How To Make Southern Chicken and Dumplings
Chicken and Dumplings, like most southern food, evolved out of necessity and practicality. Back in the day, chicken was a treat and not something offered or even available on a regular basis. Whenever it was, the chicken was more often than not on the scrawny side.
So you have this woman who has a house full of kids to feed and likely a few guests after word has gotten out that chicken is on the menu, and one scrawny little chicken. This is where flour comes to the rescue yet again! Back in the old days, flour was an affordable staple and bought in twenty five pound sacks. Flour could easily be used to stretch a meager meal so that an entire family would leave the table feeling full and satisfied by making biscuits, dumplings, hoe cake, or an assortment of other improvisational breads and meal stretchers.
This recipe is dedicated to my sister in law’s trainer, Debbie (you owe me Stacey, I just made you sound so hip in that sentence). Debbie’s failed attempts to make dumplings have led her family to formally request that she stop attempting them altogether. Now I’m here to tell you that if Debbie can remain skinny and fit in the land of fried chicken, she can certainly make chicken and dumplings! Stacey has assured her that our family recipe is foolproof and I plan on proving it with this tutorial. I am also going to explain the two instances where Stacey and I managed to screw up this foolproof recipe in our earlier days of cooking so that you can avoid our mistakes and have your perfect pot of dumplings!
Gina, this is for you, too! Gina is a reader who has her hands full with summer heat and two toddlers. When I posted a teaser sentence “Anyone up for chicken and dumplings this week?” at the top of my site, Gina emailed within minutes telling me that she certainly was! Gina, I promise this will be quick and easy enough that you can manage to make it in between calls for “Mama”! After making it once, you won’t even need a recipe!
*I usually stew a whole chicken but today I had boneless skinless breasts and no chicken so this is what we got. Feel free to drop a few chicken bouillon cubes into your water in place of the broth.
Until it looks like this.Be sure you don’t skip this step! If you do, your dumplings will completely dissolve in the broth. That is exactly what I did the very first time I ever made chicken and dumplings after I had gotten married. Of course it didn’t help that I had bragged all day about how good my mama’s dumplings were! I ended up with a delicious dumpling flavored soup!
Lower your heat so that your broth is just barely barely barely boiling and drop these pieces in one at a time. It is important that you DO NOT STIR. We are not going to stir these as we don’t want our dumplings cooking up. If you do stir, you will basically cause your dumplings to dissolve. Stay tuned, I’m going to show you what we will do instead…
You want to keep it on a low boil.
See? Dumplings! Continue simmering it, pushing them down from time to time, while you shred your chicken.
Like this.
Drop your chicken into the dumplings and very gently stir that up. I really just push it down a bit like I did with the dumplings but you are past the point of them being able to cook up by this time anyway. Just be gentle.
Oh I wish you could smell these, I wish you could taste these, I wish you had dumplings on your stove right this very minute!
Remember the eighties Coca Cola commercials …”I’d like to buy the world a coke…”. Forget that! I’d like to feed the world chicken and dumplings! How about we start with you?
Ingredients
- 3 or 4 chicken breasts
- 32 oz Chicken Broth (feel free to use water with bouillon cubes added)
- 1 can cream of chicken soup
- 1-10 count can Pilsbury layers biscuits
- salt and pepper to taste
- flour
Instructions
- Cook chicken breasts in approx. 4 c. of water until fork tender, about 45 minutes. Place broth in medium to large sized pot. Stir cream of chicken soup into gently boiling broth. Add salt and pepper to taste. Pull biscuits apart into three layers. Dip each layer into flour and then tear each layer into three pieces and drop into gently boiling broth mixture. Do not stir biscuits a lot, or they will cook up, only gently push dumplings down into broth as they float to the top. Cook about ten minutes after last dumplings are added. Add shredded chicken and turn on low until ready to serve. added, Tear up chicken, add to broth mixture.Turn to low until ready to serve.
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Ingredients
- 3 or 4 chicken breasts
- 32 oz Chicken Broth (feel free to use water with bouillon cubes added)
- 1 can cream of chicken soup
- 1-10 count can Pilsbury layers biscuits
- salt and pepper to taste
- flour
Instructions
- Cook chicken breasts in approx. 4 c. of water until fork tender, about 45 minutes. Place broth in medium to large sized pot. Stir cream of chicken soup into gently boiling broth. Add salt and pepper to taste. Pull biscuits apart into three layers. Dip each layer into flour and then tear each layer into three pieces and drop into gently boiling broth mixture. Do not stir biscuits a lot, or they will cook up, only gently push dumplings down into broth as they float to the top. Cook about ten minutes after last dumplings are added. Add shredded chicken and turn on low until ready to serve. added, Tear up chicken, add to broth mixture.Turn to low until ready to serve.
