This easy recipe for Chicken and Dumplings is the ideal comfort food. A hearty recipe that uses roasted chicken, fluffy buttermilk and chive dumplings that’s both simple to make and shockingly easy to lose yourself in for a moment or two.
Chicken and Dumplings hold such a special spot in my heart. Every time I stand over the pot, watching those little dumplings bobbing at the surface, I feel as if I’m sitting in my moms kitchen once again. I would eat the soup quickly, leaving the dumplings for last to savour nice and slowly.
While my mom’s recipe was a little less traditional, a thinner more clear soup paired with semolina flour dumplings, the one I’ll be showing you today is far more traditional – closer to a stew than a soup. If you’re craving something savory, simple, and good for the soul consider curling up with a bowl your plans for the rest of the night.
Ingredients In Chicken And Dumplings
For the soup:
- Celery, carrot & onion – Otherwise known in cooking as mirepoix (there’s a fun little French word for you). Mirepoix is a base in so many recipes that allows for a good foundation for further depth of flavor. Stir regularly to ensure that there’s no browning or caramelizing going on, we want to soften and sweeten the mirepoix rather than cook or saute it.
- Chicken broth – I like to use my own homemade broth, store bought will do just fine but when it comes to simple recipes, I like to ensure that each ingredient is the best version it can be. For a delicious stock recipe, check out my chicken noodle soup.
- Thyme – Even if you’re not the biggest thyme fan, there are just some recipes that absolutely need it, and this is in one of them. I used dried for this dish.
- Shredded chicken – The more chicken the better, we want a rich stew like consistency at the end with roasted chicken in each bite. You’ll want to ensure the chicken is cooked before adding it.
- Frozen peas – Don’t worry mom, I’m including veggies.
- Flour – I’m using all purpose as a thickening agent for our soup.
- Salt & Pepper – Just to taste, keep in mind sodium levels when using store bought versus homemade broth.
For the dumplings:
- Flour – Gluten flour can be substituted but may give your dumplings a more gritty texture that has a bit more difficulty binding.
- Baking powder – A leavening agent that will allow our dumplings to puff up in the soup.
- Chives – Added to the dumplings for flavor.
- Egg – Just one large, whole egg will do. We will need both the white and the yolk to bind our batter.
- Buttermilk – Buttermilk is more acidic than regular milk and as a result will react more readily with our baking powder. This makes the dumplings light and fluffy.
- Salt – All good batters need a little salt.
How To Make Chicken And Dumplings
- Start with your base: Put some olive oil in a Dutch oven and bring to medium high heat. Add your carrots, celery, and onion and allow them to sweat until the onions become soft and translucent.
- Incorporate your broth – Add dried thyme followed by the chicken broth to the pot. Reserve a ladle full to be put in a small bowl with 1/3 a cup of flour. You will whisk this together till smooth before adding it back to your pot. Whisk once more to ensure there are no lumps before adding the frozen peas and shredded chicken.
- Prepare the dumplings – The broth will need a few minutes to cook which gives us some time to make the dumplings. In a separate bowl whisk together the egg, buttermilk, chives, baking powder, flour, and salt till the consistency is smooth. Be sure not to over-mix as over-mixing will make your dumplings dense.
- Bring the two together – Using a spoon drop the dumpling batter one at a time into the now thick broth. The dumplings will double in size once they’re cooked so start small and tweak from there.
- Finish the chicken and dumplings – Cover the pot and simmer for about 15 to 20 minutes or until the dumplings are cooked. Resist the urge to peek! All the steam in the pot is needed to cook our batter fully. After about 15 minutes stick a tooth pick through the centre of a dumpling to test its doneness. Once that toothpick comes out clean, your soup is ready! Serve up and enjoy.
Can I Make Chicken And Dumplings In A Pressure Or Slow Cooker?
Pressure cooker
If you’d like to take your new pressure cooker for a spin, I’ve got a delicious recipe for instant pot chicken and dumplings. Check it out and enjoy!
