Finally! I’ve been looking for this recipe for years and I finally found it. You see, Chicken and Dumplings are my boyfriend’s favorite dish and he’s always wanted me to make it at home. And I have tried, but the problem is there are lots of different recipes for chicken and dumplings and all the recipes I’ve tried haven’t been “right”, according to him.
Here’s what the right kind isn’t: the kind with actual little round dumplings on top. Because I guess that would just be too easy? I’ve tried several recipes like that, one from Martha Stewart, and while Brandon agreed that those recipes weren’t bad, they still weren’t “right”.
The right kind of chicken and dumplings are the kind that Brandon’s grandmother makes. They are the kind you get at Cracker Barrel. They are true southern style, and they don’t actually have dumplings, it’s more like slabs of tender and delicious biscuit dough. You could think of them as really big, thick noodles. There are no silly things like vegetables in here, it’s just chicken, chicken stock and dumplings. Period. You can eat your green beans and fried okra on the side like the real Southerners do. Every single time we go to Cracker Barrel, that’s what Brandon gets. EVERY. SINGLE. TIME. And you know that’s going to be hard to live up to because I’m sure Cracker Barrel makes those things with lard and crack cocaine-like everything else they serve. (I kid, I love Cracker Barrel, lard and all!)
That’s why I was so happy to find this recipe. I showed Brandon a photo and he said it looked right and then I made it and he said it was perfect. I have bested Cracker Barrel and his grandmother! In fact, a few weeks after I made this recipe for the first time we actually went to Cracker Barrel and he did not order Chicken and Dumplings!
I, on the other hand, took a bit more convincing. Even though I grew up in Mississippi and Tennessee, I was never a fan of Chicken and Dumplings. I don’t think I’d ever eaten them before I started on this search. I’ll be the first to admit that was based entirely on looks. These aren’t the best photos I’ve ever taken, but even if I had perfect lighting, it’s just not a very pretty dish. So you’ll just have to take my word that I’m a Chicken and Dumplings convert now. This recipe is the ultimate comfort food. It will make you feel warm and fuzzy and very, very full.
This is great with Turkey as well as chicken. I made it with chicken the first time, but this last time I used my leftover Thanksgiving turkey and the stock from it. Just as good!
This is not the easiest recipe ever, but it’s not complicated either. It’s somewhat time-consuming, so this may be more of a weekend dish. But a lot of that is just waiting for the chicken to cook, so you can go do other things. If you do want a faster dinner, you cook the chicken and prepare the dumplings the day before. I like fast and easy dinners as much as the next person, but some things you just have to put in the time and effort to get right. This recipe is worth it!
Update: This has become one of the most popular recipes on my site and I’ve gotten lots of feedback from people with tips on how they make their own Chicken and Dumplings, so make sure to read through the comments if you have time!
For people who are averse to using shortening, one of the tips I got was to substitute chicken fat. It’s healthier and it will give the dumplings more flavor. You’ll need to prepare the chicken at least a day ahead so you can put the broth in the fridge and let the fat harden on top. I haven’t tried it yet, but I plan to the next time I make this dish!
Another prominent tip is to use chicken broth instead of milk in the dumplings, but I DON’T recommend that with this particular recipe. I’ve tried it multiple times and the dumplings completely disintegrate once they’re added to the broth. Milk seems to be necessary for this recipe to hold the dumplings together properly. If anyone has an alternative dumpling recipe for those that can’t/don’t want to use milk, feel free to post it in the comments.
Southern-Style Chicken and Dumplings
adapted from The Kitchn
Ingredients
Chicken
- 1 large (4-5 lbs.) fryer chicken (sometimes called a Hen), neck and gizzards removed
- 1 large onion, peeled and cut in half
- 3 medium carrots, cut into large pieces
- 3 stalks of celery, cut into large pieces
- 1 tsp. kosher salt, or to taste
- 1/2 tsp. pepper or 1/2 tbsp. peppercorns
- Fresh herbs of your choice (optional)
Dumplings
- 3 cups cake flour or White Lily flour*
- 3/4 tsp. baking soda
- 3/4 tsp. salt
- 4 1/2 tbsp. shortening*
- 1 cup milk
Process
Place the chicken, onions, carrots, and celery in a large stockpot and cover with water. Add about a teaspoon of salt and a big pinch of pepper or handful of peppercorns. Feel free to add several stalks/leaves of fresh herbs (no need to chop), like parsley, thyme, oregano, or sage. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat so water maintains a gentle simmer. Cover and cook chicken for at least 1 hour or until cooked through (about 165 degrees).
Tip: I recommend making the dumplings the night before. They can sit out, loosely covered with a tea towel or plastic wrap until you're ready to begin cooking. Mix flour, baking soda, and salt together in a bowl. Cut shortening into flour mixture with your fingertips until it resembles small peas. Add milk — 1/4 cup at a time, you may not need a full cup — and stir until a ball of dough just begins to form, being careful not to over-mix.
Divide the dough into two equal halves, loosely shaped into rectangles. Roll each half of the dough out onto a floured piece of waxed paper or parchment paper. Roll about 1/4 inch thick. Using a pizza cutter or sharp knife, cut dough into rectangles about 1 inch wide by 3 inches long. Allow the strips to rest and harden for at least 3 hours or overnight.
Once the chicken is done, remove it from the broth and let it cool. Remove chicken from the bone (this shouldn’t be hard, it should be falling off pretty easily at this point) and shred into medium-sized pieces, discarding bones and skin.
Pour the chicken broth through a fine-mesh sieve lined with cheesecloth (you can improvise with a coffee filter or paper towel), discarding vegetables. Reserve 8 cups of broth for the dumplings. Refrigerate or freeze the rest to use for another recipe. It’s much more flavorful than the chicken broth you buy at the grocery store.
In a large pot or dutch oven over medium heat, bring the broth to a very gentle simmer. This can be a bit tricky depending on your stove because you don't want the broth to get too hot or the dumplings may come apart. You should be able to see lots of tiny bubbles rising below the surface of the broth, but they don't need to be breaking through into a full simmer yet.
Drop in the dumplings, one at a time, and give the whole pot a gentle stir after every 5 or so dumplings. This will help keep them from sticking together. After all the dumplings have been added, continue to cook on medium, stirring regularly, for 7-10 minutes. At this point, the broth should have started to thicken and get more white/opaque as the dumplings cook down.
Reduce heat to low and gently stir in your shredded chicken. Cover and continue cooking on low until thickened to your liking, about 20 to 30 minutes. Season generously with salt and pepper and serve immediately.
Recipe Notes
*If you don't have cake flour, I have tried this recipe with AP flour and it turned out fine. The dumplings may just be a bit chewier and less light than if you use cake or White Lily flour.
*I imagine you could use butter, but I haven’t tried it. I’ve never been a fan of shortening, but I stuck to the recipe because I didn’t want to mess with its “right”-ness. You know Cracker Barrel and Southern grandmas aren’t afraid of using shortening.
I love to serve this dish with my favorite Honey Cornbread and a side of black-eyed peas or collard greens.
My great-grandma made them like this, but she always called it “Chicken and Pastry” instead of “Chicken and Dumplings.” And I think it’s probably more accurate, but over the years it just got easier to call it all dumplings.
My Aunt Jeanette always made the “BEST” chicken n pastry ever!!! I remember as a child that no matter what the occasion, she always had a big pot of her famous recipe. This brings back many childhood memories.
You are making me so hungry right now!
It really looks good, hmmmm…i think i’m mouth watering now. 🙂
I hope your boyfriend realizes what a lucky guy he is!
My boyfriend looks for this recipe for a loooooong time… and just like what your boyfriend is looking for the ‘right-ness’ of the recipe.. Ive finally found it and I will be making this tomorrow……………..
Thanks for sharing…
Yumm
I’ve tried this recipe now with both butter and shortening. Butter requires a bit more milk and yields a dumpling that is a bit chewier. With shortening, the dumpling is more supple and “correct.”
Thank you so much for sharing! We love it.
Thanks for letting us know about that. I’m glad you like the recipe!
Like the ones at Cracker Barrel, but better, from @Emiline220 https://fb.me/AWnXLK3M
That’s what I always order at Cracker Barrel too! I have a whole chicken cut-up and in the freezer…looks like I will be thawing it out for this weekend! Yummo!
I did make this a couple of weeks ago and it was great! Thanks for sharing!
Pretty close to my Granny’s recipe as well! I think I may have worked the dough too much because my dumplings were a little tough. I left them on for another 5 minutes and they got softer. And actually, by the time I put it away in the fridge, they were nice and soft.
My seven year old had never had “real” dumplings and declared them delicious. This one’s going in the regular rotation. Figure I can get it in at least one more time before it gets too hot out!
Stretch your dumplings before dropping in the pot. Prevents them from being tough.
This dish looks delicious, and I’d like to try it out. It looks somewhat rich, though. I like to limit eating really heavy foods for digestion reasons, so I was wondering how heavy it is, especially with all that flour.
It’s pretty heavy, Edmund! The broth gets very thick and the pieces of dough puff up and are quite big and heavy. If you wanted a lighter version, you could try adding more broth (1/2 cup or more ) and cutting the dough into much smaller pieces, more like noodles. I accidentally added extra broth one time I made this and it was more like a soup/stew, but it still tasted very good. Reducing the amount of dough and replacing with some carrots/celery/peas, etc. would probably help, too.
The photo looks exactly like my 91 year old Mom’s. Eat your peas and carrots on the side. They NEVER go into the chicken and dumplings.
This is it! This is the recipe like my grandma & mom use to make. I lost the recipe and have been searching everywhere for it. I could never find it. The recipes were either runny, watery like chicken noodle soup or the dumplings were not right. Thank you!
These look EXACTLY like the dumplings I used to help drop in the cooking pot with my grandmother! I ALSO been looking everywhere for the “right” recipe just like my grandma’s. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Missing my grandma right now
and SO looking forward to making these!
Perfect recipe. Just like cracker barrel. Living in England now so no cracker barrel and nowhere here to enjoy southern cooking. I have been craving it for a while then found this recipe. 10 out of 10
I am heading to the kitchen to cook this up, but no shortening for me thank you. It is a trans fat. I will be making mine with homemade lard, just like grandma would.
My grandma made chicken and dumplings-the floaty kind-but what made them so good was how she made the broth she didn’t cook a chicken-she would buy chicken backs and fat from the store and make a really rich broth before adding the thickening and dumplings. Loved them!
I made these tonight. I used half home rendered lard and butter. It came out lovely. Just like we used to have at church pot lucks in the south.
Oh my gosh, I have been looking for a recipe that is exactly what chicken and dumplings really consists of. This is almost exactly like my mom’s recipe. I’m going to try yours 🙂
could you substitute chicken breasts for the fryer chicken?
YUM! BUT – this is Chicken Pastry! Dumplings are little balls not thin strips. Just an FYI! I was raised in Eastern North Carolina where we eat Chicken Pastry – my mom is from Western North Carolina where they eat Chicken-n-dumplings – BUT I LOVE THEM BOTH!
Thank you!. Finally a true Southern Chicken and Dumplings. Can’t wait to try it. And no, a true Southern Dumpling has ALWAYS been a rolled dough. No DROPPED something. glglgl
You are the only person I’ve ever seen make these just like my Grandma made! I love making them but I end up eating them all because I love them so much! I always asked her to make them for my birthday dinner and she could never figure out why I loved them so much. To her it was a meal that was cheap and from her years in Oklahoma during the depression. My daughter just asked if I would make some and now that it has cooled off its a perfect time for these! I laugh when I think back because I think my Grandpa used to eat them with bread and butter! Love the starch!
Thank you, thank you, thank you! I had never heard of these either (being from the Northwest) until I lived in Delaware and had them with my ex-boyfriend’s family. I LOVE noodle dumplings now, but have never been able to find a recipe for them! I was confused at first too about why they were called dumplings, but it turns out that just about any bread-type product that you cook by dropping it into hot liquid (other than oil) is a “dumpling”. So spaetzle, and biscuit-type dumplings, and gyoza, etc. are all considered dumplings.
BTW, my ex’s family didn’t rest the dough, they just held the cutting board over the boiling broth and cut strips with a knife and slid them into the broth as they cut them. Beats me how that would effect the final product with your recipe, just a general FYI. : )
Is your cake flour “all purpose” or self rising? I was thinking if you use all purpose you don’t have to add the baking soda. Is that correct? This looks delicious! Can’t wait to try out this recipe!
I always use King Arthur unbleached cake flour and I don’t see anything about it being self-rising on the box, so I assume that means it’s all-purpose. I’ve always followed the recipe and used baking soda as well. The dumplings don’t rise, but they do puff once you add them to the broth, so I assume that’s why you need to add the baking soda.
Hmmm…never heard of King Arthur brand. I did use all purpose, but I did not add the baking soda. I will try it next time. I also did half butter, half shortening and half milk, half of my chicken broth. I wanted some of the flavor from my broth in the actual dumpling. They turned out really good, but I think I will just use all shortening next time because just as someone else said, they turned out just a tad bit chewy. Maybe they need to cook longer or maybe it is the butter? Nonetheless I will try this recipe again and again! It’s the closest I’ve ever came to the “rightness”. 🙂
Andrea- The self rising flours have baking soda and salt added so if you use a self rising flour you can omit the salt and baking soda in the dumplings. If you use the regular all purpose flour you will want to keep the baking soda and salt as the recipe instructs. The baking soda will help make the dumplings rise.
self rising flour has baking POWDER in it, not baking soda.
