Chicken and Dumplings
This is the kind of dish that makes everybody find their way to the dinner table real quick. Tender chicken swimming in a thick, golden gravy with soft, pillowy dumplings on top — it's comfort in a bowl. This is Sunday supper at its finest, the kind of meal that fills you up and warms you from the inside out.
Cooking tutorial
Ingredients
- 1 whole chicken (about 4 lbs), cut into pieces
- 2 tsp seasoned salt
- 1 tsp black pepper
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp onion powder
- 1 tsp poultry seasoning
- 8 cups water
- 3 chicken bouillon cubes
- 1 medium onion, chopped
- 3 celery stalks, chopped
- 2 bay leaves
- 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
- 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 cup whole milk
- For the dumplings:
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tbsp baking powder
- 1 tsp salt
- 3 tbsp cold butter, cut into small pieces
- 3/4 cup whole milk
Instructions
- 1
Season the chicken pieces all over with the seasoned salt, black pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, and poultry seasoning. Let it sit while you get everything else ready.
- 2
Put the chicken in a large pot or Dutch oven with the water, bouillon cubes, chopped onion, celery, and bay leaves. Bring it to a boil over high heat, then turn it down to medium-low and let it simmer for about 45 minutes until the chicken is tender and falling off the bone.
- 3
Take the chicken out of the pot and set it on a plate to cool enough to handle. Pull the meat off the bones and tear it into big bite-sized pieces, then set it aside. Strain the broth through a fine strainer into a big bowl and throw away the vegetables and bay leaves.
- 4
Wipe out your pot and melt the stick of butter in it over medium heat. Sprinkle in the 1/2 cup flour and whisk it real good for about 2 minutes until it's smooth and golden. Slowly pour in about 6 cups of that strained broth, whisking the whole time so you don't get lumps. Add the milk and keep stirring until it thickens up nice, about 5 minutes.
- 5
Put the chicken pieces back in the pot with the gravy. Taste it and add more salt and pepper if you need to. Keep it at a gentle simmer.
- 6
Now make your dumplings: Mix the 2 cups flour, baking powder, and 1 tsp salt in a bowl. Cut in the cold butter with a fork or your fingers until it looks like coarse crumbs. Pour in the 3/4 cup milk and stir just until it comes together into a shaggy dough — don't overmix it.
- 7
Drop spoonfuls of the dumpling dough on top of the simmering chicken and gravy, leaving a little space between each one. Cover the pot with a lid and let it simmer for 15 to 18 minutes without peeking — the dumplings need that steam to cook through and get fluffy.
- 8
After 15 minutes, check one dumpling to make sure it's cooked in the middle. If it's done, turn off the heat and let everything sit for about 5 minutes before serving. Ladle the chicken, gravy, and dumplings into big bowls and watch folks smile.
Pro Tips
- ★Don't lift that lid while the dumplings are cooking or they'll turn out heavy and dense instead of light and fluffy.
- ★If your gravy gets too thick, just stir in a little more of that reserved broth until it's the consistency you like.