Chicken and Dumplings
Old-fashioned southern style Chicken and Dumplings made from scratch. Great for a crowd and economical, too!
Servings 12 servings
Ingredients
For the homemade chicken broth:
- 1 whole chicken (about 3.5 pounds)
- 2 ribs celery trimmed, cut in half
- 1 onion peeled and left whole
- 1 carrot peeled and halved
- 10 peppercorns
- water (enough to barely cover chicken)
For Cooking:
- ¼ cup flat leaf parsley finely chopped (or 2 tbsp dried)
- 2 teaspoons salt
For the dumplings:
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 3 tablespoons chicken fat (add solid shortening to make 3 tbsp total fat if needed)
- ½ cup milk (plus more if needed)
Instructions
- Remove the chicken from its packaging. Remove the giblets, if included.1 whole chicken
- Place the chicken, celery, onion, carrot, and peppercorns in a large pot. Add water to barely cover the chicken.2 ribs celery, 1 onion, 1 carrot, 10 peppercorns, water
- Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to simmer and cook, covered, about 45 minutes or until the chicken is tender.
- Remove chicken from the broth and allow to cool briefly. Store in refrigerator until needed.
- Remove the celery, onion, carrot, and peppercorns from the broth. Store the broth in the refrigerator for several hours or overnight.
- The recipe may be made up to this point and held for several days before proceeding. When ready to finish the chicken and dumplings, continue as follows:
- Remove all skin and bones from the chicken. Discard the skin and bones and set the meat aside.
- Skim the solidified fat from the broth and set it aside to use in the dumplings.
- Place the broth, reserved chicken, parsley, and salt in a very large pot and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. While the broth is heating, make the dumplings.¼ cup flat leaf parsley, 2 teaspoons salt
Make the dumplings:
- In a large bowl combine the flour, salt, baking powder and chicken fat (if there isn't enough fat from the chicken, add solid shortening to make a total of 3 tablespoons of fat). Use a pastry cutter or fork to mix the fat roughly into the flour.2 cups all-purpose flour, 1 teaspoon salt, 2 teaspoons baking powder, 3 tablespoons chicken fat
- Gradually add milk until the dough reaches a good consistency for rolling. The dough should be slightly less firm than a pie crust. If the dough seems too wet add a little flour. If too thick, add a little more milk.½ cup milk
- On a well-floured surface, working with half of the dough at a time, roll the dumplings out as you would a pie crust. Using a sharp knife or pizza cutter, cut the dough into long strips or squares as you prefer.
- Drop dumplings individually into gently boiling chicken stock. Continue until all the dough is used.
- Cook approximately 20 minutes or until dumplings are cooked through. Stir several times while cooking to keep dumplings separated, but be careful not to break the dumplings when you stir.
Notes
- Taste the broth before you start dropping in the dumplings. If it's not quite as flavorful as you'd like, add one or two chicken stock cubes. It may also need salt.
- I usually serve these with some fresh green beans on the side. Green peas would also be good. And why not have a peach cobbler for dessert?
- Like with most all leftovers, you'd need to put the completely cooled chicken and dumplings in a container with a good fitting top and store them in the refrigerator. They'll keep for up to three days.
Nutrition
Serving: 1 | Calories: 254kcal | Carbohydrates: 18g | Protein: 14g | Fat: 13g | Saturated Fat: 4g | Cholesterol: 51mg | Sodium: 688mg | Potassium: 192mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin A: 1060IU | Vitamin C: 4mg | Calcium: 75mg | Iron: 2mg
