Warm Up: Homemade Chicken & Dumplings Recipe

Chicken and dumplings is one of my favorite comfort foods.  It’s right up there with Nana’s Chicken & Rice, Thanksgiving Sweet Potatoes, and Cheeseburger Macaroni.  Yes, I said cheeseburger mac was comfort food- HA! Everyone has their own favorites.  Last week I wanted something that would feel like I had just received a hug and all I could think was how much I love a warm bowl of homemade chicken and dumplings.  So, I made it.  And it was so good.  Even better than the warm hug I had hoped for.  I even had leftovers to enjoy for a day or two after.  Leftovers = bliss!

For this recipe I didn’t use any canned condensed soups or prepackaged biscuits.  Although they are the common way to make a quick version, I promise it doesn’t compare to the real deal.

Oh, and my apologies for not including  more pictures.  I snapped a quick pic for this post at the last minute because my bowl just looked so good I couldn’t resist! The antique china featured is called Lynns Village (by Lynns Fine China). ~ V

Homemade Chicken & Dumplings

Ingredients:

• 2-4 Chicken Breasts
• 6 Cups Chicken or Turkey Broth
• 1-2 tbsp Better than Bouillon
• 3 Cups Milk
• 3/4 Cup Flour
• 3 tbsp oil
• 1 tbsp butter
• 2 cloves fresh garlic (smashed)
• 1 tbsp Black Pepper
• 1 tsp Smoked Paprika or Poultry Seasoning

Dumplings Ingredients:

• 3 Cups All Purpose Flour
• 1 tbsp Baking Powder
• 1/4 tsp Salt
• 3/4 Cup Cold Butter
• 1 cup warm milk

Directions:

Add chicken breasts to a large stock pot, cover with water and boil 30-45 minutes. Remove chicken and allow to cool. Reserve water in a heat safe bowl.

Return stock pot to medium-high heat.  Add butter, oil, and garlic. Saute garlic 1 minute.  Add 3/4 cup flour, lightly mix into the oil/butter being careful not to over-do it.  Slowly whisk in chicken stock (or the reserved water if you don’t have stock handy.) Add Milk, Better than Bouillon, pepper, and poultry seasoning. Whisk continuously until mixture begins to boil.  Cover and reduce heat to low.

Shred or cut cooked chicken breast. Add to stock pot. Stir well, cover, and continue to simmer on low.

For dumplings, in a large mixing bowl add flour, baking powder, and salt.  Cut in cold butter.  Make a well and pour in your warm milk.  Mix until incorporated. Flour the sides of the bowl and knead until the dough is smooth. (No need to knead the dough on a floured surface, just a few kneads in the bottom of the mixing bowl will do – less mess)

Remove lid from soup. Stir and bring heat back up to medium.

With the dumpling dough, form 1 inch balls and gently set them on top of your soup. Try not to put them on top of each other if you can. Cover, reduce heat back to low and simmer for 20 minutes.