Chicken and Dumplings

Chicken and Dumplings is a classic southern dish that is basically a cross of a soup and a stew, consisting of shredded chicken, dumplings carrots and celery in a thick creamy broth.

This is an old fashion chicken and dumplings recipe with flat, chewy dumplings in a thick creamy soup broth that is very flavorful because it is infused with herbs and flavors from chicken.

I created this recipe to retain the traditional flavors of chicken and dumplings while incorporating short cuts that makes this recipe as easy as possible, without sacrificing taste. It is the BEST chicken and dumplings recipe.

An Old Fashion Chicken and Dumplings Recipe

Chicken and Dumpling is truly the ultimate winter comfort food. There’s just something about a bowl of it that just warms you from the inside out.

This is an old-fashion, traditional chicken and dumpling recipe with flat dumplings. If you’ve had chicken and dumplings in the south, you’ll know about the good old flat dumplings that are soft and chewy and just melts in your mouth.

Flat dumplings are the superior dumpling…those drop biscuit dumplings are easy to make but really pales in comparison to the flat dumplings.

Another reason why this chicken and dumpling recipe rocks? The flavor of the broth is rich and has great depth.

A high quality broth is the secret behind a flavorful chicken and dumpling recipe. The problem with a lot of chicken and dumpling recipes is that many short cut the making of the broth, which end up producing blend, one-dimensional broth that is really underwhelming.

Here’s the thing: it does take a lot of work (and long hours) to make a truly flavorful broth. But I’ve found a way to not spend hours in making a good stock while still giving us truly flavorful broth for our chicken and dumplings.

What I’ve done is I start with store-bought chicken stock (instead of making broth completely from scratch), and we cook bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs for an least at hour to really break it down and bring the flavors from the skin and bones (it’s where the flavors are!) into the broth.

I hope you are ready. This is going to be the best chicken and dumplings you’ve ever tasted.

Ingredients

Here are the ingredients we are using to make chicken and dumplings:

• bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs – Chicken thighs are darker meat and have much more flavor than chicken breast. Bone-in and skin-on chicken thighs will produce a richer broth than boneless skinless chicken. This will give the broth the depth in flavors.
• chicken broth – chicken broth is preferable to water to add an additional dimension of flavor to your soup base. This is another important ingredient to really bring lots of good flavor to the soup. Use good quality chicken broth for best flavor.
• veggies – we are going to sear the onions first and let them to cook down in the broth (to help with the flavor of the broth), and at the end, we’ll thrown in some carrots and celery. While veggies are not necessary, I like the added flavor and texture it brings. Plus, it makes me feel good that I’m having some veggies in the meal 😉
• garlic – I like to add a few cloves of garlic for flavor. Avoid substituting with garlic powder, it’s just not the same!
• fresh herbs – I like to use fresh thyme and sage. You can for sure use other fresh herbs as well or sub for try herbs if that’s what you have. Fresh herbs will enhance the flavor of the soup more than dried herbs.
• salt – used to 1) season chicken before cooking to bring flavor to the chicken and also build a flavorful broth from the very beginning, 2) open up the flavors at the end
• pepper – this will also help bump up the flavor profile of the chicken and dumplings

Flat Dumplings

To make the flat dumplings, you will need:

• all-purpose flour
• broth – you can use broth from the soup we made. When I don’t want to wait till I have the broth, I would just use chicken broth from the carton. This will give these dumplings a flavor boost.
• sour cream – sour cream will help give the dumplings a soft, tender texture. This is a game changer and really makes some seriously tender and yummy dumplings.
• salt – using a pinch of it for the dumpling dough as well.

Let’s Make It!

Oh, how I love this old-fashioned Chicken and Dumplings recipe. Here is how we are going to make it!

Prepare the chicken

We want to keep most of the skin on the chicken thighs but feel free to trim some of the access fat. If you rather keep it on, that’s totally fine too. The truth is, the fat and skin is where the flavors at, so you really don’t want to remove all of it.

Next, (and this is important) season each piece of chicken thighs on both sides with salt and black pepper.

Make the Broth

Bring a large Dutch oven or heavy duty Pot onto stovetop over medium heat.

Once heated, drizzle with oil and sear chicken thighs. Once one side is brown, flip and sear on the other side. Once the other side is browned, remove chicken and set aside.

