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.
Chicken and Dumplings
This cozy chicken and dumplings recipe is made with rich homemade broth, tender shredded chicken, and soft rolled dumplings simmered right in the pot.
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.
Making this now, it is very similar to what I used to make. I never measured anything back then and now I am too unsure to not measure! I did add fresh herbs and a bay leaf as it is my habit. I will let you know how it turns out.
What would cause the dumplings to completely in the pot as they cook? Innattentiveness as they boil or not enough kneading?
I haven’t experienced that problem so I can’t say for sure. Did you make them exactly as written?
Over stirring or heat that is too high could break apart the dumplings. Also be sure the dough is not too sticky
I must’ve had too high heat because my dumplings disintegrated. I don’t think my other recipe has as much fat in the dumpling recipe so maybe that was it…except other people got them to stay together. Hmm.
Adapted this recipe for our family, but it was an awesome base to start from! We used a rotisserie chicken and skipped the carrots and celery. We seasoned the broth with chicken bouillon, garlic powder, and seasoning salt. We didn’t have shortening so substituted softened butter at a 1:1 ratio. The family loved this and absolutely want us to make it again. Thanks for a great recipe!
Question, just to confirm do you use the whole chicken? I thought I saw just legs and thighs in the video so wanted to confirm. Thanks!
I use a whole chicken in this recipe.
Delicious. My new go to for chicken and dumplings
Only followed the dumplings recipe, which is very yummy, but I made my own “cheaper” version since some of the ingredients didn’t fit in my budget. I didn’t have shortening or butter so I just used the skimmed chicken fat from boiling the whole bird. I also didn’t have milk, so I just used water. The chicken fat imparted more chicken flavor to the dumplings and also didn’t go to waste! It was a win win.
Your substitutions sound great, Kaleigh! Glad you enjoyed it.
Thank you so much for this recipe. My grandma would make this for all of us grandkids when I was young and it was always so special. She died a couple year ago and I never got her to write down her recipe. This is so good and tastes just like she made it.
Sorry about your grandma. So happy to hear that you found this recipe Samantha!
This recipe was so easy to follow. This was my first attempt at chicken and dumplings. They were amazing! I did make a couple of substitutions based on the ingredients I had on hand. I used 6 chicken breasts instead of a whole chicken and 1 stick melted butter instead of shortening. I have yet to try one of your recipes that does not turn out to taste wonderful!
So glad you loved this recipe, Dawn!
My family loves this recipe and now I want to make it to prep for maternity leave. Do you know if it freezes and reheats well? Thank you for sharing!
Hi Jennifer, you could try freezing it, the soup itself would freeze well but the dumplings will soften and change in texture.
I typically freeze the dumplings raw separately from the soup and thaw them and combine them when I want them. Works wonderfully!
you can freeze dumplings if you let them dry first. Works like a charm
I learned to cook from my mum. She was from the south, so that’s how she cooked. I have made chicken and dumplings so many times I’ve lost count . Foor my taste I do not like it when it is reheated the next day . I think it states different /,but you can try it . Ithink when you freeze it it seems more musher too. go ahead and try it.. you may not be as picky as I am.. I am 78 years old ib a few days, so you know I’ve been cooking for a long time. I also raised 4 children on foods like this, then their spouses and others .
You could 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.
This is amazing as written, happy family here
I am seventy-five years old and have been making chicken & dumplings for 54 years! I decided to try a new recipe (your recipe) and it was amazing. I did use green onions as I always have because they are so wonderful in C&D. My husband loved the firm dumplings better than my old recipe because these do not fall apart. Thank you SO much! I will be making these as long as I cook. P.S. Please try using green onion tops instead of onion. You will love it!
I’m so glad you loved it Patsy! I’ll definitely try green onions next time, thanks for sharing!
Anxious to try this recipe. Okay to use left over Rotissere chicken!
Enjoy using your recipes; they are deliciouus!
My grandkids loved this.
I made this today and my wife loved it . Thanks for the tips .
Do you use whole milk? I have half and half or 2% milk
Any milk will work. Half and half will make it a bit creamier Raechelle!
I used almond milk which is basically water lol and it worked well.
My boyfriend made this recipe tonight and we loved it! We have been looking for lower sodium recipes and healthier options since his heart attack about a month ago. We are still adjusting to the sodium intake cut, but we didn’t miss that with these chicken and dumplings! They were delicious and it was his first time making homemade dumplings. We will be making these again for sure. Thanks!
So glad you both loved it Amanda!
Simple recipe to make without a lot of excess ingredients. It came out delicious.
I made these tonight. It was really easy. I didn’t have celery, carrots, or other veggies. So, I added celery ceed for the taste, and it was great!
Would you recommend doubling this recipe for 7 adults? 3 men/4 women?
It depends on how heavy the portions are, you may have a bit leftover if you double it but this recipe does reheat well.
I been making chicken and dumplings a long time I never made mine with milk I always used cold water and come out perfect and never made no thicken for the.if you start with a pot full of your broth by the time it cook down it will.be thick okay I cant see adding thickness to flour .you were sayi g the dont heat good put the in a bowel add a little water the come out like they did when you cooked the I am 80 yrs and been cooking since I was 10 and can cook anything okay have a bless day
I just found your recipe it sounds great I was wondering about how many dumpling does it make 1” x 2”
Wonderful recipes with ingredients that we usually already have, so thank you!!!
I couldn’t have this is my 1st time leaving a comment?!?
Thank you for commenting Sharon! So happy that you are enjoying the recipes at Spend With Pennies!