Whenever someone in our family had a cold, a long week or just a sad face, my grandma reached for her big enamel pot and made chicken and dumplings. I can still hear the lid rattling while the dumplings puffed up on top of the broth. It is plain, honest food, and it fills the house with the kind of smell that makes everyone wander into the kitchen asking when supper is ready. This is the way she taught me, with fluffy drop dumplings that are much easier than rolled ones.
Servings: 6 · Prep: 20 min · Cook: 50 min
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 lb (680 g) boneless skinless chicken thighs
- 3 tbsp (45 g) butter
- 1 medium onion, diced
- 2 medium carrots, sliced
- 2 stalks celery, sliced
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1/4 cup (30 g) all-purpose flour (for the broth)
- 6 cups (1.4 liters) chicken broth
- 1 tsp dried thyme
- 1 bay leaf
- 1/2 cup (120 ml) heavy cream
- 1 cup (140 g) frozen peas
- 2 cups (250 g) all-purpose flour (for the dumplings)
- 1 tbsp baking powder
- 1 tsp, plus more to taste salt
- 4 tbsp (60 g) cold butter (for the dumplings)
- 1 cup (240 ml) buttermilk or whole milk
- 2 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped
- to taste black pepper
Method
- Melt the 3 tbsp (45 g) butter in a large Dutch oven or heavy pot over medium heat. Add the onion, carrots and celery and cook for 6 to 8 minutes, stirring now and then, until the onion is soft. Stir in the garlic for 30 seconds.
- Sprinkle the 1/4 cup (30 g) flour over the vegetables and stir for 1 minute. Slowly pour in the broth, stirring all the time so no lumps form. Add the thyme, bay leaf and whole chicken thighs.
- Bring to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer, partly covered, for 25 minutes, until the chicken is cooked through and tender. Lift the chicken out, shred it with two forks and return it to the pot. Remove the bay leaf.
- While the chicken simmers, make the dumpling dough. Whisk the 2 cups (250 g) flour, baking powder and 1 tsp salt in a bowl. Rub in the cold butter with your fingertips until it looks like coarse crumbs. Stir in the buttermilk and the parsley just until a soft, sticky dough forms. Do not overmix, or the dumplings will be tough.
- Stir the cream and the peas into the pot and season with salt and pepper. Bring it back to a gentle simmer. The broth should be bubbling softly, not boiling hard.
- Drop heaping tablespoons of dough over the surface, leaving a little space between them. You should get 12 to 14 dumplings.
- Cover the pot tightly and cook for 15 minutes without lifting the lid. The steam is what makes the dumplings light and fluffy. They are done when they have doubled in size and a toothpick comes out clean from the center.
- Let the pot rest for 5 minutes off the heat, then ladle the chicken, broth and dumplings into warm bowls.
Tips and variations
- Rotisserie chicken works well: skip the simmering, add 3 cups (420 g) shredded chicken with the cream and simmer 5 minutes before adding the dumplings.
- If the stew gets too thick on standing, loosen it with a splash of hot broth.
- Leftovers keep 3 days in the fridge; the dumplings soak up the broth, so add a little extra when you reheat.
- A pinch of nutmeg or a little fresh dill in the dumplings gives them a lovely old-fashioned flavor.
I hope this pot of chicken and dumplings warms your table on the first cold night of the season. Enjoy every spoonful!
