Chicken and Dumplings (+Video)
Old-Fashioned Chicken and Dumplings is a super simple recipe. Flat strips of dough simmered in a yummy broth with tender chicken.
AN OLD-FASHIONED SOUTHERN STYLE RECIPE
There really is no other recipe that screams comfort food quite like chicken and dumplings. This meal will warm up and comfort any soul on a cold winter’s day! Want an easier version, be sure to check out my Crock Pot Chicken and Dumplings.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS:
Absolutely! Use whatever cut of chicken you and your family enjoy! You could even purchase a store-bought rotisserie chicken to make this a little faster to prepare.
Personally, I like to serve with some sort of French Bread or Biscuits. If you want some more veggies with your meal, you could serve with a side salad or Green Beans.
For those of you who didn’t grow up eating this style of Chicken and Dumplings – then you may have eaten it at a place like Cracker Barrel. A lot of us grew up eating Chicken & Drop Dumplings. Flat dumplings are very basic and are meant to soak up the flavors of the broth. It’s an easy, comforting homestyle meal.
You certainly could. This particular version of chicken and dumplings usually does not have any vegetables added but you certainly could throw in some peas and carrots if you prefer.
Chicken and Dumplings are best eaten the day they are made. You can store it in a covered container in the fridge; however, the dumplings will continue to soak up the broth and can turn gummy over time.
INGREDIENTS NEEDED: (SEE RECIPE CARD BELOW FOR THE FULL RECIPE)
- chicken broth – if you have any sensitivity to sodium, you can get the low or no sodium option. Alternatively, if you really want to kick up the flavor, try making Homemade Chicken Broth.
- all purpose flour – my favorite brand of flour is White Lily but any brand of all purpose flour will work here.
- baking powder – it’s super important you make sure your baking powder is fresh. If it isn’t the dumplings won’t puff up at all.
- salted butter – it needs to be real butter and not margarine.
- milk – whole milk is best if you have it.
HOW TO MAKE CHICKEN AND DUMPLINGS:
Time needed: 1 hour and 20 minutes
- Cook the chicken
Preheat oven to 350F degrees. Spray a baking sheet with nonstick cooking spray. Drizzle a little olive oil on the 2-3 chicken breasts and season with salt and pepper. Bake for about 45 minutes. Chicken will reach an internal temperature of 165F degrees when fully cooked.
- Start preparing the dumplings
Once the chicken is cooked, shred it with two forks. Or, you can put it into a stand mixer and have it do the work for you. Pour 2 quarts of chicken stock or broth into a large pot and start warming it up on the stovetop while you make the dumplings. In a medium bowl, combine flour and baking powder. Then add in cold cubed butter.
- Cut butter into flour
You can combine it all using a fork or a pastry cutter or your fingers. Just smoosh the butter between your fingers while you gradually mix it in with the flour mixture.
- Roll out dumpling dough
Now pour in the milk. Mix it all together. Dust your counter with a generous amount of flour. Place your dumpling dough on the counter and dust it with more flour. With a rolling pin, roll the dough out to about 1/4″ thickness. Be sure to add flour as necessary to keep it from sticking underneath or to your rolling pin.
- Cut out dumpling shapes
Using a knife or a pizza cutter, start cutting out your dumplings into squares. They don’t need to be perfectly shaped. Remember, this dish is rustic and homemade so it should look like it. Dust your dumplings with a bit more flour. The extra flour is all gonna help keep them from sticking but will also thicken your chicken broth some as well when you add them to the pot.
- Warm up broth and chicken
Bring the chicken broth up to a boil. Add in the shredded chicken and stir.
- Add dumplings to the pot
Begin adding dumplings one at a time so they don’t all stick together. Stir frequently while adding them.
- Let dumplings cook
Allow dumplings to cook for about 15-20 minutes. You should notice your broth starting to thicken (from the extra flour) and your dumplings may start to sink a little to the bottom because they are soaking up the broth. Take one out and taste test it. It shouldn’t have a doughy taste anymore.
- Serve it up
Ladle the chicken and dumplings into bowls and serve! Happiness and comfort in a bowl!
CRAVING MORE RECIPES?
