Chicken and Dumplings
This thick and creamy soup, chockfull of chicken and soft dumplings is the ultimate comfort food. Chicken and Dumplings is a classic southern recipe and I would like to bless who ever came up with it and passed it on to the rest of us!
Often the dumplings are similar to biscuits but mine are a little different. You mix flour, salt, and ice water to make a thick dough which you roll out thin and cut into strips and then pull apart into two pieces before dropping into the warm broth. They’re my favorite! The kids love helping with dropping the dumplings into the soup.
Ingredients needed:
- 1 whole 4-5 pound chicken
- 1 onion, chopped
- 4 stalks celery, chopped
- 6 quarts water
- Salt
- Pepper
- Garlic powder
- Bay leaves
- 2 can cream of celery or chicken soup
- 4 tablespoons cornstarch
- 4 cups flour
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 1 1/2 cups cold, ice water
How to make it:
First you put the chicken in a big pot and cover with water and add the seasonings, onion, and celery. Simmer until chicken is soft.
Remove chicken and debone. Add the chicken back to the broth along with the condensed soup and the cornstarch mixture to thicken it. Add the dumplings and let simmer till soft. And there you go, the warmest, coziest bowl of dumplings you’ll ever taste!
I got the inspiration for this recipe from Paula Deen’s chicken and dumplings recipe. I love that lady! She doesn’t know it, but I adopted her as my grandmother a long time ago! 😁
So, if you’re feeling extra southern and looking for some comfort food, this recipe is for you.
My beautiful big pot was a gift from a friend for my birthday one year. It’s from Walmart. The kids call it the flower pot. Lol! It’s the Pioneer Woman Breezy Blossom 12 quart stock pot. Perfect size for our family of ten. 😊
Happy Cooking my friends,
~ Rachel Ballinger ☕️
Chicken and Dumplings
Ingredients
- 1 whole 4-5 pound chicken
- 1 onion chopped
- 4 stalks celery chopped
- 6 quarts water
- Salt
- Pepper
- Garlic powder
- Bay leaves
- 2 cans cream of celery soup
- 4 tablespoons cornstarch
- Dumplings:
Dumplings:
- 4 cups flour
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 1 1/2 cups cold ice water
Instructions
- In a large pot, boil whole chicken, onion, celery, salt, pepper, garlic powder, and bay leaves in water for an hour or until the chicken is tender and fully cooked. As it cooks, add additional water as needed to keep a full pot and the chicken covered.
- Remove chicken and bay leaves from pot. Debone chicken and shred. Add the cream of celery soup to the broth. Whisk the cornstarch with 1/2 cup warm broth and then add it to the pot to thicken it. Add the shredded chicken back into the pot. Now is the time to add the dumplings. Simmer until dumplings are soft. Serve hot!
To make the dumplings:
- When the chicken is almost done cooking, you can go ahead and make the dumplings.
- Mix the flour and salt together in a mixing bowl and mound it up. Slowly pour the ice water over the top of the flour and use your fingers to work the dough from center. Keep adding the water and working the dough together until it’s all mixed. The dough will seem tough and firm but work it together good and roll it out on a floured surface to about 1/8” thickness.
- Let the dough sit for a little and then cut into 1”x2” strips. Working with one strip at a time, hold strip over pot, pull it in half, and drop into the simmering broth. Give the pot a good stir every now and then to keep the dumplings from sticking to the bottom.