Old Fashioned Homemade Chicken and Dumplings
When you think of comfort food, old fashioned chicken and dumplings are probably at the top of that list. This delicious recipe made from scratch using ingredients you already have in your pantry is as easy as it is delicious.
This family favorite recipe can also be made in a slow cooker, with shredded or rotisserie chicken you have on hand, or with the leftover pieces of a whole chicken made the night before.
You can serve this dish as is, or you can make adjustments that you and your family will love.
If you are a “soup” family like we are, be sure to enjoy my hearty beef stew, family favorite cheeseburger soup, or my filling potato and ham soup!
What is Chicken and Dumplings?
Chicken and Dumplings are a delicious soup made with chicken broth, chicken pieces, spices and biscuit dough. This is a simple dish that can easily be made from scratch with items you already have in your pantry.
Why you’ll love this recipe
- This easy chicken recipe is a comforting meal that everyone in your family will love. It is the epitome of comfort food, right up with there southern chicken, and pairs together a flavorful broth and puffy dumplings that kids love!
- A yummy soup is a great recipe that is easily adaptable. With simple ingredients as your base you can easily make adjustments to fit your family’s taste. You may want to use different spices, leftover chicken or chicken thighs, or even roll your biscuit dough and cut into fun shapes for your picky eaters.
- Homemade Chicken and Dumplings can easily stand alone or you can complete your meal with a fresh side salad and some fresh baked bread, or add in some vegetables like carrots, celery or peas, for a more hearty soup.
Tell me about Old Fashioned Chicken and Dumplings
- Taste- Tastes like a warm hug in a bowl. The salty broth mixed with the fluffy doughy dumplings makes a great contrast. The thyme adds a subtle layer of flavor that rounds out the soup.
- Texture- This soup is a soft silky broth with fluffy dumplings that creates a contrast in texture that is otherworldly.
- Ease- With simple ingredients and minimal preparation, this meal comes together quickly on any night of the week.
- Time- This meal comes together in about 30-40 minutes. You can use pre cooked chicken and store bought biscuit dough to make this recipe even quicker to pull together in a pinch.
Ingredients for Old Fashioned Chicken and Dumplings Soup:
- Chicken – This recipe uses skinless, boneless chicken breasts, but you can use chicken thighs or even a rotisserie chicken. Shred the chicken or dice them into small pieces.
- Onion – You will want to use a white or yellow onion for this recipe. You could also use a shallot for a milder onion flavor.
- Chicken Broth – If you don’t have chicken broth you can easily substitute it with beef or vegetable broth. You can also use a low sodium broth and add salt to your taste.
- Butter – Adding butter to this recipe will make sure you have a smooth, almost shimmering broth. This will also give the soup lots of flavor. You can substitute with any oil, however, you may want to choose an olive or vegetable oil so it doesn’t add an additional flavor to the soup.
- All Purpose Flour – Using all purpose flour will give you fluffier biscuits. If you would like to substitute with whole wheat flour use a 50/50 ration with all purpose flour to avoid a denser dumpling. If you want to use all whole wheat flour make sure you add some water.
- Milk – For this recipe you can use whatever milk you have on hand. You can also use buttermilk or plain yogurt for a tangy flavor.
- Thyme – Using thyme adds a subtle flavor to your dumpling recipe that pairs perfectly with the shredded chicken. You can add all sorts of different spices to this recipe according to your preferences. The possibilities are endless.
Make Chicken and Dumplings in 3 Easy Steps
- Make the soup- In a large dutch oven, sauté the onion and tender chicken over medium-high heat. Add the broth to a saucepan and whip up your roux to help thicken your soup base. Combine and let it heat through.
- Make the Dumplings- You can easily make your own dumplings by adding the dry ingredients in a large bowl, making a well and adding the liquids. You will get a soft dumpling dough that makes the most tender dumplings.
- Add the Dumplings- For the dough into balls and drop dumplings in the hot soup… gently.
Substitutions for Chicken and Dumplings
- Refrigerated Dough- You can also use refrigerated or boxed biscuit dough in place of homemade dumplings. Make your pot of old-fashioned chicken soup and drop biscuits on top of good chicken broth to cook.
- Chicken Alternatives- Rotisserie chicken or juicy chicken thighs, if you prefer dark meat, will work perfectly fine in place of chicken breasts.
- Vegetables- Add veggies like carrots, celery or peas to this flavorful chicken soup and get added nutrients your whole family will love. Just cook the celery and carrots when you sauté the onion and add the peas at the same time as the dumplings to avoid them from getting soggy.
- Spices- You can also add spices that you enjoy, such as oregano, italian spice blend, parsley, etc. The possibilities are endless.
Tips for Making the Best Old Fashioned Chicken and Dumplings
- For this recipe you can also use a dutch oven on the stove top, or even a crockpot. When you use the crockpot just remember to remove the chicken breasts and shred the chicken and add back into the crockpot. Also- do not add the biscuit dough until you are ready to serve as they only need about 15 minutes to cook.
- You can use your standing mixer for a quick and easy way to shred your chicken breasts. Add warm fully cooked chicken breasts into the bowl of the mixer. Using your paddle attachment, start the mixer on low for 2-3 minutes or until the chicken is fully shredded.
