Comforting And Creamy Chicken ’N’ Dumplings
When we polled our followers on Instagram for their favorite comfort foods, chicken and dump- lings was a resounding favorite. We completely understand. The creamy soup and a bounty of tender veggies with dumplings nestled on top of it all is difficult not to love. When Michelle enjoyed this meal growing up, the dumplings were made with that boxed biscuit mix. No shame—it’s what everyone did, and they were pretty tasty. For our recipe, we make the dumplings using the biscuits from our Biscuits ’n’ Gravy. Winner, winner, chicken dinner! Don’t skip using bone-in, skin-on chicken in the soup. The deep flavor it adds to the soup stock is essential. This recipe takes some time and attention, but you will not be disappointed; it’s worth every minute.
Ingredients
yield: 8 servings
soup
- 2½ lb 1.1 kg bone-in, skin-on chicken breasts and thighs
- 2 tsp 12 g kosher salt
- 2 medium ribs celery
- 4 medium carrots divided
- 1 medium sweet onion
- 1 head garlic
- 2 tsp 6 g black peppercorns
- ½ oz 14 g fresh dill, divided, plus additional for garnishing
- ¼ cup 7 g dried porcini mushrooms
- 7 cups 1.7 L unsalted chicken bone broth
- 1 cup 110 g 1” (2.5)-long fresh or frozen green beans
- ½ cup 67 g frozen peas
- 1 tsp roughly chopped fresh thyme
- 1½ tsp 9 g fine sea salt (optional)
- Black pepper as needed
- ¼ cup 33 g cassava flour
- ½ cup 120 ml plain unsweetened almond milk
dumplings
- 1 uncooked recipe biscuits here
- ½ tsp finely chopped fresh dill optional
- ½ tsp fine sea salt
Instructions
- To prepare the soup, pat the chicken dry with paper towels, then sprinkle the kosher salt on all the chicken pieces and rub it into the meat; set aside.
- Prepare the vegetables for the soup base.
- Coarsely chop the celery.
- Peel the carrots and coarsely chop 2 of them; set the remaining 2 carrots aside.
- Cut the onion into quarters, leaving the skin on the quarters for flavor.
- Cut the head of garlic in half crosswise, leaving the skin on it as well.
- Place the chicken, cut veggies, peppercorns, ¼ ounce (7 g) of the dill and porcini mushrooms in an 8-quart (1.
- 9-L) stockpot.
- Cover them with the bone broth and bring the mixture to a simmer over medium-high heat.
- Reduce the heat to medium-low to maintain a gentle simmer.
- Use a large spoon to skim off any foam that may gather on the surface.
- Cook the mixture for 20 to 25 minutes, or until the internal temperature of the chicken’s thickest part reaches 155°F (68°C).
- While the soup base cooks, prepare the dumplings.
- Prepare our biscuit recipe on here, but add the dill (if using) and salt to the recipe—there is no need to roll out the dough.
- Set the dough aside while the soup continues to cook.
- Using tongs, carefully lift the chicken pieces out of the stockpot and transfer them to a cutting board.
- Let them rest until they are cool enough to handle.
- Continue to simmer the soup base for approximately 10 minutes, until it has reduced by 1 to 2 inches (2.
- 5 to 5 cm).
- Meanwhile, debone the chicken, discard the bones and shred the chicken into bite-sized pieces.
- Place a fine-mesh sieve over a 5-quart (1.
- 2-L) stockpot.
- Strain the soup base into the stockpot and discard the solids.
- Cut the 2 remaining carrots into ½-inch (1.
- 3-cm) pieces and finely chop the remaining ¼ ounce (7 g) of the dill.
- Add the chicken, carrots, green beans, peas and thyme to the broth and cook them over medium-low heat for 4 to 5 minutes, until the vegetables are tender.
- Taste the broth and add the fine sea salt (if needed), black pepper and the chopped dill.
- To thicken the soup, mix together the cassava flour and almond milk in a small bowl until they create a smooth slurry.
- While stirring the soup, pour the slurry into the soup and stir to combine everything.
- The soup will thicken as it warms.
- While the soup is simmering over medium-low heat, drop 1 tablespoon (15 g) of the dumpling dough at a time into the soup, arranging them around the soup’s surface as you add them.
- Cover the pot and cook the chicken and dumplings for about 10 minutes.
- Remove a dumpling and split it with a fork.
- The dumplings are done when the centers are cooked through and fluffy.
- Serve the chicken and dumplings by ladling it into individual bowls and garnishing each serving with additional chopped dill.
