Southern-Style Chicken and Dumplings

Finally! I've been looking for this recipe for years and I finally found information technology. You run across, Chicken and Dumplings are my boyfriend's favorite dish and he'south always wanted me to make information technology at habitation. And I have tried, but the problem is there are lots of different recipes for chicken and dumplings and all the recipes I've tried haven't been "right", according to him.

Hither's what the right kind isn't: the kind with actual little round dumplings on top. Considering I guess that would just exist too like shooting fish in a barrel? I've tried several recipes like that, one from Martha Stewart, and while Brandon agreed that those recipes weren't bad, they still weren't "right".

The right kind of chicken and dumplings are the kind that Brandon's grandmother makes. They are the kind y'all go at Cracker Butt. They are truthful southern fashion, and they don't actually have dumplings, information technology's more like slabs of tender and delicious biscuit dough. You could think of them every bit really big, thick noodles. There are no dizzy things like vegetables in here, it's just chicken, chicken stock and dumplings. Catamenia. You can swallow your light-green beans and fried okra on the side like the real Southerners do. Every single time nosotros become to Cracker Barrel, that's what Brandon gets. EVERY. SINGLE. Time. And you know that's going to be hard to live upwardly to because I'm sure Cracker Butt makes those things with lard and crack cocaine-like everything else they serve. (I kid, I love Cracker Barrel, lard and all!)

That'southward why I was so happy to find this recipe. I showed Brandon a photo and he said it looked right so I made information technology and he said it was perfect. I have bested Cracker Barrel and his grandmother! In fact, a few weeks after I made this recipe for the first time we really went to Cracker Barrel and he did not order Chicken and Dumplings!

I, on the other manus, took a flake more convincing. Even though I grew upwards in Mississippi and Tennessee, I was never a fan of Chicken and Dumplings. I don't think I'd ever eaten them before I started on this search. I'll exist the first to acknowledge that was based entirely on looks. These aren't the best photos I've ever taken, but even if I had perfect lighting, information technology'southward but not a very pretty dish. And then you'll just have to have my word that I'm a Chicken and Dumplings convert now. This recipe is the ultimate comfort food. It will brand you feel warm and fuzzy and very, very full.

This is great with Turkey as well as chicken. I made it with chicken the first fourth dimension, but this final time I used my leftover Thanksgiving turkey and the stock from it. Just as good!

This is not the easiest recipe ever, simply information technology's not complicated either. It's somewhat time-consuming, and so this may be more of a weekend dish. Simply a lot of that is just waiting for the chicken to cook, so you can become do other things. If yous practice want a faster dinner, you cook the chicken and prepare the dumplings the twenty-four hour period before. I similar fast and like shooting fish in a barrel dinners as much as the next person, just some things you merely accept to put in the fourth dimension and effort to get right. This recipe is worth it!

Update: This has become one of the most popular recipes on my site and I've gotten lots of feedback from people with tips on how they make their ain Chicken and Dumplings, and then make sure to read through the comments if you have fourth dimension!

For people who are averse to using shortening, one of the tips I got was to substitute chicken fat. It'southward healthier and it will give the dumplings more flavor. Y'all'll demand to set up the chicken at least a day ahead so you can put the broth in the fridge and allow the fat harden on elevation. I haven't tried it notwithstanding, but I plan to the next fourth dimension I make this dish!

Some other prominent tip is to use chicken goop instead of milk in the dumplings, but I DON'T recommend that with this particular recipe. I've tried information technology multiple times and the dumplings completely atomize one time they're added to the broth. Milk seems to be necessary for this recipe to concur the dumplings together properly. If anyone has an alternative dumpling recipe for those that tin can't/don't desire to utilize milk, feel gratuitous to post it in the comments.


