Let’s cook the Frankfurter soup today, shall we? It’s a traditional German soup type that became popular all over the world.

A bowl of hot soup is something I’d eat anytime, even as a breakfast, and I’m not kidding. To be honest, I believe I could survive on soup alone :) That’s why I always cook a lot of it… like a full big pot, so I’m sorted for the next few days.

I’m sure we all have our favorite soup recipes, so let me show you one of mine. It’s the classic Frankfurter soup, but with a few small tweaks. I’m adding semolina dumplings at the end of the cooking process, to make the soup more filling and comforting. And my kids totally love these dumplings, so that’s a strong argument for having them.

The Frankfurter soup takes just about an hour and 30 minutes to cook, doesn’t require any unusual ingredients and there are just a few steps to follow, which make it the perfect recipe for any day of the week.

TIP: More great soups to try: Sauerkraut Soup, Thick Bean Soup, Tomato Cabbage Soup or Creamy Lettuce Soup.

Ingredients For The Fankfurter Soup

4-5 larger Frankfurter or Wiener sausages
2 small onions
2 scallions
50g (2oz) of bacon
4-5 cloves of garlic
2-3 potatoes
2-3 tablespoons of tomato puree
150ml (2/3 cup) of heavy cream
1 carrot
1 root parsley
2 litres (8 cups) of beef(chicken) broth or 2 bouillon cubes
1 teaspoon of ground caraway seeds
3 teaspoons of sweet paprika
3-4 tablespoons of oil
flat leaf parsley
1-2 teaspoons of salt (or to taste)
pepper to taste
water as needed

Ingredients For The Semolina Dumplings

120-150 g (1 cup) of semolina
2 eggs
salt
pepper
water if needed

How To Make Frankfurter Soup With Semolina Dumplings

We are starting with the soup, the dumpling “dough” will be needed at the very end of the cooking process. Wash the vegetables and prepare (measure) all the ingredients. Peel the onions, garlic, carrots and root parsley.

1. Cut the onions into thin slices. Chop the scallions and garlic into small pieces. You can also crush the garlic, but it is more prone to burning, when crushed.

2. Add about 3-4 tablespoons of oil into the pot. The original Frankfurter Soup recipe calls for quality lard to be used, that works even better. Roast the onions, scallions and garlic on medium-high heat for about 10 minutes.

3. In the meantime, dice the bacon and slice the Frankfurter sausages into thin pieces. If you don’t have the original Frankfurter sausages, feel free to use Wiener or any other similar type. Once the onions start to become translucent, it’s time for the next step.

4. Add the bacon and sausages into the pot and roast them for an additional 7-10 minutes. Mix frequently, so the onions don’t burn. At this point, the small bits will start to stick to the bottom of the pot a little, don’t worry about it, these will release once we add some water or broth.

5. Now add the tomato puree, carrots and root parsley pieces and cook for 3-5 minutes. Mix frequently as the puree might burn.

7. In with the seasoning and potatoes. Be careful with salt! Frankfurter soup should be rich in flavor, but still. Based on what type of broth or bouillon cubes you’re using, the needed amount of salt might differ. It’s always better to add salt in batches as you can always add more, but it’s impossible to remove any.

Mix all well and cook for 3-5 more minutes, before adding the broth or water. We are doing this to allow for the sweet paprika to roast in the hot oil for a bit, it will release the flavor better this way.

8. It’s time to add the broth. This recipe is calculated for about 4 litres of finished soup. You don’t have to add this much broth, 2 litres (8 cups) is enough, use 1 litre (4 cups) of water for the rest. If you’re about to use bouillon cubes (like I did today), dissolve 2 cubes in 3 litres (12 cups) of water. Some Frankfurter soup recipes use just plain water, but by using broth, the taste will become richer.

9. Once the soup comes to a boil, add about a fist full of finely chopped flat leaf parsley. Mix about 150ml (⅔ cup) of heavy cream with 2-3 tablespoons of flour (all purpose). Add it to the pot while stirring, so no clumps can form. Use a strainer if needed.

10. Cover the pot and simmer on low heat for 30 minutes, or until the potatoes are fully cooked. Give the soup a taste test, add more pepper or salt if needed. Keep in mind that anytime you add more seasonings, you need to allow the soup to boil for a few minutes, for the flavors to distribute and taste again.

11. It’s time to make the semolina dumplings. This step is optional, the classic Frankfurter soup recipe doesn’t contain dumplings, you can skip it and simply use more potatoes instead. But trust me, the dumplings are really a good addition and they are super easy to make.

All you need is about 120g (¾ cups) of semolina, 2 eggs, pinch of salt and black pepper. Mix the ingredients in a bowl using a fork, to form a somewhat runny dough. Semolina absorbs water slowly, so let the mixture sit for 3-5 minutes before making the dumplings. If the dough becomes too thick, mix in a tablespoon or two of water. If it’s too runny, add more semolina.

12. We are gonna use a teaspoon to make the dumplings. First tip the spoon in water, so the dough slides off easier. Now grab half a teaspoon of the dough and drop it directly into the soup. Simply slide the spoon in, the dough should release nicely. Repeat until you use all the dough. Once the dumplings come to the top, they are fully cooked.

13. Give the soup a final taste test, to make sure you like it and we are done. Serve in smaller bowls, topped with some more finely chopped flat leaf parsley and a side of bread. Enjoy!

Optional tips :

• Add some chilli flakes or replace part of the sweet paprika with a hot one, to make the soup spicy.
• Do you like your soups thick? Add starch slurry at the end of the cooking process, or use more potatoes.
• Not satisfied with the final taste? Usually it just takes a bit of salt or pepper, try adding some.
• Add fresh or dried marjoram leaves at the end of the cooking process, to make the soup more fragrant.
• You can add more vegetable types too! Celery/celeriac, kohlrabi, cauliflower… these all work just fine.