Slow cooker
You’ll want to combine the soup ingredients in your slow cooker, save the shredded chicken, and allow to cook on low for 1 hour. Add the chicken and your dumplings, leaving space between the dumplings to prevent them from sticking. Cover and cook for an additional 20 minutes.
Leftovers
Chicken and dumplings can be stored up to 3-4 days in the fridge in an airtight container. Keep in mind that the more times this recipe is reheated, the more the dumplings may fall apart. Freezing is possible but again the dumplings may fall apart when thawed, so be gentle. Ensure the soup is completely cooled before storing in a shallow container.
Change It Up
This dish is simple comfort food at it’s core, so we want to keep the recipe list short. There are simple swaps you can make if you don’t have ingredients on hand.
- Parsley can be substituted for the chives in the dumplings and will still easily achieve that sharp fresh taste.
- If you’ve got leftover ham on hand instead of chicken that will easily make a savory, scrumptious soup too.
- If you want a sweet little burst of flavour, corn is a great addition either instead or alongside your peas.
Looking For More Chicken Recipes? Try These:
- Bang Bang Chicken
- Chipotle Popcorn Chicken
- Coconut Chicken
- Chicken Poppers
- Cuban Chicharrones de Pollo
- Shanghai Chicken
- Cheesy Chicken Enchilada Soup
- Lasagna Soup
- Chicken and Corn Chowder
- Firecracker Chicken Meatballs
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Chicken and Dumplings
Equipment
Ingredients
For Dumplings
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 egg beaten
- 2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 tablespoon chives chopped
- 1/2 cup buttermilk
Chicken soup
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 large onion chopped
- 1 large carrot chopped
- 1 stalk celery chopped
- 1/2 teaspoon thyme dried
- 4 cups chicken broth
- 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon salt or to taste
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper or to taste
- 1/2 cup peas frozen
- 2 cups roasted chicken shredded (any part of the chicken will do, both white and dark meat would be great for flavor)
Instructions
- In a large Dutch oven add the olive oil and heat over medium-high heat. Add the chopped onion, carrot and celery to the pot and cook for about 5 to 7 minutes until the onion sweats and becomes translucent. Add thyme to the pot and the 4 cups of chicken broth.
- In a small bowl whisk the flour with a ladle of the broth from the pot then pour back into the pot and whisk making sure there are no lumps. Stir in the frozen peas and the shredded chicken. Season with salt and pepper and cook for 5 minutes.
- While the broth is cooking, prepare the dumplings. In a bowl whisk together all the dumpling ingredients, making sure not to overmix, if you overmix the dumplings will turn out too dense.
- Drop dumpling batter using a spoon into the thick broth. Make sure you don’t take too much batter at once because the dumplings will double in size while they cook, so make them as big or small as you wish.
- Cover the pot and simmer for about 15 to 20 minutes or until the dumplings are cooked. Make sure you don’t peek while the dumplings are cooking, because they need to steam in order for them to cook and be nice and fluffy, lifting the lid will release the steam. After about 15 minutes use a toothpick to test if the dumplings are cooked through.
Recipe Notes
- Check out how to make this soup in an Instant pot!!
- This recipe can be stored up to 3-4 days in the fridge in an airtight container. Keep in mind that the more times this recipe is reheated, the more the dumplings may fall apart. Freezing is possible but again the dumplings may fall apart when thawed, so be gentle. Ensure the soup is completely cooled before storing in a shallow container.
- Please keep in mind that nutritional information is a rough estimate and can vary greatly based on products used.
Nutrition Information:
How big of a Dutch oven do you need? Thanks
A 4 or 5 quart Dutch oven is big enough.
Perfect!
I love Dumplings and I buy them frozen from a Chinese Dumpling shop. They are cooked in boiled water until they rise and then cooked for about 3 minutes longer. Can I use fresh frozen dumplings in this recipe?
Sure!
This recipe sounds very good. Can you have small cut piecs instead of shredded chicken?
Absolutely!
