Name: Chicken and Dumplings
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 1 h 30 min
Total time: 1 h 50 min
Yield: 4
Cuisine: American
Ingredients: 1-quart chicken broth, or use homemade broth; 1-quart water; 1 TBSP Poultry Seasoning OR Italian Seasoning or a combo of Dried Herbs- SEE NOTES; 1 Bay Leaf; 1-1 1/2 pounds boneless skinless chicken breast; salt and pepper to taste, add last after cooking; 2 cups all-purpose flour; 3 teaspoons baking powder; 3/4 cups of milk; 1/3 cup vegetable oil; salt and pepper

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This IS the EASY Old Fashioned Chicken and Dumplings Recipe YOU NEED. And when you make it, your family will CHEER! Every time. You’ll be amazed that you can easily make chicken and dumplings from scratch!

Perfectly tender chicken, soft fluffy homemade dumplings, and semi-homemade broth come together to make this chicken and dumplings recipe your GO-TO for comfort food!

And talk about EASY, this recipe is exactly THAT. While it’s not a quick fix, it takes around 1 1/2 to 2 hours, it’s easy to toss in the pot, and let it cook while filling the house with is deliciously comforting soup smells.

Old Fashioned Chicken and Dumplings

I know it’s SUPER popular right now to make dumplings out of cut-up canned biscuits. You don’t have to do that to have dumplings! And you’re not using a mix either, they are simple.

Make Homemade Dumplings

Fluffy homemade dumplings are SO EASY you can whip them up in no time at all. All you need are just a few simple pantry staples, and milk and you’re minutes away from easy homemade dumplings just like grandma used to make.

The absolute trick to fluffy dumplings is not to overmix the dough, you must stop stirring the dough as SOON as it comes together in the bowl. THEN drop by spoonfuls in the hot simmering broth. Don’t roll the dough into balls or compress it at all. That’s the BIG secret to fluffy dumplings.

Why did my dumplings fall apart in the broth?

If your dumplings fell apart in the broth then the soup wasn’t hot enough when you put them in. It MUST be simmering hot to keep the dumplings intact.

The steam in the pot when you put the lid on makes everything plump up and stick together so a GOOD hot soup is needed. If they break up it will still taste fine and be a very thick soup with mini dumpling chunks in it. We’ve had that a few times, it’s still a good pot of soup.

I Love This Chicken and Dumplings Recipe

Because it makes me feel like I’m about 7 years old and my mom is making dinner for me. But I also like it because I’m the mom now and I’m making something warm and filling and full of sense memories for my own boys. AND myself.

Ok and it’s so easy to make.

Let’s make it SUPER EASY Chicken and Dumplings

You can make this recipe even easier with a few time saving steps.

first of all, start with pre-cooked chicken, or use the white meat from a rotisserie chicken, I don’t think canned chicken is a good choice for a chicken soup
or quick cook your chicken in the instant pot, shred it, put it in the dutch oven with broth, water, and herbs, bring it to a boil, reduce the heat and add the dumplings
use TWO quarts of chicken broth and forgo making a semi-homemade broth
follow the dumpling recipe carefully to make the BEST fluffy dumplings

Other Old Fashioned Recipes You Might Want to Make

Old Fashioned Homemade Beef and Noodles

Old Fashioned Chicken and Noodles

Old Fashioned Noodles
Turkey and Dumplings using Thanksgiving Leftovers!!
Just need to make Dumplings? Grab my Homemade Dumplings Recipe and drop them in YOUR favorite soup!!

A Note About the Seasonings in this Soup

Using Italian Seasoning is a HACK to make it easier. If you don’t have Poultry Seasoning Italian Seasoning is a flavorful substitute.

I’ve ALWAYS used Italian Seasonings for my Chicken Soups, and to be honest my beans soups too. The sage, rosemary, oregano, and a few other herbs work perfectly in MANY soup recipes. It’s so much easier to reach for one bottle than a variety of bottles.

