Chicken and Dumplings is the ultimate comfort food, with tender chicken, homemade dumplings, and a flavorful broth that warms you from the inside out. This classic recipe is simple to make from scratch and perfect for a cozy family dinner any night of the week.
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Holly’s Recipe Highlights: Chicken and Dumplings
Flavor: The rich, savory broth, tender chicken, and soft, pillowy dumplings come together to create a comforting, hearty dish with classic homemade flavor.
Recommended Tools: A large soup pot, rolling pin, pizza cutter, and cheesecloth make preparing this recipe easier and help achieve the best results.
Serving Suggestions: I like to serve this chicken and dumplings with a simple green salad.
Total Time: 1 Hour 35 Minutes Serves: 8 Cooking Method: Stovetop
Ingredient Notes
- Whole Chicken: A whole chicken creates a rich, flavorful homemade broth while providing plenty of tender meat. Bone-in chicken thighs are a great substitute.
- Carrots and Celery: These vegetables add savory flavor to the broth as it simmers. For a heartier soup, chop and return them to the pot, or discard them for a smoother, clearer broth.
- Bay Leaf or Poultry Seasoning: While optional, either adds extra savory flavor to the broth. Poultry seasoning, thyme, or a pinch of sage all complement the chicken with a classic, comforting taste.
- All-Purpose Flour: Forms the base of the homemade dumplings. Keep extra flour on hand for the work surface and dough to prevent the strips from sticking while rolling and cutting.
- Variations: Stir in frozen peas with the chicken for extra color and sweetness. For a richer finish, add a splash of cream before serving. For a shortcut version, use cooked shredded chicken, keeping in mind the broth will have a lighter flavor.
How to Make Chicken and Dumplings
- Place the chicken, vegetables, and seasonings into a large pot and pour in the chicken broth.
- Simmer the chicken with vegetables, broth, and seasonings.
- While chicken is simmering, start the dumplings. Cut the shortening into the dry ingredients and gradually add milk to form a soft dough.
- Gently knead the dough on a well-floured surface a few times until it becomes smooth.
- Roll the dough out thinly and use a pizza cutter to slice it into short strips.
- Strain the broth and shred the cooked chicken while discarding the skin and bones.
- Simmer the dumpling strips in the broth, thicken with a cornstarch slurry, and stir the shredded chicken back in before serving.
Tips for Tender Dumplings
- For Even Cooking: Roll the dumplings thin, about ¼ inch.
- To Prevent Clumping: Flour the dough generously before cutting so the strips do not clump together.
- For Soft Dough: Add the milk slowly to the dumpling dough. Soft dough is good, sticky dough is harder to roll.
- Do Not Over-Knead: A few folds of the dough are enough to bring it together.
- Simmer the Dumplings Gently: A hard boil can break them apart.
- Add the Cornstarch Slurry Slowly: The broth thickens quickly.
Storing The Cozy Extras
- Storing Leftovers: Keep leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.
- Freezing: The chicken and broth can be frozen for up to 3 months. For the best texture, freeze before adding the dumplings, then make fresh dumplings when reheating.
- Reheating: Reheat gently on the stovetop over medium-low heat or in the microwave at reduced power, stirring occasionally. Add a splash of broth or water if the dumplings have absorbed too much liquid.
Cozy Chicken Dinners
Did you enjoy the following Chicken and Dumplings recipe? Leave a comment and rating below.
Equipment
Ingredients
Broth
- 1 whole chicken 4 to 5 pounds, cut into pieces*
- 1 yellow onion cut into quarters
- 3 large carrots cut into thirds
- 3 ribs celery cut into thirds
- ½ teaspoon salt or to taste
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper or to taste
- 1 bay leaf or a ¼ teaspoon poultry seasoning, optional
- 8 cups reduced sodium chicken broth
- 4 tablespoons cornstarch plus 4 tablespoons water
For the Dumplings
- 1¾ cups all-purpose flour plus extra for dusting
- ⅓ cup shortening
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¾ cup milk
Instructions
- In a large soup pot, combine the chicken, onion, carrots, celery, salt, pepper, and the bay leaf.
- Add chicken broth. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer covered for 45-60 minutes or until the chicken is tender and cooked through. While the broth is simmering, prepare dumplings below.