Originally published: April 2012
Updated and republished: October 2020
Chicken and Dumplings (+Video)
Ingredients
- 2-3 chicken breasts (about 3 cups of cooked chicken)
- 2 Tablespoons olive oil
- salt and pepper (to taste)
- 2 quarts chicken broth
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- 2 Tablespoons cold salted butter, cubed
- 1 cup milk
- all purpose flour (for your counter and for rolling out the dumplings)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F degrees. Spray a baking sheet with nonstick cooking spray.
- Place 2-3 chicken breasts on the baking sheet. Drizzle 2 Tablespoons olive oil on the chicken and season with salt and pepper
- Bake chicken for about 45 minutes. Chicken will reach an internal temperature of 165F degrees when fully cooked. Once the chicken is cooked, shred it with two forks.
- Pour 2 quarts chicken broth into a large pot and start warming it up on the stove top while you make the dumplings.
- In a medium bowl, combine 2 cups all-purpose flour and 1/2 teaspoon baking powder. Then add in 2 Tablespoons cold salted butter, cubed.
- Combine using your fingers, fork or pastry cutter. The butter should resemble tiny pebbles when combined well.
- Pour in 1 cup milk. Mix it all together.
- Dust your counter with a generous amount of all purpose flour. Place dumpling dough on the counter and dust it with more flour.
- With a rolling pin, roll the dough out to about 1/4" thickness. Be sure to add more flour as necessary to keep it from sticking underneath or to your rolling pin.
- Using a knife or a pizza cutter, start cutting out your dumplings into squares.
- Dust dumplings with a bit more flour. The extra flour is gonna help keep them from sticking but will also thicken your chicken broth some as well when you add them to the pot.
- Bring chicken broth up to a boil. Add in shredded chicken and stir.
- Begin adding dumplings one at a time so they don’t all stick together. Stir frequently while adding them.
- Allow dumplings to cook for about 15-20 minutes. You should notice your broth starting to thicken (from the extra flour) and your dumplings may start to sink a little to the bottom because they are soaking up the broth.
- Take one out and taste test it. It shouldn't have a doughy taste anymore. Then serve!
Video
Notes
- Use whatever cut of chicken you and your family enjoy. Chicken thighs are a great alternative. Also, if you want boil your chicken and use the broth from that, it’s fine. My family just doesn’t like the taste or texture of boiled chicken.
- If using a rotisserie chicken, you’ll want to cut up about 3 cups worth of chicken for this recipe.
- This particular version of chicken and dumplings usually does not have any vegetables added but you certainly could throw in some peas and carrots if you prefer.
- I like to serve this with French Bread or Biscuits. If you want some more veggies with your meal, you could serve with a side salad or Green Beans.
Nutrition
Nutritional Disclaimer
“The Country Cook” is not a dietician or nutritionist, and any nutritional information shared is an estimate. If calorie count and other nutritional values are important to you, we recommend running the ingredients through whichever online nutritional calculator you prefer. Calories and other nutritional values can vary quite a bit depending on which brands were used.
I use buttermilk in place of milk. Makes it a little thicker. Love both ways! Sometimes, punch one biscuit four times. 🙂 it works.
Thank you for showing just how simple it can be.
This is MY ABSOLUTELY FAVORITE dish from Cracker Barrel!!! I am SO Thrilled that you posted this!! Thank you SO Much!!! (Angeliza)
I love this recipe!! Could you give me a guess to about how many servings this recipe makes? I need to decide whether to double the dough part of it. thanks.
I have been making these for years because I grew up in the south. I boil my chicken and use a boullion cube in the pot. After it is cooked and while I am pulling the chicken, I let a cup of the broth cool and when mixing the dumplings, I use half milk and half broth which adds flavor in the dough. Then when I heat broth back to boiling to add rolled dough, I add the other half of milk which makes a creamier broth for the dumplings. You can also keep the dark and white meat in 2 separate bowls so that each person can add a couple spoonfuls of their own choice on top after putting dumpling in their bowl to stir in. Then everybody is happy.
Freeze the cut dough. Then it can be added to the boiling broth without fear of them sticking together. Just stir occasionally. I do this all the time. It doesn't change the taste or texture of the dumplings.
Thanks for posting this tip. I have made chicken and dumplings for years. I was asked to make them for Wednesday night church supper for about 80. I was wondering if I could make ahead and freeze. This will be a life saver as well as time saver.