You can ALSO use a poultry seasoning mix, it’s about the same thing. But it doesn’t have any oregano in it FYI!

And if you don’t have Italian Seasoning on hand then use sage, thyme, oregano, rosemary, or ANY tasty combination of those herbs.

AND ALWAYS add your favorite herbs and spices to soup, if you like it add it!! And taste and correct for YOUR preference!

Yield: 4-6 servings

Chicken and Dumplings

This is an EASY recipe for Old Fashioned Chicken and Dumplings, the perfect comfort food!

Prep Time 20 minutes

Cook Time 1 hour 30 minutes

Total Time 1 hour 50 minutes

Ingredients

1-quart chicken broth, or use homemade broth
1-quart water
1 TBSP Poultry Seasoning OR Italian Seasoning or a combo of Dried Herbs- SEE NOTES
1 Bay Leaf
1-1 1/2 pounds boneless skinless chicken breast
salt and pepper to taste, add last after cooking

Homemade Dumplings

2 cups all-purpose flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 cups of milk
1/3 cup vegetable oil
salt and pepper

Instructions

pour the broth and water in a 7 quart or larger dutch oven set over medium heat
add the Italian Seasonings, the bay leaf, and the chicken breasts
cook covered over medium heat until cooked through and tender, about 60-90 minutes
remove the meat from the pan, set aside to cool
skim any foam from the broth, if you lose seasonings you can add fresh
when the meat is cool to touch roughly shred it, you don't want a lot of little shreddy pieces but bigger pieces work great
add the chicken back to the pot, bring the soup to a simmer
taste for salt and pepper and add as needed
make the dumplings by mixing the flour with the baking powder in a mixing bowl
then mix the milk and oil together
pour over the flour mixture and use a fork to lightly mix it in
once the dough comes together stop mixing,over-mixing causes hard lumpy dumplings, you want soft and pillowy
use the fork to pull off a golf ball size piece of dough, drop it in the simmering soup
work quickly to make 12 dumplings, dropping them in the soup next to each other, not on top of each other
once they're in the soup sprinkle with the salt and pepper
reduce heat to just keep it simmering cover the pan
leave covered and cook for 10-12 minutes in the bubbling soup
when it's been 10 minutes pull a dumpling out, and use a fork to pull it open, it should be cooked in the middle but soft and soupy on the outside
if they need more time cook two more minutes
serve hot

Notes

About the herbs: I've ALWAYS used Italian Seasonings for my Chicken Soups, and to be honest my beans soups too. The sage, rosemary, oregano, and a few other herbs work perfectly in MANY soup recipes. It's so much easier to reach for one bottle than a variety of bottles.
You can ALSO use a poultry seasoning mix, it’s about the same thing. But it doesn’t have any oregano in it FYI!
AND ALWAYS add your favorite herbs and spices to soup, if you like it add it!! And taste and correct for YOUR preference!

7 thoughts on “Old Fashioned Chicken and Dumplings Recipe”

Tammi

January 14, 2022 at 3:36 am

Hello, can I use butter instead of oil to give the dumplings a buttery taste?
- Laura
  
  January 14, 2022 at 8:50 am
  
  Try it!
Scott C

January 18, 2022 at 8:34 am

So don’t use all purpose flour? I’m assuming not since the recipe calls for baking powder.
- Laura
  
  January 18, 2022 at 10:39 am
  
  Yes all-purpose flour
Jaylee

March 2, 2022 at 5:29 pm

Would it work in a crockpot??
- Laura
  
  March 5, 2022 at 10:20 am
  
  Possibly? But you need to get the soup really boiling before you add the dumplings.
Sarah

August 10, 2022 at 6:57 pm

I love this recipe. I have made twice. First time like recipe. Today boiled bone in chicken with celery and onions.What a difference in flavor. So, personal preference. But overall closest thing to my gma and mom’s. Thumbs-up