Dutch Oven Chicken and Dumplings
With less than 10 ingredients, you can make the best Dutch Oven Chicken and Dumplings just like grandma used to make. This is a guaranteed favorite dinner recipe that's so comforting for any time of the year.
Servings: 18 servings
Calories: 321kcal
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Ingredients
- 5-6 pound whole chicken
- 8 cups regular or low-sodium chicken broth
- 1-2 cups water
- 1-2 teaspoons salt
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon flaky poultry seasoning optional
- 2 cups self-rising flour
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- ¼ cup cold salted butter
- 1 cup milk
- ¼ cup cornmeal optional
Instructions
- To a large stockpot on medium-high heat, add chicken, broth, water, and seasonings. Add enough water to nearly cover the chicken. Bring to a boil, then lower the temperature to medium-low. Cover and simmer 1 hour.
- Carefully transfer the cooked chicken to a bowl.
- For the dumplings, in a bowl, whisk together the flours.
- Grate butter into the flour and toss until coated.
- Make a well in the center and add milk. Fold the ingredients until it forms a cohesive dough ball. If it seems too dry and won’t combine, add additional milk.
- Turn the dough onto a floured surface. Roll to an ¼ inch thickness.
- Using a butter knife or pizza cutter, cut into your desired size squares. Optional step, sprinkle cornmeal on top of the dough and gently pat.
- Bring the broth back to a boil. Drop the dumplings in one-by-one. Once they’ve all been added, bring the mixture back to a boil. Lower the heat to low and simmer until the dumplings have cooked and the mixture has thickened, about 10 minutes.
- Pull apart the chicken, and add your desired amount to the pot. Add additional salt and pepper to taste. See “Pro Tips” for thickening suggestions, if desired.
Video
Notes
Storage:
- Chicken and dumplings is best served immediately. If you want to store leftovers in the fridge, we recommend that you cool to room temperature and store up to 5 days. When you’re ready to reheat, you can stir in additional chicken broth to thin out the mixture, if needed. Reheat in a saucepan slowly on the stovetop or stirring in short intervals in the microwave.
- It's easy to make grandma's chicken and dumplings in advance too. Simply make the chicken soup mixture and store in the fridge. Assemble the dumplings and place the raw dumplings on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Cover them loosely in plastic and refrigerate until ready to make and serve.
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- Use a whole chicken. This is the classic Southern way (coming from a true Southern cook). Poaching the whole chicken makes the broth an even richer flavor and also yields the most tender, juicy meat.
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- Make your own self-rising flour. If you don't have this at home, it's simple to make!
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- For every 1 cup self-rising flour a recipe calls for, you can combine 1 cup all-purpose flour, 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder, and ¼ teaspoon fine salt.
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- Make your own self-rising flour. If you don't have this at home, it's simple to make!
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- Keep the butter cold. Just like biscuits, you will want to grate the butter on a cheese grater. This will yield the most tender dumplings out there!
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- Don't over knead the dumpling dough. Just mix until the dough nicely comes together. If you over knead the dough, then this will result in tough and chewy dumplings.
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- Use cornmeal to prevent the dough from sticking. If you make your dumplings in advance, be sure to sprinkle them with cornmeal to prevent them from sticking to each other. Then refrigerate the dumplings laying flat on a baking sheet in the fridge and loosely covered in plastic wrap until ready to cook.
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If you want to thicken chicken chicken and dumplings, you can:
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Use a Slurry: Mix 1-2 tablespoons of cornstarch or flour with 1-2 tablespoons cold water and stir it into the simmering broth.
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Add Cream: Stir in some heavy cream to give the dish a thicker consistency.
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Mash Some Dumplings: Break apart a few dumplings and stir them into the broth to naturally thicken it.
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Nutrition
Calories: 321kcal | Carbohydrates: 30g | Protein: 21g | Fat: 13g
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