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.
I made this recipe today and all came out well. I cook whole chicken first and made my own broth. Added carrots and celery and cut up and put back in with dumplings. Dumplings came together good and didn’t use all the milk. I had about a half cup left. Dumplings rolled out fine with the amount of milk I used. I made this for my ailing 86 year old Dad. Thank you so much. Atlanta Ga
That sounds delicious, Kimberley! I am sure he appreciated that a lot ❤️
great recipe
Just made this and it’s incredible!! I absolutely adore chicken and dumplings and have been looking for a recipe that is easy to follow and is delicious. This takes the cake!!
Just tried this recipe and it is delicious. This was the first time that I made my own dumplings from scratch. I’ll never use frozen or boxed again. Thanks much!
I am so happy I found this recipe! Brings me back to my childhood and the way my grandmother used to make it!! It’s perfect!
Easy Recipe. Came out AMAZING and the family loved it. This is defintely going in my saved recipe book. Thank you!
Former executive chef here, and can certify I love this recipe! It’s delicious as written, I’ve made it a few times and the only thing I’ve done different is sauté the mirepoix in 4 tbsp of butter and then added two tbsp of flour before adding the stock. For the dumplings, I use Crisco butter flavored shortening for the best of both worlds, but everyone loves this one.
I have been trying to recreate my mothers dumplings for years. Unfortunately I never took the time for her to show me the way before she left this world. I decided to try these because they looked similar. I like a firm dumpling. These were the closest to my mothers dumplings that I have tasted since she passed. Sometimes food is more than just the eating experience. Sometimes it transforms us to our past and that is very special! Thank you for sharing a bit of my mother with me.
Aww thank you so much Tammy. I’m so glad we were able to share in a special memory with you ❤️
Hello, how much butter should I use? I don’t have shortening. I tried to look some in the comments below.
Hi Laura, other readers have used the same amount of butter in place of shortening and the recipe turned out great! Let us know how it goes for you!
Hi Holly, any substitutes for shortening? I will be attempting to make with gluten free flour.
Hi Haley, you can use butter as a substitute for shortening in this recipe. Let us know how it turns out for you!
can you make these dumpling ahead of time and freeze
Hi Gloria, I have not tried freezing the dumplings but other readers have! ‘Prepare the dumplings (do not cook) then coat well in flour and freeze separate from the soup. When you’re ready to cook just add the dumplings in to the soup after you bring it to a boil.’
yes you can freeze dumplings. line a cooking sheet with wax paper and lay out your dumplings. the next day, while broth is heating up, take your dumplings out of freezer. Makes life less stressful.
Love this recipe! Question: I added the full amount of cornstarch at the end and my sauce was still more “soupy” versus like a thin gravy as shown in your video. I prefer the thicker sauce – what could I be doing wrong that my sauce is coming out thin? I followed the recipe exactly (as far as I know). I used 8 cups of broth (2 boxes).
If you’d like the sauce to be thicker, you could add some additional cornstarch slurry. Combine equal parts cornstarch and cold water and drizzle into the simmering liquid.
Perhaps your chicken released a little bit more liquid than mine or my dumplings may have had a slightly heavier dusting of flour on the outside, these could change the consistency somewhat. I hope that helps!
Can’t wait to try this one! Do you think Gnocchi would work in place of dumplings?
I have never made this with gnocchi Chris, so I can’t say for sure. If you do decide to try it, I would love to hear how it turns out!
I’ve made this a few times. Usually turns out great, sometimes the dumplings disintegrate.
I just tried making this for the first time & for some reason my dumplings started to disintegrate. What did I do wrong/what should I do differently next time?
Hmm, I’m not sure what happened there, Madison! Was the broth on a gentle simmer? If it’s boiling too vigorously the dumplings could fall apart. Also, be sure to place them in the pot very gently.
I had this issue in the past. Only stir when dumplings are added to pot. Too much stirring makes them fall apart.
My daughter had 2 bowls and she’s a picky eater!
I love this recipe, every thing I have tried from spend with pennies has been easy and fantastic. Thank you so much
Thank you so much, Patty! That makes us so happy to hear ❤️
this chicken and dumplings was very good. just wondering how I could make it with more juice. first time I attempted dumplings, everything was great
Hi Donna, you can add more chicken broth if you want it to be thinner.
this tastes so much like my grandma’s chicken and dumplings. in my family we do thicken it like the optional way and usually serve over thick mashed potatoes (just mainly potatoes, milk, butter).
it is like getting a hug
Love this recipe! I’ve made it more than once. 95% of our recipes comes from spend with pennies and they are all winners.
I’m so glad you’ve loved the recipes Sheila, thank you so much for following along!
I like this recipe
This recipe was the best chicken and dumplings I have ever made!!! It is sooooo good, it was like my grandma’s chicken and dumplings. Thank you I will definitely use this recipe every time I make it.