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.
Very good. Will make more often. When I was a kid, my mother would make this & she called it chicken & slicks.
I have been making homemade dumplings since I can remember. My grandmother made them, my mother, I grew up learning how. One thing my grandmother did, she used the turkey liver (or chicken, when it wasn’t for Thanksgiving) she would boil the liver and gizzards to use the broth, throw out gizzards and take cooked livers, grind in food processor. Add ground liver to your bisquick mix with canned evaporated milk. Roll out dough just like you do for your dumplings, cut into the same size strips, 1/8″ thick, 1″x3″ roughly strips and then let them dry. Will be speckled. Make broth, drop them slowly in batches. Add turkey or chicken, same result, but the flavor is beyond measure.
That sounds delicious Leslie!
So good! I made this yesterday for my daughter, and we’ve both about demolished it.
I did test 2 dumplings before dumping them all in the pot, and I’m so glad I did as they dissolved. I just added a bit more flour and it was perfection!
I have tried to make this dish in the past without luck. I made this today and it’s delicious! My first dumplings ever (Bisquick before).
Excellent, just like my mom used to make
Just like my grandmother’s.
Pretty disappointed in this recipe… I followed the directions to a T and the dumplings ended up dissolving into the broth, making one big mush mess. I saw some other reviews said to add more flour and that should help, but I just used up the last of my ingredients to make the dough. What a waste!
That’s so disappointing Mallory. I haven’t had that happen so I can’t say for sure what happened.
Absolutely love this recipe
***** 5 star flavorful
Thank you for this recipe. Have been using it for several years and it’s the closest I can get to my mom’s cooking. I always double it to make enough.
Can I use Ghee, Grass Fed, Pasture Raised Organic Butter instead of Shortening. And if so, what is the ratio?
I have never tried but 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!
Taste like Grandmas. We love this recipe. We have used it twice since finding it and it’s wonderful. We add a little more salt but that’s it. Great southern food
Can you use frozen chicken in the pot?
For best results, I would defrost it a bit before adding it to the pot to make broth.
Looking forward to trying your recipe! My mom always puts eggs in hers but they tend to break up easily so I’ll try your recipe to see if it makes a difference. I read all of the comments and noticed several people mentioned that their dumplings dissolved. This happened to me as well the last time I made it using another recipe. Could this be due to not kneading the dough enough before cutting it into pieces? I’m thinking that the kneading might help to hold the dumpling dough together better when cooking and may be why others encountered problems. Also, how long do you knead and do you let the dough rest after kneading it?
I haven’t been able to replicate the problem so I can’t say for sure Dianna. I just turn the dough out and knead it for 3 to 4 minutes until it’s smooth. If the flour is incorrectly measured, this can also keep the dough from holding together. Enjoy the recipe and Let us know how it goes!
Has anyone else had issues with the dumplings dissolving in the soup?
I have not had a problem with the dumplings dissolving.
Yes,,, my dumpling turned out into a thick broth. I was very disappointed in this dumpling recipe.
I did add an egg after I cut the crisco into the dough with a fork. I only kneaded it for a couple of minutes. They were perfect.
I have had that issue and to avoid it the second time cooking I added more flour to the dumplings so that the dough was a bit firmer.
Could be old flour or especially old baking powder. I read that somewhere long time ago.
This recipe is delicious! Added potatoes also. When it was finished, added some milk to the broth. ❤️
This was a hit with our family! I didn’t have cornstarch but had a pack of pepper gravy mix, so I mixed it with a little water and added it. My kids said it was better than Cracker Barrel!
Seeking some help here, would love replies from either the recipe author or those on site that may be able to help. I have been a home chef for about 7 years and very skilled at a lot but very inexperienced with the science of baking. I am currently on vacation in Denver and so attempting this recipe at 5200 ft above sea level, that info may help someone diagnose my issue. Broth turned out amazing. Here is what I used for dumplings: White Lily Self Rising Flour, Clabber Girl Double Acting Baking Powder, Crisco shortening, Whole D Milk (cold).
1st attempt: Followed the ratios and probably had a little too much milk in my dough, it was in fact sticky and took a lot of rolling on counter in flour to get it dried. Broth was bubbling boil. Although dough rolled super thin, the dumplings swelled up really thick which I didn’t mind and they tasted amazing in the broth, but would never get close to firming up. Extremely soft and would fall apart when lifted, consistency when tasting. Second attempt, I made exactly the same but with less milk and same result. I am frustrated bc I know that so many on here have found such success with this recipe and I know I am close but can’t figure out what is going wrong and plan to attempt again tonight.
Flour – I know some use all-purpose not self rising but also a lot of recipes online call for self rising so don’t know if it should affect it so much that they won’t get firm at all.
Broth temp – Am I needing a full boil? More of a simmer?
Altitude – Is there an adjustment I need to make?
Any help is appreciated. I love the recipes on this site and this is first one I can’t seem to master.
I don’t have experience in cooking at altitude so I can’t say how that affects anything. I use all purpose flour in this recipe so the self rising flour could be the culprit. I do add them at more of a full boil as the dumplings will lower the temperature once they’re in the broth. Once they’re added and it’s boiling again, I keep it at a low boil. I hope that helps and I’d love to hear how it works out for you!
Tonight was my second time making this and again, it was a hit! Thanks for sharing a great recipe!
Hey Holly! I’ve been making this recipe since last fall and it’s been a winner with me and my husband. The family recipe I had from my mom is good, but doesnt hold a candle to this. It’s been my go to. Thank you for sharing!
This was absolutely wonderful. I usually follow recipes pretty much as written but sometimes like to make it my own…depending on whether there are ingredients i do not prefer. Love celery, but was out and didn’t feel like running out to the store, I so used Celery Salt. I marinated Chicken tenders for a few hours in balsamic and soy before starting the cooking. I also used half & half vs milk for the dumplings. Will definitely make this again, and again!