Chicken and Dumplings, Southern Style

  • Prep Time: 30 mins
  • Total Time: 2 hrs 30 mins
  • Servings: 8

    • About This Recipe

    “A Southern Classic. Enough said.”

    Ingredients

  • 1 (3lb)chicken
  • 2quartswater
  • 1largeonion, quartered
  • 2carrots, quartered
  • 1stalkcelery, quartered
  • 1bay leaf
  • 1teaspoonpeppercorn
  • 2teaspoonssalt
  • 1sprigthyme
  • 1sprigrosemary

    • Dumplings

  • 3cupsflour
  • 1/2 teaspoonsalt
  • 1/2 teaspoonbaking soda
  • 5tablespoonsshortening
  • 1/4 cupchicken stock
  • 2/3 cupbuttermilk
  • 1teaspoonchopped fresh thyme
  • salt and pepper

    • Directions

  • Place chicken in a heavy 5 quart stockpot with water to cover.
  • Add the onion, carrot, celery, bay, peppercorns, salt, thyme and rosemary.
  • Bring to a boil, reduce and simmer for 1 1/2 hours.
  • Skim scum if needed.
  • Remove chicken and set aside to cool.
  • Remove meat and return bones to pot.
  • Simmer for 1 hour more.
  • Strain well and remove any fat you can.
  • Dumplings——————.
  • Combine flour, soda, salt.
  • Cut in shortening until flour resembles coarse crumbs.
  • Add the stock, buttermilk and thyme.
  • Stir to make a stiff dough-and it will be stiff.
  • Turn out onto a floured board and knead gently 6 times.
  • Wrap in plastic and chill 1 hour.
  • Bring strained broth to a boil, reduce to a simmer.
  • Roll out the chilled dough to 1/8 inch thick, and cut into 4×1 inch pieces.
  • Drop them into simmering stock and stir gently.
  • Cook for 10 minutes, add the chicken and cook for 5 min more.
  • Season with salt and lots of pepper.

    • Reviews

  • “Great recipe! Very easy to make. Next time I will cut the dumplings smaller. They took longer than suggested to cook and were a little chewy, rather than tender.”

  • “see my posted comments, it’s a meal in itself, this is my favorite childhood recipe that I finally rediscovered.The combined prep and cooking time is more like 3.5-4 hours depending how attentive you are to it.It’s a great pot of soup to make on the woodstove and make the house smell so good.It’s definitely worth the time to make!Thanks again, Di!”

  • “OMG!This was SO good!The best chicken and dumplings I have ever had.And boiling the whole chicken sure makes a difference.The only change I had to do was to mix some cornstarch with cooled broth to thicken it up a bit for my taste.Other than that…Holy cow this stuff was great!Comfort food at its finest!A little time consuming to make but so worth it!Just a note that the dumplings look almost too dry when your rolling them out but they turn out awesome once in the pot!”

  • “Very good and easy.”

  • “Fantastically simple and delicious at the same time!Really comforting.I did add milk to my broth to make it creamier.I also left my veggies in.Too much chicken though. But I can always pick that out and make chicken salad or something else.Thanks.”

  • “I agree with FB.This is one of the best true Southern recipes.Light and fluffy dumplings!!!I added some sage and poultry seasoning to the broth, then towards the end I added heavy cream to the broth to keep the dumplings from sticking to each other.This displaced Georgia Belle thanks you.”

  • “For anyone not from the South who wants to try REAL Chicken and Dumplings, try this recipe!Delicious!I’ve put off making Chicken and Dumplings up here in Chicago because the stores don’t carry the frozen dumplings (like Mary Jane brand) like they do in Georgia, wheremy grandmother-in-law taught me how to make this soul-warming dish.But this recipe was just the thing to get me making the dumplings at home – perfect!I did have to add about 2 cups extra broth to handle all of the dumplings, but who can complain about TOO MANY dumplings?Not me!And the fresh thyme in the dough – what a fantastic touch!(for the northerners trying this for the first time, add the dumplings a few at a time rather than pouring the whole batch in at once so that they don’t clump together.The extra flour on the dumpling surface will thicken the broth into a perfect gravy as it cooks!)”

  • “A new recipe to add to my favorite recipes book !!! This was GREAT !! I did not add the thyme called for, but followed everything else. The dumplings were tender and flavorful. The end result was the perfect cold weather dish, YUM !!!”

  • “Oh, WOW, these are great and some of the best comfort food ever! What a stellar way to cook and season the chicken and broth: everyone should take lessons from this! The dumplings are just as good, just the way I love them. The only thing I changed in the recipe was to halve the dumpling recipe because the broth cooked down so much. A little work for a lot of reward – this is a permanent keeper! Thank you for sharing the recipe and the method.”

  • “Delicious! Having never made a recipe like this before, I was doubtful that it would turn out the right way, but it was delicious and easy to make. The seasoning was perfect; don’t forget to add the salt and pepper at the end as suggested.Because my family wanted thicker broth, I removed the chicken and dumplings and added a little Bisquick to the broth, at the end.”

  • “This was definitely a hit in our house.Personally I liked this better leftover rather than freshly made.As other reviewers indicated, the amount of time needed is closer to 4+ hours so plan ahead.Additionally there is quite a bit of dumpling dough so plan to add extra broth or water.The two quarts of water was not nearly enough by the time it all cooked down.My husband raved about this dish and said it most closely resembled his mother’s.I can’t ask for more than that!”

  • “Excellent.I also used my food processor for the dumplings.Delish.”

  • “Great recipe, made short work of mixing the dumplings with the food processor..southern fare all the way….”

  • “Awesome C&D.It did take a little longer to make than stated but I don’t care.The outcome was perfect.I loved the rosemary in this.Would never have thought of that one.I made as directed except I cut my dumplings into about 1X1 inch pieces and they cooked up fine.This is the first time I’ve made rolled out dumplings and I liked them.The dough was kinda hard to get together but I did okay with it.Rolled out nicely.It is Very Stiff.Thanks Di for a wonderful meal.”

  • “Members from my church take turn feeding our Missionaries each month.They are served a lot of pasta so I like to choose something different. I chose this particular recipe because of the herbs, which I grow in my garden. I was able to pick the thyme and rosemary to use as needed. This recipe was absolute delicious! My children LOVED it. We all left the table feeling very well satisfied.- Thank you!”

  • “this was a first for me.i’m really glad there was a photo, because i didn’t even know what this was supposed to look/taste like!my Lady says it was marvellous, and [other than my using unbleached, stone ground wheat flour for the dumplings] tasted just like She remembered from Her mother!:Dso it gets 2 votes for 5 stars.it was a lot more work than anything i had previously cooked on my own, but wow, was it worth it!this was totally awesome!i’ve got a gallon Ziploc full in the freezer for next time, and i know i’ll be making this again! “

  • “DiBs when I moved to MS from up north many years ago I was pregnant and on a diet and my mother-in-law fixed my first southern dumplings.OMG I loved them.My doctor didn’t.I tried for years to make them.Couldn’t get it down.Well after about 40 years in the south I finally feel like a true Southerner.OMG are they good.And there goes the diet–again.Gloria”

  • “Very good…I lost my recipe in a recent move and found this on zaar…so glad.I didn’t think the dumpling were chewy I just thought they are typical southern.Most good rolled dumpling here in the south have this texture,Thanks so much!”

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