From Scratch Chicken and Dumplings
Chicken and Dumplings is a pretty new meal for me.
I didn’t grow up with this comfort food, so I didn’t really know what I was missing out on!
One day, I decided to give Chicken and Dumplings a shot and I used this recipe. It’s been the recipe I’ve fallen back on ever since, and it’s really helped me love Chicken and Dumplings.
BUT…it’s TIME consuming. And super ingredient heavy. And honestly it pales in comparison to the Chicken and Dumplings recipe I’m about to post! (but it’s still really good and probably a bit healthier than the version I am now enjoying though.)
This recipe starts with my homemade cream of chicken soup.
You can either make the cream of chicken soup in advance, or just make it as part of your dinner prep the night you intend to eat Chicken and Dumplings!
From Scratch Chicken and Dumplings
Inspired by All Recipes
Ingredients:
4 Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts (you can throw ’em in frozen!)
1 Cream of Chicken Soup Recipe (or 2 cans of cream of chicken soup…but trust me, the homemade stuff will be much tastier in this recipe!)
2 tablespoons butter
1 onion finely diced
3/4 cup chicken broth (with more on hand if needed)
For the biscuits:
2 cups flour (use any combo that works for you. All wheat, half white/half wheat, etc…)
4 teaspoons baking powder
1 tablespoon sugar
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup cold butter diced
1 cup milk
Directions:
- Add the cream of chicken soup, chicken broth, 2 tablespoons of butter, diced onions and chicken to a pot. Bring to a boil and then lower to a simmer.
- Simmer until your chicken is cooked all the way through and you can remove it and shred it with 2 forks (the time will vary based upon the size of your chicken breasts and if you put them in frozen or not).
- Shred your chicken (you can use two forks for this) and set aside for a bit.
- Making the biscuits/dumplings:
- Mix the flour, baking powder, sugar and salt together in a bowl
- Cut in the cold butter and work it into the dry ingredients until the mixture is crumbly and the butter is the size of small peas. Don’t overwork it! You want the butter to still be cold.
- Add your milk to the mixture and knead just until it’s all moistened.
- Turn up the heat on your cream of chicken mixture on the stove until it’s at a high simmer.
- Drop biscuit dough in by the tablespoon full. Go kind of slow just dropping a few in at a time and letting the heat come back up in between biscuit drops (hereafter known as dumplings!).
- Add your chicken back in and allow to simmer for 10 minutes of so. Pull out a bigger dumpling and check inside to be sure it is cooked through. (At this point, if your mixture is looking way too thick, you can add some more chicken broth to thin it out. We like it thick though!)
- Salt and pepper to taste and garnish with some parsley!
This recipe is SO tasty! You can throw veggies into it if you like, but honestly I just like to serve the veggies on the side.
You do not have to use my biscuit recipe. You can use your own or you can just use canned biscuits if you like.
You can also make this in the slow cooker! In fact, can I tell you a secret?
This is the recipe that made me realize my slow cooker was broken. I had the ingredients in the slow cooker for 3.5 hours when I went over to check and saw that the lid wasn’t fogged at all. Lifted the lid and my chicken for my chicken and dumplings was still frozen solid! I transferred the whole thing to a pot and that’s how this turned into a stove cooked recipe instead of a slow cooker recipe 😉
You would just cook it in the slow cooker for 6-8 hours on low and add the biscuits 60-90 minutes before serving.
(So who wants to buy me a new slow cooker? 😉 )
I hope you enjoy this Chicken and Dumplings Recipe and be sure to come back and comment if you try it or change it up!
Printable Version:
- 4 Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts (you can throw 'em in frozen!)
- 1 Cream of Chicken Soup Recipe (or 2 cans of cream of chicken soup...but trust me, the homemade stuff will be much tastier in this recipe!)
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 1 onion finely diced
- ¾ cup chicken broth (with more on hand if needed)
- For the biscuits:
- 2 cups flour (use any combo that works for you. All wheat, half white/half wheat, etc...)
