Homemade Chicken and Dumplings Recipe

This Homemade Chicken and Dumplings recipe is the perfect comfort food for any time of year. It’s a delicious dinner idea that’ll have your whole family begging for seconds!

🥣 Easy Chicken and Dumplings Recipe

My family loves a good chicken recipe and would be happy eating it for dinner every night of the week! That means I’m always trying to come up with new recipe ideas. They love my Chicken on a Stick and yummy Chicken Pasta Casserole but I realized recently that they’d never had homemade chicken and dumplings…that was about to change!

If you’ve never had chicken and dumplings from scratch before, you’re seriously missing out! A combination of super flavorful chicken soup, juicy chicken and homemade airy dumplings is so incredibly delicious, you’re going to want to put it in your regular menu rotation!

Don’t worry, if the thought of making dumpling dough from scratch seems like too much trouble, trust me, it’s a lot easier than you’d think. All you have to do is follow a few easy steps and they’ll turn out perfect every single time!

💖 What We Love About This Recipe

• Old-fashioned chicken and dumplings make a one-pot meal that’s always a family favorite.
• Perfect go-to recipe on a cold night or anytime when comfort food is a must!
• Simple recipe using ingredients you probably have on hand or can get from any grocery store.

🥄 Recommended Tools

• Large Dutch Oven (Large Stockpot)
• Wooden Spoon
• Sharp Knife

🛒 Ingredients

For the Broth:

• Onion
• Carrots
• Celery
• Garlic, minced
• Chicken, chopped into small pieces
• Salt
• Pepper
• Olive oil
• Chicken broth
• Dried thyme
• Flour
• Frozen peas
• Parsley

For the Dumplings:

• Flour
• Butter
• Baking powder
• Salt
• Heavy cream

📄 How to Make the Best Chicken and Dumplings

Step 1: Chop the vegetables and set aside.

Step 2: Heat oil in a large pot with a lid and heat (you don’t need the lid just yet, but you will in a bit). Mix the salt and black pepper into the chicken pieces, then sear in batches.

Step 3: Once the chicken cooks, remove chicken from pot. Add onion, celery and carrots to the pot and sauté for about 5 minutes, adding another tablespoon of olive oil if necessary.

Step 4: Add garlic and cook until fragrant. Next stir in the flour until veggies are coated and cook until lightly brown, then add the thyme. 

Step 5: Stir in the chicken broth and mix well. Bring to a boil and add the cooked chicken back to the pot. Simmer uncovered on medium heat for approximately 10 minutes to give the soup time to thicken.

Step 6: You can work on the dumplings while waiting for the broth to thicken. Combine flour, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl. Then add melted butter and cream to these dry ingredients and stir well.

Step 7: Once the soup thickens, stir the frozen peas into the broth mixture.

Step 8: One tablespoon at a time, drop dumplings into the simmering soup.

Step 9: Once all the dumplings have been added to the soup, cover and cook for 17 minutes.

IMPORTANT: Don’t open the lid until after 17 minutes. The dumplings will only steam if the cover remains closed.

Step 10: Once the dumplings finish cooking, give them a gentle stir with a wooden spoon and garnish with fresh parsley. Serve hot with a slice of homemade Mexican Cornbread and enjoy!

Store leftovers in an airtight container for up to 3-4 days.

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Classic Chicken and Dumpling Variations and Add-ins

• Chicken: When you’re making this recipe, you want to use really tender chicken. Try using chicken tenders, chicken thighs or chicken breasts or cook a whole chicken and shred the meat. Shredded rotisserie chicken also works great as a short cut.

• Broth: If you like an extra creamy broth with a bit of a tangy flavor you can add a little sour cream.

• Fresh herbs: Add any type of herbs you prefer to the broth. Sage, rosemary and basil all work great as long as you add just enough to the broth to flavor it without being overpowering.

• Veggies: Not a fan of peas or carrots? Feel free to just omit them. You can add chopped green beans if you’d like. Instead of chopped onion, try frozen pearl onions instead.

TIP: Store leftover chicken and dumplings in individual freezer bags to make single servings later.

Types of Dumplings To Try

There are several dumpling styles that you can use in this delicious southern comfort food classic. They’re equally as easy to make using this same dough recipe, but the style is a personal preference. Here are some you might llike (just keep in mind that the cook time will vary based on the thickness of the dumplings).

• Drop dumplings: This is the type of dumplings we used for this recipe. They’re thick and fluffy dumplings that you just pinch off in pieces and drop into the broth.