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Posted by Christy Jordan
on Jul 29 2008. Filed under Chicken, FEATURED Southern Favorites!, Main Course, Southern Classics.
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I have always loved to cook and have never made chicken and dumplings before. I came across your recipe and decided that I would give it a try. The only thing I did different was boil the chicken in chicken broth instead of just water, and I also added some pepper and garlic powder to the broth to give it an extra kick. My girlfriend loves chicken and dumplings so I was nervous to make this for her. Would you believe she told me this was the best she’s ever eaten? Thank you so much for posting this recipe!!! It was DELICIOUS!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Oh my goodness, I am so glad it was a hit Greg!!! I bet you get the Boyfriend of the Year award!! I am so thrilled to hear that she thought these were the best she has ever had and am so grateful to you for making them!!!
I really appreciate the instructions about how to use the biscuits as dumplings. They aren’t quite as good as Cracker Barrel’s but closer than I’ve been able to get myself and most importantly SO EASY!
I prefer to have vegetables in my meals, so I finely chopped celery and onions into the chicken broth to begin. Tonight I used a whole roasted chicken I got on sale yesterday. I just dumped the whole chicken into the pot of low sodium broth and veggies, and added a little water to get the liquid over at least half the chicken. I turned it several times as it simmered. When I pulled it out it was barely holding together. While it was simmering I separated the biscuit layers and floured them. While the chicken cooled I whisked in a larger can of cream of chicken soup. (It’s 35% more and I get it from the dollar store, but still Campbell’s, just a better value for the $.) I nuked some crinkle cut frozen carrots covered in the microwave with a little water (takes about 5 minutes, but will be done much faster that way than if added to the broth.) I turned the broth back on and followed your instructions for flouring and adding the dumplings. Near the end I added the hot carrots (completely drained of liquid) and a couple handfuls of frozen peas, followed by the shredded meat. I just feel better about including veggies in every delicious entree I make.
Thanks for the post and pictures. You are an excellent teacher.
I made your chicken and dumplins tonight and what a hit!! My family loved them. My father in law said he hadn’t tasted chicken and dumplins that good since his mama was living! I plan on having the Hamburger Steaks for dinner Tomorrow. They are a favorite also.
Oh my goodness, please give that sweet Father-In-Law of yours a BIG hug from me!!! Y’all just made my YEAR and that is the highest form of praise I believe I have ever received!
I made a double batch, because it always goes so fast around our house. I also substituted Grands Buttermilk bisquits. Flaten and cut into fours, then dip in flour and into the mixture! WOWEEEEE !!!! Even my little ones come back for seconds! (Which normally is impossible to get them to eat anything) So, Thanks !
this is the best plus i had never made dumblings before i feel like a real cook thanks
Christy, I just want to say thank you so very much for this recipe, before I saw this the only time I had “good chicken and Dumplings(or pastry depending on which Grandma was cooking them) was when years ago my grandma’s fixed it occasionally or out to eat. But I saw this recipe this year and made them at home, not my first attempt at home making this dish but the first attempt that was fantastic! My children loved them also, I am making it again tonight one of the simplest recipes for something so down home good! hardest thing about it, is tearing up the biscuits, and that’s not to hard I even let my girls help me tonight! Thanks again for making something so good, so simple!
Had some chicken breasts thawing in the fridge and wanted something different for supper. Saw your receipe and thought I would give it a try. It was simply amazing! Thank you so much for sharing this with us. Would love to see what other ideas you have. Thanks again!
This is funny, Less than an hour ago I put some chicken quarters on to make Chicken n Dumplings with,. I fix mine basically the same way as above but I use plain CHEAP biscuits, you know the kind that come 4 tubes together, not layered. I just press them out in the flour and pull long and pinch about biscuit balls and drop in.
I too had to learn NOT TO STIR…. just gently push them down… Can’t wait to eat them tonight for supper.
Dumplings are rounded, dropped in the broth, and end up cooked like fresh bread on the inside and sosrt of gooey on the outside, Noodles and others are flat. Love my mothers home made drop dumplings.
How many ounces of cream of chicken soup? Would it be the same as the broth?
Thank you soooo much!! I am right in the middle of trying to make this dish from a recipe on another sight and got frustrated. Thank you for making this so easy to follow
I hope you enjoy!!!