Chicken & Dumplings
We’ve entered daylight saving time, and I really don’t do well when it starts getting dark so early. I need as much sun as possible. But, Katie says if a hug was a food, it would be a dumpling - so it seems like the perfect time of the year for this delicious pot of chicken and dumplings. This might take the cake for the comfiest comfort food of them all!
To take these chicken & dumplings to the next level, we’re infusing as much flavor into each step as possible. Also, I’d encourage you to use bone-in chicken. It’s going to add a few extra steps, but your broth will be extra flavorful because of it. We’re overly seasoning our chicken to bake in those fresh-herby notes that we all love, and we’re adding those same seasonings into our dumplings. I like my dumplings a bit thinner, so I opted to roll and cut my dough here. But, if you want a dumpling that takes on more of a biscuit simple use a cookie scoop to drop some of the dough directly into the broth. They’ll take a bit more time to cook through - but you won’t get your hands and counter nearly as dirty!
We shouldn’t mess with delicious classics, and I think this delivers on all of the nostalgic notes. Enjoy!
Ingredients
4-6 Bone In Chicken Thighs
7 cups Chicken Stock
1 Onion chopped
4 stalks Celery chopped
Carrots diced
1 teaspoon garlic
1/4 teaspoon Salt
1/4 teaspoon Pepper
1/2 teaspoon Thyme
1/2 teaspoon basil
1/2 teaspoon Oregano
Olive Oil
Dumplings
1 1/2 cups flour
1/3 cup shortening
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 cup milk or buttermilk
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
Cook Time: 60 minutes
Total Time: 75 minutes
Step 1: To begin, gather all ingredients!
Step 2: In a deep pot, heat a few tablespoons of oil. Heavily season the skin-side of the chicken thighs with 1/4 teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon pepper, 1/2 teaspoon thyme, 1/2 teaspoon basil, and 1/2 teaspoon oregano, and 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder. Place chicken in pot skin side down. Sear chicken on both sides for roughly 5 minutes each.
The goal here is to get the chicken skin crispy, but also to allow the time for the chicken to absorb the flavor from the seasonings. The seasonings are also going to stick to the bottom of the pot which is going to add extra layers of taste to our broth. Also, I’m using bone-in chicken thighs. I think dark meat is more flavorful, and the bones of the chicken are going to season the broth as well.
Step 3: While the chicken is searing, chop up your onion, garlic, celery and carrots. Once chicken is seared on both sides, remove from pot and set aside. The chicken won’t be completely cooked through, and that’s okay. Add a little bit of butter to the bottom of the pot, add in chopped carrots, onion, celery and garlic. Stir until soften.
Step 4: Once veggies are softened, add chicken stock and chicken back into the pot. Cover and reduce heat to simmer for about 45 minutes, or until chicken is cooked through. Remove chicken and let cool. shred.
Step 5: Once chicken is cooled, pulled chicken off of the bone, and shred.
Step 6: Make the dumplings. Combine 1 1/2 cups flour, 1/3 cup shortening, 1/2 teaspoon baking powder, 1 teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon pepper salt, and /2 teaspoon garlic powder into a large bowl. Cut dough together with a pastry cutter, or your hands.
Step 7: Once dry ingredients are combined, slowly pour in your milk and mix together while pouring. Don’t over mix. You want the dough to bit a bit shaggy, and very sticky.
Step 8: Put dough onto floured surface and knead a few times with floured hands until dough comes together. Roll out into until it is about 1/8 inch thick and cut into desired shapes.
Step 9: Once dumplings are cut, add shredded chicken and dumplings into the pot with the broth.
Step 10: Cover and let simmer for about 15 minutes. Try not to peek, or stir. You want the heat to stay trapped in the pot to help the dumplings plump! After 15 minutes, check to see if the dumplings are done. The flour from the dumplings will serve as a thickener for the chicken and dumplings. But, if you want to thicken it more, you can mix together two tablespoons of corn starch, with two tablespoon of water and then slowly mix that in! Serve immediately and garnish with parsley.
Full Recipe:
To begin, gather all ingredients!
In a deep pot, heat a few tablespoons of oil. Heavily season the skin-side of the chicken thighs with 1/4 teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon pepper, 1/2 teaspoon thyme, 1/2 teaspoon basil, and 1/2 teaspoon oregano, and 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder. Place chicken in pot skin side down. Sear chicken on both sides for roughly 5 minutes each.
The goal here is to get the chicken skin crispy, but also to allow the time for the chicken to absorb the flavor from the seasonings. The seasonings are also going to stick to the bottom of the pot which is going to add extra layers of taste to our broth. Also, I’m using bone-in chicken thighs. I think dark meat is more flavorful, and the bones of the chicken are going to season the broth as well.
While the chicken is searing, chop up your onion, garlic, celery and carrots. Once chicken is seared on both sides, remove from pot and set aside. The chicken won’t be completely cooked through, and that’s okay. Add a little bit of butter to the bottom of the pot, add in chopped carrots, onion, celery and garlic. Stir until soften.
Once veggies are softened, add chicken stock and chicken back into the pot. Cover and reduce heat to simmer for about 45 minutes, or until chicken is cooked through. Remove chicken and let cool. shred.
Once chicken is cooled, pulled chicken off of the bone, and shred.
Make the dumplings. Combine 1 1/2 cups flour, 1/3 cup shortening, 1/2 teaspoon baking powder, 1 teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon pepper salt, and /2 teaspoon garlic powder into a large bowl. Cut dough together with a pastry cutter, or your hands.
Once dry ingredients are combined, slowly pour in your milk and mix together while pouring. Don’t over mix. You want the dough to bit a bit shaggy, and very sticky.
Put dough onto floured surface and knead a few times with floured hands until dough comes together. Roll out into until it is about 1/8 inch thick and cut into desired shapes.
Once dumplings are cut, add shredded chicken and dumplings into the pot with the broth.
Cover and let simmer for about 15 minutes. Try not to peek, or stir. You want the heat to stay trapped in the pot to help the dumplings plump! After 15 minutes, check to see if the dumplings are done. The flour from the dumplings will serve as a thickener for the chicken and dumplings. But, if you want to thicken it more, you can mix together two tablespoons of corn starch, with two tablespoon of water and then slowly mix that in! Serve immediately and garnish with parsley.
