Name: Chicken and Dumplings
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 100 min
Total time: 120 min
Ingredients: 2 pounds bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs ((8 thighs)); Salt; Freshly ground black pepper; 2 teaspoons canola oil; 3 small onions; 3 medium carrots; 2 ribs celery; 2 Tablespoons apple cider vinegar; 6 cups sodium reduced chicken broth; 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme leaves; 1 pound chicken wings ((10 wing pieces) (see note)); 1/4 cup minced parsley leaves; 1 cup all purpose flour; 1 cup whole wheat flour; 1 teaspoon sugar; 1 teaspoon salt; 1/2 teaspoon baking soda; 3/4 cup cold buttermilk; 4 Tablespoons unsalted butter (melted and cooled (1/2 stick)); 1 large egg white

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Total Time 2 hours

Number of Servings

Chicken and Dumplings is the perfect comfort food: a hearty chicken and vegetable stew, with soft, biscuit-like dumplings on top.

The mouthwatering comfort food I'm about to share with you is Chicken and Dumplings - A hearty chicken stew filled with chicken thigh meat, carrots, celery and onions, topped with soft, doughy dumplings.

It's one of the dishes that I'll make for a small, cozy dinner party or just a family dinner at home.

Now let me tell you a little bit about Chicken and Dumplings. Like some (but definitely not all) good food, this dish takes some time to prepare.

To fill the stew with rich, chicken flavor, you need to brown the chicken and remove the skin, then saute the veggies and cook the chicken and veggies together in the broth.

The chicken flavor comes from bone-in, skin-on chicken thigh meat, as well as chicken wings.

The chicken wings help to give the broth a thicker texture, thanks to all the cartilage in them. If you don't have any, you can skip them and add a couple of extra thighs instead.

While making ahead is definitely not a requirement, it is a possibility with this recipe.

If you cook the chicken and veggies, then simmer for a while, the chicken can be removed and everything refrigerated overnight. This makes it so much easier to skim the now-solid fat from the top.

Then all you need to do to finish the recipe is stir the chicken back in, bring it to a simmer and cook the dumplings on top of the stew.

However, if you don't want to make it ahead of time, just skim as much of the fat from the top as you can with a spoon. You won't be able to get it all, but it's not the end of the world.

When it comes time to cook the dumplings, make sure you wrap the lid of the pot with a clean towel.

This ensures that the steam doesn't condense and drip back onto the dumplings, making them soggy. Instead, the steam gets absorbed by the towel.

Just make sure you wrap the towel well onto the top of the lid, ensuring that it doesn't fall onto the cooktop.

I, being overly cautious (and often accident-prone) in the kitchen, would probably use some type of clip or tape to fasten it securely, especially if I had a gas cooktop (I have an induction stove, so really, the danger is minimal for me).

Want more comfort food recipes?

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A spoon of chicken barley soup held over a bowl of soup. — Weeknight Chicken Barley Soup

Spaghetti and meatballs in a white bowl — Slow Cooker Spaghetti and Meatballs

Chicken and Dumplings Nutrition Notes

The nutrition information in the recipe below does account for removing the skin from the chicken thighs and the wings, but it does not account for skimming the excess fat from the top of the soup.

The more fat you can skim, the more you will reduce total and saturated fat as well as calories (this is easiest to do if you have time to let the soup chill before skimming).

Also note that the sodium in this recipe is high, despite using reduced-sodium broth. To further reduce sodium, use low sodium, or no salt added broth.

5 from 2 votes

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Chicken and Dumplings

Carissa Serink

Chicken and Dumplings is the perfect comfort food - warm and hearty, filled with chicken and vegetables.

Prep Time20 mins

Cook Time1 hr 40 mins

Total Time2 hrs

Servings:

Calories: 515kcal

Ingredients

Stew

2 pounds bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs (8 thighs)
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
2 teaspoons canola oil
3 small onions
3 medium carrots
2 ribs celery
2 Tablespoons apple cider vinegar
6 cups sodium reduced chicken broth
½ teaspoon dried thyme leaves
1 pound chicken wings (10 wing pieces) (see note)
¼ cup minced parsley leaves

Dumplings

1 cup all purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon baking soda
¾ cup cold buttermilk
4 Tablespoons unsalted butter melted and cooled (½ stick)
1 large egg white

Instructions

Stew

Dry chicken thighs with paper towel. Season with 1 teaspoon salt and ½ teaspoon pepper. Heat oil in a large dutch oven over medium high heat. Add half of the chicken thighs, skin side down. Cook until skin is well browned and crisp, about 5 minutes. Flip thighs and cook until well browned. Transfer thighs to a large plate and repeat with remaining thighs. Discard all except for 1 teaspoon of the fat from the dutch oven.
Add onions, carrots and celery to the pot. Cook until softened and beginning to brown, about 7 minutes. Slowly stir in the apple cider vinegar, scraping up any browned bits from the bottom of the pot. Stir in the chicken broth and thyme. Return the chicken thighs to the pot, as well as any juices from the plate and the chicken wings. Bring to a simmer and cover. Simmer until a paring knife slips easily into the chicken thighs, 45-55 minutes.
Remove pot from heat. Remove chicken thighs and wings from pot with tongs and place on a plate to cool slightly. While chicken is cooling, skim as much fat as possible from the top of the stew with a spoon. Remove meat from bones and shred into bite sized pieces. Discard bones and the skin from the chicken wings. Add meat back to the pot.

Dumplings

Whisk together all purpose and whole wheat flours, sugar, salt and baking soda in a large bowl. Stir buttermilk and butter together in a medium bowl so that the butter forms clumps. Whisk in the egg white. Stir buttermilk mixture into the flour mixture with a rubber spatula until the batter pulls away from the sides of the bowl.
Return stew to a simmer and stir in parsley. Scoop the batter in 2 Tablespoon portions onto the top of the stew, leaving about ¼ inch between each scoop. Wrap the lid of the dutch oven with a clean dish towel, and cover, ensuring that the towel does not fall onto the cook top. Simmer until dumplings have doubled in size and a toothpick inserted into the center of one comes clean. Serve.

Notes

If you don't have chicken wings, use 1lb of extra chicken thighs instead. The resulting broth may not be as thick.

To make ahead: prepare recipe to the end of step 3. Remove chicken from pot, and when cool enough to handle, remove chicken from bones and place in an airtight container. Refrigerate broth in dutch oven, and chicken it it's container until ready to serve, up to 2 days. To prepare: skim fat from the top of the broth and stir chicken back into stew. Continue with recipe, bringing stew to a simmer while beginning to prepare dumplings.

Nutrition

Nutrition Disclaimer: I try my best to make sure the nutrition information I provide is accurate to provide you with the best information possible. However, due to ingredient discrepancies and other factors, the above nutrition information should be considered an estimation only.

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***Recipe Adapted from The Complete America's Test Kitchen TV Show Cookbook