Awesome! Just made it tonight! However I did NOT use lard or shortening, yuck! I used butter just like my grandma & they turned out fantastic! I just can not get myself to use lard it just grosses me out and I like to eat healthy so if I can substitute any item from any recipe to cut calories I will.
Thank you for sharing!
I order chicken and dumplings every time I go to Cracker Barrel! This is a great recipe! Just in case you are in a hurry or just don’t want to mess with making biscuit dough, you can use either Bisquick or canned biscuit dough. Just flatten the pre-shaped biscuits and cut in half or quarters, whichever you prefer. My daughter-in-law made me give her my recipe and cracked up when I told her I sometimes use canned biscuit dough.
This is the way my grandmother always made them!! Now that she isn’t able, I have taken over the job! Love these!
For 36 years of marriage I have tried to make Chicken and Dumplings like my husband’s mother and grandmother did. I have failed miserably. When we are in a part of the country that has Cracker Barrel it is a must for my husband. THIS is the recipe! He loves them (I don’t – never been a fan) and the marriage is good for another 36 years. Thanks
I make it much the same, except I use the broth also to mix the dumplings instead of the milk.
Thanks for this recipe. I made some C&D recently that didn’t turn out so well. You know why? Because I grew up on these old-fashioned kind of “dumpling” and always wondered if there was something better. The answer is simply NO. I can tell by looking at them, your BF is a lucky man.
One other tip: where normally you don’t want to “overwork biscuit dough,” you should work it a bit on these. Seems to give the dumplings a bit more substance.
Ty for the excellent recipe
This is the best looking Chicken and Dumplings I’ve seen ever!
Being from Georgia, this is exactly what I think of when I hear ‘Chicken and Dumplings’. Unfortunately my in-laws are from Michigan and they think that a few bisquits on top of some chicken with sauce = Chicken and Dumplings.
Glad to see someone knows what Chicken and Dumplings is all about – THANKS!!!!!!!!!
I don’t know why you complain about the pictures, they look marvelous! Like I’ve stated before, this is exactly what I imagine when I think of chicken and dumplings. Can’t wait to try this with left-over Thanksgiving’s Day Turkey!!!
I grew up on them (native Texan) and you definitely have it right! I usually won’t order them out because for some reason restaurants think they have to add vegetables. For the dough you can subsitute ‘canned’ biscuits rolled out and pinch bits off to put in the liquid.
My family recipe is very similar except instead of shortening, we use the chicken fat skimmed from the broth after it’s hardened. It adds so much more to the flavor of the dumplings and you don’t waste anything from the broth.
Just saying if you want to intensify the chicken flavor into your dumplings…which is never a bad thing….substitute the chicken fat that is taken off your homemade chicken stock instead of using shortening in your dumplings. You can’t go wrong. Way better for you and yummier too!
Made for dinner tonight. EXCELLENT!
Just like my Mother’s! I suppose you know that the dumplings are also fabulous in a fruit cobbler. My favorite dessert growing up was Blueberry cobbler. Mom would fill her deep Corning casserole dish with layers of fresh blueberries, butter, sugar, and dumplings until the top and then the finale would be a layer of pie pastry…also from scratch. One of the best desserts ever! Other fruit such as peach, cherry, apple, blackberries and raspberries are great for cobblers.
Um, wow, that cobbler sounds like the best thing ever. Your mom rocks! I have a bunch of berries in my freezer that I need to use up, so I will definitely be attempting this soon. Thanks for the tip!
This is how my Mom used to make chicken and dumplings – she was from West Virginia and I have never been able to find a similar recipe until now – I don’t like the puffy kind but more a noodle type dumpling person!!! Thanks for perfecting!!
Very close to my family’s recipe, but don’t bother with that silly milk!!! Use the chicken broth in the Dumplin’s too! We’ve never used the veggies in the broth either and they are just as good if not better than Cracker Barrel’s. My late friend Jenny eschewed her own great grandma’s recipe for my family’s!
Thanks for all the comments and great tips, everyone! I am definitely going to try using the chicken fat in place of the shortening.
Hi Emily,
Like many here, I grew up in the South and Chicken and Dumplings (not Pastry) were a staple in Grandma’s house. I tried a different recipe tonight, and while not bad, was not great. The dumplings were wrong and the “sauce” looked more like a soup.
Your pictures look exactly like what my Grandma made, and I’ll definitely be trying this recipe the next time. But like many others, I’ll either use chicken fat or lard (Grandma always used lard from the tin can on the back of the stove).
Thanks for sharing!!
Awesome!!!!! so glad i found this!!! My husband will be a happy man! Thank you hun for puttin this up! =)
BTW, We live in the sierra nevada mountians in northern california, where its now freezing! Anything I can cook thats southern n warms u up= puts smiles on the faces of my family!
This looks like my MILs recipe. My husband always adds a splash of vinegar on top before eating. It’s actually pretty yummy when you want a hint of sour.
I grew up on this recipe. Love it!!! You don’t want to try to substitute the shortening for butter. It’s pefect the way it is! This is comfort food at its best!!!
Hi- I’m really hoping that this is the recipe my husband has been yammering about. His grandmother used to make chicken and dumplings and was from Arkansas, she had a restaurant there back in the ’30s and she never passed the recipe on to any of the family and I to have made many chicken and dumpling recipes and they were never ‘right’ I will let you know later after making this today.
I can’t wait to try out this recipe! It looks just like my Grandma’s. One of my favorite memories of going to my Grandma’s was pulling in the driveway and finding the sun tea brewing on the porch, and chicken and dumplings. That was the special meal she always made when I visited.
I’m so excited!!!
Thank you SO much for this recipe! I, too, have a man who has been searching for chicken and dumplings like his grandma used to make. THIS WAS IT!!!!! I’ve tried several recipes and nothing came close. You just allowed me to bring a little bit of grandma back!
This is mine and my grandmas recipe exactly, I have used canola oil in place of the shortning and it works well. Chicken and dumplings are a labor of love reserved for very special people in my life, I bet your boyfriend is one of those.
My Grandma’s recipe for dumplings is
4 cups of flour (all purpose)
1 stick margarine or butter
salt, pepper to taste
Cut through to pea size as stated in recipe
pour 2 cups of boiling water over mixture
Mix and let cool before rolling out (eliminates stickiness) on floured board.
Cut in desired shapes (I like diagnal strips)
Bring broth to a rolling boil add dumplings and stir gently reducing boil – cook for 15-20 minutes
This recipe sounds delicious. The only thing I don’t agree with us that you use a whole chicken. Chicken and dumplings should be made with breasts only. Cracker Barrel uses “the best of the breast” which is that big hunk of juicy chicken right in the middle of the breast. I will try this recipe but I will use chicken breasts. Thanks!
In Texas we always called this “chicken and slicks”
I made this last night….quite delicious. I noticed, though, that by the time I let it cool and placed in the fridge a lot of the dumplings had turned to mush. There are still some good ones in there, but mainly it’s dough mush. I followed the recipe to a T…except I didn’t set aside any of the broth. I kept it all. Was that my error? (Still delicious, though!)
Yeah, if you used extra broth then I think that could be the problem, at least partly. The longer the dumplings sit in the liquid, the more they’re going to absorb and if you used extra broth they will have even more to absorb so I can imagine they’d get extra mushy after awhile.
But aside from that, I think this recipe is just one of those things that’s best eaten immediately. In my experience it doesn’t translate well into leftovers, even using the correct amount of broth the dumplings still keep absorbing liquid as they sit. We love this dish so much that we rarely have leftovers! But you may want to try halving the recipe next time so all of it gets eaten the same night.
Glad you like the recipe, though. I messed up once and boiled the dumplings and they turned mushy, too. You’re right that it still tastes good despite that!
I’ve never had a problem letting the dumplings sit (I’ve used many different “rolled dumplings” recipes and while I’ve had a couple that never quite firmed up, the ones that worked, worked through sitting and reheating as well). In fact, in the winter it’s one of my most requested meals from the kids because it goes so well into a thermos soup keeping theingamajig for school the next day. Just take a small amt. out of the leftovers, heat in microwave and put in insulated container. And the kids get homemade chick and dumplings for lunch. I will also say that I generally crockpot the chicken, get home from work, pull it out and transfer the broth to a pot I can get a better boil in, then start on the dumplings. About this point the kids start fighting over who will roll the dough first. and who gets to cut first. They cut on the counter w/ a pizza cutter and we cut into more bite-size (very irregular 🙂 ) pieces–it’s all good. it’s a VERY forgiving recipe. I generally eyeball everything. 🙂 Truly southern!
I am sooooo happy you posted this!!! I have been in quest for this type of recipe for years!! You know the one you ask your relatives how to make over and over and NO ONE has a recipe they just “make it”. I hope it’s good it looks like what I grew up eating and I too love Crackel Barrels!!! Thanks again!
This sounds a lot like my grandmother and mother used to make them. We have a couple of variations on ingredients though. We just boil the chicken with salt and pepper to taste. I add cubed bullion to the water. I also add crushed bullion to the flour for the dumplins. Extra flavor. My/our dumplins are made simply from all purpose flour and we use the broth from the boiled chicken to mix with it to make the dumplins. No lard or shortening, no milk. It works out the same and you don’t have any extra added fat. Just a lot of sodium with the bullion. We have to make sure our chicken stock (from boiling the chicken) is at a rolling boil when you drop in the dumplins. Keeps them from sticking together. I also have noticed that if you cover and simmer that they cook fluffier. I made my mother teach me how to make these because they were always my favorite meal besides her fried chicken.
I’m from VA and my mom made Chicken & Dumplings pretty often. So good! Now in N Carolina we make Chicken Pastry. Anne’s Pastry (Company who makes them in a red box in the frozen section of the grocery store)is just around the corner from my house. It’s a beautiful place in the country of Ayden, NC. Our Walmart ran out a few weeks ago and I’ve been waiting. FYI: My mom use to home make her dumplings until later when she started using cut up biscuts. I’m making chix pastry for our church womens group Sun. I’m going to use a rotissary chix from Sams, already cooked. It will be both white and dark meat, but it WILL be delicious.
your boyfriend sounds like my husband of 43years- he just LOVES the Cracker Barrel chicken and dumplings too. thanks for the recipe. we are kentucky folks so maybe that makes us southern- I think so.
thanks, barb
Thank you thank you thank you!
Change ‘Fryer’ to HEN.
Let the dumplings ‘hang’ on either your arm or a dumpling rack for about 15 to 20 mins before settling them into the bubbling broth/fat.
Chicken FAT is indeed the tasty way to go.
Enhancing ‘tip’ for each serving? Black pepper to taste…really brings out the flavors.
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This is my MIL’s recipe that she has not been willing to share with me… I am REALLY excited to make these for my husband’s birthday, thank you!!
I understand your boyfriend! This is the exact recipe my great-grandmother, Mam Maw Ritter used. We are from Texas and there is no other way to make chicken and dumplings!!!! I am so glad you put this in the blog, as I don’t have a recipe written down. My grandmother taught me, by sight how to make the dumplings. Shortening the size of the egg, etc…
I’ve been trying to find a recipe like my grandmother used to make. This one is so close and tastes great! Thank you so much!
This is exactly the way my Grandmother in southern Alabama
made her dumplings. I still make them that way. But, we
always leave the veggies in.
Very good!! I made this tonight and the only thing I would change would be to make the dumplings thinner. Will make again!!
The trick here is in the flour. All flours are not the same!! My old Southern Grandma would have used a soft flour like White Lily or Martha White. Soft flour is primarily milled in the south. Northern flours are primarily “hard” flours. Soft flours have less gluten and protein (10%) than hard flours (12 -14%). Cake flour (8-9%), like in the recipe is, actually softer than “soft” flour. It’s about having the right balance of protein and gluten to make the dumplin’s tender, but not too tender. Same goes for southern biscuits. Hard flour is good for things like crusty french bread.
Needs vegetables.
I tried this recipe tonight and my “Southern Born” husband said I knocked it out of the park. It was perfect…just like his mama used to make(God rest her soul) It was a little more time consuming than I thought but i think thats because I hadnt made it before. Im not a huge dumpling fan and I enjoyed it as well. Great recipe!!
I thought I’d compare southern chicken & dumpling recipes to what, in our family, we call chicken & sliders. For us it’s a French Canadian dish. It’s the same, and wondeful no matter where the recipe comes from. Do ahead tip because it is time consuming. If you make up an extra batch of dough and cut it on a sheet of wax paper then slip it onto a cookie sheet and freeze you’ll have a ready batch. After they’re well frozen just break them apart and save in individual portions in the freezer. Take out what you need when you want that comfort food. Drop them into your hot broth and you’re all set. Can use prepared low salt chicken stock or pre-made that you’ve frozen as well.
