Xavier Soup

Xavier Soup (or Xaver Suppe) is a simple and tasty Italian soup made of a clear chicken broth or stock and filled with dumplings made with Parmesan cheese, eggs, parsley, and flour. 

Xavier soup is in honor of the feast day of St. Franis Xavier, which is December 3, early in the Advent season. 

Other than Asian-style dumplings or wrapped dumplings, I've never actually made the kind of dumplings that usually appear for example in dishes like chicken and dumplings, so I was excited to try making this soup. The dumplings, with the Parmesan cheese, are so good, and they are the star of the show in this soup. 

Ingredients in Xavier Soup:

For the Dumplings: Parmesan cheese, all-purpose flour, heavy cream, butter, eggs and egg yolks, parsley, and salt and pepper. For the pepper, I used hand-cracked tellicherry pepper from Corso Pepper for extra flavor and zip. I also included a pinch of nutmeg and cinnamon  

For the Broth: I used low sodium chicken stock and added some chopped fresh parsley. You can also make your own stock if you like. 

To Make the Soup:

First, cook the flour, cream, butter, and Parmesan together until you have a soft dough. Remove the pan from the heat, and stir in the salt, pepper, nutmeg, cinnamon, eggs, and a tablespoon of the chopped parsley. Be sure that the mixture is cool enough so that eggs do not cook. 

Next, add the dough to a piping bag fitted with a 3/4 inch wide tip and pipe the dough into 1 inch pieces. Mine were pretty fat, about 3/4 inch wide. Most ended up about 1 inch around. I was pretty happy with their size. 

Let the piped dumplings sit out on a parchment lined baking sheet at room temperature for thirty minutes. 

Bring some salted water to a boil and drop the dumplings into the water, in two or three batches, depending on the size of the pan. Cook them for about 8 to 10 minutes. If your dumplings are smaller, you can shorten the cooking time. 

Strain them out the water and add them to a pot of simmering stock. Garnish the soup with freshly chopped parsley. 

Make-Ahead Tip:

This recipe makes about 90 to 100 dumplings, clearly more than the two of us can eat in one sitting. If you keep leftovers in the chicken stock, they will become soggy and fall apart. 

To save the dumplings for leftovers, remove them from the cooking water and place them on a paper towel lined baking sheet to cool. Keep them in the refrigerator in an airtight container and then reheat them in hot chicken stock. They will keep for three or four days. You could also freeze them. 

You can also use leftover dumplings in other soups such as vegetable soup and cream of chicken soup. We were able to make several meals with these dumplings. 

My favorite was heating some turkey broth with shredded turkey and several of these dumplings and throwing in a large handful of fresh baby spinash. It was delicious and felt like a light but complete meal. 

Equipment You May Need:

2 Quart Saucepan: For cooking the dumpling ingredients. 

3 to 4 Quart Saucepan: For boiling the dumplings. 

Spider Strainer: for straining the dumplings. 

Fine Grater: for grating the Parmesan cheese. 

"X" is for Xiao, Xocolati, Xavier, XO Sauce, Xanthia, and More!

To continue the 2025 Alphabet Challenge, we are sharing recipes that begin with "X" or include ingredients or methods that that begin with "X." 

• Food Lust People Love: Homemade XO Sauce
• Mayuri’s Jikoni: Pai Huang Gua Hé Xigua
• Faith, Hope, Love, & Luck Survive Despite a Whiskered Accomplice: Rotisserie Chicken Xavier Soup with Fennel 
• Culinary Cam: The Luxurious Umami Bomb that is (Homemade) XO Sauce + How to Use it
• Palatable Pastime: Vietnamese Sesame Shrimp Noodles (Mi Xao Tom) 
• Sneha’s Recipe: Xacuti Chicken Mince Stuffed Bell Peppers#AlphabetChallenge 
• A Day in the Life on the Farm: Xanthia Cocktail
• Karen’s Kitchen Stories: Xavier Soup 
• A Messy Kitchen: Xiao Mi Zhou (Millet porridge/congee) 
• Jolene’s Recipe Journal: Xocolati- Mexican Hot Chocolate 

Last year (2024) for the letter "X," I made Brothless Ramen with XO Sauce. The noodles are wonderful and well worth making. 

If you ever are participating in a potluck with a similar challenge with a group of friends and get stumped with the letter X, you can use this list as a resource... or check out last years' posts. It's a very creative group!

Xavier Soup

Yield: 10 servings

Author: Karen Kerr

Prep time: 20 MinCook time: 20 MinInactive time: 30 HourTotal time: 30 H & 40 M

Xavier Soup (or Xaver Suppe) is a simple and tasty Italian soup made of a clear chicken broth and filled with dumplings made with Parmesan cheese, eggs, parsley, and flour. 

Ingredients

• 7 1/2 ounces (1 1/2 cups) all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter
• 2 ounces (3/4 cup) freshly grated Parmesan cheese
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1/8 teaspoon cinnamon
• 2 eggs, plus 2 egg yolks
• 3 tablespoons freshly chopped parsley, divided
• 10 cups low sodium chicken stock

Instructions

1. In a 2 quart saucepan, combine the flour, cream, butter, and Parmesan cheese. Cook over medium low heat until you have a smooth dough. Remove from the heat and stir in the salt, pepper, nutmeg, and cinnamon.
2. Let the mixture cool to lukewarm and briskly stir in the eggs and the parsley.
3. Place the dough into a piping bag fitted with a 3/4 inch tip and pip 1 inch or so pieces of the dough onto a parchment lined baking sheet. Let the dumpllings stand at room temperature, uncovered, for 30 minutes.
4. On another burner, simmer the chicken stock.
5. Bring well-salted water to a boil in a 3 to 4 quart saucepan. Add the dumplings, in batches, and cook for 8 to 10 minutes. Using a spider strainer, transfer the dumplings to the stock, add the remaining 2 tablespoons of parsley, and serve.
6. Alternatively, transfer the cooked dumplings to a paper towel lined baking sheet to save for later. See notes in post.

Nutrition Facts

Calories

273

Fat (grams)

18 g

Sat. Fat (grams)

10 g

Carbs (grams)

20 g

Fiber (grams)

1 g

Net carbs

20 g

Sugar (grams)

1 g

Protein (grams)

10 g

Cholesterol (grams)

82 mg

https://www.karenskitchenstories.com/2025/11/xavier-soup.html

Karen's Kitchen Stories

xavier, dumplings, chicken

Soup

Italian

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Inspired by various resources on the web, including my friend Jolene of Jolene's Recipe Journal.