- You can also replace milk with buttermilk if you want your dumplings recipe to have a little more tang and result in a slightly lighter and fluffier dumpling. If you don’t have buttermilk just add 1 tbsp. of either white vinegar or lemon juice and enough milk to equal one cup.
- For easy cutting of the fluffy homemade dumplings, cut the dough using a pizza cutter.
How do you store leftover Chicken and Dumplings?
This recipe can be stored in the refrigerator in an airtight container for up to 2-3 days. You can also store the soup separately from the dumplings and serve as is or make dumplings and cook in the reheated soup broth later.
How to reheat leftover Chicken and Dumplings
1: Stovetop- Put leftover soup in a saucepan over medium heat until warmed through, stirring frequently.
2: Microwave- Add leftover soup to a microwave safe bowl and cover with a wet paper towel. Cook for three minutes stirring every sixty seconds until heated through.
3: Oven- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and pour soup into an oven safe baking dish. If the soup is too thick add a bit of broth or water to the desired consistency. Cover with aluminum foil and heat until warmed through for approximately 20 minutes.
Frequently Asked Questions
Absolutely. This is a great make ahead meal for those busy weeknights. Follow the steps to make the steps and stop before making and adding the dumplings. You can make the soup up to 2-3 days ahead of time stored in an airtight container in the fridge. You can also use the same method to freeze the soup, just make sure you allow the soup to cool completely before transferring to a freezer safe container. When ready to eat make sure the soup is thawed if frozen, and finish with the steps to make dumplings.
You can use any sort of flour to thicken your broth. Make sure you start with a small amount and add as needed. You can also add broth to the soup to make it a bit thicker as well. I quick thickening agent is cream of chicken soup, if you don’t mind a more processed alternative.
This is a very versatile recipe and works well with any skinless, boneless chicken meat. You can use this recipe when you have leftover meat from cooking a whole chicken, or a rotisserie chicken as well.
Chicken and Dumplings can be served as a stand alone meal or with a simple side. You can add vegetables like carrots, celery or peas to the soup to create a more hearty, vegetable filled option. Or you can serve with a side salad, fresh crusty bread, or even roasted vegetables.
Old Fashioned Chicken and Dumpling Recipe
Old Fashioned Chicken and Dumplings
Equipment
- 1 large dutch oven, or stock pot
Ingredients
Soup
- 4 large boneless, skinless chicken breasts, diced
- 1 large onion, diced
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 4 cups chicken broth
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
- ¼ cup all purpose flour
- 1 cup whole milk
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- ½ teaspoon salt and pepper, to taste
Homemade Dumplings
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ¾ cup whole milk
- 4 tablespoons melted butter
Instructions
Soup
- In a large stock pot, add olive oil and cook the onion until it’s fragrant. Add in the chicken and brown for a few minutes, 2-5 minutes.
- To the stock pot, add in the chicken broth and bring it to a boil.
- While the chicken cooks, add the butter to a small saucepan and melt it.
- Whisk in the ¼ cup flour and thyme until combined and slowly add in the milk while you whisk. This will be a roux that thickens the soup.
- Add the roux to the soup and reduce the heat to a simmer.
- Season the soup with salt and pepper.
Homemade Dumplings
- To make the dumplings, whisk together flour, baking powder, pepper, salt and thyme in a large bowl.
- Make a well in the center of the flour mixture and pour the milk and butter into the center of it, stirring with a wooden spoon until the dough forms.
- Form the dough into 1 inch balls and drop them in the soup, trying to spread them out so they don’t touch.
- Make sure to dunk the entire dumpling in the soup and then put the lid on the stock pot. Cook them for 15 minutes or until cooked through.
Notes
Substitutions for Chicken and Dumplings
- Refrigerated Dough- You can also use refrigerated or boxed biscuit dough in place of homemade dumplings. Make your pot of old-fashioned chicken soup and drop biscuits on top of good chicken broth to cook.
- Chicken Alternatives- Rotisserie chicken or juicy chicken thighs, if you prefer dark meat, will work perfectly fine in place of chicken breasts.
- Vegetables- Add veggies like carrots, celery or peas to this flavorful chicken soup and get added nutrients your whole family will love. Just cook the celery and carrots when you sauté the onion and add the peas at the same time as the dumplings to avoid them from getting soggy.
Liz,
I enjoy your blog! Always insightful, and great recipes. I am from south Georgia and have grown up eating chicken and dumplings, especially on Sundays after church. I have recipes both ways with drop dumplings and rolled/cut dumplings. The best part is it brings back memories of my mother’s cooking! Thank you for such a great memory and yes I plan on making this recipe in the coming weeks for all my hunters! Have a blessed holiday season!
Thank you for your comment. It is so much about memories! You’re so right!
Thanks Liz, I have tried many of your recipes and they have been a hit. I think chicken and dumplings is like any other family recipe, it varies. Looking forward to trying it. Appreciate all you do, and even though I am probably closer to your mom’s age, you inspire me in homemaking. God bless!
This is definitely NOT a Southern recipe! Disagree with a LOT about this recipe. I will put my grandmother’s dumplings up against dumplings from this recipe any day.
Okie-dokie… thanks for your input. Did you make the recipe? It is delicious and the broth is incredible. I’m sorry that you don’t approve of it, but it is, indeed, a very tasty recipe! I’d love to try your grandma’s recipe!
This is kind of rude.. and not kind at all. You can just enjoy your own recipe without bashing hers and everyone is happy. Just a thought.