Low-carb chicken and dumplings for when it’s cold outside and you’re trying to stay keto

It’s comfort food season.

With colder temperatures come a desire to cozy up and make something warm, usually a soup or a stew, but sometimes a butter-covered carbohydrate, too.

If you’re on a ketogenic (or other low-carb) diet, it can be hard to find low-carb, high-protein meals that are worth getting nostalgic about. Austin blogger Jennifer Marie Garza offers a solution in her new book, “Keto Friendly Recipes: Easy Keto for Busy People” (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, $22.99): chicken and with flour-free dumplings. (OK, her recipe calls for coconut flour, but it’s grain-free.)

The key to the dumpling’s consistency is the mozzarella, egg yolks and xanthan gum, which combine to make just the right texture and taste to go along with the homemade chicken soup. Garza, who gained an internet following through her popular Facebook group, “Keto Friendly Recipes,” says that even her non-keto friends love this recipe, and she points out that the dumplings don’t need to cook for very long. You’ll also need a silicone mat and a rolling pin to make them, but this technique will come in handy this winter when you want to make any kind of dumpling soup.

Chicken And Dumpling Soup

The dumplings in this recipe are really special. Served in a warm soup, they take on the flavors of the stock, with a texture you may remember from childhood. The trick to successful keto dumplings is to roll them out thick and put them in the pot just before serving because they don’t need a long time to cook. This recipe is well-loved by my non-keto friends too! You could use store-bought rotisserie chicken meat, which you’d add to the soup after cooking the vegetables. — Jennifer Marie Garza

• For the soup:

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

2 pounds bone-in skin-on chicken thighs

Salt and black pepper

4 stalks celery, chopped

3 cloves garlic, chopped

2 tablespoons fresh thyme (or 2 teaspoons dried thyme)

2 cups homemade or store-bought chicken broth

8 tablespoons butter, melted

2 bay leaves

• For the dumplings:

1/2 cup coconut flour

2 cups shredded part-skim low-moisture mozzarella cheese

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon xanthan gum

3 large egg yolks

To make the soup: In a large Dutch oven, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat. Season the chicken all over with salt and pepper. Add the chicken to the pot and brown for 4 to 6 minutes per side. Transfer the chicken to a plate and set aside.

Add the celery, onion, garlic and thyme to the pot and cook, stirring, until soft, 5 to 7 minutes. Add 4 cups water, the stock, melted butter, and bay leaves and stir to combine. Add the chicken back, bring the mixture to a boil, lower the heat to medium-low, and simmer for 20 minutes, until the chicken is cooked through.

Transfer the chicken to a cutting board and shred the meat from the bones with a fork. Discard the bones (or save to make the stovetop chicken stock below). Add the shredded chicken back to the Dutch oven and cook for another 10 minutes, until heated through.

To make the dumplings: Have a silicone mat ready. Place the mozzarella in a microwave-safe bowl and heat in the micro wave oven until fully melted, about 1 1/2 minutes. Add the coconut flour, baking powder, xanthan gum and egg yolks and mix together. It will make a stiff dough.

Transfer the dough to the silicone mat and knead until smooth. Using a rolling pin, roll out the dough to the edges of the mat, or until it’s 1/2-inch thick. Using a pizza cutter or a sharp knife, gently cut strips of dough about 1 inch wide. Sprinkle the strips with a bit of coconut flour so they don’t stick to one another.

Just before serving, carefully add the strips to the soup, 4 or 5 at a time so they won’t stick to each other, and cook very gently for 2 to 3 minutes. For a creamier soup, stir in 1/2 cup heavy cream after the dumplings have cooked. Serve immediately. Serves 6.

— From “Keto Friendly Recipes: Easy Keto for Busy People” by Jennifer Marie Garza (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, $22.99)

Stovetop Chicken Noodle Soup

2 to 4 pounds raw or roasted chicken bones

1 onion, peel on, trimmed and chopped into large chunks

2 stalks celery, coarsely chopped

2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar

1 tablespoon pink Himalayan salt

2 sprigs fresh rosemary

Combine 20 cups water and all the ingredients in a large soup pot. Bring to a boil over high heat, lower the heat, and simmer for at least 6 hours or up to 12 hours. Skim off any foam that forms during the first couple hours of cooking. Stir occasionally and add water as needed; the water should cover the bones completely. Strain the stock into a large bowl and discard the solids. Let the stock cool.

Store the cooled stock in a covered container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days, or in the freezer for up to 4 months. Be sure to leave a little extra room at the top of the container to allow for expansion as the stock freezes.

— From “Keto Friendly Recipes: Easy Keto for Busy People” by Jennifer Marie Garza (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, $22.99)