I loved reading all this, as my sister just made me chicken and dumplings for my birthday, and she used our Moms and Grandmothers recipe. Theirs is a Louisville Ky version, and is not quite the same as some on here. We all live in Atlanta now, but still make it the old family way. Gramma simmered, not boiled a whole chicken till it almost fell apart, cooled and separated it, added a lot of celery and onion, salt, pepper and poultry seasoning, and simmered that for about 30 more minutes. Her dumplings were definitely giant chewy egg noodles, and were utterly wonderful. Simple formula; one whole egg and one half eggshell milk for every cup of all purpose flour. That’s right no fat, no salt, no baking soda, because a puffy, ball type dumpling wasn’t what she wanted. She made a volcano of flour on the counter, made a well on top, put in the eggs and milk, and mixed it all into a stiff dough ball, and kneaded it till well mixed, and rested it 30 minutes. She rolled it out and cut it just like in this recipe under review. She then simmered them till tender, no hard boiling. They never stick together, are moist and chewy, not hard, and they keep over very well, without turning to mush.They end up about 1/4 inch thick. They absorb salt, pepper, herbs and fat flavor from the broth, hence none needed in the dough.All these recipes are correct, and most are good tasting, but each family has its preference. If you are a homemade noodle lover, you will love my Grammas style. Gramma would make these with thick broth in cold weather, like on here, but made a thin, chicken-soup like broth for warm times. That way, the family got to eat this all year, and both are equally good.
Mark, in Atlanta, Georgia
I love the way the elders use to measure things…I have way too many measuring devices in my kitchen, and they just eye balled, or used something as simple as a half an egg shell…how cool!! I gave up on making my own dumplings, after I found these in my grocer’s frozen area. Sorry, but they are so consistent. https://www.homadefoods.com/product1.aspx?parents=111
Mark how cool, love the descriptions used here! Would love to try some of your Gram’s cooking.
Thank you so much. Finally, I have found the chicken and dumplings that I had as a kid. The picture looks exactly like what we had on our table. Unfortunately my great grandmother and my grandmother died before I could get the recipe, and now my mother has dementia and cannot tell me how to make it. Based on the recipe this looks like what I have been wanting for years. I will try it soon.
I am from Georgia and use to make dumplings like that. I found that flour tortillas are just as good. So if you don’t have alot of time try them.
So I was very excited to try this recipe since I am a HUGE fan of Cracker Barell Chicken and Dumplings. I followed the recipe exactly (except used all purpose flour) and when I put the dough in the pot it turned a grayish color. What did I do wrong? The taste was really good, it just didn’t look very appetizing. Any suggestions?
Hmm, well since the only difference was that you used AP flour maybe that’s the cause? I always use cake flour in mine and I’m pretty sure cake flour is bleached, so I wonder if you used unbleached AP flour and that gave it the greyish color when it was added to the liquid? Even using cake flour, the dumplings get darker once they’re added to the stock, so maybe AP flour makes them a lot darker? I would try cake flour next time, if I were you.
The only other thing I can think that might affect the color of the dumplings would be something in the stock. Straining it with a finer strainer might help that.
To make it quicker you can use pie crust. It is best to use the red box of unroll & bake pie crust. Use it the same way as the dough you make from scratch. It is wonderful!!
I have been searching and searching for this kind of chicken and dumplings…my boyfriend’s mother made me her version (which she called “southern style”) but it was Bisquick biscuits in chicken soup! This sounds exactly like my grandma’s recipe…can’t wait to try!!
this is very similar to what my family has called Chicken and Sliders, my great grandma’s recipe! Very good YUMMY!!! This is good comfort food!
This reciepe is so yummy and perfect!!!! I have been craving chicken and dumplings and this is so perfect!
I posted this on my face book and it had the recipe but the picture was a cake!!! ….lol!!!
My 22 year old son loves Chicken & Dumplings. It is a must on the menu everytime he visits now. I have found a great little tip that helps with time management on making them. I cook my whole chicken with the vegetables in the crockpot. I put it in right before I go to bed at night and let it cook on low all night; it is perfect in the morning. Or I put it on right before I leave for work and it is ready when I get home. I let it cool while I roll out and cut the dumplings; and then take the chicken off the bone while the dumplings cook. YUM!
My great-grandmother from Louisiana said you must use a hen instead of a fryer, because it is fattier. They are hard to find, but worth it. She also used broth to make the dumplings instead of lard. They looked the same though.
In Louisiana you can buy frozen dumplings, much easier. I also like to use MISSION flour tortillas. Just tear them in pieces and toss them in boiling broth. Cooks fast. Only MISSION brand works. The others turn to mush. I also add a can of cream of chicken soup in the end. Yummy!!
My mom would use whatever stock she had on hand, whether beef or pork. When you grew up in the Depression like she did, you learn to adjust any recipe to what you had on hand. If she had some left over beef roast, she would shred it and add it to the pot of dumplings at the end. It was delicious and a change from regular chicken and dumplings. She would sometimes add about a tsp. of poultry seasoning to her chicken broth; it just raised the flavor up a notch.
I borrowed from this wonderful recipe to create a quick weeknight version – simmer thinly sliced boneless chicken breast in 2 boxes (8 cups) chicken stock seasoned w/ salt, pepper, poultry seasoning, whatever you like. Thaw out a package of frozen buttermilk biscuit dough (which taste EXACTLY like homemade southern biscuits), gently knead (I add a little pepper) and proceed as the recipe indicates. Boom – perfect!
I’ve never made chicken & dumplings, because I never learned the recipe my East Texas great-grandmother passed to my mother. This looks close, so I plan on giving it a try tonight. Her dumplings certainly weren’t big puffy floaters, but I don’t remember them being them cutting the dough into strips. I can vaguely recall helping “pinch” the dough from the bowl into the broth.
My Southern Grandmother made “homemade” dumplings for years, then she switched to lasagna noodles. For years we didn’t know the difference, then she confessed. You break up the lasagna noodles into little pieces (it’s ok if they aren’t square shape), drop slowly into boiling broth as you constantly stir and then simmer for 1 – 1 1/2 hours stirring often (add additional water or broth if the liquid boils away, the noodles should always be covered with liquid). When dumplings are done,add de-boned, cut up chicken (white and dark meat) and heat together for 15-20 minutes. If too soupy (too much broth) thicken with a mixture of flour and water to make a gravy until the consistency you like. Even better as warmed up left-overs.
My mom always made her own pastry. She used all-purpose flour and water, of course the shortening and salt. Rolled it out thin, really thin. First thing in the morning, let it dry out on wax paper. She cut it into rectangles. Cooked a whole chicken-so much more flavor, only added salt and pepper to the cooking water. Fantastic! Especially delicious with collards and candied yams! I live in eastern NC and we call it chicken pastry! I made some today. I didn’t make my own pastry though, i used Atkinson’s, found in the frozen food section at the grocery. It is the best brand!!!! Unless you make your own, that is!
Just what I was looking for!!! I made it last night for my family and they all loved it! I did add a little garlic powder and a couple bouillon cubes for a little more flavor though.
I found a recipe to make cake flour if all you have is all purpose flour…since the dumplings call for 3 cups..you measure your 3 cups of all purpose flour take out 6 tablespoons (2 per cup) and replace it with 6 tablespoons of cornstarch and sift it 4 or 5 times. That’s all!!
My grandmother used butter instead of shortening in her dumplings…not low fat or calories but it takes the flavor to a whole different level!
I’ve made this but cheated: Walmart sells the pastry(dumplings) in the freezer section just like in the picture and use a 1/2 of roisterer chicken shredded up. Much easier for me working with kids,etc.
Well, looks great; but I only emember my southern mama uswing wter instead of milk. I am definiteoly not one of the biscuit dough dumpling gang! B ut these are right on the money – thanks for postng the recipe,I lostg mine!!
Just had the pleasure of eating C&D at Cracker Barrel in West Virginia this past weekend. So darned good! My sister hates it because the dumplings are too doughy and chewy, but that is what makes them great! If you want a light and airy biscuit, then make biscuits. If you want a flat firm noodle, make noodles. A strip dumpling (or slider) is a cross between the two occupying that middle ground of chewy, doughy, firm but yielding. It’s all about the texture. I tried dumplings for years that were too airy (too much leavener). Then I tried egg dough, but that was more like fresh pasta. Gotta go with this recipe.
Why would anyone put onions in chicken & dumplings? Yuk!!! My grandmother uses chicken, broth & biscuits. Simple but very good.
I love this dish in Cracker Barrel so today I made an attempt to make it. It tastes good but my dumplings came out dark and a little chewy. Does anyone have any idea what I did wrong????
I would love to make it right next time.
I know it’s hot as hell outside, but I need comfort food, STAT: https://t.co/usVXxBQj
The “floaty” round dumplings are like my maternal grandmother made and it was called chicken and dumplings. This thicker, noodlelier version is what my paternal grandmother made and she called it chicken pot pie and they still do at the few local restaurants around that make it. And chicken, gravy, and vegetables in a pastry crust was called chicken pie. I guess it’s all about where you live. But this recipe is yummily!!!
I grew up eating chicken & dumplings. My grandma & momma made the best I have ever tasted.My grandma would just cut up,& boil a whole chicken,when done remove chicken & use that broth to cook the dumplings in.
We make the dough just like we do biscuits, roll them out thinner, cut in strips, and drop in the chicken broth that is at a slow boil. The ones that come out thin would be what my grandma would say had “fell”. We would have a mixture of the fat & fluffy, and the “fell” ones! I personally like the fat fluffy ones best!
I just can’t get over people trying to use noodles,can biscuits, and putting vegetables & such in dumplngs…no way!
I agree with previous poster about using a hen… my grandma did the same thing.I use to go out in the morning, and catch her a hen so we could have chicken & dumplings for supper….but thats another story!
I made this recipe tonight. It had a delicious taste, but the broth was too thin and the dumplings were a little hard. I did everything according to directions. I will use less milk and let the dough strips sit for less time. This could be why I didn’t have a thicker broth. Also, I will try cooking the dumplings longer. According to my old recipe, they simmer 12 minutes and I never pick up the lid. I use oil in my old drop dumpling recipe too. The butter idea is probably good because I use cold butter cut into the flour of my biscuits and they turn out fluffy. This recipe is worth retrying.
I plan to make this for my meal swap. Can these be frozen?
I’ve never tried freezing this so I’m not sure. Might be worth doing a test beforehand to see? My worry would be that when you thawed it out the dumplings would get too waterlogged and fall apart. A better bet may be to make the chicken ahead of time and freeze the chicken and broth separately. You could probably even make the dumplings ahead of time, cut them up and then flash freeze the dough rectangles. Then just thaw everything and finish cooking the dish the day of your event. Good Luck!
try serving it over mashed potatoes!!
Thank you SO very much for this recipe. I have craved real Chicken and Dumplings through my entire pregnancy and just now found this when I have 5 weeks to go. You better believe I’m making it though and eating as much as I possibly can!
This is totally my Mom-moms recipe..thank you so much for sharing. Childhood memories re-visited thats for sure.
As a filler because we are a very large family, my mom-mom added whole potatoes as well. So yummy. <3 thanks again.
I have GOT to try this! the ultimate comfort food. Cracker Barrel style Chicken & Dumplings https://t.co/PatHHPaQ via @Emiline220
I remember my ex husband’s grandmother making her chicken n dumplings similar to this, however, I don’t know what she put in to her dough, just that they were homemade and she rolled them out thin. What is unique about hers is that at the end, after the dumplings had cooked, she added milk to the entire pot, just enough to make the broth creamy and it changed the broth from chicken stock color to a creamy white. I know the hand made dough aides in altering the color as well. To me, it made all the difference in taste. Like, you can’t get well made chicken n dumplings at Dsiry Queen of all places but they are not creamy at all. I was hoping to read that others add milk to the pot as well.
I am definitely trying this recipe! It sounds delish and looks just like the chicken and dumplings my mom and grandma used to make. If it tastes like theirs or Cracker Barrel’s, I’ll be in heaven. Thanks for the recipe!
Hi, I was looking for inspiration when I looked up your recipe. The only difference in mine is I use the chicken broth as the grease in the dumplings. I use one cup of flour and enough broth to make a workable dough, thats all. If you save the fat from other chickens and throw it in with the chicken it gets good and slippery, we call them slippery dumplings. I also add some poultry seasoning to the broth. The extra fat is not necessary but it makes it true to the old Grand Ma way.
I’m so glad I found this! I worked in a small country kitchen during my high school years in NC many, many moons ago and we made this as a weekly special. It was so good, verging on sinful. I can not wait to make it this weekend. nom nom nom!
You can use a little cornstarch as a thickener if needed or even flour. I’ve never heard of using milk for chicken and dumplings.. I learned from my Grandma who was from Kentucky. An they were awesome.. We even used biscuits sometimes if needed. SO yummy. I’m wanting dumplings now lol
Last night made chicken and dumplings with the boys. We were exploring our southern roots ;). https://t.co/hSNIMPbH
Pretty close to what we make at our house, the recipe my Mom has always made for us. It is the standard for any family gathering. When I lived out of state for so many years (I am from Texas) my Mom made it for me every time I came home! The dough recipe looks the same, but we don’t use any soda. We roll our dough very thing, and cut it into smaller strips. We put it into the boiling broth right away, My Mom is rolling and cutting, one person is scooping dumplings and dropping them in the broth, and the third person is stirring the pot. We make about 4 times this much at a time though! When all the dumplings are in, we add milk and butter to the broth to make it a little more tasty,,, yummy. And it will last for a few days in the fridge, but I like mine best when it is just made!
