Chicken and Dumplings

You’ve found the best recipe for Chicken with Dumplings. Chicken soup is creamy, thick, and filled with intense flavor. Topped with airy, light dumplings, it is the perfect meal for any occasion.

This is the best recipe for Chicken & Dumplings. This recipe is prepared from scratch using techniques that ensure the most succulent chicken, flavorful soup and fluffy, airy dumplings.

What is Chicken and Dumplings?

• The soup is a savoury blend of chicken, vegetables and a creamy broth.
• Topped with uncooked dumplings, the soup is then steamed.
• This is a favourite comfort food of the Southern US. It can be varied in terms of the thickness of the soup and the type of dumplings used.

What are the different types of dumplings?

Chicken and Dumplings are usually made with 3 types of dumplings.

• Drop (what we use in the recipe.) This recipe is for dumplings that we steam by simply scooping the dough from the bowl.
• Rolled – Cooked in broth, these are made by rolling out the dough, cutting it into shapes, and baking them.
• Biscuits- The biscuit dough is divided into smaller pieces and then added to the cooking soup. You can use homemade biscuits or buy them in the refrigerator.

How to Make It

Sprinkle the chicken with pepper and salt, then sear in olive oil for 3 minutes on each side. Let the chicken rest for 10 minutes, then dice it and set aside.

Use a silicone spatula and melt butter in the same pan. This will remove the “font”, or the residue, from the bottom. This will add a lot of flavour to your broth.

Stir in celery, onions, and carrots. Sauté for 5 minutes. Add the Worcestershire sauce and hot sauce. Cook for another minute. Cook for another 2 minutes.

Stir continuously as you add the chicken broth in small amounts.

Stir continuously as you add the half-and-half in small amounts. Add the frozen peas. While you prepare the dumplings, simmer. Add the chicken to the pot once the dumplings are ready. Stir to combine.

Add the dumplings to the soup. Cover tightly, bring to a gentle boil for 15 minutes and do not lift the cover, then insert a toothpick into the middle to check that the dumplings have set. Garnish with parsley, and serve.

Can you overcook dumplings?

• Overcooked dumplings will start to crumble and dissolve into the soup, so try to adhere to the cooking time. I use a kitchen timer.

My Secret for the Best Homemade Broth

A skillet should be heated to 375°F for 3 minutes on each side.

• The “fond” (brown remnants of chicken) is added to the pot, which is then deglazed with butter to impart the best flavour to the roux. The “brown” colour of the pot is flavour.
• After 10 minutes, the chicken is diced before it is added to the soup to cook through.
• The chicken doesn’t get tough/overcooked because it’s not brought to a boil. (This is what makes the chicken tough). Add the diced/uncooked/uncooked chicken to the soup right before adding the dumplings. Gently simmer for 15 minutes until the chicken has finished cooking.

Pro Tips

• While the biscuits cook, make sure that the soup simmers very gently. You can use your ear to measure the temperature by placing it next to the pot. It should simmer enough to steam the dumplings while making sure the bottom of the soup does not burn.
• If you lift the lid, the dumplings will not properly steam.
• Flavour Enhancers: Worcestershire sauce, mustard powder and other ingredients are added to enhance the flavour of this recipe. They can’t be eaten directly.
• Use leftover chicken: You can use leftover chicken for this recipe, then tnstructions are included in the recipe card.

Stores

Soup

• Refrigerate or freeze leftovers in an airtight container for up to 3 days, so the consistency of the leftovers is a bit thinner, but they still taste great.

Dumplings

• The best way to store leftovers is in an airtight container, then reheat the soup on a baking tray at 350 degrees. For 5-7 min.

You can use this recipe to make:

• Dutch oven, 4.5 quarts. This size is perfect for this recipe.
• Spice rack – This is what I use, and it makes it easy to measure your seasonings. (Big time-saver.)
• Measuring spoons – I keep mine in a magnetic drawer, so they are easy to organize.
• Pinch Bowls – To measure our seasonings in advance.
• Small Cookie Scoop – Scoop out the dough for a uniform shape and size.
• Better than Bouillon – I use this for all my recipes that call for broth or Bouillon.