Chicken and dumplings
A creamy chicken stew topped with big, fluffy dumplings that steam right on top of the pot, the most comforting thing you can make from scratch.
- 75 min total
- 35 min hands-on
- A little more hands-on
- Serves 4
- About $3.18 a serving
- 640 calories
- Good the next day
Dolly says: Make the full amount. It’s just as good for lunch the next day.
Ingredients
For 4 servings.
- 1 yellow onion, diced
- 2 carrots, diced
- 2 stalks celery, diced
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 6 tbsp butter, divided
- 6 cups chicken broth
- 1½ lb boneless chicken thighs, boneless
- ¾ cup milk
- ½ cup frozen peas (optional)
- 2 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped (optional)
From your pantry
- 1¾ cups all-purpose flour, divided
- 1 tsp dried thyme
- 1 bay leave
- 1½ tsp salt, divided
- ½ tsp black pepper
- 2 tsp baking powder
Each serving has about 640 calories, 44 g protein, 54 g carbs and 27 g fat, and costs about $3.18 at typical US grocery prices. Both are estimates from what the recipe uses.
Missing something?
- No yellow onions? White onions or red onions work.
- No butter? Ghee works.
- No chicken broth? Vegetable broth or bone broth works.
- No boneless chicken thighs? Chicken breasts or chicken tenderloins work.
- No milk? Half-and-half works.
- No frozen peas? Frozen mixed vegetables work.
- No fresh parsley? Cilantro works.
Steps
Tap an underlined word for a quick explanation.
the onion, carrots and celery and the garlic.
Dice. Dicing means cutting food into small, even cubes, usually a quarter to half an inch across. Pieces the same size cook at the same speed, so nothing burns while the rest catches up.
How you’ll know: Your pieces are little cubes about the size of a chickpea, and they all look close to the same.
Mince. Mincing means chopping something into the tiniest pieces you can, smaller than a grain of rice. Tiny pieces melt into the dish, so you get the flavor without biting into a chunk of garlic.
How you’ll know: Every piece is tiny and about the same size, and the pile starts to look almost like a paste.
3 tablespoons of the butter in a or large pot over medium heat. Add the onion, carrots and celery and cook, stirring, until soft, about 6 minutes.
Melt. Melting means gently heating something solid, like butter or cheese, until it turns liquid. Low or medium heat keeps it from browning or burning.
How you’ll know: It’s smooth and liquid, and butter may foam a little but hasn’t turned brown.
Dutch oven. A Dutch oven is a heavy pot, usually enameled cast iron, with a tight-fitting lid. It holds heat evenly, so it’s great for soups, stews and anything that simmers a long time.
How you’ll know: Any large, heavy pot with a lid does the same job if you don’t have one.
Medium heatTimer: 6 min
Stir in the garlic and ¼ cup of the flour and cook, stirring constantly, for 1 minute.
Medium heatTimer: 1 min
Pour in the broth slowly, so no lumps form, then add the thyme, bay leaf, 1 teaspoon of the salt and the pepper.
Whisk. Whisking means beating quickly with a whisk or a fork to blend things together. It smooths out lumps and mixes eggs, oil or sauces evenly.
How you’ll know: It all looks one even color and texture, with no streaks or lumps.
Medium heat
Add the chicken thighs whole, , then turn the heat to low, cover and cook for 20 minutes.
Simmer. Simmering means keeping a liquid just below a boil, with small bubbles rising gently. It cooks food evenly and lets a sauce thicken without scorching on the bottom.
How you’ll know: Small, lazy bubbles break the surface every second or so, and nothing is churning.
Low heatTimer: 20 min
While the chicken cooks, melt the rest of the butter. Whisk 1½ cups flour, the baking powder and ½ teaspoon salt in a bowl, then stir in the milk and melted butter just until no dry flour is left.
Dolly’s tip: Stop stirring the moment there’s no dry flour. A lumpy, shaggy dough makes the fluffiest dumplings.Lift the chicken onto a board and check it: 165°F in the thickest part, or no pink inside. it with two forks and stir it back into the pot.
Shred. Shredding means making thin strips, either on the big holes of a grater or by pulling cooked meat apart with two forks. Shreds soak up sauce and mix evenly through a dish.
How you’ll know: Cooked chicken pulls apart into strands with little effort, and cheese comes off in long, loose strips.
Food safety: Chicken and turkey are done at 165°F in the thickest part. A thermometer is the only sure check. Without one, cut into the thickest piece: it should be white all the way through, with no pink.
Bring the stew back to a steady simmer over medium heat and drop in spoonfuls of dough, spaced out across the top.
Heaping. Heaping means a rounded mound piled above the rim of the spoon or cup, not leveled off. It’s a little more than the measure, on purpose.
How you’ll know: The pile sits above the edge of the spoon, and you leave it there instead of scraping it flat.
Medium heat
Turn the heat to low, cover tightly and cook for 15 minutes without lifting the lid, until the dumplings are puffed and cooked through.
Low heatTimer: 15 min
Dolly’s tip: No peeking: the trapped steam cooks the dumplings. To check, cut one in half. It should look like a fluffy biscuit inside, with no wet dough.Gently stir in the peas, pull out the bay leaf, taste for salt and serve with parsley.
Low heat
Plan this in Dollop, and get the grocery list
Dollop puts this dinner on a night that suits your week, lists only what you still need to buy, and walks you through each step while you cook.
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