- 4 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- ¼ cup cold butter diced
- 1 cup milk
- Add the cream of chicken soup, chicken broth, 2 tablespoons of butter, diced onions and chicken to a pot. Bring to a boil and then lower to a simmer.
- Simmer until your chicken is cooked all the way through and you can remove it and shred it with 2 forks (the time will vary based upon the size of your chicken breasts and if you put them in frozen or not).
- Shred your chicken (you can use two forks for this) and set aside for a bit.
- Making the biscuits/dumplings:
- Mix the flour, baking powder, sugar and salt together in a bowl
- Cut in the cold butter and work it into the dry ingredients until the mixture is crumbly and the butter is the size of small peas. Don't overwork it! You want the butter to still be cold.
- Add your milk to the mixture and knead just until it's all moistened.
- Turn up the heat on your cream of chicken mixture on the stove until it's at a high simmer.
- Drop biscuit dough in by the tablespoon full. Go kind of slow just dropping a few in at a time and letting the heat come back up in between biscuit drops (hereafter known as dumplings!).
- Add your chicken back in and allow to simmer for 10 minutes of so. Pull out a bigger dumpling and check inside to be sure it is cooked through. (At this point, if your mixture is looking way too thick, you can add some more chicken broth to thin it out. We like it thick though!)
- Salt and pepper to taste and garnish with some parsley!
oh yummy!!! I’d love if you shared this on my Foodie Friday! http://homemaidsimple.blogspot.com/2012/04/foodie-friday-chocolate-syrup-and.html
YUM!!!! Pinned this one too….We LOVED chicken and dumplings, but I haven’t found a really good recipe before.
Do you think I could make the chicken mixture one day, refridgerate it, then bring it back to high simmer the next day and do the dumplings? Of would it be better to just make it and refridgerate it all together and re-heat?
Random, I know. I took the chicken out of the freezer last night, then ended up not cooking it today. Now I don’t need it until Thur.
Sorry Katie, just now saw this….
I think yes. Do the dumplings just before serving though.
An advanced skill is a pieecd border they can be so hard to get to the correct size and placement. There are over 4000 blocks in the various block encyclopedias some of them are very difficult and complicated. I think piecing blocks of upward of 20-30 pieces in a block and getting them to size can be an advanced technique. Getting any block to correct size can be a real challenge. I would think a feathered star, mariner’s compass even with paper piecing can be a real challenge. Designing your own quilt and not using someone else’s pattern can be considered an advanced skill. I think after a while it becomes a question of style and enjoyment. I can do the more technically challenging blocks and quilt tops with tons of pieces but I find I like a lot of the modern, improvisational, minimalistic graphic blocks and quilts better. I am to the point I only make what I like if it is not considered challenging enough too bad, so sad go make your own quilt with a million pieces. Well this is my two cent worth. It is 3am I am tired and trying to get a three year old to realize it is the middle of the night and time for him to go back to sleep. Oh well Nonnie-hood can be tough.Nonnie
Made the homemade broth and then cream of chicken soup…came out delicious! I didn’t change anything! It was creamy and so very tasty. If I ever have to use store stock or cream soup I know it will not taste as good. Thanks for the recipe.
I always put the bisquits in a pan of chicken broth. They suck up so much liquid it doesnt leave me any soup broth.
Wow! Finally some decent dumplings!! We made this for dinner tonight. I was running late so I didn’t make the homemade cream of chicken, but will deffinetly do that the next time. ( if my taste buds can handle any more awesomeness) thanks so much.
Yey! I’m so glad you loved it!
I was looking for a chicken and dumpling recipe because I had lost my mother’s recipe and came across this one. I am so glad I did. I made the homemade cream of chicken soup as well. Boy they go together great. I will be using this again.
Thank you for sharing
Can you use cooked shredded Chicken?
That should be fine!
For slow cooker version you would add all ingredients in except dumplings for 6-8 hours on low?
I think that would work! I’d add the dumplings maybe last hour or 30 min? Test it out and let me know how it works!