How to prepare chicken for chicken and dumplings

Melt butter in a large pot over medium heat. Add onions; cook and stir until they begin to soften, about 3 minutes. Add chicken; cook and stir until no longer pink in the center, about 10 minutes. Add water, condensed soup, bouillon cubes, and poultry seasoning; stir to combine. Increase the heat to medium-high and bring to a simmer.

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Nutrition Facts (per serving)

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Nutrition FactsServings Per Recipe 6Calories 317% Daily Value *Total Fat 15g19%Saturated Fat 6g28%Cholesterol 76mg25%Sodium 1396mg61%Total Carbohydrate 25g9%Dietary Fiber 1g3%Total Sugars 3gProtein 21gVitamin C 1mg7%Calcium 114mg9%Iron 3mg14%Potassium 321mg7%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs.

** Nutrient information is not available for all ingredients. Amount is based on available nutrient data.

(-) Information is not currently available for this nutrient. If you are following a medically restrictive diet, please consult your doctor or registered dietitian before preparing this recipe for personal consumption.

This creamy Chicken and Dumplings recipe is the ultimate comfort food! Fluffy, homemade dumplings in the most flavorful chicken soup. Made from scratch in minutes!

Table of Contents

• Homemade Chicken and Dumplings
• What Kinds of Dumplings Are There?
• How to Make Soup Dumplings from Scratch
• Soup Ingredients
• How to Make Chicken and Dumplings Soup
• What Makes this Soup So Creamy?
• This Recipe is Pure Comfort Food!
• Chicken and Dumplings Recipe

Homemade Chicken and Dumplings

If you are looking for an easy chicken and dumplings recipe, you found it! Today I’m sharing all my tips and tricks on how to make your chicken and dumplings from scratch with minimal effort.

Don’t get nervous when I say this recipe is made from scratch. If you’ve ever wanted to make dumplings from scratch you’ll be glad to know they’re surprisingly easy and simple to make!

Chicken and Dumplings is one of the top recipes on my site for a reason and I can’t wait for you to try it! I promise, you will love it like the thousands of others who have given this recipe 5 stars over the years!

What Kinds of Dumplings Are There?

There are 3 popular kinds of dumplings:

• Drop dumplings are dumplings made in a bowl that you scoop out and drop into the soup to be cooked. They are light and fluffy.
• Rolled dumplings are the kind of dumplings you get when you order Cracker Barrel’s Chicken and Dumplings. They are a flat dense dumpling. 
• Biscuit dumplings are made with canned biscuits and are cut into quarters and dropped into the soup. 

This recipe uses drop dumplings. Why? Well, when I started trying out different methods of making my own dumplings these drop dumplings were the clear winner. They are very easy to make, fast to cook and extra delicious! This recipe makes fluffy homemade dumplings that float on top of your chicken soup.

Years and years ago, I used to make my chicken and dumplings recipe with canned refrigerated biscuits. If you are a big fan of chicken and dumplings with biscuits, I still have that recipe on my site as well!

How to Make Soup Dumplings from Scratch

The first step in making chicken and dumplings soup is to make the dumplings. This homemade dumpling recipe is so easy. They take 5 minutes and a handful of ingredients, you probably already have on hand!

Your family will think you were working for hours making homemade dumplings — so don’t tell them our little secret.

Follow these simple steps to make drop dumplings for soup:

1. Mix dry ingredients: Add the dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, pepper, salt and thyme) into a medium sized bowl and whisk together.
2. Add wet ingredients: Add in the butter and milk, mix it together using a wooden spoon, until dough ball forms.
3. Cook dumplings: Drop the dumplings into the simmering soup with a cookie scoop and let cook! That’s it!

If you have been wanting to learn how to make dumplings from scratch, this is definitely a great recipe to try since it’s so easy!

Soup Ingredients

Once you’ve made your dumplings, the rest of the ingredients needed for this soup are simple classics:

• Butter
• Onion, carrots, celery and garlic
• All purpose flour
• Evaporated milk <- The secret to creamy soup!
• Chicken stock
• Shredded cooked chicken
• Spices: Thyme, Salt & pepper

Some things are best when they are kept simple to let the flavor shine and I absolutely think Chicken and Dumplings is one of those things.

However, I do have one secret ingredient that is KEY to making your chicken and dumplings creamy. Can you guess what it is from the ingredients list above? Evaporated milk!

Evaporated milk is creamier when compared to whole milk, but not as thick as heavy whipping cream (and a lot less fattening as well).

P.S. If you can’t have dairy, I suggest trying this dairy free Matzo Ball Soup. You still get dumplings without the dairy!

How to Make Chicken and Dumplings Soup

Now that we’ve covered how to make dumplings and what ingredients go into this soup, here’s how to make it all come together:

1. Sauté your veggies: In a large pot melt the butter over medium-high heat. Add the onion, carrots and celery. Cook for 5 minutes until the veggies begin to wilt. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute longer.
2. Add flour: Sprinkle the flour over the veggies and cook for a minute, stirring constantly.
3. Pour in the milk and broth: Add the evaporated milk and broth. Stir quickly to combine.
4. Simmer & make the dumplings: Bring the soup to a boil, then reduce to a simmer and make your drop dumplings as described above.
5. Drop the dumplings into the soup: Using a large cookie scoop, scoop the dumpling dough into balls and drop them directly into the simmering soup. Place them around the edges of the pot, not all in the center. Gently press the dumplings down so the soup runs over them.
6. Cover and simmer: Place a lid on your pot, reduce heat to a low simmer and cook for 15 minutes.
7. Test the dumplings: Gently stir the soup. Remove one dumpling and cut it in half to make sure it is cooked through.
8. Serve: Once the dumplings are cooked, your soup is ready to eat. Time to dig in!

