Wintertime means comfort food! Chicken & Dumplings is my all time favorite meal from childhood. Dumplings is a vague term, I’ve discovered, depending on where you live in the U.S. In parts of the south, dumplings are more of what I’d call Chicken & Pastry; long, noodle like strips of pastry dough. But in the north, fluffy, biscuit based balls are the dumplings. My mom grew up in Michigan and this is her recipe that I’m sharing.
The recipe is at the bottom of the post but I’ll walk you through a few steps. Start by chopping up the veggies.
Brown three split chicken breasts, skin side down first, in a few tablespoons of oil. Browning first gives the stock more flavor. You’ll remove the skin and bones later.
After browning you add all your chopped veggies and spices to the pot and cover with water. Cover and simmer for one hour, then remove the chicken, de-bone it, and coarsely chop. Lightly mash the veggies in the pot with a potato masher (this helps to break up the larger chunks and helps to thicken the broth). Add a container of broth to the pot and bring back to a simmer.
Make roux (see directions below) and stir into the pot.
Prepare your dumplings (see directions below) and add all at once to the pot. Cover and simmer for 20 minutes with out lifting the lid. After 20 minutes, remove from heat and stir in 1/2 cup of half and half. This makes the dish rich and deliciously creamy! Serve!
Chicken & Dumplings Recipe
INGREDIENTS 1 medium onion diced 1 cup carrots chopped 1 cup celery chopped 3 split chicken breasts 1 tsp. minced garlic 1 tsp. ground pepper 1/2 tsp. salt 1.5 quarts water 1 (32oz) chicken broth 4 T butter 2 1/2 cups Bisquick Mix 1/2 cup half & half |
DIRECTIONS Brown chicken breasts, skin side down, in a few tablespoons of oil, over medium high heat in a large, deep pot. After browning, add chopped onion, carrots, and celery, garlic, salt, and pepper on top of chicken. Cover with water (appx 1.5 quarts). Place lid on pot. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for one hour. After 1 hour, remove chicken, de-bone, remove skin, and coarsely chop. Set aside. With potato masher, gently mash the veggies in the pot a bit. Now is the time to add the container of Chicken Broth and bring back up to a simmer. Make roux: Over med-low heat, melt 4 T butter, then sprinkle in 4 T flour & paprika and quickly stir out all lumps. Continue stirring and cooking for 3 min. Pour into pot with veggies and stir. Add the chicken back to the pot now. Dumplings: In a bowl mix 2 1/2 cups bisquick mix with appx 2/3 cup milk. Add milk slowly until the mix is combined but not too wet. Spoon large walnut sized amount of biscuit dough on to a plate. TIP: Add all the dumplings at once to your pot. This prevents some from turning out like hockey pucks! Immediately cover pot and simmer on medium-low for 20 minutes. DO NOT LIFT LID! After 20 minutes, remove from heat, and stir in 1/2 cup of half & half. This recipe serves 6-8. Serve in bowls and enjoy! |
I hope you enjoy this classic comfort food dish as much as I do!
Kim
You might also like:
Creamy Chicken & Wild Rice Soup with Swiss & Gruyere cheese
Linking up to:
♥ Sonny ♥ says
looks yummy… I’m in the south and the biscuity puffs are what we always had too… only thing different is we use a can of evaporated milk. probably has the same flavor though. I agree, definately comfort food. sure wish I was there for a bowl:)
Lauren says
This looks delicious. I never knew that about browning the chicken first; will have to try that the next time I make broth.
Gina says
Oh this looks so yummy! It’s the perfect comfort food on a cold day.
Heather says
I love chicken and dumplings too! It tastes really good on a cold night.
Rasonda @ Lake Cottage Dreams says
I looove cozy, yummy, comfort food. I come from a southern family where everyone knows how to make chicken and dumplin’s except me. I am going to try this recipe so I can blow them all away the next time I go down south ;D Thanks for sharing!!!
Kim B. says
Now THIS is a project I can do!! Ha ha 🙂 Looks DELICIOUS & I know my family will LOVE it!! Thanks for sharing. Your picture makes me what a bowl right now!
Sue @ Cakeballs, cookies and more says
I have never had this, but always wanted to, it sounds so comforting.
Our Delightful Home says
Yummy! Thanks for sharing!
~Mrs. Delightful
ourdelightfulhome.blogspot.com
Mrs. Gray says
Just made this last night, and couldn’t stop eating it! Delicious recipe, thanks!
Jessica Kielman says
These are my kind of dumplins for sure, and I am definitely southern. I may make a trip to the store and make these tomorrow! Now I’m hungry.
GinaE says
I live in the south and this is the version we have always had too. I think folks that have never had drop dumpling just don’t know what they are missing. But most people I know think those dough strips are dumplings. Yuck. Our only difference is that we add a can of cream of chicken soup to our broth.