I made this on a Sunday with the idea of serving it during the week. It tasted so good on Sunday but when I went to re-heated Tuesday night for my families dinner it was not the same.
This is best served immediately. I was so disappointed. =(
This was AMAZING! I felt salt and pepper alone wasn’t enough, so I added about a teaspoon of chiptole pepper seasoning. Gave it a nice kick! Great recipe and easy to make!
Thanks!!
Julie, I was so thrilled to find this recipe. I, too, am an agreer with your BF, in that I want the “correct” dumplings. lol I praise you for making the effort to make these TRUE Suthun dumplings. I’ve looked through recipe books and found nothing that was the same. Soooo, thank you so much for your due diligence.
Try adding some Kentucky Kernal seasoned flour (not too much) to your dumplings. It adds a ton of flavor.
Sorry that should say Kentucky Kernel seasoned flour
Oh my goodness….you have completely “nailed” the very best recipe for Chicken and Dumplings! This was my project for dinner tonight and I made it “exactly”…using every single step. The only thing that I added was a couple of Tablespoons of “Chicken Better Than Bouillion” to the broth while the chicken was cooking. My husband loved, loved, loved the dumplings…and asked that I make more the next time! I served it with a side of lima beans and an old-fashioned fruit salad of pineapple, peaches, and mandarin oranges…topped with shredded cheddar cheese and a dallop of mayonaise. Oh…and a fresh cheese biscuit! Dinner was absolutely heaven! Thanks so very much for the recipe!
My aunt used to make a pear salad… pear halves on a lettuce leaf with a dollop of mayonnaise and some shredded cheese!!! I had never heard of anyone else doing anything like that!!!
I Love Chicken and Dumplings but have never found a recipe close to my grandma till now. Thanks a bunch. One thing I do remember is that she used bisquick to make the dumplings it save a little time. The recipe for them are on the package.
Thanks you so much for posting this. I’m pregnant and craving the chicken and dumplings from Crocker Barrel. I’ve moved to California from Texas and I can’t seem to find any restaurants that serve chicken and dumplings out here and the only ones I can find on the internet are the ones with soggy biscuits. I’m so excited to try this recipe!
Recipe looks good but I disagree that this is “true southern style”. I was born and raised in Texas and around here, at least in the circles I’ve traveled from Dallas to Corpus Christi to Bee to Sweeney to Laredo to Houston to Austin to Hern to College Station and hundreds of points between it’s dumplin’s and their big chunks. Just my two cents worth for the fun of it. I get a lot of great recipes off this site and would not try to offend or put you down. 🙂
Hi just saw your dumpling recipe my mom was from along the the Ohio river and they had a
Similar recipe
Pot pie
2 c. Flour
1tsp salt
1tsp baking powder
1/4 cup shortening
Add cold water to make med. dough
Roll and cut into squares add to meat stock. Have stock at a boil.
Cook gently 20 min. Stir gently
This recipe came from my grandmother.
Use sm.t for email
Here’s almost the same recipe using butter.
https://www.thecountrycook.net/2012/04/old-fashioned-chicken-and-dumplings.html
Looks delicious, the dumplings. Want to try this, been craving chicken and dumplings.
My father ate something like this as a child in Pennsylvania. My grandmother and aunts used to make it. We are from the Pennsylvania Dutch country. It was called “Pot Pie.” It is made very similarly, except it has chicken, potatoes, and noodles. The noodles are rolled out flat like yours.
My mom was from Scotland and that was one of the first things she learned to make for my dad. It was something our family enjoyed through the years.
When my mom would make pot pie she would use leftover meat on the bone. It could be either chicken, turkey, or ham. She would boil the bones with the leftover meat on them slowly over night and then pull the meat off, let the broth cool, skim off the fat, add peeled, chopped potatoes, and the homemade flat noodles. It was delicious!
My siblings and I now carry on the tradition and enjoy in the memories our family has with this wonderful dish! 🙂
I saw where one person said not to overwork the dough. That could definitely cause the dumplings to come out tough. My mom told me that her mother said to handle the dough as little as absolutely necessary. That is also the trick for flakey pie crusts.
We never used cake flour but did add baking powder (and not baking soda). I don’t THINK we strained the diced celery and onion out, but the recipe was handed down from a poor era where you didn’t throw anything away. My grandmother’s was the absolute best and my mom’s was second best. I am looking forward to trying this! Thank you!
I grew up in Texas and this recipe is so very close to the one my Grandmother and Mother used to make. They used water instead of milk for the dumplings. Bring your broth to a boil and drop your dumplings in the rolling boil (middle of the pot). That will keep them from sticking together. Then add about 1/2 cup or a little more of milk to the broth, add chicken, stir with a large fork, cover and simmer until dumplings are tender. They are delicious. One of my favorite dishes.
Confession…I used canned chicken broth and rotisserie chicken and it was still delicious! I would recommend cutting noodles a bit smaller.
I made your dumplings and just let say they were awesome everyone loved them, family of six and again they were great.. Also I didn’t have any crisco so I did use butter and it worked fine.. Great recipe!!!!
OMG CAN WE MAKE THIS FOR DINNER @zoe_lengacher https://t.co/PqctXT17
A big HELL YEAH on the chicken and dumplings. I am 32 years old and have tried for years to make dumplings. Ive been using canned biscuits and had realized the future for me and dumplin making was looking grim. I followed your recipe and at last, success. Just like my grandma used to make. Everyone loved them. 5 stars
@Bennbop @aarondietrich3 @Joey_the_Jet https://t.co/vGxPxbQS wanta do this next week or pulled pork in the pot
my dumplings turned out very dense and heavy what did i do wrong
It sounds to me that one of two things happened. Either they weren’t rolled out thin enough or the dumplings themselves cooked too long. I’ve been making chicken and dumplings for years from a 200+ year old recipe. It’s exactly the way my grandmother made them. I also add a little bit of milk and flour into the broth after I’ve re-added the chicken. It helps the “sauce” thicken up a little more.
Did you use cake flour? If you substituted normal flour that could be the problem. Otherwise, it was probably how you handled the dough. Over-mixing can cause that kind of toughness or you may have rolled them out too thick.
I jjust served my chicken and dumplings. Loved the flavor but my dumplings turned out very airy(just to fluffy and soft). I used cake flour and crisp, did I not let them dry out enough?
Hi Judy,
Whenever I make this, the dumplings always turn out fluffy and soft so I’m not sure you did anything wrong. That may just be how they are in this recipe? Letting them sit for longer, maybe 45 minutes to an hour, should harden them more so they’ll be to your liking.
Can you use regular old flour or must you use cake flour. This may sound like a silly question but I want to get this right!
Yes, you should use cake flour for this recipe. If you can find it, you can use White Lily flour instead but otherwise cake flour is best.
can you freeze the dumplings?
Do you mean freezing the dumplings before cooking or after? I don’t think freezing the cooked dumplings would work because they would get to mushy when they thawed but I think you could definitely freeze them before cooking.
I’ve never tried it but I do think you could roll out and cut the dumplings and then flash freeze them. You’d want to make sure to lay them out in a single layer so they don’t freeze together but once they’re frozen they would be easy to store in plastic bag or something. Then just thaw them entirely (again in a single layer) before cooking.
My Dad the cook of the house does this:
He used to store than in old cardboard food boxes (y’know from tv dinners, pizza rolls random stuff like that) now that he’s not eating that junk *claps for Dad) he use a plastic container.
He lays them out flat on a piece of a parchment paper. Usually does about 6-8 wide, 1 long. However many layers till he’s got at least a 1/2″ of space. Then he stacks the layers and wraps it up parchment (opening fold on top). Then wraps it saran wrap (again opening fold on top). This is basically how frozen dumplings in grocery stores back home are packaged.
Hope that helps
So, are the carrots and celery and onion discarded? Are they in the broth for flavor? I’m gonna do this over the weekend and I’m phsyched! It look exactly like my grandmother used to make! thx for posting
Yeah, you discard all the vegetables. They add flavor to the chicken and broth but after they’ve been cooked for so long they aren’t meant to be eaten.
Thank you VERY much for posting this recipe.
I was born & raised in Memphis & Chicken & Dumplings were my favorite.
My mother actually made two types of dumplings which she called “thick or thin”… some of us liked the thin while others preferred the “thick” (both dumplings were GREAT!)
She rolled the dough out just as you posted. They weren’t “balls of dough” which so many try to say are “dumplings!” LOL
Can’t wait to try the recipe. But just as your boyfriend said, it “looks” right! BIG SMILE
I was so excited about this recipe because my family fixed dumplings just like these when I was growing up. But every time I try to make my own they fall apart in the broth and I end up with flour mush soup which is not so appetizing. I tried this recipe last night and the same thing happened. That’s proof to me I’m doing something wrong every time and it’s not the recipe’s fault.
So what makes dumplings fall apart? I let them rest for 30 mins and everything (even though my family never had to). I did have to add a little more milk for the dough to hold together at all, otherwise it would have been too dry and crumbly to roll out.
Last night’s dinner was saved by a pizza crust in a can I had in the fridge for a rainy day. I cut it up like the dumplings and dropped it in. My husband (who has had to buy us dinner out every time I attempt dumplings) gobbled his up and said it was delicious but laughed till morning when I told him it was actually a pizza crust! I’d like to be able to do it the normal way (it would be cheaper at least). Please help!
I know this sounds silly and simple (but it happens!) Are you using the correct measuring cups? Dry cups for dry ingredients and wet cups for liquid ingredients? It sounds to me like your dough is coming out too dry for some reason.
This recipe looks so good! I’ve managed to live in Kentucky for two years without my other half asking me to make chicken and dumplings…but now the time has come. Taking a shot at it and making this recipe tomorrow!
The same thing has happened to me three times. And I’m a pretty good cook, so I don’t know how anyone else has success with this recipe.
I watched an episode of Good Eats where Alton Brown makes a recipe almost identical to this one – and the big difference is that he lets the dumplings sit for hours and hours.
I also took a poll of my Southern friend’s grandmothers … and they all said the same thing: you make the dumplings in the morning and let them sit around all day until they are like hard little rocks.
I haven’t tried it again since I found this out, because three nights of last minute take out was too many – but maybe you could try that?
This is an easy and great tasting recipe. Love it. Tom.
Although my mother is from the south, me being the youngest of eight children, i never had the pleasure of learning to make my mom’s home made dumpling. Let’s face it if it’s not like mom’s why bother. I have been looking for a recipe that i could feel good about and this one is the “one”!!!!
Thanks
Kathy
Omg! I just made this recipe and is soo good!
Thanks for the help. I think it turned out good. Like my cooked it.
I’ve been reading a lot on chicken and dumplings. I’ve notice I’m way off on the way I make mine. I don’t measure anything. I pour some flour, sea salt, and pepper into a bowl. Then add my milk until I get the right consistancy. No shortinging what so ever or baking soda. Everyone that has tried them say they’re good and I can’t tell a difference either.
This looks great, looks just like my Nan’s from Eastern Kentucky. I never got my grandmothers recipe but I do remember she used some of the chicken broth rather than milk and butter. I will be making it for the Teachers holiday lunch at my sons school in a couple weeks.
Just made this dish not hard at all and it scromptious . Use shortening
OMG!! I can’t wait to try this recipe. This was my grandmother’s specialty! She passed a few years ago, before I could get her recipe, and your picture looks just like a bowl of her Chicken and Dumplings. 🙂 A couple of weeks ago my uncle and I were just saying how much we missed her Chicken and Dumplings. Hoping we can fill the void! 🙂
Thank you, thank you, thank you! I made your dumplings to add to a pot of fresh turkey soup made from a leftover meaty turkey carcass, and this stuff is amazing!! I didn’t even have to add milk or corn starch, as the flour on the dumplings thickened up the broth quite nicely. You just made one southern girl very happy! 🙂
Do you cut the fryer chicken up before cooking? Or after?
I just put the whole chicken in there and cook it. Once it’s cooked, the chicken is almost falling off the bone, so it’s easy to remove and shred. I have seen similar recipes that cut up the chicken first, so you could probably do that if you prefer, though.
Everything turned out perfect, except it was very soupy. I followed the recipe so I’m not sure what I did wrong. Still delicious though!
Hi Kayli,
I’ve had that happen before. You just need to cook it longer, possibly at a slightly higher temperature. I think the problem starts in step 7 when you first put the dumplings in the stock. If the stock isn’t hot enough then it won’t “melt” the dumplings enough and the flour won’t thicken up the stock. Then when you reduce the heat even more in step 8 it stops thickening all together. I’ve fixed it by increasing the heat back up to medium-low (or even a bit higher depending on your stove) and cooking for 5-15 minutes more minutes until it thickens sufficiently.
OMG THANK YOU! If I could I would hug you! 😀 I’ve been searching for this recipe FOREVER! I nearly gave up my search until I saw the picture of the dish and my eyes nearly popped out. I’m 24, and my grandmother would make this when I was little. It was my favorite right next to her rice pudding. I’m originally from Maryland and moved to Nebraska when I turned 12, far away from my grandma.
