Mom's Best Low-Carb Liver Dumpling Soup

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When you start following a lchf diet, certain foods such as grains are excluded from your meal plan. But what if you could eat foods like bread or dumplings and still lose weight? Not only you can eat them while following a high-fat diet but you won’t be able to tell the difference!

This healthy liver dumpling soup tastes just like the one my mom makes. I was told as a kid that if I don’t eat my soup, I won’t grow up. Well, I’m not sure how true that is as I didn’t make it over 5’3” and I had soup almost every day. What I do know is that thanks to eating real food and immune-boosting collagen, I was rarely ill.

Even if you are not a fan of liver, you should give this recipe a try. I promise you won’t be disappointed! It's one of the most popular Czech soups and it’s the best way to introduce nutrient-dense foods such as liver into your keto diet.

My mom's original recipe is made with rabbit liver but I used chicken liver because it’s easier to find and tastes very similar. She uses flour to thicken the soup and bread crumbs to make the dumplings which are not keto-friendly, paleo or gluten-free. So I made a few alterations to adjust the recipe for the ketogenic diet.

Instead of flour to thicken the soup, I used a fantastic low-carb substitute - egg yolks! It's my favourite "zero-carb" ingredient to thicken sauces, stews and soups. I used egg yolks in my Best Keto Instant Pot Beef Stew and even my Cheeseburger Soup from the KetoDiet App.

Lastly, to make the dumplings more authentic, I used keto breadcrumbs based on my most popular grain-free bread recipe. Is it really worth making your own breadcrumbs? I think it's totally worth it, especially if you want to keep your carb intake low but don’t want to compromise on flavour. Apart from keeping your blood sugar levels stable, these keto breadcrumbs make a big difference to the taste and texture. They do take extra prep time but you can make a large batch and freeze it for several months.

Also, don't forget to try my Chicken Noodle Soup.

Nutritional values (per serving, about 2 cups)

Ingredients (makes 8 servings)

Dumplings:

• 270 g chicken or turkey liver (9.5 oz)
• ¹/₂ small white onion, chopped (35 g/ 1.2 oz)
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 slices butter (28 g/ 1 oz)
• 1 large egg
• ¹/₂ tsp sea salt
• ¹/₄ tsp black pepper
• 2 ¹/₄ cups homemade Keto Breadcrumbs (198 g/ 7 oz)

Soup:

• 10 cups chicken stock or bone broth (2.4 L)
• ³/₄ cup diced carrot (96 g/ 3.4 oz)
• 1 cup diced celeriac (156 g/ 5.5 oz)
• 2 medium celery sticks (80 g/ 2.8 oz)
• 1 cup Brussels sprouts, sliced (88 g/ 3.1 oz)
• 2 cups chopped cauliflower (214 g/ 7.6 oz)
• 1 cup chopped broccoli (91 g/ 3.2 oz)
• 6 large egg yolks
• ¹/₄ cup chopped fresh parsley

Instructions

1. Place the liver in a food processor and process until smooth.
   
2. Add the chopped onion, garlic, butter, egg, salt and pepper. Process again.
3. Add the keto breadcrumbs and pulse until combined. Transfer the mixture into a bowl, cover with a cling film and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes or overnight.
4. Remove from the fridge. Using your hands, create small (about 15 g/ ¹/₂ oz) meatballs. You should be able to make 35 to 40 meatballs. Wet your hands to prevent the dough from sticking.
5. Peel and dice the carrot and celeriac. Slice the Brussels sprouts and celery. Chop the cauliflower and broccoli.
6. Fill a large pot with 9 cups of chicken stock (reserve 1 cup for later). Bring to a boil over a high heat. Once boiling, reduce to medium and add the chopped vegetables. Cook for 7-8 minutes, or until tender. Note: I use homemade chicken stock. To make your own, follow the Tips for Instant Pot/ Pressure Cooker in this recipe.
7. Using a large slotted spoon, add the dumplings and keep cooking.
8. Meanwhile, beat the egg yolks with the reserved 1 cup of chicken stock. Note: Keep the egg whites for another recipe (see suggestions listed in my Keto Lemon Curd).
9. Temper the hot stock into the egg yolk mixture while whisking. After you have added about 3 cups of the hot stock, return it into the pot with dumplings. Cook while stirring for 4-6 minutes.
10. Take off the heat and add chopped parsley.
11. Pour into serving plates and garnish with more parsley (about 2 cups of soup and 5 dumplings per serving). Serve hot on its own or with a Keto Bun, or let it cool down and refrigerate for up to 4 days.

Ingredient nutritional breakdown (per serving, about 2 cups)

Net carbs	Protein	Fat	Calories
Liver (chicken), raw
0.2 g	5.7 g	1.6 g	40 kcal
Onion, brown (yellow), raw
0.3 g	0 g	0 g	2 kcal
Garlic, fresh
0.2 g	0 g	0 g	1 kcal
Butter, unsalted, grass-fed
0 g	0 g	2.9 g	25 kcal
Egg, whole, fresh, raw (free-range or organic eggs)
0 g	0.8 g	0.6 g	9 kcal
Salt, sea salt
0 g	0 g	0 g	0 kcal
Pepper, black, spices
0 g	0 g	0 g	0 kcal
Chicken stock (broth), chicken only, homemade
0 g	6 g	6 g	78 kcal
Carrot, fresh
0.8 g	0.1 g	0 g	5 kcal
Celeriac, raw
1.4 g	0.3 g	0.1 g	8 kcal
Celery, raw
0.1 g	0.1 g	0 g	2 kcal
Brussels sprouts, fresh
0.6 g	0.4 g	0 g	5 kcal
Cauliflower, fresh
0.8 g	0.5 g	0.1 g	7 kcal
Broccoli, broccolini, fresh
0.5 g	0.3 g	0 g	4 kcal
Egg, whole, fresh, raw (free-range or organic eggs)
0.3 g	4.7 g	3.6 g	54 kcal
Chicken stock (broth), chicken only, homemade
0 g	0.9 g	0.9 g	12 kcal
Parsley, fresh (spices)
0.1 g	0.1 g	0 g	1 kcal
Best Keto Breadcrumbs (KetoDiet blog)
1.9 g	5.5 g	8.6 g	115 kcal
Total per serving, about 2 cups
7.3 g	25.5 g	24.4 g	366 kcal

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