I have never been a big chicken and dumplings fan. Yes, it tastes great and it is comfort food. However, there are drawbacks to the way I am used to seeing it prepared.
First, it is a pain to make. You have to cook a whole chicken, remove the meat and then start making your chicken and dumplings.
Second, you “save time” by making the dumplings with Bisquik or the equivalent. The dumplings always seemed soggy to me.
This recipe uses boneless skinless chicken thighs and makes home made dumplings that mix up as fast as Bisquik but are so much better.
The recipe is at the bottom of the page.
I started by cutting the chicken thighs into 1 inch cubes. I chopped  the onion, celery, garlic and carrot and put it on a plate.
I melted 15 ml (1 tablespoon) of butter in a medium saucepan over medium high heat. When it started to foam, I added the chicken and sauteed until it started to get colour, about 5 minutes. remove the chicken to a plate.
Melt 15 ml (1 tablespoon) butter in the same pot. Add the celery, onions, garlic and carrots. I sauteed for 5 minutes, until the onions started to get soft. I added the flour and thyme and stirred for 1 minute.
I added the sherry and stirred to deglaze the pan. I continued cooking for 2 minutes until the mixture was paste like, stirring frequently. I slowly added the 500 ml (2 cups) chicken broth, stirring continuously. Bring the mixture to a boil and cook until the broth starts to thicken a bit. Add the chicken. Reduce heat to medium low and add green beans. Simmer for 15 minutes.
Put all dumpling ingredients in a bowl. Stir just until mixed and forms a ball. Break dough into eight pieces. Place in chicken broth about 1 inch apart. Increase heat to medium. Cover and cook 12 minutes.
Take off heat and let sit for about 10 minutes before serving.
I have done a video of this recipe:
The Verdict
This is a quicker way to make Chicken and Dumplings. It has the added  benefit of tasting great! The broth is rich and hearty, the chicken is moist and the dumplings are tender and creamy. Perfection in comfort food.
Yield: 2 servings
Ingredients
- Chicken and Broth
- 30 ml (2 tbsp) butter
- 1 small carrot
- 1 small stalk celery
- 1 small onion
- 1 clove garlic
- 2 ml (1/3 tsp) dried thyme
- 15 ml (1 tbsp) all purpose flour
- 50 ml (1/4 cup) cooking sherry
- 500 ml (2 cups) chicken broth
- 500 Grams, 1 pound boneless skinless chicken thighs
- 75 ml (1/3 cup) frozen vegetables
- Dumplings
- 70 grams (125 ml) ½ cup flour
- 5 ml (1 tsp) baking powder
- 1 ml (1/4 tsp) salt
- 2 ml (1/3 tsp) poultry seasoning
- 50 ml (1/4 cup) chicken broth
- 15 ml (1 tbsp) melted butter
Instructions
- Melt 15 ml (1 tbsp) butter over medium heat until foaming.
- Saute the chicken until it starts to get some colour, about 5 minutes.
- Remove to a plate.
- Melt 15 ml (1 tbsp) butter in the same pot.
- Add carrots, celery, garlic and onion. Saute for 5 minutes or until onions are starting to get soft.
- Add flour and thyme and stir over heat for 1 minute.
- Add sherry and mix, scraping bottom of pan, until very thick and pasty, about 2 minutes.
- Slowly pour in chicken broth, stirring constantly.
- Bring to a boil.
- Add chicken and green beans. Reduce heat to medium low. Simmer for 15 minutes.
- Taste broth and add salt or pepper as desired.
- Mix flour, baking powder, salt and poultry seasoning in a bowl.
- Add chicken broth and melted butter. Stir just until mixed and a ball forms.
- Break dough into eight pieces.
- Place dough pieces in broth, about 1 inch apart. Cover and turn heat to medium. Cook for 12 minutes.
- Remove from heat and let sit for 10 minutes.
- Serve.
6 Responses
Not a big fan of chicken myself, but the dumplings are another story. Yours looks delicious, and I may have to give it a try.
Sam
Thanks, Sam. You can’t beat a good dumpling!
The Old Fat Guy
A big fan, and you are right about its difinately comfort food.
Thanks, Foamheart! We need it, we had snow yesterday.
We are in the 80 degree range now and had cajun snow yesterday, 3 1/2 inches, and the day before, and the day before…… LOL
Sounds like you could steam stuff without a stove!