How to make chicken and dumplings with a whole chicken

Q: What is the secret to good dumplings?

Dont Overwork the Dumpling Dough Stir everything together until the wet and dry ingredients are combined and you dont see any more dry flour. The dough might look a little lumpy, but thats okay! Overworking the dough is one of the easiest ways to end up with tough dumplings.

Home
Recipes
Main Course
Chicken
Old Fashioned Homemade Chicken & Dumplings

Table of Contents Show

Blue Ribbon Recipe
Ingredients For old fashioned homemade chicken & dumplings
How To Make old fashioned homemade chicken & dumplings
For the Chicken and Broth
For the Dumplings
For the Chicken and Dumplings
How do you make chicken and dumplings thicker?
What is the secret to good dumplings?
Do you put eggs in chicken and dumplings?
Do you cook dumplings covered or uncovered?

By Linda Griffith

from Augusta, GA

This recipe was handed down from my husband's family. It's a family favorite and you can see from the directions that it is kind of hard to put into a recipe. It's a lot of work but well worth it. There is never a dumpling left when this is made. I have to call my children and let them know that I made them so they can come over and get theirs. If only they would bring their own bowls.....

Blue Ribbon Recipe

This is definitely a delicious old fashioned chicken and dumplings recipe. It reminds us of something mom used to make. The from-scratch airy dumplings soak up the chicken flavor of the homemade broth. We opted to use a whole roasting chicken which, when shredded, adds tons of meat that mixes with the tasty dumplings. The perfect meal for when you want to cuddle up on the couch on a cold day.

— The Test Kitchen @kitchencrew

Ingredients For old fashioned homemade chicken & dumplings

CHICKEN & BROTH
2-4

chicken breasts (bone-in with skin) or 1 whole 3 lb chicken
2 pkg

chicken bouillon (or 2 spoonfuls)
DUMPLINGS
5 c
all-purpose flour, divided
2
drops of yellow food coloring (or substitute a pinch of Turmeric)

How To Make old fashioned homemade chicken & dumplings

1
CHICKEN AND BROTH: Place chicken breast or whole chicken with skin in a Dutch oven and cover with water.
2
Add a stick of butter and chicken bouillon. Cook over medium heat until chicken is tender, about 45 minutes for chicken breasts or 1 hr 15 minutes for the 3 lb chicken. Remove chicken from the broth and let chicken cool. Do not get rid of the broth. Remove skin and bones and discard. Shred chicken or chop into bite-size pieces. I don't put mine back into the broth until after the dumplings have cooked.
3
FOR DUMPLINGS: In a small mixing bowl, add eggs to the melted butter. Whisk.
4

Take half of a shell and add milk to it six times... pour into the egg mixture.
6
Add 3 cups of flour; mixing in the flour a little at a time.
7
You want the dough to be rather sticky.
8
Add a couple of drops of yellow food coloring to give it a rich looking blend.
9
Heap about 2 cups of flour onto a wooden board or counter.
10
Using a tablespoon, add about a cup of the mixture to the center of the flour.
11
Start incorporating the flour and the dough until you can roll it out and it doesn't stick.
13
Using a pizza cutter, cut strips of the dough.
14
Add to the broth. Make sure it is boiling rapidly and that you have plenty of broth to keep your dumplings from scorching.
15
Turn down to low while you make the next batch. It's easier to roll out using small batches than trying to roll it all out at one time.
16
After you have added the last dumpling, add the chicken back to the Dutch oven and stir very gently.
17
Remove from heat and place a lid on the pot.
18
Let sit for 10 minutes or so before serving.
https://youtu.be/new1CdvNmIo
Last Step: Don't forget to share! Make all your friends drool by posting a picture of your finished recipe on your favorite social network. And don't forget to tag Just A Pinch and include #justapinchrecipes so we can see it too!

About once a week or so, usually on a Saturday or Sunday, I like to take the time to put some extra effort into a meal. I’m talking real from-scratch home cooking. This past Sunday it was a batch of these Old-Fashioned Chicken and Dumplings.

And sure, I sometimes make a quicker version for a weeknight meal, but here I’m giving you the real deal method I use to make what my family thinks is the best chicken and dumplings – starting with a whole chicken, some vegetables, and flour and ending up with a pot of chicken stew and fluffy dumplings. And for this recipe, we’re making the fluffy biscuit-like kind of dumplings, not the noodle-like type (although you can look for that recipe sometime in a future post). The dumplings also have a little bit of cornmeal added in so that they puff up in the broth but still retain a bit of substance and texture.

