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Overhead view of a bowl of chicken and dumplings with a spoon inside the bowl and a linen on the side.
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Chicken and Dumplings

The ultimate comfort dish, this chicken and dumplings recipe is so easy to make from scratch. It's such a satisfying and hearty recipe perfect for once the weather cools down.
Course Main Course, Soup
Cuisine American
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour 10 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 20 minutes
Servings 8 servings
Calories 346kcal
Author John Kanell

Equipment

  • Dutch oven
  • mixing bowl

Ingredients

  • 2 bone-in skin-on chicken breasts (about 2 pounds)
  • ¼ cup unsalted butter (57g)
  • 1 yellow onion chopped
  • 2 carrots diced
  • 2 celery stalks diced
  • 4 garlic cloves minced
  • ¼ cup all-purpose flour (30g)
  • 6 cups chicken stock (1.44L/1360g)
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
  • 4 sprigs fresh thyme

For the Dumplings:

  • 1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour (210g)
  • 2 ½ teaspoons baking powder
  • 2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • ¾ teaspoon ground black pepper
  • ¾ cup milk (180ml)
  • 3 tablespoons butter melted

Instructions

  • In a large Dutch oven, melt 2 tablespoons of butter over medium heat. Add the chicken breasts skin side down. Cook without disturbing them until the skin is nicely browned, about 10 minutes. Remove from the pot.
  • Add the onion, carrots, celery, and garlic. Cook, stirring frequently, until the onions turn translucent, about 5 minutes.
  • Add the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter and stir until melted. Sprinkle in the flour. Cook, stirring constantly for 2 minutes. Slowly stir in the stock, salt, and pepper. Add the chicken breasts back to the pot along with the thyme.
  • Partially cover and bring to a boil. Boil until the chicken is cooked through, about 30 to 45 minutes, depending on the size of the chicken pieces. Remove the chicken and cool for a few minutes on a tray. Taste the broth and add more salt and pepper if desired.
  • Shred the meat, discarding the skin and the bones. Stir the meat back into the pot.

For the Dumplings:

  • In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, thyme, salt, and pepper. Add the milk and melted butter and stir until well combined. Using spoons or a spring-loaded scoop, drop about 2 tablespoon-sized balls of the dumpling dough into the pot. It will be crowded, but the dumplings should all fit in a single layer.
  • Reduce the heat to low, just to keep the soup simmering. Cover and cook for 5 minutes. Carefully flip the dumplings over using a spoon. (Do not stir them in the pot or they will fall apart.) Cover again and cook for 5 to 10 minutes or until the dumplings feel firm. Remove from the heat and serve immediately.

Notes

  • Do not swap the all-purpose flour for whole wheat flour. Whole wheat flour will make your dumplings dense instead of fluffy.
  • When making the dumpling dough mixture, do not overmix. Stop mixing once the flour has just combined, or you’ll overwork the mixture and have dense dumplings.
  • Using a cookie scoop will ensure all your dumplings are uniformly shaped and cook evenly.
  • The dumplings will expand as they cook. Make sure you don’t drop the dough too close to each other in the pot.
  • For a thicker soup, you can add additional flour to the mirepoix.
  • I highly recommend using fresh thyme for the recipe. However, if you do not have any fresh thyme available, for every 2 teaspoons of fresh thyme, you can swap for ¼ teaspoon of dried thyme.
  • You can add additional vegetables to the soup, such as corn or peas.
  • You can easily shred the chicken breasts with two forks. However, you can also add the chicken (with the bone and skin removed) to a mixer with a paddle attachment and let the stand mixer shred your chicken breast on low speed.
  • Avoid constantly opening the lid of the pot while the dumplings cook. You will release the steam built up in the pot that essentially cooks the dumplings, causing it to take longer to cook through.

Nutrition

Calories: 346kcal | Carbohydrates: 35g | Protein: 15g | Fat: 16g | Saturated Fat: 8g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 5g | Trans Fat: 0.4g | Cholesterol: 53mg | Sodium: 900mg | Potassium: 410mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 5g | Vitamin A: 2976IU | Vitamin C: 4mg | Calcium: 135mg | Iron: 2mg