One of the most famous Czech soups is a liver dumpling soup. I'll show you a simple recipe on how to make homemade chicken liver dumplings from scratch. These are so delicious!
➜ About liver dumplings for soup
Czechs add liver dumplings to soups based on clear broths, mainly beef or chicken ones. Clear beef broth with liver dumplings is a popular dish in Czech cuisine. It is a traditional first course for holiday meals.
FUN FACT: In some families, liver dumplings are boiled separately in a large pot of salt water and added to the soup already cooked. This is because the dumplings can make the broth slightly muddy during cooking. On the other hand, dumplings cooked directly in the broth can boost their flavor. That's the reason why I personally boil the dumplings in the soup.
MY TIP: If you like Bohemian soups, try cesneska, traditional hangover garlic soup!
➜ Pronunciation
The Czech name for liver dumplings is "játrové knedlíčky." To give you an idea of how to pronounce this Czech word, I have recorded a short audio clip for you.
➜ Ingredients
To make Czech liver dumpling dough, you will need:
- Chicken livers; this organ meat is tender and contains very little gristle. Even if you are a cooking beginner, chicken livers are very friendly to prepare and clean before you use them for cooking. Another option is to use beef liver, but this needs to be cleaned well first. If you can't get liver in a regular store, try a local butcher.
- Garlic; fresh, peeled, and sliced
- Egg; it helps the liver dumplings to stick together and not fall apart while cooking.
- Breadcrumbs; made from dried French baguette or old white bread dinner rolls (more on this later in the article)
- Unsalted butter; softened at room temperature
- Dried marjoram, typical Czech spice that makes food a real Czech thing!
- Salt
- Black pepper; freshly ground
Prepare also clear chicken or beef soup into which you drop the dumplings to simmer.
✅ You’ll find the exact amount of ingredients below in the recipe card, which you can also print out.
➜ Instructions with photos
STEP 1: Rid the chicken livers of any visible white veins. Place them in a food processor and blend for a few seconds.
STEP 2: Add peeled and sliced garlic, an egg, dried marjoram, softened butter, salt, and ground black pepper. Mix again.
STEP 3: Transfer the mixture to the bowl, and add breadcrumbs. Stir until combined.
STEP 4: Let the mixture sit for 30 minutes. Don't worry that the mixture is runny; it will get stiffer over time.
STEP 5: Shape the liver duplings. There are two possible ways:
Method 1: If you want beautifully round dumplings
Dump the mixture onto a work surface dusted with breadcrumbs. Quickly use your hands to form a cylinder. Dip your hands in water. Scoop out an equal amount of the mixture. Roll a ball between your wet hands about 1 ½ inch (4 cm) in diameter. Drop it into the simmering broth. Quickly proceed to shape the dumplings further.
Method 2: If you want to make dumplings quickly
Using two spoons dipped in water, scoop up the mixture and shape it as round as possible. Drop the dumpling into the simmering broth.
Here you see the difference between a hand-shaped round dumpling (left) and a spoon-shaped one (right):
STEP 5: Cook the dumplings in a simmering broth for about 5 minutes. During this time, the dumplings will come up to the surface.
➜ Serving
Serve the liver dumplings as part of the soup you cooked them in. Depending on their size, about 3-5 dumplings should go on a soup plate.
➜ Breadcrumbs for liver dumplings
Traditional Czech liver dumplings do not include flour but breadcrumbs. Czechs prepare breadcrumbs from dried plain white bread. A typical example is a French baguette, veka bread, rohliky bread rolls, or housky braided rolls.
Grind the dried white bread on a hand grinder with a cheese grating insert. For fine breadcrumbs, grind down the dry bread in a food processor.
➜ How to freeze liver dumplings
If you intend to make liver dumplings for a stock, boil them in salted water. Cool the just-cooked dumplings briefly in cold water - they will not dry out and will remain soft.
Once the dumplings have cooled completely, place them in an airtight container and freeze.
➜ Useful tips
- If the liver dumpling mixture is still too runny after 30 minutes, add a tablespoon or two of breadcrumbs, stir, and let rest for another 5 minutes.
- The mixture for the liver dumplings should be soft, not too stiff. Otherwise, the dumplings will also be tough and will tend to fall apart when cooked.