I live in TX and these fluffy dumplings are what I grew up eating. I don’t understand why anyone would prefer the flat doughy type over these. Thanks for sharing, and I’m so glad to see many readers tried it. I often cook a chicken in the crock pot for using with dumplings. The chicken falls off the bone and makes broth besides. I don’t make the dumplings in the crock pot. I make them on the stove at the end of the day, after the chicken is done in the crock pot.
Oh, Mercy! Thank you for printing this recipe! It is almost identical to my Mom’s recipe and I can’t find my copy. I have made it from memory, but I am so happy to have the actual recipe. I think the only difference was the thyme! I going to add that now. Oh, thank you. I don’t know of another EXACT recipe out there!
My pleasure!
I used your recipe for a dinner with my wife’s family and they were extremely impressed. THANKS A BUNCH !!!
Recipe looks wonderful. I will be trying it soon.
I would like to add, if I could, that I really like this picture of you.
I have a frozen chicken. Can I use boiled chicken instead of roasted or will it take flavor out of the recipe.
The flavor will be slightly different, but it really won’t make a big difference! Any chicken will work 🙂
Very delicious recipe! Have made a few times now. 🙂
So glad you like it, Natalie!
This is by far the best “quick” recipe for Chicken and dumplings that I have ever made. It doesn’t taste like you spent only 30-45 minutes – but more like you cooked that chicken, made that broth, etc. The dumplings are light and fluffy and the chives add a surprise taste. The instructions regarding over-mixing the flour mixture were right on. I dropped a teaspoon of the dumpling mix into the pot and they were a perfect “golf ball” size when cooked. Thank you for this wonderful recipe. We love it!
Yum, that sounds so good! We’re glad you loved the recipe 🙂
The best chicken and dumplings recipe ever. Tastes like it took hours to make. The dumplings come out perfectly! A new family favorite.
This was delicious. I doubled the recipe using homemade stock; however I only made 1-1/2 of the dumpling recipe. I also used dried chives that I soaked in some hot water. (Didn’t have fresh – which would have been more flavorful.). And I used an extra stalk of celery and sautéed my vegetables in 3 tablespoons of butter rather the olive oil (personal preference). I also used about 4 tablespoons of cornstarch mixed with a little cold water rather than flour to thicken just slightly. I steamed the dumplings for the full 20 minutes because they completely covered the surface and I wanted to make sure they were done. When all was done, I removed the lid and let it set for about 30 minutes before serving. So good – will make this again and again. Thanks for the recipe. It was very easy and fun to make.
My pleasure, glad you enjoyed the recipe!
Awesome and easy. Everyone loved it. I used boneless thighs. Added a bit more chicken broth to make it a bit more rich broth.
Hi Jo. My husband does not like the fat dumplings at all. He likes thin flat dumplings. I have never tried to make this. We just go to Cracker Barrel and get it there. Do you if there is anything out there that I can use to make thin dumplings. Your recipe sounds great and I would love to try it. Thanks for any help you can give me.
The only thing that comes to mind is buy some Pillsbury Biscuits, flatten them out with a rolling pin, then cut them out in strips and add those to the soup like that.
Use flat lasagne noodles.
Corinne – I am “older than dirt” but I have a recipe for you that I have had for at least 50 years. I think your dumpling preference comes from the part of the country you were raised in. My mother was from the Washington, D.C. area – we ate what she called Egg Dumplings – like Jo’s – my husband is from Texas and prefers the kind your husband prefers. I will share it with you with no guarantees. These dumplings are like large noodles – I used to see them packaged in the dry noodle section of the grocery store, but then I am older than dirt.
2 Cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 Tbsp shortening
1 Cup liquid (half milk, half water)
Combine and roll like a pie crust. Cut in 2″ squares. Drop in hot liquid, cover and cook about 5 minutes.
You are exactly right. The “flat” dumplings are more of a southern thing. My grandmother from NC used to make them. Being from DC, we always had “fluffy” dumplings. Your recipe for flat dumplings in right on!!! lol It was very nice of you to post it. BTW, I’m older than dirt too.