Chicken and Dumplings is such a perfect comforting meal. This will become a treasured recipe that you come back to over and over.
Today is the first official recipe under the name Simple Joy! I am so excited – kid on Christmas morning excited. And Chicken and Dumplings is the perfect inaugural recipe.
This amazing homemade Chicken and Dumplings is not only easy to make, but it is the perfectly amount creamy with the best flavor. This soup screams comfort food and is the perfect recipe for fall and winter.
This was my first time making chicken and dumplings. A huge hit in my family!! So delicious!!
How To Make Chicken and Dumplings
This recipe has easy to follow steps. Once you make this recipe once, you’ll be able to make it from memory. This is a brief overview.
- Saute carrots, celery, and garlic. in butter.
- Create a roux and then add chicken stock.
- Add in seasonings, and simmer.
- While it is simmering, make the batter for dumplings. Drop the dumpling batter by the spoonful into the simmering broth.
- After the dumplings have cooked through, stir in chicken and heavy cream.
Making Dumpling Batter
The dumpling batter for this soup is really simple. It is similar to the batter for my Quick Easy Biscuits. There are a couple things you want to consider:
- If you don’t have a pastry cutter you can cut the cold butter into the batter with a fork.
- I used skim milk to make my dumplings, but you can use whatever milk you have on hand.
- The batter will be really sticky. Which is fine! You aren’t forming biscuits, you are dropping it into simmering soup.
How to Make a Roux
This soup gets it’s thickness from a roux. A roux is a combination of a melted fat and flour with the addition of a liquid.
Here we are using the butter we sautéed the vegetables, then adding in flour, and finally slowly adding in chicken stock.
I find that the most successful rouxs are the ones made with patience. Slowly add your chicken stock. Whisk in about two tablespoons at a time in the beginning before adding the rest. This will result in a thick and creamy soup.
Using Cooked Chicken
This recipe calls for cooked chicken, which makes it a quicker recipe. Here are a few suggestions:
- Frozen Shredded Chicken: I love buying rotisserie chicken and freezing it. For details on how to do that, check out my Crockpot Chicken Enchiladas.
- Rotisserie Chicken: Grab a cooked chicken at the grocery store to make this recipe super simple.
- Instant Pot Chicken: Cook chicken in your instant pot for easy prep.
- Boil Chicken Breasts: Place the chicken in enough water to cover it and simmer it for 4 to 10 minutes. Make sure it registers 165 degrees with an instant read thermometer.
FAQ
This would not be my first choice of soups to freeze. That being said, it can be done. Freeze in an airtight container for up to three months. Make sure you allow for the soup to expand. Thaw the soup in the refrigerator overnight. Heat on the stove over low heat.
I think that this is a great way to use your Thanksgiving Turkey leftovers! I have a delicious Turkey Dumpling Soup recipe that has all the flavors of fall.
You can double the soup ingredients, but not the dumplings. Because we are using the whole surface area of the top of the soup to make the dumplings, if you double the dumpling batter, there won’t be enough room to cook them.
Other Great Soup Recipes
I sometimes think I should start another blog for just soups. And then I remember how much time running a food blog takes. But! I adore soup season, and I have lots of other great soup recipes for you.
- My Creamy Chicken Noodle Soup is a lot like this minus the dumplings, and delicious. A family favorite.
- My Slow Cooker Broccoli Cheddar Soup is always a winner.
- This New England Clam Chowder Recipe is a classic that must be in your recipe. binder.
Chicken and Dumpling Soup
Ingredients
For Soup
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1 small yellow onion diced
- 2 large carrots diced
- 2 celery stalks diced
- 2 garlic cloves
- 2 teaspoons dried parsley
- 2 teaspoons dried basil
- 1 teaspoon salt see note
- 1/4 teaspoon pepper
- 2 tablespoons all purpose flour
- 4 cups chicken stock
- 2 bay leaves
- 2 cups cooked chicken cubed (see note in post about cooked chicken)
- 8 oz heavy cream
For Dumplings
- 1 cup all purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
- 1/2 cup skim milk
Instructions
- Melt the butter over medium heat in a large stock pot.
- Add the onions, carrots, celery, and garlic. Season with parsley, basil, salt, and pepper and cook until soft, about five to seven minutes.
- Whisk in the flour until fully combined. Slowly add the chicken stock. I like to whisk in about 2 tablespoons at a time to start, whisking it into the butter and flour mixture until fully combined before adding more. You can add it more quickly at the end.
- Add the bay leaves and bring to a simmer. Allow to simmer for five minutes. You should see bubbles that are about the size of peas.
- While the soup is cooking, make the dumpling batter. Whisk together flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt.
- Using a fork or pastry cutter, cut in cold butter.
- Gently mix in milk until just combined and there are no more streaks of flour.
- Make sure you still see your soup bubbling before gently dropping about a tablespoon of the dough at a time into the soup. Boil until just cooked through over medium heat. About four minutes uncovered.
- Finally, gently stir in the cooked chicken and heavy cream, stirring to combine and cooking about one minute more until combined. Remove bay leaves and serve.
Dawn says
This soup was absolutely amazing! I normally make chicken and dumplings. But I think this is my new go to recipe.
I’m so happy to hear that, Dawn!
Brie says
At 8 months pregnant, thes erwcipes are exactly what I need for some to make and very nutritious options!
I’m so glad to hear that, Brie!
Kathy says
This was my first time making chicken and dumplings. A huge hit in my family!! So delicious!!
I’m so glad that this recipe worked for you and that your family enjoyed it!
Noelle says
Delish! Only complaint is that it doesn’t make enough for leftovers-my family loved it, 3 of us had it for dinner and we have one bowl leftover. Great thickness.
That is a complaint I will happily take. I’m so glad you liked it!
Angela says
Excuse my ignorance, but how do you cut butter in.
No, that’s a fantastic question! It means to combine flour and butter with a fork or with a pastry cutter. I have a detailed explanation of it in this post: https://www.simplejoy.com/apple-crisp-recipe/
Carolina Z says
I’m in love with this soup 😍
It’s perfect for lunch time !
I’m so glad you like it!
Nicole says
I love Chicken Dumpling in so
Up I love the Vegetable in it. We had that when we were kids. And that is worth 5 star
kathy says
is there any way to have leftovers without dumplings being soggy
I’m sorry, Kathy, none that I know apart from making a fresh batch of dumplings in the boiling leftovers.
Liz says
Would I be able to make the soup ahead of time by a couple of hours and then reheat it and make the dumplings fresh?
Yes! That should work just fine.
Nathania says
Thank you for this recipe! First time making this and I did the drop style dumplings and the flavor was perfection and the instructions made it all so easy to follow. Tweaked slightly with different herbs and aromatics that I had on hand, milk in lieu of cream since it’s what I had and it all came together great. The dumplings were tender, flavorful and cooked perfectly. Plus they were very easy to make coming from a 1st time maker. 10/10 adding to my rotation.
I’m so glad that you liked it!