The trick to making a pot of old-fashioned chicken and dumplings as delicious as grandma used to make is to start with a whole chicken and simmer it slowly until it is fall-apart tender. And in this process, you’ll also end up with the rich broth that will be the base for your soup (or is it a stew?). Simmer the chicken in a big, heavy pot on the stovetop, or, if you aren’t pressed for time, use your slow cooker. And if you want to make things a little easier, go ahead and cook the chicken a day or two ahead, then remove the meat and refrigerate both the meat and the broth until the day of your meal.

If you try this recipe, I hope you love it! Leave a review for this recipe or give it a rating in the comments below.

*This post contains affiliate links, which means I will earn a commission at no additional cost to you if you click through and make a purchase.*

Author: My Homemade Roots
Prep Time: 0 hours
Inactive Time: 0 hours
Cook Time: 0 hours
Total Time: 0 hours
Yield: 8 Servings 1x

For the Chicken and Broth

1 whole chicken (about 4 pounds), giblets removed
12 cups cold water
1 carrot, unpeeled, coarsely chopped
1 yellow onion, quartered (leave skin on)
3 cloves garlic, unpeeled
2 bay leaves
1 teaspoon poultry seasoning
1 teaspoon ground turmeric
3 medium carrots, sliced
2 stalks celery, sliced
2 tablespoons chicken base (optional)
⅓ cup all purpose flour
Salt and pepper

For the Dumplings

1 ½ cups all purpose flour
½ cup cornmeal
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
½ cup milk
¼ cup melted butter

For the Chicken and Dumplings

8 cups reserved chicken broth, divided
Meat reserved from poached chicken, shredded
Salt and pepper
Fresh or dried parsley for garnish

Cook the chicken: Place the chicken in a large pot, and cover with cold water. Add coarsely chopped carrot, onion quarters, garlic cloves, and bay leaves. Season with a big pinch of salt. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer, and cover with a lid. Allow the chicken to simmer for 1 ¼ to 1 ½ hours, skimming off the foam occasionally. When the chicken is done, it should be tender and easily pulled from the bone, with an internal temperature of at least 170 degrees Fahrenheit. Carefully remove chicken from the pot, pull off and shred meat, and set aside.
Add vegetables to broth: Strain the broth made from cooking the chicken through a fine-mesh sieve. Return 7 cups to the pot, then reserve and set aside 1 additional cup to cool and use later in the recipe (you should have more than the 8 cups of broth needed for this recipe – freeze the extra to use later). Add poultry seasoning, ground turmeric, sliced carrots, and sliced celery. Simmer for 5-7 minutes, or until carrots and celery are not quite tender.
Season and thicken broth: Taste the broth for seasoning. Add chicken base (this is optional, but I like to add a little chicken base to boost the flavor) and season generously with salt and pepper to taste. In a small bowl, whisk together the reserved 1 cup of cooking liquid with the flour until smooth. Stir mixture into the gently bubbling broth (should become slightly thickened, but not as thick as a gravy.)
Make the dumplings: In a mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, cornmeal, baking powder, and salt. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients; add eggs milk and melted butter to the well. Use a fork to whisk the wet ingredients together, then stir in the dry ingredients until everything is combined.
Assemble the chicken and dumplings: Add reserved chicken meat to the pot and stir. Drop tablespoon-size dollops of the dumpling mixture to the bubbling soup (It’s fine if they sink a bit – they will pop up as they cook.) Place the lid on the pot and simmer for 20 minutes until the dumplings have puffed up and are cooked through.
Final seasoning, garnish and serve: Taste and adjust seasonings and garnish with freshly-chopped or dried parsley before serving.

How do you make chicken and dumplings thicker?

Use Cornstarch to Thicken Chicken and Dumplings To give that a little thicker texture we're going to add 1 cup of cool water to 2 tablespoons of cornstarch and stir it up well. Make sure the soup is brought back to a good boil and go ahead and stir in the cornstarch mixture.

What is the secret to good dumplings?

Don't Overwork the Dumpling Dough Stir everything together until the wet and dry ingredients are combined and you don't see any more dry flour. The dough might look a little lumpy, but that's okay! Overworking the dough is one of the easiest ways to end up with tough dumplings.

Do you put eggs in chicken and dumplings?

Ingredients.

1 (3 pound) whole chicken..

4 cubes chicken bouillon..

2 cups all-purpose flour. Great Value All-Purpose Flour, 5LB Bag..

4 eggs..

1 teaspoon salt..

Do you cook dumplings covered or uncovered?

Once your water is boiling, let your dumplings cook in the steam for about ten minutes. Don't remove the lid as letting the steam escape will disrupt the cooking process and result in undercooked dumplings, so keep that lid on!