• Biscuit dumplings: Biscuit top dumplings are quite a different take on Southern homemade chicken and dumplings, but they are really fun to make. You make the dough just a little bit thicker by adding some extra flour. You want it to be, well, like biscuit dough. Once the chicken soup has simmered and thickened up, roll the dough and flatten it into the shape of a normal size biscuit. Gently place on top of the soup mixture and place in the oven on 400 degrees until the biscuits are nice and brown,

• Flat dumplings: A popular alternative to drop dumplings, these are the style you see at Cracker Barrel. They’re made by rolling the dough with a rolling pin until they’re about 1/2 inch thick. Use a pizza cutter to cut into smaller pieces, then add them to the hot broth. They’ll cook slightly quicker than drop dumplings.

• Noodle-like dumplings: This style dumpling isn’t as easy to work with and they easily tear apart. What makes them work for some people is that the dumplings cook down into such thin pieces, they almost become part of the broth instead. To get them thin enough, roll the dough out on a floured surface and use a pastry cutter to make noodle like shapes.

Want More Hearty Dinner Recipes?

• Easy Homemade Lasagna
• Easy Baked Ziti
• Lemon Rosemary Chicken
• Honey Garlic Chicken
• Sheet Pan Chicken And Veggies
• Turkey Meatloaf
• Homemade Shake & Bake Pork Chops
• Philly Cheesesteak Pasta
• Chicken Alfredo Bake
• Baked Ziti With Veggies
• Taco Stuffed Peppers
• Mushroom & Sausage Stuffed Peppers
• Shrimp Stuffed Peppers
• Chicken Pasta Bake
• Zucchini Spaghetti w/ mushrooms & peppers
• Pesto Zucchini Noodles
• Cilanto Lime Shrimp Tacos

4.50 from 6 votes

Homemade Chicken and Dumplings Recipe

Course Main Course

Cuisine American

Prep Time 15 minutes minutes

Cook Time 45 minutes minutes

Total Time 1 hour hour

Servings 8

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This Homemade Chicken and Dumplings is the perfect comfort food! With tender chicken, flavorful broth and fluffy dumplings, it'll have your family begging for seconds.

Ingredients

 

1x2x3x

• ▢ 1 onion
• ▢ 3 medium carrots
• ▢ 2 celery stalks
• ▢ 2 tbsp olive oil
• ▢ 2 lbs chicken chopped into small pieces
• ▢ 2 tsp salt
• ▢ 1/2 tsp pepper
• ▢ 3 cloves garlic minced
• ▢ 6 cups chicken broth
• ▢ 2 tsp dried thyme
• ▢ 1/4 cup flour
• ▢ 1 cup frozen peas
• ▢ fresh parsley for garnish

For the dumplings

• ▢ 2 cups flour
• ▢ 1 tbsp baking powder
• ▢ 1 tsp salt
• ▢ 4 tbsp butter melted
• ▢ 1 cup heavy cream

Instructions

• Chop the vegetables and set aside.
  1 onion, 3 medium carrots, 2 celery stalks
• Pour the olive oil into a large soup pot with a lid and heat (you don’t need the lid just yet but you will in a bit). Mix the salt and pepper into the chicken, then sear in batches.
  2 tbsp olive oil, 2 lbs chicken, 2 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp pepper
• Remove chicken from pot. Add onion, celery and carrots to the pot and saute for about 5 minutes, adding another tablespoon of olive oil if necessary.
• Add garlic and cook until fragrant. Next stir in the flour until veggies are coated and cook until lightly brown. Add thyme.
  3 cloves garlic, 1/4 cup flour, 2 tsp dried thyme
• Stir in the chicken broth and mix well. Bring to a boil and add the chicken back to the pot. Simmer uncovered for approximately 10 minutes to give the soup time to thicken.
  6 cups chicken broth
• Make the dumplings while you wait for the broth to thicken. Combine flour, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl, then add melted butter and cream. Mix well.
  2 cups flour, 1 tbsp baking powder, 4 tbsp butter, 1 cup heavy cream, 1 tsp salt
• Once the soup thickens, stir in the frozen peas.
  1 cup frozen peas
• One tablespoon at a time, drop dumplings into the simmering soup.
• Once all the dumplings have been added to the soup, cover and cook for 17 minutes. (IMPORTANT: Don’t open the lid until after 17 minutes. The dumplings will only stem if the cover remains closed).
• Once the dumplings finish cooking, garnish with fresh parsley and serve hot.
  fresh parsley for garnish

Notes

Chicken and dumplings can be frozen for up to three months. When you’re ready to serve them again, just thaw then reheat in a saucepan or pot.

Nutrition

Serving: 1g | Calories: 1400kcal | Carbohydrates: 36g | Protein: 7g | Fat: 137g | Saturated Fat: 47g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 25g | Monounsaturated Fat: 58g | Trans Fat: 0.3g | Cholesterol: 156mg | Sodium: 1622mg | Potassium: 400mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 4g | Vitamin A: 4678IU | Vitamin C: 10mg | Calcium: 123mg | Iron: 3mg

The nutrition information provided is an estimate and can vary based on cooking methods and ingredients used.

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