Chicken and Dumplings
I am often asked for my recipe for Chicken and Dumplings, so I figured I should share it.
Chicken & Dumplings
A quick meal that I often make so we have leftovers. Like all of my recipes, this is the base. I often double the amounts of meat and veggies because we like it that way.
Equipment
- 1 6-quart Dutch Oven If I follow the instructions exactly, this works well, otherwise I use a larger soup pot when I double it so we have leftovers.
Ingredients
Soup
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil
- 2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breast cubed
- 1 cup diced yellow onion
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tsp salt I omit, preferring to salt at the table
- 5 tbsp butter, unsalted
- 6 tbsp all-purpose flour King Arthur measure for measure works too, but note the consistency will be different
- 6 cups chicken broth
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 1/2 cups frozen peas
- 4 tbsp fresh parsley, minced
- 1 1/2 cups carrots, rough cut
- 1 1/2 cups Celery, rough cut optional item, we love it so I add it
Dumplings
- 2 cups all-purpose flour King Arthur measure for measure will create a denser dumpling than all-purpose flour
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp pepper
- 1 1/3 cups heavy cream
- 1 tbsp baking powder
Instructions
Soup
- In a 6-quart dutch oven, heat vegetable oil over medium-high heat. Add the chicken and cook until browned on both sides. Remove from pot and set aside.
- Add carrots and onion(and optional celery) and cook until just tender, 3 minutes.
- Reduce the heat to medium-low and add the butter and flour, stiring constantly for 3 minutes to prevent lumps to create a roux.
- add the garlic and stir for another minute, add the chicken and any juices to the pot and stir to coat the roux.
- Add the chicken broth, cream, thyme, and bay leave and bring to a simmer. Let cook for 15 minutes.
- Stir in the peas just before adding the dumplings.
Dumplings
- Make the dumplings in a large bowl, combine the flour, banking powder, salt, pepper and cream. Stir until mixture comes together into a single mass of dough.
- Using a large spoon or cookie scoop, for the dough into small round balls about 1 inch in diameter. The dough should yield 14-16 dumplings.
- Place the dough balls in the simmering soup (try and make sure they don't touch) add the fresh parsley and cover. Let the soup simmer for 15 minutes before serving.
- Ladle into bowls, giving 1-2 dumplings per serving.
Notes
I have a dear friend that is dairy and gluten free. So I often make this for her with King Arthur measure for measure flour and a heavy cream substitute. I have learned that the dumplings are delicious, but they are far denser if I use traditional all-purpose flour and heavy cream.
