Old Fashioned Homemade Chicken and Dumplings
Creamy comfort food from scratch! You'll love this classic recipe for old-fashioned homemade chicken and dumplings cooked on the stovetop.
Servings 6 servings
Calories 450kcal
Ingredients
Chicken Soup
- 4 tbsp unsalted butter
- 1 medium yellow onion, chopped
- 1 medium leek, white and light green, chopped
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 4 tbsp all purpose flour
- 2 quarts (8 cups) low or no sodium chicken stock
- 4 medium carrots, peeled and sliced
- 4 stalks celery, sliced
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
- 1 tsp dried thyme
- 1 bay leaf
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- 2 cups cooked chicken, diced
Dumpling Batter
- 1 cup all purpose flour
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp baking soda
- 5 oz buttermilk
- 3 tbsp unsalted butter, melted and cooled
- 2 tbsp chopped fresh chives, plus more for serving
Instructions
Chicken Soup
- Melt the butter on low in a large pot or Dutch oven. Add the onion and leek along with a pinch of salt and saute until very soft, about 15 minutes. Stir in garlic and saute for about 30 seconds.
- Add the flour, increase the heat to medium, and stir with a whisk for 2 minutes.
- Pour in the stock and whisk as it comes to a simmer and starts bubbling. Simmer the stock for 30 minutes, whisking as needed. (Mix the batter now.)
- Add the carrots, celery, salt, pepper, thyme, and bay leaf. Bring back to a simmer.
- Add the cream and diced chicken.
- Once the soup has come back to a simmer, drop in the biscuits in generous tablespoon sized amounts into the soup.
- Reduce the heat to low, cover, and cook for 10-12 minutes, or until the dumplings are fluffy and cooked through.
- Taste and adjust the seasonings as needed. Serve with extra chopped chives over the top.
Dumpling Batter
- In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, pepper, baking powder, and baking soda.
- In another bowl, whisk together the buttermilk and melted butter.
- Pour the buttermilk mixture into the flour. Sprinkle the chives over the top. Using a large silicone spatula, mix the dumpling batter together in a few swift strokes. Do not overmix.
- Set the batter aside until it is time to add it to the soup.
Notes
- Tips for the dumplings:
- Don't mix the batter too far in advance. The leaveners start to work as soon as they are mixed with the liquid and your dumplings will be less fluffy.
- Work quickly once you combine the buttermilk and butter. The butter will start to solidify if you let it sit.
- To make evenly sized dumplings quickly, a tablespoon sized scoop is very useful.
- By careful about the heat. The soup needs to be simmering while the dumplings cook. If the heat is too low, they'll dissolve.
- Recipe inspiration: For the chicken soup I was inspired by Thomas Keller's recipe for chicken and dumplings in Ad Hoc at Home. (I used my own recipe for dumplings.)
Nutrition
Calories: 450kcal