Soups & Stews

Knoephla Soup

Name: Knoephla Soup
Ingredients: 4–5 potatoes, peeled and chopped; 2–3 carrots, grated; 2–3 stalks celery; 1 small onion, chopped; 2 tsp chicken bouillon; 1 lb chopped fried bacon; Flour, milk, egg, ½ tsp baking powder (for dumplings); ½–1 box Velveeta cheese; 2 cans evaporated milk; Salt and pepper

From the kitchen of Bob April (Cindy Sletin)

Knoephla — pronounced 'nef-la' — is a flour dumpling soup that traces its roots to the German-speaking communities of southern Russia and the Volga region, who brought it first to the Dakotas when they homesteaded the northern plains in the late 19th century. When Bob April — a man of German-Alsatian heritage from NE Ohio — moved to North Dakota, he found a culinary tradition that felt like a cousin of his own. This recipe, shared with neighbor Cindy Sletin, is where those two German threads of American history met at a kitchen table in the northern plains.

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Ingredients

4–5 potatoes, peeled and chopped
2–3 carrots, grated
2–3 stalks celery
1 small onion, chopped
2 tsp chicken bouillon
1 lb chopped fried bacon
Flour, milk, egg, ½ tsp baking powder (for dumplings)
½–1 box Velveeta cheese
2 cans evaporated milk
Salt and pepper

Instructions

In Dutch oven, add potatoes, carrots, celery, onion, and bouillon. Cover with water.
In bowl mix flour, milk, egg, and baking powder to make dumpling dough.
Drop dumpling dough by teaspoonfuls into boiling soup.
When they float to the top, remove and put in cold water. Drain and add back to the potato soup.
Add Velveeta cut into small cubes. When cheese is melted, add evaporated milk, salt, and pepper.
Add 1 lb chopped fried bacon.

💡 Tip: Knoephla is a traditional German dumpling soup — this is a wonderful link to the family's Alsatian heritage.