup is a similar concept, but it uses store-bought gnocchi, basically little pasta dough-balls!
- Tomato Artichoke Soup is one of our fan favorite deliciously cozy tomato soup recipes, It adds artichokes to give it a slight tang, and homemade garlic croutons.
- Creamy Vegan Tomato Soup is another fan favorite, made creamy using cashews and no dairy. We like to garnish with star-shaped toasts!
Dietary notes
This tomato dumpling soup recipe is vegetarian.
Tomato Dumpling Soup
This cozy tomato dumpling soup is filled with dumplings made of ricotta and Parmesan cheese and flavored with fresh basil.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 4 1x
- Category: Main Dish
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
- 4 garlic cloves
- ½ cup basil leaves, chopped, plus additional for serving
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 pinch red pepper flakes
- 28-ounce can crushed tomatoes
- 3 cups vegetable broth
- 1 ½ teaspoons kosher salt, divided
- ¾ teaspoon fresh ground black pepper, divided
- 1 cup ricotta cheese
- 1 cup Parmesan cheese, plus additional for serving
- 2 eggs
- 1 ⅓ cup all purpose flour
Instructions
- Mince the garlic. Chop the basil leaves.
- In a large pot, add the olive oil and heat over medium heat. Add garlic and red pepper flakes; sauté about 1 minute, until just starting to brown. Add canned tomatoes and their liquid, vegetable broth, chopped basil, ½ teaspoon kosher salt and ¼ teaspoon fresh ground black pepper. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer about 7 to 8 minutes.
- Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, combine the ricotta cheese, the Parmesan cheese, eggs, flour, 1 teaspoon kosher salt, and ½ teaspoon fresh ground pepper. Stir until a dough forms. Roll the dumplings into small balls (about 48). After the soup has simmered, place the dumplings in the soup and cook until solid, 5 to 10 minutes.
- Thinly slice (chiffonade) a few extra basil leaves, and grate some Parmesan cheese. Serve the soup warm garnished with basil and Parmesan.
Notes
Adapted from Quick Vegetarian Main Dishes by The Pampered Chef
This soup is delicious. I am a both a dumpling and tomato soup lover so this is the perfect combo. Thanks for a great recipe.
Delicious! The only thing is the dough was super super sticky for me, to the point it was hard to roll into a ball. I don’t know if I just needed to add more flour or what! Flavors of everything were great though.
I used to make this recipe all the time before I knew I was GF & was really missing it. I tried it once before with a GF flour (don’t remember what) & it failed miserably with the dumplings just falling apart into mush bits. I tried it again tonight with 1 cup bobs red mill general purpose GF flour & 1/3 c a GF bisquick mix, & I boiled the dumplings in water (cook them until they float, 5 mins or so) & then added them to the soup to serve. It turned out perfectly! Next time I may try cooking the dumplings in the soup again, but I wonder if the rolling boil of the water is what helped hold them together. Anyways it’s perfect & delicious & GF!
Oh we are SO glad to hear this! This is a fabulous tip for people who are GF and want to make this recipe. Thank you for sharing this!
I can’t say enough good things about this soup-delicious, satisfyingly, and goes together quickly and easily. I sprinkled flour over dumplings after making them which mak soup a bit thicker, Delcious!
hi did we ever hear back from Rochelle about the success with gluten free flour..
I wanted to make this tonight and I have to use gluten free as well..
I adore this soup! I’ve made it quite a few times and just love it! Thanks so much for posting this fabulous recipe!
Yum. Made these tonight and I will definitely be recommending them! Anything that helps kids eat their veggies is great to me.
Jennifer A. Gardner, MD, FAAP, Founder, Healthy Kids Company
http://www.healthykidscompany.com
I’m breaking the rules and making this is July. No alternative use for the basil I just trimmed sounds nearly as appetizing!
Do it! This soup is wonderful no matter the season :) Hope you enjoy!
We just had this for dinner. Very delicious!
Great – so glad you enjoyed it! This is one of our recent favorites :)
I made this tonight – not only was it super easy and quick to put together, it was delicious. Those dumplings!! I stuck to the recipe but added some fresh thyme and oregano along with the basil. A great go-to recipe that I will be making again (along with those pesto little gems). Thanks, Sonja!
So glad it worked out and was tasty too :) I can’t wait to make it again — dumplings make everything better! Thanks for writing.
I have a feeling this is going to be my new favourite dish. Wow. I love everything about it. I’m a sucker for a really good tomato soup. The ricotta dumplings sound perfect! I cannot wait to give it a shot.
I made this soup along with some easy soft pretzels for dinner during the Oscars last night. So great! I don’t love ricotta cheese, it lacks flavor for me, but the parmesan was a great touch for added flavor. Definitely will be putting this recipe in the winter weekday meal rotation because it was very quick to come together, as well.
Oh, wonderful — I’m so glad to hear it was a hit! I agree – I’m not a huge ricotta fan either, but these have great flavor. If you like them, you might also like our ricotta dumplings with pesto as well!
Looks yummy!!
It’s been snowing here so your tomato basil soup is looking so cozy and comforting! I love your idea of ricotta dumplings to add a real treat to the soup! Delicious, I tell ya!
We have basil galore over here, but I definitely crave it in tomato soup this time of year. Looking forward to trying this – what is it about dumplings that make any soup seem so much more fun? (You will not be surprised to hear that things are not at all winter-like on this side of the world. ;) I was just in a province on the border of Cambodia yesterday and it was breathtaking – warm breeze and perfect blue skies.)
I agree – dumplings make anything more fun! I am so jealous of your weather, fresh basil — and your location :)
Such a great lookin soup and I love the idea of ricotta dumplings.
This looks awesome! I’m always on the hunt for another way to eat tomato soup and ricotta dumplings sound wonderful. Looking forward to trying this before the warm weather gets here.
you guys have great recipes!!
I definitely don’t eat enough dumplings! This soup sounds like the best lunch–full of rich tomato and punched up with cheesy bites. Hey, it’s almost a deconstructed grilled cheese!
Haha, yes — deconstructed grilled cheese, pizza, gnocchi — whatever the case, we loved it!
This looks absolutely lovely! Awesome recipe!
MMMM, yum. Soft ricotta dumplings would be perfect in tomato soup. Like a kind of inverse gnocchi? Delish.
I’ve found a ton of soup recipes lately that feature summer ingredients yet still seem to feel like spring…with the dumplings, though, this is definitely cold weather appropriate! Delicious!
Ricotta dumplings??? Sign me up! Lovely light in that photo. Gorgeous!
Ooh, I volunteer to test with gluten free flour! Pinning this to try soon. Thanks!
Please do! Let me know if you try it, and we’ll update the recipe!