Chicken and Dumplings
- Total Time
- 2 hours
- Rating
- Comments
- Read comments
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Ingredients
- 2pounds bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 2tablespoons vegetable oil
- 1large yellow onion, diced
- 4stalks celery, chopped
- 6medium carrots (about 1½ pounds), peeled and sliced ¼-inch thick
- 4sprigs thyme
- 1tablespoon unsalted butter, plus more as needed
- ¼cup all-purpose flour
- 2large leeks, white and light green parts thinly sliced
- 1½cups all-purpose flour
- 1½teaspoons baking powder
- ¾teaspoon kosher salt
- ¼teaspoon freshly ground pepper
- ¾cup buttermilk
- 1large egg
- 2tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
- ½cup parsley, tender leaves and stems, finely chopped (optional)
- ¼cup chives, finely chopped (optional)
For the Chicken
For the Dumplings and Assembly
Nutritional analysis per serving (6 servings)
670 calories; 38 grams fat; 11 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 16 grams monounsaturated fat; 7 grams polyunsaturated fat; 50 grams carbohydrates; 6 grams dietary fiber; 10 grams sugars; 33 grams protein; 1051 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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Preparation
- Step 1
Season chicken on both sides with salt and pepper. Heat oil in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Working in batches if needed, sear chicken, skin-side down, until deeply golden brown, 8 to 10 minutes. Flip chicken and continue to cook until it is browned on the other side, another 5 to 8 minutes. Transfer chicken to a large plate, and pour off all fat into a measuring cup. (You should have about 5 tablespoons, depending on the fattiness of the chicken.)
- Step 2
Leaving all the browned bits in the pot, return 2 tablespoons of fat to the pot. Add onions, celery and half the carrots. Season with salt and pepper and cook on medium heat, stirring to scrape up all the bits on the bottom of the pot. Cook until vegetables start to soften, about 4 minutes or so. Return chicken to the pot along with thyme and 8 cups of water. Simmer, uncovered, until chicken is completely tender and liquid has reduced by about ¼, about 30 to 40 minutes.
- Step 3
Transfer chicken to a plate or cutting board to cool. Strain the stock (you should have about 5 cups; if you have less, you can add water to make up the difference) and wipe out the pot.
- Step 4
Heat remaining 3 tablespoons chicken fat along with 1 tablespoon butter (if you don’t have enough chicken fat, use enough butter to equal 4 tablespoons of fat) over medium heat. Sprinkle in flour and stir constantly until it’s all a pale golden brown, about 2 to 3 minutes.
- Step 5
Slowly whisk in reserved chicken stock until no lumps remain (it will thicken considerably at first) and bring to a boil. Add leeks and remaining carrots, season with salt and pepper and lower the heat to simmer.
- Step 6
Remove and discard the skin and bones from the chicken. Shred the meat and add to the pot. Cook, stirring occasionally, until liquid is nicely thickened and carrots and leeks are tender, 10 to 12 minutes.
- Step 7
Make the dumplings: In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, salt and pepper. In a small bowl, whisk together buttermilk and egg and add to dry ingredients, followed by melted butter. Using a wooden spoon or spatula, stir just to combine. (Do not overmix.)
- Step 8
Using a spoon, drop generous quarter-size dollops of the dumpling dough into the pot (they should just sit right on top; they will not sink), spacing them apart as much as possible (it’s O.K. if they touch). Cover the pot and reduce heat to low. Cook, undisturbed, until the dumplings are puffed and totally cooked through, 18 to 22 minutes. (Test a dumpling by cutting it in half; it should look slightly biscuity, but with no raw bits of dough. If it needs more time, continue to cook.)
- Step 9
Remove lid and divide among bowls; sprinkle with parsley and chives, if using.
Private Notes
Comments
I’m a bit confused. Do you throw away the onions, celery & carrots you’ve strained out of the broth in Step 2? I get that they might be there just to flavor the broth, but tossing them seems a bit of a waste.
Chicken n' dumplings was a much loved dish made by my much loved - great cook grandfather in the day of my childhood in my family's Anglo household. My Sicilian husband who grew up with his Italian speaking grandmother heading the kitchen has never appreciated dumplings. Until now. These dumplings are so good even he likes them. And for those who may be dumpling virgins, you need to have and keep the broth at simmer when adding and cooking the dumpling dough.
This was not my mother’s dumplings! Rather than water I did use boxed chicken broth. Having made my own broths for years, even with the comments from others, 40 minutes of cooking the chicken did not seem enough time to get a rich broth. Beginning with the boxed broth the flavor was sublime. The other thing I did was rather than sprinkle the parsley at the end I added it to the dumpling dough. Loved the look and flavor of the dumplings!
The instructions don't specifically say to pitch the mire poix, but they also don't say to leave it in. However the photo shows large chunks of beautifully bright carrots. I'm leaving them in. Why not. They add flavor and that beautiful color.
Really delicious meal that keeps well in the fridge for a few days. To avoid tossing the mirepoix, I used an immersion blender to incorporate everything after removing the chicken to cool. I found that it added heft without compromising the texture with mushy vegetables.
i made this without ever having had chicken and dumplings before, lol, and really liked it. my bf, who is more familiar with the dish, said it was really good, so yay. i put the chives and parsley in the dough and wish I added more. i had enough chicken fat left over in the pot that I didn’t take 2 tbsp from the amount collected on the plate & it turned out fine. i doubled the initial amount of mirepoix in the stock (had some frozen that i just didn’t want to take the time to break up) & added about 3 tsp of roasted chicken better than bouillon with the water as well as some sage, and it was super flavorful. there was a lot of fat collected on the surface while simmering the stock & i ladled some of that off & added it to the initial batch of chicken fat butter for the roux. 30 minutes seemed like a fine amount of time for me but I’m pretty impatient i added a little msg/aji no moto at every salt step and i think it definitely enhanced every flavor lolol but maybe next time ill add mushrooms for natural msg. might also add frozen peas because i like them thanks! perfect dish for the exceptionally cold weather this week