She’s from the south.
Just like your boyfriend, I too tasted other people’s chicken and dumplings and it was never right. I cringed while looking at recipes requiring bisquick, or cutting up pilsbury canned biscuits into the recipe. Gross! >.<
I always loved that doughy noodley chewy soft texture and taste that these dumpling provide. I cannot wait to make this. It's absolutely perfect! Cannot thank you enough!
First I deviated by adding two cloves fresh galic to the broth right from the start. I used butter in direct substitution for shortening on the dumplings – Kick A!! Then instead of “discarding” those veggies that were INCREDIBLE, I used a hand blender with 2 tbls butter and pureed them to a mashed potato consistency and served as a side dish 😉 FABULOUS Receipe – took me 2 1/2 hours start to table.
This was my first time making chicken and dumplings and they turned out perfectly. Because I used a roasted chicken (used some of the fat from the bottom of the container in the dumplings), I made my own stock using chicken better than bouillon paste, carrots, celery, and onions (along with more chicken fat from the roasted chicken I bought). I added some thyme, rosemary, 2 bay leaves and a little bit of poultry seasoning along with some minced garlic. I used closer to 8 cups of stock so I had to thicken it a bit. Once I added the dumplings and chicken in, I let it cook for about 20 min and it still wasn’t as thick as I wanted. I took about 1/2c of the broth and added about a tablespoon of cornstarch. I wisked it thoroughly and added it back to the rest of the pot. It thickened it perfectly. I got rave reviews and will definitely be making them again!!
I made this for our family Christmas dinner. And I must tell you, this was a BIG hit with everyone!!!!! I didn’t use cake flour, so my dumplings weren’t very uniform. But they sure did taste great!! I also just used chicken thighs. That’s only because I don’t have to deal with the “ugly” parts. Lol Thanks for sharing this recipe! 🙂
Going to try this out. My Grandmother used to make this when I was young and I have been looking for a recipe like this. Looks like her’s.
I always wanted to make chicken and dumplings.. my Nana used to make them for me and I loved them. I never got her recipe before she passed and I’ve been so sad about it. I tried this recipe a few months ago and wss absolutely thrilled with the results. Now I have a recipe to pass on to my children and future grandchildren. Greatflavor.. Really warms the soul!
I found this recipe on google several months ago and pinned it and I’m so glad I did!!! Eventually I made it for My husband he absolutely loved it! He requested it weekly for a while! lol My husband’s mother makes these amazing “Dumplins” and takes them to every party, get-together and potluck by request and they are AMAZING!!!! Well I was always afraid to try her recipe and mess it up! I’ve tried other recipes and this one is perfect! it has the same taste as my mother-in laws 100yr old family recipe!!! You must make the stock the day before and use the chicken fat!!! It’s so much more flavorful! The chicken fat takes it over the top! Love it, thanks!
Chicken and Dumplings met Okra to the side aan het maken. Gods nog 2 uur maar dan HEERLIJK eten. https://t.co/J5a7dOyB
When I was growing up I spent a lot of time with my grandmother (me being her only granddaughter) and watched her make chicken and dumplings over and over (Louisiana native here). Your recipe is spot on! I am the only family member that mastered the way she made hers. I never measure my ingredients but that simply comes from making them with her again and again and her years of experience. It’s funny because for everything else she cooked she measured ingredients precisely. We lost her four years ago and our family will ask me often to make her dumplings. I noticed your update with the suggestion to use the chicken fat instead of shortening. I think I’ll try that! I can see how it would lend more flavor to the dish. Thanks for sharing! Oh, and the dough does freeze nicely. I’ve never done it but grandma was always in the kitchen and she would freeze the dough to save time on days when she made chicken and dumplings. Great idea!
These were great even gluten-free! I used my leftover turkey from Thankgiving, but substituted Domata gluten free flour for the dumplings. I added a little bit of cornstarch to the broth to thicken. They turned out really, really well.
I made this recipe tonight. It came out perfectly. I followed the directions exactly and it taste and looks just like my Grandmothers! Crack and all!! thanks!!
Modernized this dish–
Use the breast portion of a grocery store cooked rotisserie chicken, /2 box of Anne’s Old Fashioned Flat Dumplings found in the freezer section at Walmart and grocery stores, two 32 oz. boxes of chicken broth and two cups water over a 1/2 cup each chopped celery and onion. I also added about a dozen peeled baby carrots. I followed the directions on the frozen dumplings, cooking the chicken brest until tender, and then boiling the noodles and then letting them sit for a half hour before serving. I also added a bit of chopped parsley but not necessary. This tasted like the version the ladies of our community make and was good–but quick and easy.
My recipe should have read 1/2 box of Anne’s Frozen Dumplings.
Sorry typo! Also I should have said I cooked the chicken breast on the stove top in a dutch oven type pan.
Mary Jo I imagine you meant well but I think it’s a little insulting to the author of this recipe to say that you ‘modernized it’. I’m sure that you’re version was easy but most people excited about this don’t want to use processed store-bought ingredients. The whole point is to improve your cooking and health by cooking from scratch. You’re version sounds like what I’d find on the back of a can of cream of chicken soup. It’s like 1950’s modern.
My Mother was known for her chicken -n- dumplings. She taught me how to make them but we have always used self-rising flour and they are great. Everything else is the same but being from the south she always added a stick of butter to the broth and 1 can cream of chicken soup. I found as far as the consistency goes the longer you knead them the better they stay together but don’t over knead.Through making them a few times I can now tell by the touch if the dumplings are ready for the pot.
My grandmother’s recipe does not include cake flour or baking soda but I tried it and it was fine. I also do not add milk until just before I serve them. Milk tends to make things tough. I just use the juice from the chicken to make the dumplins’. I use two cups of juice for every three cups of flour. I roll to and 1/8th of an inch so they cook thru. Add the dumplins one at a time at a rolling boil or they will clump up and not cook. When they are transparent add the milk. I looked and looked for another recipe like this when I thought that I lost my hand written copy from my mother. I was like you I could not find one like this.
This is what I have been searching for!!! AMAZING!!!!!!! I also made the breaded pork chops and mashed potatoes omg!!!!!
Oh girl! I can not believe you just threw away the skin and bones of that poor chicken! *gasp* That should be outlawed! 🙂 read up on bone broth and the amazing advantages!!!! I usually save my chicken carcasses in the freezer until I have 2 whole chicken carcasses and then process them, slowly, to make broth. Best stuff ever!
The dumplings were doughy – I prefer mine chewy. I added a ¼ tsp of baking powder and a ¼ cup of oil (canola). 2 basil leaves from the time I cooked the chicken and I heavily peppered the dough. I split the flour into 2 types – ½ cup A/P flour and ½ cup cake flour. Perfect! Thanks for giving me the foundation to create the perfect dumplings.
Ok, I attempted to make it your way, but my roots wouldn’t let me. I still had to add a dash of chicken bouillon powder and poultry seasoning to both the broth, and the dumplings. Plus, I still used some of the carrots and celery. An hour of simmering is not too long for them. They were great. Maybe because they had been grown in our garden and takes a bit more simmering to get them soft? But at any rate, I was not about to waste them. The remaining bones and skin and veggies and broth are left on my stove simmering. Where they’ll be all night. 🙂 I’ll strain them sometime tomorrow and let it cool, then skim off the hardened fat and freeze the broth for future soups.
Hahaha! Your post made me smile because my boyfriend is EXACTLY the same! Right down to the Cracker Barrel menu! To be honest though the picture caught my attention first. That’s what chicken and dumplings is supposed to look like! (No offense Food Network). Thank you for posting the recipe I’ve been looking for! 🙂
I grew up in Tennessee and this taste just like the way my grandma made it. Fantastic! Delicioso!
These are absolutely amazing!! I made them with sifted White Lily all-purpose flour and butter. My family couldn’t get enough of them. Thanks!!
Make biscuit dough, after de-boning and returning chicken, drop spoon sized them into boiling broth, cook till it thickens a bit . Leave the carrots and celery, what a terrible waste.
Mike, Ah, the old to toss or not to toss question! You are right, biscuit dough is fine in a pinch, but the best dumplings are those that are handmade. (Yes, I truly can tell the difference) I saved the veggies in mine too. That sir, is just a matter of preference. Where I grew up, you never threw out the veggies! 🙂 But all in all, this is one fine recipe, wouldn’t you agree?
This is the best recipe on planet Earth. Second time making it today.
Actually the drop dumplings are the ‘REAL’ ones; LOL. The ones here are just noodles you can buy at the store(called dumplings). Don’t know why the carrots, celery, and onions are not meant to be eaten. Also, cooking the chicken along with poultry seasoning is good, but don’t over do it.
DEEELISH!!! Just like my Grandma from Tennessee used to make! I have always tried to duplicate it but couldn’t, until now…Thank you!
I used to work at a Cracker Barrel in Kentucky making their dumplings. Never have been able to get these right at home. A lot of what we used was pre-mixed (like the flower and probably baking soda and salt, but we never knew). We did use the leftover scraps from making the buttermilk biscuits, so I know they use buttermilk in the dough. THen the scraps would sit in piles for a while until we rolled them out and cut them.
I made these at home and they were great. Not perfect, because I have very little patience, but a little tweaking of my style and I might even take over making them for Thanksgiving from my grandfather.
This is amazing. I will keep this one forever. Perfect!!!
I have been searching for this recipe since I was six years old! A neighbor in Texas made this once when I was a little girl and I have craved it ever since! I remembered her rolling out the dumplings but all the recipes I found have been “drop” dumplings. She did it the real country way though…she boiled a whole chicken, lots of pepper and sage and salt. When done, in went the dumplings…no fat skimmed, no skin or bones removed. You were served a pile of dumplings in a bowl covered with chicken, bones and all…you picked it with your fingers. I have a friend in Texas who does her chicken gumbo the same way, best gumbo I ever ate! Sometimes the food experience is just that much better when it is a bit interactive!
Just tried this tonight and it was so delicious and really easy! I followed the recipe exactly except I used chicken breast instead of the whole fryer. It was perfect and just the way I had hoped for! Thank you!
Thanks to Emily and everyone who has shared a memory or a suggestion for this chicken and dumplings recipe. I have read all of them. On Feb. 13, 2013, our family will celebrate the memory of my grandmother’s (Mama Tava’s) 100th birthday. She is now gone and so is her recipe, but the memory of her feasts will long remain. What a wonderful cook she was!
We have all decided to try to make CnD on Mama Tava’s birthday, and I will certainly be using your recipe and suggestions. I am SO looking forward to that mouth-watering taste again. Thank you again.
On Feb. 13, 2013, our family will celebrate the memory of my grandmother’s (Mama Tava’s) 100th birthday. She was an amazing Depression era cook, and we all still remember the smells and tastes. One of my favorites was chicken and dumplings. We are all going to try to make CnD on her birthday this year, a feat I have never tried on my own.
I have read Emily’s recipe and every single idea and suggestion that you all have submitted. Thank you for taking the time to share this recipe with the world. I will start this recipe tonight. Wish me luck.
https://t.co/QGuO2Fou Birthday
I absolutely LOVE your recipe!!! I can’t say enough good things about it! I came from the midwest and I have only ever known the ‘drop’ dumpling recipe. My mother and grandmother have always made it that way. Unfortunately, many years ago, when I made my family recipe of C&D for my husband, he HATED them, saying my dumplings tasted like ‘flour glue’, lol. I tried them again for my children a few years later, and they didn’t like them either. So…, alas C&D was deleted from my store of recipes for more than 30 years. I’m divorced now, so I can fix what I want, ;-). I happened upon your recipe a few months ago and made it for my family that very eveining.
Let me tell you…..needless to say, they are now converts and ask for it at least every couple of weeks!!!
As a matter of fact, I have a pot of chicken cooking and your dumplings resting on the table waiting to be put into the pot.
Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!
I did it and it was wonderful. I too had been looking for a good recipe of chicken and dumplings and this is it thank you. There were a couple things I think I did wrong. I felt the dumplings were to chewey and I couldn’t get it to thicken up but I just took the chicken and dumplings out of the pot and made a flour and water mixture to make gravy and that turned out wonderful so I added back in the chicken and dumplings and served it. My husband loved everything about it. Any suggestions for better dumplings would be greatly appreciated. Thank you thank you thank you!!!
Never use self-rising flour. Always all-purpose. I use shortening and buttermilk if I have it. No baking soda. Also I do not roll out my dumplings. I pull pieces off of the ball, flatten it in my hands and drop in the pot. Not as pretty as rolled out dumplings but that is the way my family likes it.
I believe your boyfriend was thinking of chicken and slicks VS. chicken and dumplings! i’m no expert but you should look up the difference! Sounds delish no matter what you call it though…..
I have never seen square, flat dumplings. My dumplings are round, as were my mother’s and my grandmother’s, and they’re great. I make 20-24 dumplings each time, and with 2 grandchildren and my daughter, they are all gone by the next day. I can’t imagine flat ones could be better, but I didn’t grow up in the south. Maybe I’ll try it this way some time, but seems like a lot of extra work to roll and cut, when I can just drop in by the spoonful.