What Makes this Soup So Creamy?

There are a few tricks to keeping Chicken and Dumplings creamy without adding any cans of condensed soups. 

First is the use of evaporated milk as mentioned above.

Second, and just as important, is the gravy base of the soup made with all purpose flour and butter. You use the butter to sauté the vegetables in and then add in the flour and cook for a minute or two. The two combine to make a great soup gravy base – similar to making white country gravy.

The evaporated milk + gravy make an amazingly creamy soup when combined with the chicken stock!

This Recipe is Pure Comfort Food!

This homemade chicken and dumplings recipe has been a winner with my family and circle of friends for years, but I have never shared it on the blog.

It’s not because I didn’t want to share my family recipe with all of you, it’s just that I usually make it when I am craving comfort food on a cold night. And then as soon as it’s done, I don’t want to worry about working and taking photos…I just want to dive in face first!

But after the response to the videos I shared of me making this Chicken and Dumplings recipe on Instagram stories a few weeks ago, I knew I HAD to share the recipe asap.

So many of you made this soup within days of me posting the recipe and immediately started sending me pictures and reviews. No joke, over 25 people sent me messages proclaiming this to be the BEST Chicken and Dumplings recipe, ever! Yahoo!!

It’s now one of the most popular recipes on my site and you can read lots of reviews below. I am so excited for all of you to try this recipe. Please share how this Chicken and Dumplings recipe turns out for you, I can’t wait to hear what you think!

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Yield: 6

Chicken and Dumplings Recipe

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This easy recipe for my family’s favorite creamy Homemade Chicken and Dumplings is loaded with big fluffy dumplings that are made from scratch in just minutes!

Prep Time 15 minutes

Cook Time 35 minutes

Total Time 50 minutes

Ingredients

• 6 tablespoons butter
• 1 cup chopped yellow onion
• 1 cup matchstick carrots
• 1 cup diced celery
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 3 tablespoons all purpose flour
• 12 oz (1 can) evaporated milk
• 32 oz (1 quart) chicken stock
• 4 cups shredded cooked chicken
• 1 tablespoon fresh thyme (or 1 teaspoon dried thyme)
• 2 teaspoons freshly cracked black pepper (or to taste)
• salt, to taste

Homemade Dumplings:

• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon, baking powder
• 1 teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon fresh thyme (or 1 teaspoon dried thyme)
• 3/4 cup (6 oz) whole milk
• 4 tablespoons butter, melted

Instructions

1. In a large heavy bottomed pot (like a dutch oven), melt butter over medium-high heat. 
2. Add onion, carrots and celery. Cook for 5 minutes, until vegetables being to wilt. Add garlic and cook for 1 minute more.
3. Add flour and stir to combine. Cook for 1 minute.
4. Add evaporated milk and chicken stock and quickly stir to combine. 
5. Bring to a boil and add chicken, thyme, black pepper and salt. Let soup simmer, uncovered, while you make dumplings. 
6. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, pepper, salt and thyme. Make a well in the center of the flour mixture and pour the milk and butter into the center of it. 
7. Using a wooden spoon (or rubber spatula), stir together until dough ball forms. If your dough seems too dry, you can add an extra tablespoon of milk. 
8. Using a large** sized cookie scoop, scoop dough and drop directly into the simmering soup. Place them around the pot, not all in the same place. 
9. Once all dumplings have been added, gently press them down so the soup runs over just the tops of them. 
10. Place the lid on your pot and lower the heat a little to a low simmer (you don’t want the bottom of the soup to burn but also want the soup to still be simmering to cook the dumplings). 
11. Cook for 15 minutes, gently stir the soup/dumplings and then cut one dumpling in half to make sure they are cooked through.
12. If the dumplings are cooked through, serve hot! If not, cook an additional 2-3 minutes and check again. 

Notes

*You can use a medium sized cookie scoop in place of a large cookie scoop to get more dumplings. Start checking if they are done around the 10 minute mark.

Why are my chicken and dumplings tough?

Don't Overwork the Dumpling Dough Stir everything together until the wet and dry ingredients are combined and you don't see any more dry flour. The dough might look a little lumpy, but that's okay! Overworking the dough is one of the easiest ways to end up with tough dumplings.

Why is my chicken and dumplings soggy?

You can tell if the temperature is hot enough when the liquid is gently boiling with bubbles breaking on the surface. If you add the dough before the liquid is hot enough, the dumplings will end up soggy and undercooked.

Should chicken and dumplings be covered or uncovered?

Cover and simmer until dumplings are cooked through, about 15 minutes. Once you have covered the pan, do not uncover and peek while the dumplings are cooking! In order for the dumplings to be light and fluffy, they must steam, not boil. Uncovering the pan releases the steam.

How do you make chicken and dumplings a little thick?

Use Cornstarch to Thicken Chicken and Dumplings To give that a little thicker texture we're going to add 1 cup of cool water to 2 tablespoons of cornstarch and stir it up well. Make sure the soup is brought back to a good boil and go ahead and stir in the cornstarch mixture.