You want to know what the best soup from North Dakota is? It's knoephla soup and it has potatoes, onion, carrots, celery, and homemade or store-bought dumplings. It's creamy and rich, plus very easy to make.

Kneophla soup is such a comforting and hearty recipe and if you've never had this soup before you're in for a treat.
Do you love recipes from the Midwest region? Try my Pan Seared Lemon Pepper Walleye recipe.
Make some homemade No Knead Crusty Artisan Bread to serve on the side for dipping.
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Homemade or Store Bought Knoephla
If you're a semi-homemade cook like me, you will just want to go straight to the freezer section at the grocery store and pick up a bag of dumplings. Frozen dumplings are usually done when they float to the top of the soup. That’s what I do a lot actually. There’s nothing wrong with semi-homemade and using short cut ingredients like this easy to keep in the freezer.
It doesn’t take much to make the homemade dumplings. I apologize for not having a step-by-step photo of making homemade knoephla. Roll the dough out into long ropes and cut them into little pieces. It's very similar to making homemade soft pretzel bites
What Ingredients do I need?
- Chicken broth - The best type of chicken stock to use is one that is homemade. For canned stock, I look for ones that say reduced sodium or fat free.
- Celery - diced
- Carrots - are not listed in the recipe below but you can surely add them if you like
- Potatoes - Some good options include Idaho potatoes, Yukon gold potatoes, and red potatoes. It's generally recommended to avoid using Russet potatoes as they tend to break down easily.
- Bay leaves - Bay leaves are available in dried or fresh form and can be found in most grocery stores.
- Salt & pepper - to taste
- Garlic powder - Is made from dehydrated garlic cloves and like the chili powder above it gets pulverized into a powder or flour consistency.
- Heavy Cream - Can sub any type of milk if you wish instead of cream but cream is the best.
- Knoephla Dough a German dumpling
- Flour - I have only tested this recipe with all purpose flour.
- Baking powder
- Salt
- See the recipe card below for a full list of ingredients and measurements.

How to Make Knoephla Soup
- In a big soup pot add water and broth, then add onion, celery, potatoes, bouillon cubes, and spices. Boil until potatoes are done, about 12-15 minutes.
- Knoephla Dough | German dumpling: Mix flour, salt, and baking powder together to make a fairly stiff dough. Add eough water to make the dough stiff — ¾ cups or more depending on how much gluten is in your flour. You can use milk in place of the water — some here do.
- Roll into ½ inch ropes and cut with a pair of scissors into ½ inch pieces right into the simmering soup.
- Add cream and knoepfla to soup pot. Simmer 30-40 minutes.
- This is a very hearty soup and wonderful on a cold day! Especially here in North Dakota! Brrrrr
Recipe FAQS
When I make soup I like to use a lower sodium chicken stock a to control the amount of salt added. Usually the chicken stock will state if it's lower sodium on the box. Bouillion cubes are great and convenient to have on hand, but I think they can overpower a soup sometimes and make it seem like it's way too salty.
For Knoephla Soup, it is best to use wax potatoes such as red or yellow potatoes, as they hold their shape well and do not become mushy when boiled. My favorite type of potatoes for knoephla soup is yukon gold.
Potatoes can take anywhere from 20 to 30 minutes to simmer on the stove. Depending on what type and size the potato is. I recommend taking a fork and piercing the potato after it has simmered on the stovetop to check and see if it's done. A fork should come out of potato easy when it's ready.
North Dakota is a very cold state and it can get to -20 below out some days, depending on which part of North Dakota you live in. Some days I wonder why I live here? Being half German half Norwegian, I wanted to feature more recipes such as knoephla soup. It’s creamy, rich, very hearty, and very comforting to make on a cold day like today. If you visit North Dakota, check out Fargo and the Badlands out West. It's pretty flat until you get out in that direction.
Other Recipes to Try
Healthy 3 Ingredient Chocolate Muffins
If you tried this Knoephla Soup or any other recipe on my website, please please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how you go in the 📝 comments below. I love hearing from you! Follow along on Tiktok @jennarecipediaries
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Knoephla Soup Recipe
- Prep Time: 10 min
- Cook Time: 30-40min
- Total Time: 10 min
- Yield: 8 1x
Description
You want to know what the best soup from North Dakota is? It's knoephla soup and it has potatoes, onion, carrots, celery, and homemade or store-bought dumplings. It's creamy and rich, plus very easy to make.
Ingredients
- 4 cups water
- 2 cups chicken broth
- 1 large onion, diced
- 1 stalk celery, diced
- 2 cups potatoes, diced
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon pepper
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 cup cream
- Knoephla Dough a German dumpling
- 3 cups flour
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
- ¾ teaspoon salt
Instructions
- In a big soup pot add water and broth, then add onion, celery, potatoes, and spices. Boil until potatoes are done, about 12-15 minutes.
- Knoephla Dough | German dumpling: Mix flour, salt, and baking powder together to make a fairly stiff dough. Add eough water to make the dough stiff — ¾ cups or more depending on how much gluten is in your flour. You can use milk in place of the water — some here do.
- Roll into ½ inch ropes and cut with a pair of scissors into ½ inch pieces right into the simmering soup.
- Add cream and knoephla to soup pot. Simmer 30-40 minutes.
- This is a very hearty soup and wonderful on a cold day! Especially here in North Dakota! Brrrrr
Notes
Recipe adapted from Food.com
- Category: Easy
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 cup
- Calories: 356
- Sugar: 3g
- Sodium: 555mg
- Fat: 5g
- Saturated Fat: 2g
- Carbohydrates: 63g
- Fiber: 3g
- Protein: 11g
Keywords: knoephla soup recipe
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Thalia @ butter and brioche says
Never heard of knoephla soup before but if it is as delicious as you make it look and sound I must recreate the recipe. Thanks for sharing it, Pinned!