- The dough for liver dumplings should have a sharper taste. The broth or water will take away some of the flavors while boiling.
You'll also find this soup in Germany, which borders the Czech Republic to the west. Germans call the soup "Leberknödelsuppe" – literally translated as soup with liver dumplings.
More tasty recipes
Tried this recipe?
Leave a review down in the comments! ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Follow me on Facebook and Pinterest. Subscribe to my newsletter. Send me any question about Czech cuisine to my e-mail. I love hearing your feedback!
Chicken Liver Dumplings for Soup
Ingredients
- 7 ounces chicken livers (200 g)
- 3 cloves of garlic
- 1 egg
- ½ cup breadcrumbs (60 g) plus for dusting the work surface
- 1 Tablespoon unsalted butter softened at room temperature
- ½ Tablespoon dried marjoram
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ⅛ teaspoon black pepper ground
Instructions
- Rid the chicken livers of any visible white veins. Place them in a food processor and blend for a few seconds.
- Add peeled and sliced garlic, an egg, dried marjoram, softened butter, salt, and ground black pepper. Mix again.
- Transfer the mixture to the bowl, add breadcrumbs. Stir until combined.
- Let the mixture sit for 30 minutes. Don't worry that the mixture is runny; it will get stiffer over time.
Shaping liver dumplings (2 methods):
- For beautifully round dumplings: Dump the mixture onto a work surface dusted with breadcrumbs. Quickly use your hands to form a cylinder. Dip your hands in water. Scoop out an equal amount of the mixture. Roll a ball between your palms about 1 ½ inch (4 cm) in diameter. Drop it into the simmering broth. Quickly proceed to shape the dumplings further.
- If you want to make dumplings quickly: Using two spoons dipped in water, scoop up the mixture and shape it as round as possible. Drop the dumpling into the simmering broth.
- Cook the dumplings in a simmering broth for about 5 minutes. During this time, the dumplings will come to the surface.
Notes
- Makes about 15-18 dumplings (depending on their size).
- SERVING: Serve the liver dumplings as part of the soup you cooked them in. About 3-5 dumplings should go on a soup plate.
- If the liver dumpling mixture is still too runny after 30 minutes, add a tablespoon or two of breadcrumbs, stir, and let rest for another 5 minutes.
- The dough for liver dumplings should have a sharper taste. The broth or water will take away some of the flavors during the boiling process.
DISCLAIMER: Because I come from Central Europe, my recipes are based on metric units such as grams or milliliters. Check out how I convert metric units to the U.S. system:
Conversion chart
Donna
Fantastic! Quick question, do have a recipe for the broth?
Thanks for creating this.
And hello from Canada!
Petra Kupská
Thank you! 🙂 I do have a recipe for beef broth. Unfortunately, I lack the time to take nice process shots, write the recipe down and publish it :/ You can find the basic broth recipe here: https://www.cooklikeczechs.com/rajska-omacka-czech-style-tomato-sauce/
However, I know root vegetables are not so common in the US. All I need is to make some research to introduce "friendly" and foolproof broth recipe 🙂
Urich
Can you freeze the liver balls raw? And cook them later when needed?
Petra Kupská
Hi Urich, thank you for your comment. You can freeze these liver dumplings in their raw state. To prevent the dumplings from sticking to each other when freezing, it is a good idea to pre-freeze them stacked on a flat plate. After two hours, divide the dumplings into plastic bags or airtight containers and return them to the freezer. The dumplings will keep in the freezer for at least 3 months.
Joe
I made this for my pregnant wife since the liver is high in vitamins and minerals. I will certainly be making it again.
Initially I had a hard time finding chicken liver, although beef liver is pretty common at my local grocery stores. I ended up finding chicken liver at a local Asian supermarket.
Petra Kupská
Oh, I truly believe your wife enjoyed the food you made for her! The beef liver can also be used for this recipe, it just needs to be cleaned better than the chicken one.
Amber
WOW. This dish was easy to make and absolutely delicious! Thank you so much for sharing these recipes.
Petra Kupská
I thank you for your lovely commment! 🙂
Ann
Hello my Husband is from Prague I’m Scottish we live in the USA my mother-in-law came to visit us and made a lot of the dishes that are on your website but I would like to a roast duck my husband always made it now he can’t