Chicken and Dumplings
Chicken and dumplings is the quintessential fall southern recipe. It is the kind of dinner you would expect to find when you walk into your grandma’s house on a chilly day. Thick chicken stew with buttery dumplings that warm you from the inside out. My favorite way to make chicken and dumpling is low and slow starting with a whole broiler chicken.
This meal is Sunday dinner at its finest and with all the snow and rain we have been getting this past month, it has done its job with keeping our bellies full and our hearts warm.
In this recipe, I simmer the whole chicken all day to develop a deep chicken flavor in the broth. If you don’t have that kind of time, or just don’t want to do that, no worries! All you have to do is buy a rotisserie chicken from the market and store bought chicken broth and you are in business (see our notes on how to do this below?). The one downfall to this method is that you can’t really control the sodium content, but it makes a delicious meal nonetheless and stretches a buck about a mile.
I like what I like
I do not like chicken and dumplings with a lot of different veggies, especially peas. Peas truly give me the willies so I cook with them as little as possible. I see a lot of recipes for chicken and dumplings that have them studded throughout, but I feel like that is sacrilege to all things chicken and dumplings. Feel free to add them if you like them, but for me no thank you.
Adding peas also really is treading the line of pot pie verses chicken and dumplings for me and I am really not a huge fan of the pot pie. I know, I know, how can I not love that southern classic? One word Peas. I usually stick to the basics of chicken, onions, and dumplings maybe a carrot or two if I am feeling frisky.
What can I say? I like what I like!
My boys also hate peas (just like their momma) so we do everything we can to avoid them. Sorry, not sorry.
The Stew
All good chicken and dumplings start with a great stew base. For this, I simmer a whole broiler chicken in water (remember to take out the giblet pack if you buy from the store). Along with the chicken, I add an onion quartered, carrots, and fresh thyme. You will also want to add salt and pepper to develop your broth’s flavor.
This pot of deliciousness will simmer for at least three hours while the chicken tenderizes and the flavors develop. I let mine go longer if I have the time, but three hours is the minimum. You will know it is done when the chicken starts to fall off the bone. When this happens, you will want to remove the chicken and let it cool before attempting to shred it. This is a good time to let the broth strain and cool before skimming off the fat the collects at the top. This will give your stew a less greasy feel.
Once the broth is skimmed and the chicken shredded, you will add it all back into the pot and bring back up to temp while you prep the dumplings.
Dumplings
You cannot have Chicken and Dumplings with out the dumplings! I am a traditionalist when it comes to my dumplings. No bisquick or short cut methods here. I am not a fan of premade mixes and avoid them if I can as they have a lot of extra ingredients that I don’t have control over, and making dumplings from scratch is so easy! It is basically a super thin biscuit.
I make my dumplings using All Purpose flour and a little baking powder with shortening cut through. Again, it is very similar to making biscuits. Once the mixture is cut together, add the milk and salt and knead until the dough all comes together and forms a ball.
Once this happens, you will lightly flour your surface before rolling begins. I like to roll my dumplings fairly thin, about a quarter inch or less as they will plump up. Then I just use a pizza cutter to cut into strips. I cut fairly wide strips, maybe about an inch wide. This is the part that I bring the kids in on and let them have fun with cutting the strips out.
After the dumplings are cut, bring the broth to a boil and gently add the dumplings, then reduce heat to medium. These little beauties will cook about 30 minutes until they float to the top and are no longer doughy.
Delicious Leftovers
The great thing about Chicken and Dumplings is that it is just as good, if not better, the second day as it is the first. Although, I am not sure you will have leftovers because it is so delicious. It also freezes well, so you can always make a double or triple batch and have delicious dinners ready in a pinch!
Don’t Have Time?
Hey I get it! Sometimes you don’t have all day to make dinner from scratch. I will be the first to take shortcuts on weekday nights after a long day at work or on a weekend when I just want to spend time outside instead of the kitchen. No Mom Judgement here! You take those short cuts Honey! This dinner is the perfect dinner to create some short cuts on, but how do you do it??
Stop and grab your favorite rotisserie chicken on your way home from work. When you get home start simmering a carton of chicken broth with your veggies of choice and thyme while you shred the chicken. Add the chicken and bring to a slow boil while you make the dumplings as described above. Let ’em cook, and there you go!
You can also check out our other easy recipes like Ninja Foodie Beef Stew or Refrigerator Soup!
I hope you all enjoy this recipe! If you do, make sure to check us out on Pinterest, follow, and share!
Chicken and Dumplings
Ingredients
- 1 4-5 lb Broiler Chicken
- 10 cups Water
- 2 Tbsp Salt
- 1 cup Carrots
- 1 onion quartered
- 2 sprigs Thyme
Dumplings
- 1½ cup all-purpose flour
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 3 Tbsp shortening
- ¼ cup milk
- ½ tsp salt
Instructions
- Place Whole Chicken with innerd removed in a large stock pot and cover with water. Add in carrots, Thyme, 2 TBSP salt, and onion. Bring to a boil then reduce to simmer for 3 hours or until the chicken is done and falling off the bone
- Remove the chicken from the stock and allow to cool slightly before seperating the chicken from the bone
- Strain stock and allow to cool slightly.
- Once cooled skim the fat from the top
- Add 4 cups of stock into a smaller stock pot. Reserve the rest in the fridge for up to 2 weeks in a sealed glass jar.
- Add 2 cups of shredded chicken to the stock. Store any unused in an airtight container for use in recipes later in the week.
- Bring the stock and chicken to a boil over medium high heat
- In the meantime, combine flour and baking powder in a small bowl and cut in shortening until the mixture resembles course meal. Add milk and stir until dough pulls together and forms a ball.
- Roll dough out to ¼ inch thickness. Using a pizza cutter, cut dough into strips approximately 1 inch wide.
- Add dumplings to the boiling stock one at a time gently. Reduce heat to medium and cook dumplings for 30 minutes until no longer doughy.