I also have looked for this version for years. Just happen to come across this by accident on pinterest and so glad I did. Personally I prefer big fluffy buttery dumplings, but my friends mom used to make these (rolled dumplings as we call them where I’m from) and put them in bean and ham soup. I have tried replicating it before with horrible luck. I will have to try this recipe, for old time sake! 🙂 thank you so much for sharing and thank Brandon for being picky or the rest of us would still be searching as well! Things always happen for a reason, now don’t they? 🙂
Number 1 thing I miss from the US: Chicken and dumplings from Cracker Barrel. Going to be cooking this weekend. https://t.co/0oHBW5GcUI
This kind of dumpling had been in our family over 75 years. But to make our dumplings you just use flour, salt and pepper. No shortening or milk. You mix the dry ingredients with chicken broth to make the dough. Then roll out the dumplings on a floured board and cut with a pizza cutter. No need to be perfect on the size of the cuts. That’s the fun of eating them! Cook the dumplings in chicken broth! Better than Cracker Barrel! My grandmother got this recipe from the women of the Tennessee. In fact my grandmother was born in1898 so the recipe is probably older than 75 years old.
I was wondering if you could share the measurements you use for making these noodles with the broth?
Your recipe looks delish! My mother always made dumplings that were more like thick noodles too. We only use flour, salt and pepper and then add some of the chicken broth to make a dough and pat them out to the thickness you desire and cut them with a knife. I have tried different ways to make them and always end up going back to this recipe. I like to read the recipes that others use to get ideas. Thank you for sharing
This was fantastic! I have made it twice in the last month. My hubby said he never cared for chicken and dumplings until I made these. Thank you for the recipe. It’s our new favorite dish!
I’ll take Midwestern chicken and dumplings every time over this southern fail
Really??? Haven’t you ever heard that if you cannot say anything nice, then don’t say anything at all??? I guess that they do not have that saying in the mid-west. Each region of the US has their way of doing things and things for which they are known. In my opinion, it does not mean that one is necessarily any better than the other. I suggest that you stick with your mid-west dumpling recipe, but do not knock “southern” chicken and dumplings, there is a reason that “southern” is most often added before the “chicken and dumplings.”
I agree! I live in the midwest and do not discriminate! Although, I have to admit that I grew up with momma’s Alabama cookin! Some folks just don’t know how to be nice. Momma always said to just be nice.
This is the recipe I have been looking for. Thank you! As for you mid-westerners, don’t knock it until you’ve tried it. If you’ve tried it and don’t like it, don’t try and discourage others from trying it, all right?
Bless your heart….as if you would know ANYTHING about Southern chicken and dumplings.
HA, ha, ha!!!!!!!!! EXACTLY!
The term mid west and dumplings, do not belong in the same sentence. Seriously, really. Back away from the pot! If you messed this recipe up, to the point of failure……just order take out. You will never learn to cook, sweetie. Bless your little heart.
You make us “Midwest folk” look bad. I’m from the Midwest but my whole family is from the south and you wouldnt believe I live where I do cause I cook like I like im in the south. I throw down with southern home cooking! I have my own chicken n dumpling recipe but this one is really close to mine, seems fine to me. If you can’t take the heat…stay out the kitchen!!! I ditto what everybody else said!
Agreed! There are lots of things from the South that I love, but their version of Chicken n Dumplings isn’t one of them…it’s more like chicken soup gone wrong! My Colombian girlfriend thought Chicken n Dumplings were this horrible dish she had in Atlanta. I told her she had the “Southern” style and to try the northern “matzo ball” style. I proceeded to make her the classic “matzo ball” style …and she fell in love with it. Now it’s her go-to comfort food 🙂 The “Northern” style is by far superior- not even a contest!
You are so right! The first time I had so-called “chicken and dumplings” at Cracker Barrel, I almost called the waitress back, thinking she made a mistake. Noodles are definitely NOT dumplings.
As a road muscian, I’ve tried “the same” foods all over the country. Every region puts its own flair on their recipes. They’re all good, but hey mid-westerners….ever hear of personal preference? And they say we southerners are dim-witted.
As a road muscian, I’ve tried “the same” foods all over the country. Every region puts its own flair on their recipes. They’re all good, but hey mid-westerners….ever hear of personal preference? And they say we southerners are dim-witted.
AMAZING!!! This is the recipe I have been searching for!! Genious to use the cake flour!!! Absolutely Perfect!!!! Thank you thank you thank you!!! The best and I can’t believe the negative comments here. Don’t listen to them cuz you got this one 100%!!!perfect!!!!
My mother in law’s dumplings were like this and I’d call my sister and tell her to get over quick before they’re all gone! I’ve tried for years to perfect my recipe. I have enjoyed each and every pot (I Love Chicken ‘n dumplins) but like your boyfriend said; they just weren’t “right”. I will try this recipe next.
Made my own broth – so this is just about the dumplin’s. I really love this recipe. The only thing I changed was to use unsalted butter instead of shortening because we eat all natural/organic. Butter works just fine and this will be my 3rd time making it. Thanks so much so posting!
I’m from Central NY so for me comfort food is anything that involves pasta and tomato sauce. Unfortunately that doesn’t always work for my Tennessean husband. The two southern mamaw dishes that he has wished I could make all the years we’ve been married were southern style chicken and dumplings and REAL southern style creamed corn. He loved this recipe so much he ate three huge helpings. The only thing I did differently was that I used all the broth to make the dumplings… I knew right away that 6 cups wouldn’t be enough to make all the dumplings I cut! It came out PERFECTLY and it passed the native East Tennessean taste test with flying colors! I’ll wait until fresh corn is in season to make the creamed corn. 🙂
Made as stated except added 4 more cups water and some chicken boullion. Fed 6 adults. Absolutely nothing left over. Yum!
I just wanted to Tell you I am a big Chicken pastry fan as well,served with collard greens and fried hush puppies, lol thats my favorite. but to help cut down on time when it comes to the pastry part, Murrays sales the dough cut up and ready to cook in the freezer section of the grocery.its great and cuts down on time spent make the dough from scratch, I personally just dont have the time… between work, school and screaming 2 yr olds. but try it and enjoy
You’ve got to be kidding. That’s why I’m here looking for a recipe. Those frozen dumplings they sell in the grocery store s*ck royally.
Mama Mary’s makes a dumpling that saves a lot of time and tastes wonderful.
My grandmother called this “Sliders” because they slide off your spoon. She never even visited the south and was of German heritage, made her noodles with flour, eggs and broth and insisted that they be a little thick and chewy. Still and all, they were very much like these. As for those frozen “dumplings”, I was sorry to have wasted my delicious, homemade broth on them. We also had the dumplings that steam on top of the broth, made with Bisquick, of course, and quite good, but Sliders were a very special treat and whenever I make them, I think of home.
I wanted to try making chicken and dumplings for the first time and I thought this would be a good one to start with. However im now left with a pot of wasted food. I cooked my dumplings for 7 mins, as it states, however they are completely raw on the inside. After mixing everything together and letting it cook for over an hour its still not done. Not sure if im the only one who had this problem, and this is my first time ever making chicken and dumplings, but I think the cook time for the dumplings needs to be changed.
Hmm, I think either your dumplings were too thick or your broth wasn’t hot enough. Or maybe a combination of both? The dumplings should be more like noodles, not more than 1/4-inch thick. That way they will start cooking through immediately. And depending on your stove, you may need to adjust the temperature from medium-low closer to medium. I’ve made this on an older electric stove and medium-low didn’t bring the broth anywhere close to a simmer so I had to turn the heat up. It shouldn’t be at a full boil but it should at least be steaming if not already starting to simmer. Thanks for the feedback, I adjusted the time to 7-10 minutes.
In my family we allow the noodles to dry. We make in the morning and flip occasionally through the day. We also just use flour, warm water, and an egg for the noodles. It does seem to help with the doughiness problem. 🙂
This sounds good. My mother made squirrel dumplings! I loved them but don’t think I want them now. We had to eat what we had. She made her dumplings also with the chicket broth and rolled the dumplings very very thin. Then dropped them in a rolling boil, turned down the heat and let sit till ready to eat. If you didn’t do this the dumplings would fall apart and you would have soup. Never, never, never stir the dumplings! They were so tender. And she would go out in the back yard, catch a chicken, chop her head off, dip in boiling water, pluck feather and make chicken and dumpling or make over fried chicken. Yum, yum, yum! I remember sitting in church on Sunday morning thinking about that chicken in the oven. My best part was the liver.
These were so good tonight. Quick and delish!… https://t.co/jhomaWE9me
I am 62 yrs old and have never been able to make dumplings that my family would eat. Just gave up eventually — then I saw your recipe and how much your boyfriend loves Cracker Barrel dumplings… had to try it. Made it and my husband and now grown boys told me to make it often. I couldn’t believe it! Anyway wanted to thank you. I’ve made this recipe 3 times and plan on using left over ham next time instead of chicken. Loved the chicken though.
Oh, that reminds me of the Ham and Dumplings my mother-in-law made. They are as wonderful to use dumplings in a new way. The salty ham really compliments the dumplings!
@watchkeep
Found it.
https://t.co/7Lr5dHgGzo
Let the dumplings begin!
🙂
“@jrb89728: @watchkeep
Found it.
https://t.co/XZoX5Z5pMt
Let the dumplings begin!
:-)” great!
I just use flour, salt , pepper, and chicken broth for my dumplings…they taste great and they are quick!
Years ago, I attended Fernwood Elementary school in Biloxi Mississippi. My Mom was an excellent cook but the cafeteria ladies were awesome southern cooks. Their chicken and dumplings were made in large deep pans. When they cut into a fresh pan to serve, it sort of resembled a chicken and dumpling lasagna. The broth was pale yellow which indicated that they used egg yokes to thicken the broth. I guess you would have to temper the eggs as not to scramble them. I also think fresh Italian parsley would add flavor and color to the dish. Now I’m hungry 🙂
Southern chicken & dumplings has a cream base…where is the milk?
To Janice DeFore: My Granny was born & raised (and died) in Alabama… her chicken & dumplings never had a cream/milk base… they were exactly like this… the ones I made last night were pretty good, but I think I may have done something wrong… the dumplings didn’t come out white like the ones pictured above… as they cooked, they turned kinda dark… anyone know what I might have done wrong here? Excellent recipe, btw… like I said, just like my Granny’s & she made the best!
These are the chicken dumplings I grew up on…however I have a secret to make these even easier and TRUST me they taste the same.You can buy these dumplings in the frozen food section (usually with the lumpia wrappers and sometimes with frozen dough). They are a white package with red lettering and a picture of a pig on it…I can not remember what the brand is…however, no one will ever know you chested and bought pre-made dumplings. This is now a regular in my house b/c it takes way less time to “make the dumplings” and any other recipe that calls itself chicken and dumplings and does not have a “thick noodle” like dumpling is really just Chicken and Biscuits :)!
Actually this is a Pennsylvania Dutch Recipe — and it is called Chicken Pot Pie. Chicken and Dumplings are just that.. dumplings. This recipe has been made for hundreds of years, since the 1700’s actually and my family has made it for generations. Your recipe is great, but the origins are not Southern, though through all these years I’m sure it made its way across all of the US.
This was so great! I’m eating it right now lol. Its like cracker barrels, but better! Thank you for the recipe!
My Mom made the best chicken & dumplin’ I’ve ever had. When she was alive, I didn’t even try making them because I knew I couldn’t make them like she did. This recipe is very similiar in ingredients and method. For the negative comments, I personally cannot abide what passes for dumplings in some places because I didn’t grow up eating those but if you did, I’m glad you can still have them. As for our little corner of Tennessee, this is what we like. Mom always used self rising flour and an egg and rolled the dough very thin. She also just allowed whatever fat was in the broth to serve as the fat in the dumplings. She did use whole chickens for the broth although she did not include vegetable in the cooking. Now that she is no longer with us, I have to make them myself so through trial and lots of error, I have adjusted her method in order to make them taste right to me. Like Mom always said, “there’s more than one way to get to town.” First I use plain flour, add salt and an egg but no leavening at all. Naturally you have to add the broth slowly to keep from cooking the egg. I use only chicken breast because that’s what we will eat and I do not strain the fat off. If the broth seems a little weak for not having all the “whole” parts, I add some boullion. The chicken is chopped and added at the end of the cooking process. The amount of fat in the broth has always worked for me and I’m sure the egg helps too. It seems to be enough. In order to get them thin enough to be like Mom’s I have to use the pasta machine to roll them but it works and doesn’t take too long. I just roll out section and cut them in strips. I dust the dumplings with flour and let them dry a bit on the counter before cooking, something else that Mom never had to do. Just before dropping the dumplings into the boiling broth, I add a can of cream of chicken soup to it and stir well. Yes, I realize that’s not authentic and it does have a lot of unpronounce-able ingredients but this is a once in a great while treat so I’m not worried about it. It makes the broth nice and creamy which is another trick I never mastered the “right” way. Very gently stir as you drop the strips of dough in boiling broth. Enough to keep them from sticking but not enough to tear them up. Mine are usually anywhere from 2 inch long to 4 inches long in varing widths. As soon as all the dumpings are in the broth, put the chopped chicken back in, stir one more time, then take the pot off the heat and put a lid on it. It needs to sit undisturbed for about 30 minutes to finish cooking. I’m convinced there is some magic that takes place during that time but since the lid is on and cannot be removed during the hanging out time, I can’t prove it. When you’re ready to eat, grind some black pepper on top and put them in a bowl to eat with a spoon. That’s not authentic either but it is necessary to get all that creamy goodness. Now I’m off to get the pasta machine out.
