Chicken and Dumplings
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Southern Chicken and Dumplings is a true classic comfort food. With scratch-made buttermilk dumplings that are tender and a savory broth loaded with shredded chicken and vegetables, this is a sure hit every time.
Chicken and Dumplings
An all-in-one dinner that is rich in flavor and quite filling.
Sometimes I am in the mood for a warm soothing soup and one of my favorite crackers to throw on top are Cheez-Its. I just love the cheesy flavor and they hold up on the crunch factor.
Then there are times when I want a tender dumpling. Like these delicious dumplings. Buttermilk dumplings, too by the way. Can’t get any more Southern than that.
Table of Contents
About this Chicken and Dumplings recipe
I like to add poultry seasoning to my dry ingredients for an extra flavor punch, feel free to omit or add your favorite seasoning.
Crisco is my go to lard for pastry making, but trust me, bacon fat works beautifully here as well.
The tender dough is made in a flash and with a quick roll out the dough is cut into 2 inch squares and dropped into the boiling broth to puff up and cook.
The chicken broth is made by cooking a whole chicken with some aromatics and spices.
I allow it to cool shred the chicken meat and discard those bones and the skin. Buh-bye, thanks for coming.
Fresh tender pieces of carrots, celery and onion are laced throughout tender delicious puffed seasoned dumplings and chicken. A slight tang from the buttermilk and the poultry seasoning compliments the broth well.
- Whole chicken, perfect to cook, shred the meat for this and leaves you with a fantastic, rich broth
- Celery stalks chopped
- Carrots peeled and chopped
- Yellow Onion chopped
- Bay leaves
- Parsley chopped
- Kosher salt
- Black pepper
- Turmeric
DUMPLINGS - All-purpose flour
- Baking soda
- Poultry seasoning
- Vegetable shortening
- Buttermilk
- Place whole chicken, vegetables, bay leaves, parsley, 2 teaspoons kosher salt, pepper and turmeric in a large soup pot or Dutch oven. Cover with water and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, cover and simmer for 1 hour.
- Carefully remove chicken from pot. When cool enough to handle remove meat from bones, discarding the skin and bones. Shred the chicken meat and set aside.
- In a medium sized bowl combine flour, baking soda, poultry seasoning and remaining salt.
- Using a pastry blender or your fingers, cut shortening into flour until it resembles coarse meal. Add buttermilk and with your hand mix until dry ingredients are moistened and the dough holds together.
- Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and knead 4 to 5 times. Roll out to 1/4″ to 1/2″ thickness (I prefer them thick and do 1/2″ thickness as shown here).
- Bring chicken broth and vegetables to a boil and pinch off or cut dough in 2″ pieces and add to the boiling broth (See Note 1). Reduce heat to medium and simmer 8 to 10 minutes, covered.
- Add hot sauce if using and stir to combine. Stir in reserved chicken and season to taste before serving. Garnish with fresh chopped parsley and ladle into bowls.
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For other comforting soups try my Cream of Broccoli Soup with Chicken, Beef and Barley Soup, Shrimp Posole Verde, or this Potato Cheeseburger Soup. Enjoy!
Rolled- The dough for these are rolled out, cut into shapes, and cooked in the broth like I do here.
Drop- These are dumplings where we simply scoop the dough up right from the bowl and drop them into the soup for steaming.
Biscuit- Homemade or refrigerated biscuit dough is cut into smaller pieces and added to the soup to cook.
Before adding the dumplings to your soup, whisk 2 teaspoons of cornstarch into 1/2 cup of the broth. Once the mixture is smooth, pour it back into the soup pot and stir in over medium heat until thickened.
This chicken and dumplings can be made 1-3 days ahead of time, excluding the dumplings. When ready to eat, bring to a simmer and add then the dumplings. Any leftover soup may be frozen for up to 3 months.
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Chicken and Dumplings
Ingredients
Soup
- 3 lb whole chicken
- 4 celery stalks chopped
- 2 medium carrots peeled and chopped
- 1 medium yellow onion chopped
- 2 bay leaves
- 1/4 cup parsley chopped
- 2 1/2 tsp kosher salt (divided)
- 1 tsp black pepper
- 1/8 tsp turmeric
- 8 cups water
Dumplings
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp poultry seasoning
- 3 tbsp vegetable shortening (lard, I use Crisco)
- 3/4 cup buttermilk
- 1 tsp Tabasco hot sauce (optional)
Instructions
- Place whole chicken, vegetables, bay leaves, parsley, 2 teaspoons kosher salt, pepper and turmeric in a large soup pot or Dutch oven. Cover with water and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, cover and simmer for 1 hour.
- Carefully remove chicken from pot. When cool enough to handle remove meat from bones, discarding the skin and bones. Shred the chicken meat and set aside.
- In a medium sized bowl combine flour, baking soda, poultry seasoning and remaining salt.
- Using a pastry blender or your fingers, cut shortening into flour until it resembles coarse meal. Add buttermilk and with your hand mix until dry ingredients are moistened and the dough holds together.
- Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and knead 4 to 5 times. Roll out to 1/4″ to 1/2″ thickness (I prefer them thick and do 1/2″ thickness as shown here).
- Bring chicken broth and vegetables to a boil and pinch off or cut dough in 2″ pieces and add to the boiling broth (See Note 1). Reduce heat to medium and simmer 8 to 10 minutes, covered.
- Add hot sauce if using and stir to combine. Stir in reserved chicken and season to taste before serving. Garnish with fresh chopped parsley and ladle into bowls.
Notes
- I use a fluted pastry wheel or pastry crimper to cut the dough into strips and then cut across into 2 inch squares. (see photo)
Nutrition
The information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
always loved chick & dumplings thanks for the reminder to get this on those cold days i long for.
Enjoy!
Thank you so much. I have two other of the Chicken and dumplings recipe, but this is more like my mother;d and I am truly grateful.
I had a similar soup in a restaurant and was looking for a recipe. Yours is perfect! Love the dumplings.
So excited that you found this one, enjoy Theresa!
Thank you Kevin for a great recipe! I was looking for a recipe which started with a whole chicken, and this one sounded yummy. I was very happy with the results! As with most recipes, I altered it slightly as I didn’t have everything on hand. I used heavy cream for the dumplings instead of buttermilk, and threw in a few garlic cloves…just because I love garlic 🙂 This is a recipe I will definitely make again! Thanks so much!
So happy you found me, gave this a try and enjoyed it Julie!
This is one of our favorite fall/winter dishes Kevin! Such a great comfort food dish. Looks delicious!
Thanks Mary Ann, it’s one of those classic Southern meals that always hits the comfort food spot!
I’ve got this excess of bacon fat in my fridge that is just dying to become these delicious dumplings. I haven’t made chicken and dumplings in so long, this sounds delish!
Gold mine! I love your thinking Danielle. 🙂
Nothing better than classic comfort food! Loving this, Kevin!
Thank you Annie and congrats again on your half-marathon dream! 🙂
Hey Kevin! Homemade chicken noodle soup was always what I made at the first sign that my kids were getting sick. There is something magically healing about it! I’ve always made dropped dumplings, but I will definitely make Southern style next time. I like to add thyme to the dumplings.
Always so soothing, right Dorothy?! I add poultry seasoning (it has thyme) and love the herb touch. Have a wonderful weekend!