Chicken thighs will eventually be cooked along with the broth, so it does not need to be fully cooked at this point. We are searing the chicken thighs in order to seal in the juices and seasonings.

Next, add diced onions and saute onions in the Dutch oven until they are softened.

Bring chicken thighs back into the pot, then add chicken broth. Stir to deglaze the bottom of the pot and bring to a boil.

Add fresh herbs and garlic, then bring to a boil.

Once it reaches a boil, lower to a simmer.

Cover and simmer for an hour. This will slowly bring about the most flavorful broth because we are cooking down the chicken during this time.

If you have more than an hour to spare to do this, you can cook it for longer.

Note that this is a short cut method to making homemade broth. Homemade chicken stock usually takes hours whereas this takes a little over 1 hour. However, if you have a homemade chicken stock recipe you like, you can go ahead and use that to boil chicken instead of using this method.

Shred Chicken

Once that the broth is done, remove chicken from pot into a large bowl.

Discard skin and bones and shred the meat. At this point, chicken should be extremely tender and fall-off-the-bone.

Make Dumplings

My method for dumplings will give you chewy pieces with a texture similar to that of gnocchi.

Bring together flour, sour cream, salt and chicken broth from boiling the chicken (you’ll want to wait till chicken broth is done or close to being done for the best flavor) to form the dough.

Dough should be slightly sticky and not dry.

Lightly flour a flat surface. Gently roll the dough our into a roughly 1/4 inch thick. It doesn’t have to be perfect.

Then use a pastry cutter to cut the dough into longer strips, then cut each strip in 2-inch pieces.

Finish the soup

Remove herbs and garlic cloves from the pot to discard, and add the dumplings, carrots and celery.

Bring to a boil then lower heat to a medium. Boil dumplings for another 15 minutes or until they are fully cooked.

When they are fully cooked, they should puffed up, float to the top, and no longer be ‘doughy’ when you bite into it.

I find that boiling the dumplings will conveniently also thicken the soup.

Bring shredded chicken back into the pot and add salt to taste. Salt will help bring out the flavors in this old fashioned chicken and dumpling soup.

Bring it to a boil again, stir, and then remove from heat promptly.

Chicken and dumplings will sit in the pot or storage and continue to absorb moisture and thicken slightly. The flavors really set in and it’s even more delicious then!

If it’s too thick, you can always thin it out by adding more chicken broth.

That’s it. Perfection in one pot. Thick, creamy, hearty, and so satisfying!

Prepare to be blown away! 🙂

Storage and Reheating

Storage: Chicken and dumplings can be stored in airtight containers in the refrigerator for up to 5 days, and in the freezer for up to 2 months.

Reheating: Dumplings will soak up more liquid during storage, so chicken and dumplings will be thicker the longer it sits. Bring soup and a few splashes of chicken broth or water (to thin it out) to a boil on stovetop to reheat. Or cover and heat in the microwave on high with a few splashes of water or chicken broth.

Tips and Tricks

Here are some tips and tricks that will help ensure success when making this creamy chicken and dumpling soup/stew:

• Use bone-in, skin-on dark meat chicken – It may seem like a hassle to remove bones and skin from chicken after simmering, but bones and skin give the broth an amazing, rich flavor. Avoid using boneless-skinless white meat because the flavor just doesn’t come out the same (or as good!).
• Saute the onions – This is a simple step that you’ll be tempted to skip, but don’t. Coat the onions in the juices from the chicken skin and brown the onions to bring out the flavor, thus giving the chicken and dumplings a sweet almost caramelized flavor for the onions.
• Use high quality chicken broth or stock – When it comes to the broth, use your favorite high-quality chicken broth or stock. The stock/broth is the base for all soup recipes and in my opinion makes or breaks a soup.
• Cook long enough to get the flavor out of the spices and chicken bones – Chicken and dumplings cooks up quickly for the most part, but make sure to give it the full hour for the chicken, spices and onions to cook together.
• Add chicken stock or water to reduce thickness If you plan to eat your chicken and dumplings as leftovers, keep in mind it will probably be a lot thicker and you may need to add some chicken stock or water. If the chicken and dumplings remain in a pot for a while, it may also get thicker. Feel free to add chicken stock or water to reduce its thickness if needed.
• Serve immediately: Chicken and dumplings will continue to thicken when soup sits in the pot or storage, which is fine, but it is best to serve immediately after cooking.

Frequently Asked Questions

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