I am certain that you mean baking powder and not baking soda.
The original recipe calls for baking soda as well. I believe this is because the dumplings have milk in them? Also, they don’t actually rise at all. They puff slightly once you add them to the broth, but that’s about it, so baking powder really isn’t necessary.
When I was growing up, we use to visit my aunt and she would make Chicken and Dumplings for us. She called the dumplings “slicks”. She wouldn’t give out her recipe, but this nailed it. She is no longer with us, but when I make these, I will always remember her. Thanks for sharing your recipe.
I have had the chicken and dumplings at Cracker Barrel and found it to be one of the most tasteless disappointing dishes that I have ever eaten. My mother was British and a chicken stew had vegetables in it, carrots, celery, tomatoes, onions. She would stew the chicken with the vegetables, take it out, cut it up and put it under the broiler while she floated dumplings to simmer on the top of the stew for ten minutes. It had flavour and many textures. I love southern cooking for the most part but this one you can keep.
My Mom made Chicken ‘n Dumplings frequently since that has always been my favorite dish. I don’t know all the details but I do remember her always using a hen since it had more fat and always helped make a golden broth.
I made these today for the first time. They turned out fantastic. This is definitely a new family favorite. Thanks for the recipe.
Just a couple points to make about your wonderful recipe. Having grownup on a farm as a member of a very large family; this is the kind of food that were staples in a farm diet. As one commenter said this was traditionally made with an old stewing hen, as that person stated they had much more fat and flavor and had to be slow simmered to cook thoroughly and make tender. You are very correct in the proportion of celery carrot and onions during the simmering of the hen. There was plenty of time to make the dumplings because the hen had to simmer for about 3 hours. The dumpling were comprised of lard, baking powder, a small amount of butter and an egg. The dough was worked by hand with small additions of the simmering stock if it became a bit too dry. The dough was actually worked until the gluten of the flour came to life. The dough would be covered with kitchen towels until it was time to start cutting the dumplings and adding them to the pot.
The hen was removed from the pot and cooled enough to be pulled from the bone. The celery and onions were nearly impossible to remove because they were so well cooked. The carrots were carefully removed from the pot and placed in a serving bowl, for later. The dumplings were gently added to the simmering stock until they were all in. By now the chicken had cooled enough that the skin could be removed and the chicken meat gently added back into the broth and dumplings, after maybe 15 to 20 minutes it was time to dish the chicken and dumplings up on large serving platters. Forgive my rambling; but for the person that said it was supposed to have vegetables in it—this is not chicken pot pie or stew or anything else. This is old fashioned chicken and dumplings and this recipe is very good since some of the items; stewing hens and lard aren’t as readily available as they were on the farm. Please don’t tell me how unhealthy and too much salt this has. I am an 80+ year man and I have eaten this type thing all my life and am in great health.
Thank you for your recipe and the effort you put into recreating Chicken and Dumplings.
Perfect! Absolutely true to it’s Southern Scots/Irish roots. Slow cooked, stewed whole chicken, cut up with celery, onion and carrots, cooked at medium to medium low for 2-3 hours, thin strips of dough rectangles with or without fats or levening (we do it both ways) dropped into the strained broth and stripped chicken pieces, covered, and simmered until done, and milk may or may not be added to cream it up some, and salt and pepper to finish. THAT is the authentic Southern dish, that you posted. Cher Haile, author of Cher-ished Southern Recipes, a cookbook of original Southern family recipes, Atlanta, Georgia.
I always use chicken broth in the dumplings instead of milk and I also add a bit of poultry seasoning to the dry ingredients for added flavor. I use all purpose flour so they won’t thicken up too much. I do not add soda or shortening, just the flour, seasoning and broth. They are perfect every time.
My grandmother always finished up by adding a roughly chopped boiled egg, pouring into a baking dish, topping with a pastry crust, brushing it with butter, and baking until brown. Then when served up into individual bowls, you add a pat of butter and let it melt. Yum!
I have made these several times! I love them. I have made them following the recipe, and substituting butter for shortening, and subbing broth for milk. Every time it’s still a winner. Oh, and I am from the Midwest, and these are just like what my grandmother made. Not sure what the rude comment was about… Yum!
What would a Yankee know about “southern chicken and dumplins” or southern anything for that matter?
Thank you so much for posting this recipe. I too have been looking for ever for this recipe. When I first came from England to the Southern states it was one of the meals I fell in love with. I have lived in Canada for years now & over time I wished I had learned how to make it. I have looked on the Internet for a recipe, but what I found was never what I was looking for. This finally is it. Can’t wait to make it & enjoy. The only difference is that what I had before, the cooked chicken was kept separate & the noodles were cooked in the broth the same as here, but served on the side. Thanks agin.
Does this freeze well?
Does this freeze well?
We’ve never had enough leftovers, so I honestly don’t know if it freezes well. My concern would be that the dumplings would be too soft or would completely disintegrate when thawed and reheated. That said, if you want to make this ahead of time, you can definitely cook the chicken and freeze the broth and shredded chicken until you’re ready to serve this.
Enjoyed this although didn’t stick to ut totally. Used 1/2 self rising,1/2 ap since out of cake, broth in place of milk. Added a little 1/2 &1/2 with cornstarch to make sauce richer and only had breasts so simmered them. The dough isn’t really all that different from biscuit dough which is similar to the puffy dumpling dough so I think it is more the rolling that is really different(maybe a little less fat in these). I love any kind but had been looking for the cracker barrel type so this is good. Thanks
If the only chicken and dumplings I ever ate were at Cracker Barrel I would be very disappointed. My mother made them in Oklahoma by this recipe:
Chicken:
Cook a whole chicken until tender in a large pot with plenty of water, add salt, pepper and garlic powder while chicken simmers done. Remove chicken from pot, debone and add after dumplings are done.
Dumplings:
3 cups flour, sifted
1/2 tsp baking powder
3 eggs
1 tsp of salt or to taste
Mix together to form a soft dough. If more liquid is needed, add another egg or whole milk until dough comes together. Let rest for 20 minutes.
Turn dough out on floured surface and dust top with additional flour. Roll as thin as possible, you may have to add more flour to keep the dough from sticking to the rolling pin or rolling surface. It will fell leathery when right. Mom liked to see through hers.
Cut into strips and drop into stock at a rolling boil. When all dumplings are added, lower heat to very low and add a lid to the pot. Stir occasionally until dumplings are soft and done. (just taste them) After they are done, add deboned chicken and a cup of whole milk. Taste for more salt or seasoned pepper. Enjoy what real Oklahoma dumplings taste like!
Now I need to have chicken and dumplings! Thanks for posting this recipe. I am a big fan Cracker Barrels…they’re delicious!
YES THANK YOU! I have been looking for the same recipe and this is it! I love the creaminess of the sauce, with the those thick slabs of cooked dough, MMMM!
Oh my goodness! I have been searching endlessly for a recipe like this! Thank you, I think you just saved my sanity, because if I had to go through anymore of my grandma’s cookbooks or anymore food.com recipes I was gonna lose it! Thank you, thank you, thank you! My boyfriend and I are extremely excited about this!
Used this recipe last night and it was great! I added a couple of other spices as I always do to things I find online. My husband and his brother had never had chicken & dumplings (Starting to wonder if I actually married into a southern family!) They both loved it!! Plenty of stock left over to freeze for other recipes too.
just a few thoughts-
1)I have found this one is great for the turkey frame after Thanksgiving. ( if you don’t mind picking out the bones prior to starting the recipe.)
2) I also find this recipe a little bland. To remedy this, I add a little Adobo season mix to the stock and it turns out perfect (for me).
3) Thank you for the recipe- this is a “cheap to make hit” with my office pot lucks. The best part is that it is easy to carrier in a crock pot and gets better and thicker over time.
The longer you let your dumplings simmer the better. I learned this by trial and error. Probably need to let them simmer for 30 to 40 minutes. Love me some southern style dumlins’ just like grandmothers.
Instead of milk I use chicken broth in the dumpling mixture.
I’m so disappointed! My dumplings are turning brown! What happened?!!
Did the dumplings turn brown as they were hardening or did it only happen once added to the broth? It’s definitely normal for them to darken as they sit, but otherwise this hasn’t ever happened to me before. It may be something to do with the flour that you used. Or maybe something in the chicken stock that affected the dumpling? Hopefully it didn’t affect the taste.
Oh wow….now I’m really hunger for some of that! And it’s only 8am! Well, off to the store to get what I need! hahaha!
Oh yea, I did find that wal-mart carries “pre-made and cut” dumplings! And it’s got all the stuff in it that’s bad for you. Going to stock up on that since making the dumplings is the hardest part.
Have a great meal!!
This is not chicken and dumplings, this is a slippery pot pie recipe. Big difference.
Um, no? This is actually nothing like a pot pie. There is no pie involved. The dumplings are like noodles and the end result is basically a stew. I have several recipes for chicken pot pie (and even chicken pot pie soup!) on this very blog and this recipe neither looks or tastes like any of them, it’s very much its own thing. But thanks for your comment!
I have traveled all over the country and have had chicken and dumplings with this type of dumpling and also the big round fluffy dumpling. I think there is no right or wrong; I love both. It seems to be a regional thing. I currently live in Pennsylvania where there are strong Amish/Pennsylvania Dutch influences. Yes, in the Lancaster, PA area this exact dish is called slippery pot pot or just simply pot pie and is made in every Pennsylvania Dutch market and restaurant. My husband says his grandmother of German heritage made this dish and called these slippery dumplings whereas my grandmother, also of German heritage, made the fluffy round dumplings. Can we not just focus on the fact that this particular recipe is for this particular type of dish? If you prefer the other then fine but don’t be negative or insulting.
i grew up on chicken and dumplins. i know i left the g off.. lol.. i grew up in tx and both my mother and grandmother made this dish for us kids… we loved it. i make this same recipe with one exception, in both the broth while cooking the chicken and making the dumplins, i use (here it comes) powdered goat milk. both because its sweeter and to me better tasting. just dont do as i did the very first time and put it in HOT simmering water… makes a heckuva mess on boilover.. other than that this is just like the recipe my grandmother made…
Can the dumplings be made ahead and frozen for later use? There are only two of us and we probably would not need all of them at once.
Hi Shari,
I haven’t tried it, but I don’t see why you couldn’t freeze the dumplings. Many people in the comments have mentioned that you can buy pre-made frozen dumplings at the grocery store so if those work then freezing homemade ones should work, too. You should just make sure that they’re completely thawed and back at room temp before using them.
That said, I frequently make this recipe just for me and my boyfriend and he actually wishes that it had more dumplings, so you may still be fine unless you guys just prefer small portions.
Emily, we had the same problem in our house! When I first married my husband, he asked me to make chicken and dumplings, and I made dumplings just like you did – the kind that you put on the top of the stew and cover (“no peeking!”). He took one look at the dish and said, “What is THAT?” I was crushed.
So we did just like you and foraged for many, many, many chicken and dumpling recipes on line, until he saw a photo that looked just like yours, and said, “THESE are dumplings!”
Life has been wonderful since then 🙂
I stopped by your blog because I misplaced THE dumpling recipe, and had to find a new one. Thanks for your story!
I learned to make dumplings from my Mother who was born is east TN in 1917.This is how her Mother & Grandmother taught her. So this is a very old southern recipe.I’ve been making chicken & dumplings for 45 yrs. To keep you dumpling from being too tender & falling apart, use ONLY plain all purpose flour & salt. Do not use baking powder or soda. You want the dough to be tough. Roll & knead your dough out to about 1/8″ thick.Use self-rising flour to flour your working surface & for kneading.This is all the leaving agent your dumplings need.Cut it into long strips about 1&1/4″ wide,& your length needs to be just a little shorter than the in-side of your pot with the chicken broth.Bring the broth to a rolling boil & add about 1/2 as much milk as broth.Salt & pepper to taste & bring to a boil.Slowly place the dumplings in a row side by side.Let them cook 45 seconds or until they start puffing up. Add another row going across the first almost like a lattice. Let each row cook till they puff.Keep adding more rows of dumplings.It’s important you keep your broth slow boiling while you are adding the dumplings.Also DO NOT stir your dumplings until they are cooking & becoming firm. It will turn them into mush if you do.Don’t let them stick to the bottom of your pot. I will take a long handled spoon & gently scrap around the bottom to make sure it not sticking. Once you have all the dumplings in the pot ,turn to low heat.You should have a slow bubble on low.I add the chicken pieces at this point & gently stir. You will have to adjust the amount of milk as you add the dumplings.I use White Lily Flour only.I use the biscuit recipe on the bag for my dumplings.I always use shorting in my dumplings.Butter makes them to soft & gooey.This is an old Appalachian Mountains recipe.It doesn’t have any veggies in it. We always just have homemade Buttermilk Biscuits with this meal.I’ll be happy to answer any questions if needed. Good Luck!!
