Chicken and Dumplings

Moist, chicken and tender dumplings in a rich, savory broth. It's the perfect comfort food for a chilly spring night!

We were on vacation last week in beautiful, Colorado. I will share more of that later this week. We had fun and are back home and back to normal.

We've had a bit of a chilly week which made perfect weather for some comfort food. This chicken and dumpling recipe is one of my favorites. The soup is very rich and flavorful and is topped off with soft dumplings.

Just talking about it makes me hungry for the leftovers in the fridge...

The recipe is fairly simple and the soup can be prepped ahead of time. It can reheated when ready for the dumplings or kept warm in a low temperature oven. Pat the chicken dry with paper towels and season with salt and pepper. Heat some vegetable oil over medium high heat and brown chicken skin side down for 4-5 minutes. Turn chicken over and brown for an additional 4-5 minutes. Transfer chicken to a plate and remove skin. If needed, add olive oil to dutch oven (you may not need additional oil after browning the chicken) and saute onions and celery until softened. Stir in flour and cook an additional one minute. Whisk in water and broth until combined. Add in carrots, bay leaves, and chicken thighs. Bring to a boil. Cover and reduce heat to low and simmer for 30 minutes until the chicken is done. Remove the chicken and allow to cool before shredding. Keep soup at a simmer until ready to assemble the dumplings. Return shredded chicken to pot and add salt and pepper as needed. Mix together the flour, baking powder, melted butter, salt and milk until combined. Scoop golf-ball sized dumplings and drop into simmering soup. Cover and cook until doubled in size. If making ahead of time, keep warm in a low temperature oven (195 degrees), covered, for up to two hours.

Chicken and Dumplings

Ingredients

• 2 lbs of bone-in, skin-on, chicken thighs
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1 onion, finely diced
• 2 stalks of celery, finely diced
• 4 carrots, peeled and cut
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 can  low-sodium chicken broth
• 1 1/4 cups of water
• Salt and Pepper to taste
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled
• 3/4 cup milk, warmed

Directions

1. Heat one tablespoon of oil in a dutch oven over medium-high heat. Pat chicken dry and season with salt and pepper. Brown chicken skin side down 4-5 minutes. Turn chicken over and brown an additional 4-5 minutes. Transfer chicken to plate and remove skin. 

2. Add onions, celery and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Saute for 5 minutes until vegetables soften. Add flour and cook for one minute. Whisk in water and chicken broth. Add carrots, bay leaves and chicken to pot. Cover and simmer for 30 minutes or until chicken registers 175 degrees. Remove chicken and allow to cool. While chicken cools, keep soup covered and simmering. Shred chicken and return to pot. Remove bay leaves and add salt and pepper to taste.

3. Mix flour, baking powder, salt, melted butter and milk until combined. Do not over mix. Using two large soup spoons, scoop golf ball sized dumplings into soup. 9 dumplings in total. Cover and simmer for 15-18 minutes until dumplings have doubled in size.

Note: Do not mix dumplings ahead of time. If made too far ahead the dumplings will be dense.

Adapted from: Best Lost Suppers by Cook's Country