Homemade Chicken and Dumplings from Scratch
Try this Homemade Chicken and Dumplings from Scratch recipe, or contribute your own.
Try this Homemade Chicken and Dumplings from Scratch recipe, or contribute your own.
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- pepper
- 2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- salt
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 2 bay leaves
- 2 cups chicken stock
- 2 tablespoons fresh parsley chopped
- 3/4 cup buttermilk
- 4 stalks celery chopped
- 6 bone in skin on chicken thighs (this is about 2 lbs)
- 4 carrots chopped
- 2 medium onions (yellow)
- 2 tablespoons fresh thyme ( or 2 teaspoons dried thyme)
- 3 cloves of fresh garlic chopped
- 3/4 stick melted butter (about 3/4 stick)
- Carbohydrate 53.7059141074778 g
- Cholesterol 89.0000000056186 mg
- Fat 34.4962687825514 g
- Fiber 3.15145532152683 g
- Protein 12.7616486195288 g
- Saturated Fat 20.5335390082443 g
- Serving Size 1 1 to 8 serving (396g)
- Sodium 574.382279633941 mg
- Sugar 50.5544587859509 g
- Trans Fat 2.54548146491971 g
- Calories 574 calories
Step-by-step
- Heat the oil in a large dutch oven.
- Season the chicken with salt and pepper.
- Brown the chicken about 4 to 6 minutes per side.
- Transfer the chicken to a plate for later.
- Add the chopped celery, onions, thyme and garlic to the drippings in the dutch oven and cook until the vegetables are soft. This will take about 5 to 7 minutes.
- Add 8 cups of water and 2 cups of chicken stock in with the vegetables.
- Shred the chicken with a fork (discard the bones and skin) and add it back to the dutch oven. Add the bay leaves too.
- Bring the mixture to a simmer and cook about another 20 to 30 minutes until the chicken is fully cooked.
- While that is simmering, whisk together a ½ cup of flour and 2 cups of the cooking liquid to create a thickening sauce. Slowly mix a little bit of this paste back in the pot a tablespoon at a time until it all dissolves. The soup mixture will thicken in about 8 to 10 minutes.
- Next you will make the dumplings.
- In a separate bowl, mix the remaining 2 cups of flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, pepper and parsley. Then add the melted butter and buttermilk to the dry mixture and stir. The dough will get a bit thick.
- Finally, spoon out small portions of the dough into the broth mix in the dutch oven. I evenly distributed about 8 to 10 spoonfuls. Simmer another 12 to 15 minutes until the dumplings are firm. Serve warm.
Dropping heavy, dense dough straight into boiling liquid causes the exterior to gelatinize instantly while the center remains raw, ruining the texture of homemade dumplings. Understanding how leavening agents react with acidic dairy prevents this dense outcome entirely. Buttermilk provides the necessary acidity to activate baking soda quickly, releasing carbon dioxide bubbles that expand inside the flour matrix to create a light, buoyant crumb. When forming the dough, mix only until the dry pockets disappear; overworking develops excessive gluten strands that yield chewy, rubbery dumplings rather than tender pillows.
- Incorporate cold buttermilk straight from the refrigerator to slow down the initial acid-base reaction until the dough hits the hot broth.
- Whisk flour and warm cooking liquid thoroughly in a separate bowl to eliminate lumps before introducing the thickening paste back into the main pot.
- Simmer the uncovered dutch oven gently during the final 12 to 15 minute dumpling cooking phase to prevent the steam from escaping too rapidly.
- Pair this rich poultry stew with a sharp, vinegar-dressed endive or arugula salad to cut through the high fat content and balance the heavy starches on the palate.
