Best Chicken and Dumplings Recipe

Chicken and Dumplings is a comfort food classic of rich stock, delicate chicken, a trilogy of sweet vegetables, and tender homemade dumplings…

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 40 minutes

Total Time: 55 minutes

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: American

Keyword: chicken, chicken and dumplings, chicken and vegetables, chicken recipes, comfort food, easy, kid friendly, stew, ultimate comfort food

Servings: servings

Calories: 929kcal

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7 tablespoons salted butter
1 1/2 cups chopped sweet onion
1 1/2 cups matchstick carrots
1 1/2 cups finely diced celery
1/2 cup fresh or frozen peas
6 cloves rough chopped garlic
4 tablespoons all-purpose flour
10 - 12 ounces evaporated milk
1 quart homemade chicken stock
4 cups chopped cooked chicken * leftover Rotisserie chicken works VERY well in this recipe
4 - 6 sprigs fresh thyme
4 - 6 sprigs fresh parsley
2 teaspoons Kosher salt, or to taste
2 teaspoons black pepper, or to taste

Using a 5 inch piece of kitchen twine, tie the fresh thyme and the fresh parsley together to make a boquet garni.
In a medium dutch oven (4 quart), melt butter over medium-high heat.
Add onion, carrots and celery and cook for 5 minutes or until vegetables being to wilt. Add garlic and cook for 1 minute more.
Add flour and stir to combine. Cook for 1 minute. Mixture will be sticky. Add evaporated milk and chicken stock and quickly stir to combine, breaking up all lumps with the back of a wooden spoon.
Slowly bring to a boil and add chicken, boquet garni, black pepper and salt. Cook at a low boil for 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Reduce heat to simmer. and add the peas. Peas, fresh or frozen, cook VERY QUICKLY, so only add them now during the last part of the cook. Let stew cook, uncovered, and begin the dumpling batter.

In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, pepper, salt and Herbes de Provence. Make a shallow well in the center of the flour mixture and pour the milk and the melted butter into the center.
Using a fork, stir together until batter comes together similar to a dough ball. Batter will be very sticky and somewhat stiff.
In the bowl, roughly cut the ball in half. From each half, portion three smaller portions of equal size. Round-off the six portions using a large spoon. Place one in the center of the stew, then place the five remaining around the pot, leaving a bit of room between each.
Once all dumpling balls have been added, gently press them down so the stew juice runs over just the tops of them.
Place the lid on your pot and lower the heat to a low simmer. You don’t want the bottom of the stew to burn but do want the stew to still be simmering in order to cook the dumplings through.
Cook for 15 minutes. Occasionally gently stir/scrape the stew on the bottom of the pot to avoid sticking/burning. Do this as best you can around the dumplings, as the dumplings will have by now almost doubled in size. If you are unsure if the dumplings are cooked through, cut one dumpling in half to make sure. If necessary, cook an additional 2-3 minutes and check dumplings again.
Once the dumplings are cooked through, serve hot. Be sure to remove the boquet garni and discard.

Please note that the nutrition information provided above is approximate and meant as a guideline only.