I remember my mom making chicken and dumplings while I was growing up. What fun it was to have a big dumpling in your soup bowl!
But turning up as cook in the kitchen, I wasn’t pleased with chicken and dumpling recipes. I wanted a thicker soup and more dumplings than the diameter of the pot allowed me to make. Then I found a recipe for Chicken and Dumpling Casserole baked in a shallow dish in the oven.
Problem solved. Enter new problem: I lost the recipe. However, my cooking experience over the years allows me to reconstruct recipes for my family and that’s what I did to share it with you. It’s a great comfort food, perfect for this time of year. It gets such rave reviews around the dinner table, I’m confident it will be a winner for you.
These “dumplings” are crusty on top, similar to a biscuit, while still having a soft dumpling texture underneath. The broth is more gravy-like and can be easily adjusted to suit your consistency preference. After all, it’s your Chicken and Dumplings…you want to make it the way you like it.
These dumplings are crusty on top, similar to a biscuit, with a soft dumpling texture underneath. Chicken pieces and vegetables are distinct and colorful. The broth is more grave-like and can be easily adjusted to your favorite consistency.
Gravy:
- 1/2 cup onion, diced
- 1/2 cup carrot, diced
- 1/2 cup celery, diced
- 2-3 cups chicken, cooked and cut in pieces
- 2 cups chicken broth
- water and flour as needed (see video)
- 1/2 tsp poultry seasoning
- 1/2 tsp thyme salt, to taste
Sauté onion, carrot and celery with salt until tender. Set aside.
Heat chicken broth in a pan, add water and flour mixture (see video) and stir until thickened like a thin gravy. Add seasonings, remove from heat.
Add sautéed vegetables and chicken. Pour into a greased baking dish. Set aside.
Dumplings:
- 2 cups flour
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 2 Tbsp dried basil
- 3 Tbsp olive oil
- 2 cups buttermilk
In a bowl, stir together dry ingredients. Add oil and buttermilk and still just until combined. Add more buttermilk as needed to get the right sticky consistency.
Drop rounded spoonfuls of dumpling dough on top of the vegetables and chicken.
Cover with foil and bake at 400°F for 15 minutes. Remove foil and bake another 15 minutes or until dumplings are slight golden on the top and no longer doughy in the center.
Serve dumplings hot, right side up or upside down in bowls.
