Chicken and Dumplings

With the cold weather rolling in, nothing warms you up quit like a big bowl of chicken and dumplings. With a few extra dumplings, because they are that good! Tender chicken and vegetables in a rich chicken broth with the best fluffy drop dumplings ever. Certainly, the ultimate comfort food. This scratch made soup is easy to make and also makes great leftovers!

In my house, the age-old debate of flat dumplings versus drop dumplings continues. My husband prefers flat dumplings. I am a huge fan of the fluffy drop dumplings in this recipe. They remind me of the biscuits on biscuit topped chicken pot pie.

Something about the combination of fluffy dumplings and the rich broth is so comforting and delicious to me.

How to Get the Most Flavor

The key to the best tasting broth in chicken and dumplings is to use both the broth made when cooking the chicken and a good quality chicken stock. As always, I highly recommend using homemade chicken stock. If you have not started making your own, check out this chicken stock recipe to learn how easy it is to make.

Pan Sear the CHicken

When cooking the chicken, I prefer to first pan sear the chicken, this is not common in traditional chicken and dumplings recipes, but trust me, this is a necessary step. Pan searing the chicken first is a great way to impart tons of delicious flavor into your broth.

It is also equally as important to use bone in chicken. Using boneless chicken does not add as much flavor to the broth. A lot of traditional recipes call for the whole chicken to be used. If you decide to use a whole chicken, simply use more chicken stock and adjust the seasonings as needed.

How to Make Chicken and Dumplings

Pan Sear- Season and pan sear the chicken. Cook the chicken just long enough to brown is on both sides. It will be cooked further in the broth.

Make the broth- Cover the chicken with the water and chicken stock. Add in the thyme and bay leaf. Cover and simmer for 1 1/2 hours.

Separate meat- Once the chicken is done, strain and reserve the broth. When cool enough to handle, shred the chicken and set aside.

Sauté vegetables- In the same pot, that is now empty, melt the butter and sauté the celery, onions, carrots and garlic until softened.

Make a roux- Add in the flour to make a roux. Then whisk in the reserved chicken broth. Season with salt and pepper. Cover and simmer until dumplings are ready to go in.

Make the Dumplings

Mix dry ingredients- In a small bowl mix together the dry ingredients.

Drizzle- Drizzle the melted butter into the cold milk, stir until well combined. The butter milk mixture will resemble curdled milk.

Mix together- Slowly stir the milk mixture into the dry ingredients. Stir until well combined. Try not to over mix.

Add in the meat- Put the chicken in the pot with the broth, bring to a gentle boil.

Drop in dumplings- Once boiling drop in the dumplings. Try to not drop the dumplings on top of one another, they will stick together if you do. Once all the dumplings are in the pot, season the tops of the dumplings with additional salt and pepper (optional).

The size of the dumpling depicts how long it will take to cook fully.

I use a 1 oz portion scoop for the dumplings in this recipe. At 10 minutes they get cooked perfectly. If making larger dumplings, after 10 minutes remove one to check the doneness. Adjust time as needed.

Cover- Cover, reduce the heat to low and cook the dumplings for 10 minutes. Remove the lid, garnish with fresh thyme and serve. Enjoy!

To get a thicker broth for your chicken and dumplings you can make a cornstarch slurry with 2:1 ratio of water to cornstarch. Start with 1 tablespoon of cornstarch and 2 tablespoons of water, mix together then whisk it into the simmering broth.

The dumplings should be fully cooked after just 10 minutes of cooking in the simmering broth.

Yes, you can use water instead of the chicken stock. While the stock will give the chicken and dumplings more flavor, you can still make them without it. However, I recommend using all of the broth made from cooking the chicken to add as much flavor as you can.