Beef Dumpling Soup is a hearty and comforting dish perfect for chilly days. Tender beef shank, short ribs, an assortment of vegetables, and aromatic spices create a rich and flavorful broth topped with dumplings made from white cornmeal and cheese.
This recipe is a labor of love, but the result is a warm and satisfying bowl of soup that will become a new family favorite. So grab your apron and prepare a delicious batch of Beef Dumpling Soup!
How to Make Beef Dumpling Soup
Note: The full instructions are provided in the recipe card below.
Heat the oil in a large stockpot over medium heat for about 1 minute—Brown the ribs well on both sides.
Add the onions, poblano pepper, tomatoes, chili pepper, Beef Flavor Bouillon, and garlic and cook until the vegetables soften, about 10 minutes, constantly stirring with a wooden spoon.
Cover abundantly with hot water and boil (the liquid must always cover the meat and vegetables), then let simmer for about 1-½ hours. Meanwhile, combine the cornmeal and cheese in a large bowl.
There are about 6 ladles of chicken broth (be sure to add just enough to make it a moist dough). Mix it with a wooden spoon or fork. Knead the dough briefly with your hands until you have a smooth, homogenous mixture.
Pinch off a bit of dough (about a tablespoon) with your fingertips and use the palms of your hands to form a ball approximately 1 inch in diameter. Place your Vori Vori on a plate and repeat this until you have used up all the dough.
Next, cover the Vori Vori with plastic wrap and let it rest at room temperature for 10 minutes to rehydrate or refrigerate until needed. Add the sweet potato, white potato, bay leaf, oregano, and squash to the Beef Dumpling Soup.
Cover and cook until the vegetables are tender, about 30 minutes, or until the soup reaches the desired consistency. Taste and adjust the season with salt and pepper, if needed.
Gently add the balls of dough (do this slowly, one or two at a time, so that they don’t fall apart). They will sink to the bottom of the pot, but little by little, during their cooking time, they will begin to float to the surface.
Add the chopped cilantro and green onion and gently shake the pot to combine. Simmer the Beef Dumpling Soup for 10 minutes, stirring carefully or gently shaking the pot occasionally so the dumplings don’t break.
Add the lemon juice, serve beef dumpling soup into bowls, sprinkle with chopped cilantro or parsley, and serve with cooked yuca or a slice of crusty bread and a wedge of lime. Enjoy our Beef Dumpling Soup!
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📖 Recipe
Easy Beef Dumpling Soup
Ingredients
For the Vori Vori (Dumplings):
- 500 g precooked P.A.N white cornmeal or Maseca. (I use P.A.N. brand)
- 250 g shredded mozzarella cheese , farmers cheese, or shredded Parmesan cheese
For the beef soup:
- 2 lb Beef shank
- 3 lb Beef Bone-in short ribs
- 2 large onions , chopped
- 7 large cloves garlic , finely chopped
- 7 carrots , peeled and cut into chunks
- 1 acorn squash (about 3 ½ pounds), peeled, seeded, and cut into 1-inch chunks
- 5 large tomatoes , chopped
- 2 large Poblano pepper or bell pepper , chopped
- 1 large sweet potato , peeled and cut into 1-inch pieces.
- 1 large Yukon gold potato , peeled and cut into 1-inch chunks
- 2-½ Tablespoons Knorr Beef Flavor Bouillon , to taste
- kosher salt to taste
- ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper , to taste
- ¼ teaspoons red paper flakes , to taste
- 16 cup hot water
- 2 whole ear corn , cut crosswise into ½ inch slices
- 1 cup frozen corn kernels
- 4 tablespoons Olive oil or canola oil
- Juice from 1 or 2 large lime , to taste
Instructions
- Heat the oil in a large stockpot over medium heat, about 1 minute—Brown the ribs well on both sides. Add the onions, poblano pepper, tomatoes, chili pepper,Beef Flavor Bouillon, and garlic and cook until the vegetables soften, about 10 minutes, constantly stirring with a wooden spoon.
- Cover abundantly with hot water, and bring to a boil (the liquid must always be covering the meat and vegetables), then let cook at a simmer for about 1-½ hours.
- Meanwhile, in a large bowl, combine the cornmeal and cheese. Ladles about 6 ladles of the chicken broth (be sure to add just enough chicken broth to make it moist dough) and mix with a wooden spoon or fork. Knead the dough briefly with your hands until you have a smooth, homogenous mixture.
- Pinch off a bit of dough (about a tablespoon) with your fingertips and use the palms of your hands to form a ball of approximately 1 inch in diameter.
- Place your Vori Vori on a plate and repeat this step until you have used up all the dough. Next, cover the Vori Vori with plastic wrap and let it rest at room temperature for 10 minutes to let rehydrate or refrigerate until needed.
- Add the sweet potato, white potatoes, bay leaf, oregano, and squash to the chicken soup. Cover and cook until the vegetables are tender for about 30 minutes or until it reaches desired consistency. Taste and adjust the season with salt and pepper, if needed.
- Gently add the balls of dough (do this slowly, one or two at a time, so that they don’t fall apart, it will sink to the bottom of the pot, but little by little during their cooking time, they will begin to float to the surface) Add the chopped cilantro and green onion and gently shake the pot, to combine.
- Simmer the Beef Dumpling Soup for 10 minutes, stirring very carefully, or gently shake the pot so that they don’t break every once in a while. Add the lemon juice, serve beef dumpling soup into bowls, sprinkle with chopped cilantro or parsley, and serve with cooked yuca or a slice of crusty bread and a wedge of lime. Enjoy our Beef Dumpling Soup!
Notes
- To store: Allow it to cool to room temperature before transferring it to an airtight container.
- To reheat: You can make the soup on the stovetop or microwave. If reheating on the stovetop, transfer the Beef Dumpling Soup to a pot and heat it over medium heat until it is heated, stirring occasionally. If the soup has thickened, add a little water or broth to thin it out.
After reheating, the dumplings may become softer and less firm, but they should still be flavorful and delicious. Be careful not to overheat the soup, as the dumplings can become mushy if overcooked. Make-Ahead Beef Dumpling Soup is a great make-ahead meal. You can prepare it up to two days in advance and store it in the refrigerator until ready to serve. This is a great option to save time on the day you plan to make the soup. To make ahead, follow the recipe, allowing the soup to cool to room temperature after cooking. Once cooled, transfer the soup to an airtight container and store it in the refrigerator until ready to serve. When you are prepared to reheat the soup on the stovetop or in the microwave according to the instructions in the above. The dumplings may become softer after storing the Beef Dumpling Soup in the refrigerator, but they should still be tasty and enjoyable. You may also need to add some water or broth to the soup when reheating if it has thickened up.
All nutritional information is based on third-party calculations and is only an estimate. Each recipe and nutritional value will vary depending on the brands you use, measuring methods, and portion sizes per household.
