Chicken and Dumplings

One of my favorite comfort foods, besides macaroni and cheese is chicken and dumplings. Anytime I see or smell it I am immediately transcended back to when I was a little girl eating at my grandmothers table. That lady made the best everything, in my opinion, and no matter what I do I can never top her recipe, but I can make my own.

The recipe starts out the way that most traditional chicken soup recipes do, by boiling a whole fryer chicken, about 3 pounds in chicken broth/stock, about 32 ounces, until it’s cooked all the way through. I cook mine in a 6 quart pot. To be safe I cook mine for about an hour and a half then I remove it from the heat and let it rest in the pot for about an hour. As long as the juices are clear and the internal temp reads AT LEAST 165 degrees Fahrenheit, you are safe!

Depending on how I'm feeling, I may use a couple cans of Hungry Jack Flaky layers biscuits or I may make my own dough for dumplings. To me, there isn't much difference in taste but because of food allergies and personal preferences you can make your own dough fairly easily and quickly. For this recipe I will use the store bought biscuits. The advantage to using the Hungry Jack Flaky biscuits in my experiences is that they are thicker and less prone to sogginess like some other off brands. Of course, use whatever brand you are most comfortable with.

I also like to add carrots and a garlic clove in addition to the celery and onion that is traditionally found in most recipes. To save on time you can get a bag of mirepoix from your grocer’s freezer section. Mirepoix is simply diced celery, onions, and carrots.

For seasonings I use celery salt, onion powder, garlic powder, black pepper, salt, and ground bay leaves.

The creaminess will come from the starch given off from the dumplings so there is no need to add any thickeners.

This is one of my daughter’s favorite meals that I make; she's almost 5 so that says a bunch! Lol! It's fun to make and there are many opportunities for your little one to help.

Keep in mind that the seasoning amounts I put are just a base to jump from, if you want to change or tweak go for it! I don't necessarily use the same amounts each time I make this either and usually the only thing I add at the end is pepper. Enjoy!

Chicken and Dumplings
*1 whole fryer chicken about 3 pounds
32 ounces chicken broth/stock
2 cans of Hungry Jack Flaky Biscuits, not the honey or honey butter just plain flaky. Cut each biscuit into quarters
1/2 stick of butter
1 large onion small diced
1 ribs of celery small diced
1 large or 2 medium carrots small diced
I large clove of garlic
(if using mirepoix already made from the grocery use 2 cups)
1T salt
1T black pepper
1 T garlic powder
1 T onion powder
2t celery salt
1 T dried bay leaves


Start with a clean cut whole chicken, about 3 pounds and be sure to use every single piece excluding the innards. I like using a cut chicken because it’s easier to fit all the pieces into my pot. You can always get a whole chicken already cut at the grocery. *If you prefer also, you can use 3 pounds in chicken pieces of your choice, remember a good mixture of white and dark meat, bone on, and with skin makes the best taste. Both the skin and bones will be discarded later, don’t fret!

Place the chicken in the pot and cover with broth.
Add salt, pepper, onion powder and garlic powder and turn the heat to medium and cover the pot.
Bring broth to a boil and then reduce to medium low to a simmer.
Continue to simmer for about an hour to an hour and a half, careful not to let the liquids boil.
After about an hour, check the internal temp on one of your thicker pieces of meat such as a breast to ensure that it reaches 165 degrees F. If it is remove the pot from the heat. If it is not then continue to simmer for about 30 more minutes or until chicken reaches the correct safe temperature.
I let my chicken rest in the broth for about an hour but if you are pressed for time you can now transfer the chicken pieces to a large plate/platter and let them cool.

While chicken is cooling, in a skillet or sauté pan set to medium low heat, melt the butter and then add onions, celery, carrots and garlic clove.
Sauté until the onions are translucent. Be careful not to brown vegetables.
After the onions are translucent remove from the heat. We will add these in a moment.

Once the chicken has cooled you can now begin to remove the skin, fat and bones and also discard the neck and the back as there is no useable meat on them.
As you remove the meat from the chicken, be sure to start pulling apart the larger pieces.
The chicken should look shredded after you are done.

Before adding the chicken back to the broth, using a skimmer or a very fine mesh strainer, strain the broth to filter out pieces of fat and skin to make broth as clear as possible.

Once you are done place the pot on medium heat and add vegetables including the melted butter, celery salt, and ground bay leaves, and the cream of chicken and cream of celery soup whisking until fully incorporated.
Add chicken.
Reduce the heat to medium low if it starts boiling.
Now you will begin to add the dough for the dumplings.
Drop dumplings into the broth gently stirring to prevent them from sticking together or to the pot.
Make sure that they are submerged in the broth so that they cook all the way through.
You will notice that the broth is starting to thicken up at this point. If it becomes too thick for you add a little milk, 1 Tablespoon at a time until it is to your liking.
Continue to simmer until the dumplings are done.

Add pepper to taste and salt if needed.