Homemade Chicken and Dumplings are truly the ultimate in comfort food.

Making the stock for the base of the soup is so easy. The vegetables are cooked perfectly. And the dumplings are a little piece of heaven.
And you can make the stock in advance and then it’s just a matter of minutes to steam the dumplings! Yes!

HOW TO MAKE HOMEMADE CHICKEN AND DUMPLINGS

Making chicken and dumplings from scratch is really easier than you might think. This is a soup that has been comforting hungry bellies for generations. And is truly one of our all-time favorite soups!

We start with a whole chicken, a few basic veggies, and let the fun begin.

EXPERT TIP: We remove the giblets from the cavity of the bird and toss in with the water and veggies, resulting in a more delicious broth.

Watch us show you how easy it is to make Homemade Chicken and Dumplings at home!

HOW TO EASILY MAKE THE CHICKEN STOCK

A good hearty stock is the basis of most homemade soups. We love our homemade chicken stock, roasted chicken stock, and beef stock recipes.

But the great thing about this recipe is all you need is a whole chicken, some roughly chopped veggies, and water.

Place it all in a large vessel (we love our 7 qt. Dutch oven) and then simmer for 2 hours.

EXPERT TIP: Just give the onions, carrots and celery a rough chop at this stage. These add depth to the broth/stock as it cooks and then we discard them once finished cooking. A new round of smaller chopped veggies will soon come into play.

THE COOKED CHICKEN IS READY FOR THE SOUP

Once the cooked chicken is cool enough to handle, remove from the broth and peel away the skin.

The chicken will be so tender you can shred the meat with your hands.

If you like, give the chicken a dice with a sharp knife, but we love leaving the pieces nice and chunky for a good, hearty soup.

Be sure to strain the broth into a large bowl or stock pan with a sieve or colander.

The broth is so flavorful. Some of our other chicken-broth soups are:

Now, for our Better than “Grandma’s Chicken and Dumplings”, we need to sauté sliced carrots, chopped celery and onion. Do this right back in the pot you cooked the chicken in!

EXPERT TIP: After the the vegetables have softened after about 5 or 6 minutes, you’ll add 1/4-cup of all-purpose flour and cook for another 5 minutes. This creates a roux which will slightly thicken the broth, after it’s added, and create a silky, luxurious soup.

BUILDING THE FLAVOR PROFILE

Add the reserved broth and the cooked chicken into the pot with the cooked veggies, stirring frequently.

Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for about 10 minutes.

The liquid will thicken slightly as it simmers.

HOW TO MAKE THE DUMPLINGS

While the stock is simmering, it’s time to make the dumplings! Our favorite part of Homemade Chicken and Dumplings!

Start with a nice wide bowl and mix together the flour, baking powder, fresh parsley and salt.

Next, you need to cut the chilled butter into the flour mixture. You can do this with a pastry cutter (pictured below), or two forks, or even your fingers. TIP: If using your hands, try to handle as little as possible, because it’s important to keep the butter cool. This will help in making fluffy dumplings.

Next, add a whole egg.

Gently stir together until a batter just comes together.

HOW TO COOK HOMEMADE CHICKEN AND DUMPLINGS

Now, you are ready to simply drop the dumplings into the simmering soup.

EXPERT TIP: Resist making the dumplings too large before you drop them in. As they simmer and cook, they will almost double in size. You may not use all of the batter. The size of the dough balls should not exceed the size of a golf ball.

After all the dough balls have been dropped in, they should have risen to the surface.

Cover the pot, and simmer on low for 15 minutes.

Get ready to swoon when you lift that pot of heavenly soup!