- Strain broth through cheesecloth. Shred or chop the chicken and discard the skin and bones. Chop the vegetables if desired (or discard). Set aside.
- Add the strained broth back to the pot. Bring to a boil and gently add dumplings to broth. Reduce heat and simmer for 15-20 minutes or until tender.
- Stir chicken (and vegetables if desired) into the broth and cook about 2-3 minutes or until heated through.
To Make the Dumplings
- Combine flour, shortening, baking powder, and salt with a fork or pastry cutter until shortening is the size of small crumbs.
- Add milk a little at a time and mix until combined (you may not need all of it, you want a soft but not sticky dough).
- Knead 5-6 times on a floured surface until dough is smooth.
- Generously flour your surface and roll the dough out to ⅛-inch thick. Using a sharp knife or a pizza cutter, cut the dough into 1-inch x 2-inch strips. Flour generously to avoid sticking.
- Cook in broth as directed above.
To Thicken the Broth
- In a small bowl, combine 4 tablespoons cornstarch with 4 tablespoons water.
- Add to boiling broth a little bit at a time stirring to reach desired consistency.
Video
Notes
- Chicken: *The whole chicken can be replaced with 3 pounds of bone-in chicken thighs.
- Vegetables: Carrots and celery can be served on the side or chopped and added to the broth along with the chicken. If adding to the broth, frozen peas can also be added.
- Seasonings: While I’ve kept the seasonings simple, any of the following can be added to the broth: ¾ teaspoon poultry seasoning, ½ teaspoon dried thyme leaves, ¼ teaspoon ground sage.
- Store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.
Nutrition Information
Calories: 461 | Carbohydrates: 33g | Protein: 27g | Fat: 25g | Saturated Fat: 7g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 6g | Monounsaturated Fat: 10g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 73mg | Sodium: 469mg | Potassium: 619mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 4g | Vitamin A: 4756IU | Vitamin C: 5mg | Calcium: 82mg | Iron: 3mg
Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.
Course Chicken, Dinner, Entree, Main Course
Cuisine American© SpendWithPennies.com. Content and photographs are copyright protected. Sharing of this recipe is both encouraged and appreciated. Copying and/or pasting full recipes to any social media is strictly prohibited. Please view my photo use policy here.
You can decrease the fat from a stock by not using the fat from a chicken.
How can I make the broth less greasy?
I haven’t had this issue so I can’t say for sure what would be causing it. You could try cooking just chicken breasts instead which may help, you may need to reduce the cooking time though.
In baking pan put in butter, fatback, dumplings, chicken leg quarters, chicken broth, carrots optional, celery optional
You can make Chicken and Noodle soup using this recipe, the only thing different is you cut the dough into smaller strips and drop into boiling water, when they come to the top, drop them into the chicken and broth, the broth will stay clear instead of getting thick.
This is my go-to dumpling recipe. I make my broth almost the same with a bit more seasonings. I think what really helps is adding spices to the dumpling dough. I know the recipe doesn’t mention it, but add dill to the broth and the dumplings, it brings out the flavors!!
That sounds like a delicious addition, thanks for sharing Isabella!
First time ever making dumplings!
this was FANTASTIC!!!
Made them last night for supper and they were DELICIOUS!! I only had chicken thighs, so I used 4 thighs. 4c. of all-purpose flour and an extra 1/2 c. of chicken broth. They reminded me of my mom’s chicken and dumplings growing up. Thank you for the great recipe, great comfort food!
I’m making these right now. So excited to try this recipe! Anyone tried freezing leftovers?
You could try freezing it, the soup itself would freeze well but the dumplings will soften and change in texture. Another reader might have some suggestions on freezing too!
My boyfriend absolutely loves this and wants it regularly
This recipe is what brought me to you years ago! It is exactly how my grandmother used to make chicken and dumplings. The homemade dumplings are so worth the time. Delicious and cozy!! You are now my go to place for recipes and your book is on my Christmas List. Thank you for all your hard work!
I love this recipe. Been making it for years. When I was a teenager I worked in the kitchen at a southern dinner as a second hand cook. The chef there made her dumplings exactly like this. Brings back memories!!