My husband lived in the South a few years ago and requested Chicken and Dumplings for his birthday dinner last night. After much internet searching I decided on this recipe. It was SO GOOD! I added carrots, celery, and onion to the broth while the chicken was cooking and it was a great addition. I actually ate more than my husband did, I loved it! THANK YOU!
I'm fromAmish country, PA, and here we call this meal Pot Pie. I've been wishing I had my grandmas recipe ever since she passes. This seems awful close!
Me too. The pie crust version was chicken pieces and the drop dough balls were dumplings. The noodles were made paper think, put in a layer at a time, cook 3 minutes before stirring and adding more noodles. The noodles were made simply with flour and water. I thought my family was going to disown me when I mentioned that I serve it was vegetables (peas, carrots, peas, corn, onions, and celery) in my final product. It’s good and we like our vegetables from the garden. I am so happy to know that I am not the only one who remembers this!
I am 74 yrs old and you are the FIRST person I ‘ve ever heard call this dish Pot Pie like my Grandma always did! We cut the soft, rolled dough into 1.1/2″ squares and drop them into the boiling broth, one at a time so they don’t clump together.. We don’t let them dry like we do noodles. We always use whole chickens….the bones and skin make all the flavor. No veggies added. Best food in the world!! Thank you for sharing your memory!
I am also from Lancaster County, PA or Amish country. I make my chicken pot pie (as we call it) with chicken, pot pie dough, potatoes, onions & celery added. The dough is rolled out and dropped into the broth. Some people in our area will add saffron to give it a yellow color. This is a wonderful winter meal on a cold evening. Most restaurants in our county serve this as a special all you can eat and for some reason it is mostly Wednesday!
sounds like the way my Mother and Grandmother used to make dumplings just the way you are describing.
Just made this over the weekend while we were all snowed in and my family Loved it! Next time though I will make my noodles a little thinner since the broth does soak into them and they were a little thick for me. Also, I will make a double batch since there were no leftovers for a family of 4 – and everyone wanted more! 🙂
I am so excited to try this. I am from the North and when I was in the South I had Chicken and Dumplings like this and it was fantastic. I have been looking for a recipe like it ever since. I can't wait!!
Anonymous, I really recommend butter for the dumplings. But you could certainly substitute veggie oil for cooking the chicken breasts. Hope that helps! Kelly – yay! So happy you liked it!
Anonymous, I do to when I have the time! Sometimes on Sundays, I'll make the broth ahead of time and store it in the fridge til I'm ready to make later in the week. Homemade broth is the best but the store bought stuff is great in a pinch and some of the brands are really getting better with the flavor. 😀 ~Brandie
I make my own broth by simmering my chicken with added onion, garlic and a little celery flakes, also I add chicken bouillon. I make my dumplings exactly the same!! My kids favorite
meal, so glad toseesomeone else rolls out the dough! Love it!! Thank you! Gale Osborn
this was FANTASTIC so so yumm full of flavors thank you!
If you don't have real butter, can you substitute margarine? And do you have to use olive oil or can it be vegetable oil?
For the amounts used in this recipe, how many servings is it? I need to feed three adults and wonder if this will be enough or should I double the recipe.
So happy you liked the simple recipe! Thank you for letting me know!
I made the simple chicken and dumplins the other day. It was delish! Can't wait to try this recipe.
Tryin this today!!
Made these for Thanksgiving & they were awesome! Have made them three times now and each time they turned out great:)
Just made this! Its delicious! Only issue i had was the flour..i ran out of alk purpose. So i had to use a lil bit of self rising. I found that i had to use more flour than what this recipe calls for. Total i used about 3 cups for the dough. Anyway its awesome!
Delicious! Thank you so much for sharing.
Thank you so much everyone for the wonderful comments! Megan, so happy this turned out great for you! You were so sweet to come back and let me know how it turned out! ~Brandie
Made chicken and dumplings tonight. Was delicious! Thank you do much for such a good recipe and perfect directions!
Great recipe. Growing up in NC we call it chicken pastry. Whatever you call it, it's so good. We make this instead of chicken soup when someone is sick!
My husband loves chicken & dumplings, he likes the hormel cans of it & says this is better than that. I added carrots to mine & some garlic & herb mrs. Dash to the chicken while it was baking, turned out pretty good =)