Southern-Style Chicken and Dumplings

Makes 4 servings

Prep Time: xc minutes | Cook Time: 30 minutes | Total Time: ii hour

Ingredients

Chicken

  • 1 big (four-5 lbs.) fryer chicken (sometimes called a Hen), neck and gizzards removed
  • one large onion, peeled and cut in half
  • iii medium carrots, cut into large pieces
  • three stalks of celery, cut into large pieces
  • 1 tsp. kosher salt, or to taste
  • 1/ii tsp. pepper or 1/2 tbsp. peppercorns
  • Fresh herbs of your choice (optional)

Dumplings

  • iii cups block flour or White Lily flour*
  • 3/4 tsp. baking soda
  • 3/4 tsp. salt
  • iv i/2 tbsp. shortening*
  • 1 cup milk

Process

  1. Place the chicken, onions, carrots, and celery in a big stockpot and encompass with water. Add together virtually a teaspoon of table salt and a big compression of pepper or handful of peppercorns. Feel complimentary to add several stalks/leaves of fresh herbs (no need to chop), like parsley, thyme, oregano, or sage. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat so water maintains a gentle simmer. Encompass and cook craven for at least ane hr or until cooked through (virtually 165 degrees).

  2. Tip: I recommend making the dumplings the night before. They can sit down out, loosely covered with a tea towel or plastic wrap until you're ready to begin cooking. Mix flour, baking soda, and salt together in a basin. Cut shortening into flour mixture with your fingertips until information technology resembles pocket-sized peas. Add milk — 1/4 loving cup at a time, you may not need a full loving cup — and stir until a ball of dough simply begins to form, being careful not to over-mix.

  3. Carve up the dough into two equal halves, loosely shaped into rectangles. Roll each one-half of the dough out onto a floured slice of waxed paper or parchment paper. Curl about i/iv inch thick. Using a pizza cutter or sharp knife, cut dough into rectangles well-nigh 1 inch wide by 3 inches long. Allow the strips to residuum and harden for at to the lowest degree three hours or overnight.

    Southern-Style Chicken and Dumplings Southern-Style Chicken and Dumplings

  4. One time the craven is done, remove it from the broth and let it cool. Remove chicken from the bone (this shouldn't be hard, information technology should exist falling off pretty easily at this point) and shred into medium-sized pieces, discarding bones and peel.

  5. Pour the chicken goop through a fine-mesh sieve lined with cheesecloth (yous tin improvise with a java filter or paper towel), discarding vegetables. Reserve 8 cups of broth for the dumplings. Refrigerate or freeze the rest to use for another recipe. It's much more flavorful than the chicken broth you buy at the grocery store.

  6. In a large pot or dutch oven over medium rut, bring the broth to a very gentle simmer. This tin can be a bit tricky depending on your stove considering you don't want the broth to get too hot or the dumplings may come apart. You should exist able to run into lots of tiny bubbles rising below the surface of the goop, but they don't need to be breaking through into a full simmer yet.

  7. Drop in the dumplings, one at a time, and give the whole pot a gentle stir subsequently every v or so dumplings. This will help keep them from sticking together. After all the dumplings accept been added, continue to cook on medium, stirring regularly, for 7-10 minutes. At this betoken, the broth should have started to thicken and get more white/opaque equally the dumplings cook down.

  8. Reduce heat to low and gently stir in your shredded chicken. Encompass and continue cooking on low until thickened to your liking, about 20 to thirty minutes. Flavor generously with salt and pepper and serve immediately. Southern-Style Chicken and Dumplings

Recipe Notes

*If you don't have cake flour, I have tried this recipe with AP flour and it turned out fine. The dumplings may simply be a bit chewier and less light than if y'all use cake or White Lily flour.

*I imagine y'all could use butter, only I haven't tried it. I've never been a fan of shortening, but I stuck to the recipe because I didn't want to mess with its "right"-ness. You know Cracker Barrel and Southern grandmas aren't afraid of using shortening.

I dear to serve this dish with my favorite Love Cornbread and a side of black-eyed peas or collard greens.


Published on Updated on Jul 22, 2021