I tried this last night and it was fantastic! I was a nervous wreck making it… but was pleased with the results. Will definitely make it again, only i’ll make sure i have a rolling pin. I had to smoosh the dough between two cutting trays.. it didnt work out as well as id hoped. Haha. But anyway, thanks for the recipe! Its a new favorite!
Use some of that chicken broth instead of the milk. Have been doing that for years. Adds a lot of flavor.
Thank you SO much for this fabulous recipe! This is my second time making it and we LOVE it!! I make peas and pearl onions as a side and blend it all together and it’s delicious!
This recipe was incredible, very easy to follow and it turned out great! I’ve never tried this before and was pleasantly surprised. The only thing I added was a little flour to the end mixture, as I wanted my sauce to be really thick. Thank you for posting this
This is the same as what central Pennsylvanians call Pot Pie. My dough is 4 cups AP flour, 4 walnut sized pieces of shortening, 1 tsp baking powder, 1 1/2 tablespoons salt and enough cold water to hold it together in a soft dough. I add the water to the dough in about 4 additions….each time I add water, I gather the top flour mix into a ball, removing that ball and adding more water and repeat the process. Roll out onto a floured surface and cut with a pizza wheel into squares…drop into simmering Chicken broth in which you have the cooked chicken off the bone, and a couple sliced potatoes. Add fresh chopped parsley and cook for 20 minutes with the lid on. Yum!
Great recipe!!! Smoked a huge turkey (over apple wood) for Christmas several years ago and make 9-inch chicken (now turkey) pot pies for the freezer. I haven’t tried it, but I bet a different twist here would be to put some of that great smoked turkey in this recipe. The pot pies were pretty darn good so I believe this would be too. Thanks for the recipe!!!
These are “actual” dumplings if you are from the South. We don’t drop dumplings in wads, we roll them out thin and gently bestow them IN the chicken broth so they will be tender all the way through and not a big wad of anything.
I know this is an awesome make-from-scratch recipe! You want quick and boyfriend pleasing, and so I am going to provide here shortly. My grandma lived in Arkansas and I might be treated (from mom or grandma) chicken n dumplings just like this (from scratch) or, I’ve seen my grandma cut up canned biscuits for a short cut, or buy packaged thick, twisty noodles (called dumpling noodles) to make it, but, eh, neither are quite the same. I’m pretty sure I’ve had it where the bone and skin were still in the pot when it was served, just depends. In a respect it’s like spaghetti. no two pots are just alike depending on the ingredients used (tomato products, olives mushrooms, etc.) Pot luck.
My electricity has been out since Saturday and MI came to stay with a friend in a nearby town (Eugene/Springfield) on Monday). Wednesday, I decided I should provide dinner and I wanted to do it economically because I am on a budget and I would need to feed 6 people (friend, friend’s husband and 3 children and myself) so, I decided on chicken and dumplings. I bought a bag of frozen chicken breasts (which you cook from frozen), a box of bisquick (makes wonderful dumplings!) and a box of Knorr chicken bullion cubes (.87 cents I think). My friend had the milk needed.
Boneless chicken breast takes 20 minutes to cook (it’s a law and I learned it from my grown daughters who have it mastered and make a great recipe called Salsa Soup using it). Bone-in chicken requires much more cooking time.
I used a big stainless steel dutch oven, dumped the entire contents of the bag of boneless chicken breasts in it, and covered it with plenty of water and then some (I wanted plenty of cooked broth). I cooked uncovered (entire process). I sat down at my laptop (in my relax place) and wrote down the time in my notepad so I could keep up with the 20 minutes. I knew I would allow more cooking time because I started the pot cold. It is 20 minutes from when it starts boiling. At some point I got back in the kitchen and made the dumpling dough using the recipe on the side of the box. I doubled the recipe using 4 1/2 cups of Bisquick and filled the small 1 cup liquid measure to the 2/3 line twice (to double the recipe.) I used the appropriate measuring cups for dry and liquid measuring.
I shouldn’t forget to include that I’d crumbled 4 of the Knorr bullion cubes into the pot, and sprinkled salt like one would for generally salting water. It wouldn’t have tasted salty enough at the time but it would be reduced by time it was serving time and the salt would condense so I didn’t touch the seasoning any more (except for adding pepper seasoning) until I could taste it right at the tail end of the cooking process to see if any salt would be needed which it did not it was just right.
I worked on a large wooden cutting board that my friend had prepped earlier by squeezing out lime juice from cut lime wedges and cleaning the board with the juice, and she did the same to the rolling pin (I waited for those to dry and had never heard of liming before as she called it). I sprinkled the board (and rolling pin) with bisquick (not flour, only because the instructions were to use bisquick for the sprinkling/dusting) and turned out my dough and kneaded it for several minutes and it became rather elastic, then I rolled it out. It was about a quarter inch thick I think but it was probably twice as thick as what I see in your pictures which look very thin. I would have liked to have rolled it even thinner but I had already taken up all the space on the cutting board and I was time pressed, and so I cut my strips then cut dumpling pieces at an angled cut. Sometimes I cut through 2 or 3 rows at a time, sometimes one row at a time. They were not all uniform in size but close enough. After finishing that task I gathered them all up into a bowl to transfer over to the pot. While I worked on the dumplings my friend transferred all the hot cooked chicken breasts to a plate to cool for cutting up (and she got out an additional plate for working on/with).
The dumplings were solid, would not stick together, a result of the kneading and rolling out process). I started by dropping them in the pot from my hand but hot water was splashing up so I got to loading up the long slotted spoon with a pile of them and lowered it into the pot and turned them out (they did not stick to each other). I wanted to get them all in at virtually the same time to cook evenly).
After getting that task done I turned to the chicken breasts and took 2 or 3 pieces at a time to the extra plate and sliced and diced into good size chunks. I’d return the processed chunks to the plate with the whole pieces until I’d processed them all, after which I returned the chicken to the pot with the dumplings, scraping in all the little bits fallen from the cutting process before dunking the plates into the hot soapy sink water.
I stirred the pot, turned it from high to the medium high and returned to my relax spot with my laptop and noted the time in notepad. I planned to cook for about 20 minutes. When I saw that it would time out at :37 I altered it to :40 for completion (extra few minutes), and that was completion of ‘active’ cooking time and would let it stand for at least 10 minutes after turning off the heat.
I went in every few minutes, stirred and adjusted the heat, turning it down just another notch or so because it was reducing and thickening and I didn’t want it to burn or scald at the bottom and had to be more vigilant through that last stretch of time. It kept at a steady bubbling boil even as I turned it down as it thickened up. I din’t want it too low either because I needed it to reduce (so the liquid could evaporate some at a pace.)
So, the :40 finally arrived and I went in and switched off the pot, gave it a stir, and that’s when I said to my friend “Did you say you wanted to make mashed (instant) potatoes and corn to go with it?” She’s like “Oh! I forgot about that!” I said, it’s okay, this is the perfect time to do it. This pot needs to set and it should be just about right by time you get done with those.
They’d never had chicken and dumplings before and my friend said (and explained to her children) “It looks so plain but it’s special”. She raved for a while, everyone else was busy eating. Before the meal she was worried about not having enough of the big deep bowls and some people would have to use the smaller regular size bowls i.e. Corelle standard bowl size, which I used, but, the way this dish fills a tummy, I couldn’t possibly eat another bite after I got through with the bowl. It is filling. The leftovers got containered up, just like the spaghetti makings from the day before and both have made quick heat up meals (brunch) Thursday and today (Friday, Valentine’s Day). There was a large full tub of leftover chicken and dumplings on Thursday morning and now there’s about a quarter of that. It made do for dinner, it has stretched, and it works!
Speaking of carrots, celery and onion. I only started making chicken and dumplings again in the past few months (after years) since I started buying boxes of bisquick to make biscuits, pancakes, and dumplings with. I’ve considered a couple times now about adding carrot, celery, and onion but I didn’t want to veer away from the traditional recipe but it didn’t occur to me to use them to enhance my broth flavor and then discard the cooked remnants of the veggies (at least until I read your recipe) so I will be doing it that way in a future batch (when I feel like doing the extra steps).
Also, I’m going to twist my dumplings (noodles) before I add them to the pot next time. I could twist them individually after I cut them, or twist the length of the strip before cutting the dumpling pieces (which would probably be the most efficient method me thinks).
I’ve cut the edges straight, at a slant, and for those worried about thickness, thinness, to be quite honest, it’s only a matter of what you want for dumpling variety, whether the dumpling strip is thinner or thicker, twisted (for fun), or straight, cut at an angle or straight/squared, it will still be a delicious dumpling as long as you prepare your dumpling dough properly.
When I lost my power last week I thought I’d try to cook a tiny pot of dumplings on my Dietz lantern cooker. I didn’t have enough milk to properly moisten the dough (wasn’t using the recipe just making throwing together, I thought I’d be creative and improvise.) I saw a little container of buttery garlic dip for Ceasar’s pizza or bread sticks and thought it might do nicely, but ugg, I had to throw it all out it was gross and inedible and my dumpling dissolved into mush in the pot. I was glad to see that our SouthernGirl (if I got the blog writer’s username right) had already had the experience, which I immediately related to, having had both my experimental failure and big family success (by sticking to the traditional dough recipe and using the milk it called for) in the same week.
Wow, this is such a long post. I hope I haven’t exceeded my character limit.
Thank you, thank you for the chicken and dumpling recipe!!!!! This is what my grandmother used to make and I never have found a recipe for the dumplings–they’re all for the drop dumplings–not the right thing at all! (Bless your boyfriend!) I can hardly wait to make this recipe. (BTW,Grandmother also used just chicken wings for those times that are tough.) Thanks again!
Elizabeth Madlener
Made this today. Great recipe! Easy to follow. Thanks to a snow day for giving me the time. It really reminded me of my grandma’s chicken & dumplins and my husband said the best he EVER had. I only made 2 slight tweaks: 1) added a few bay leaves while boiling the chicken; 2) rolled the dumplins a little thinner. Definitely a keeper!
Try using the chicken fat after the stock cools and solidifies for the dumplings instead of shortening. Makes better flavor. My great great great Mammy used it in her recipe in 1871.
Yummy, great cook suggestions. .
Makes since♡♡♡
Can you use regular flour if you don’t have any cake flour?
You can make your own cake flour. FOr ever cup of flour you measure out, take out 2 T of flour and replacing it with either corn startch or I use tapioca startch.
All-Purp will work also Katie…
I used this recipe and it was a hit with my family.
Thank you for posting this. My grandmother, who was raised in Kentucky and raised her own kids in North Carolina, made this almost every Sunday for us. It is my favorite dish to remind me of her, but she passed away last year and never wrote down the recipe. I’m so glad I found this! It was spot on!
Not a pretty picture? Oh yes it is! I can’t wait to try these. They look just like the one’s my Mother use to make-since we didn’t have a lot of money she would make them at least once a month and we never got tired of them. Can’t thank you enough for this recipe since I lost all of hers.
Thank you so much, this is a terrific recipe. The only thing I do different is to make an 8 pound Perdue roast chicken as dinner for two the night before, and reserve the meat and carcass for the chicken and dumplings. When I make the broth, I use the carcass from the first meal. The neck and gizzards are used in the first meal for gravy. This provides two great meals with the same bird which are very different (better than just leftovers).
Hehe! It is always hard to live up to the memory of a grandmothers meals. I am glad you finally nailed it!
I will have to look into trying this recipe.
Thank you so much! My mother used to make this when I was younger and I helped cut the dumplings and put them in the pot. She passed away when I was 21 and I thought the recipe went with her! Thank you!!!!!!!
Could you make this with cooked chicken breasts and store bought broth? If so, how many breasts do you think it would take? Thanks
Melissa, I used 4 full breast torn up for the 2 of us , but we are big chicken eaters..
You can also use 2 or 3 pounds chicken thighs….
This was tasty and the texture of the dumplings was right, but they turned an unappetizing gray color when cooked. Could be the baking soda. Most other southern style dumpling recipes I’ve seen use baking powder, not soda. That’s how my Aunt Helen made them and hers were not gray.
Michelle I have also put yellow food color in my dumplings to give it better color. Just 2 or 3 drops. If you need more then put more in because food coloring will not change the taste of your dumplings.
Hey Y’all , I would betcha if ol’jbird did a bit ah lookin he’d find out what they call MID-WESTERN is really just some Yankee’s attempt at improving on a “GOOD’OL SOUTHERN TRADITION” …..Seems to be the thing they always try to do and mess it all up….The South has been feedin folks for hundreds of years and the food is always copied with a twist or two up north….
In fact my mamaw used to say,” The South is so big coz we had to expand just to hold all them Yankee’s comin down to eat on Sunday an forgeetin the way back home….”
For ya’all lookin for “Baking Powder Dumplings…..”
2 Cups All-purp flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 cup chicken broth
1 Egg beaten slightly
Optional Items….
1 Tablespoon Chopped Parsley
1 Tablespoon minced onion
===================================
Mix the dry ingredients in a med. bowl till all mixed up.
Stir in the broth an d egg mixture till all is moist.
Pour it out on a floured surface and knead just a lil’bit.
Roll out to about 1/8 inch thick.
Now cut in the size pieces you want,(I used mini cookie cutters when the grandkids was here, they had a ball and will remember cookin with papaw)
Drop you dumplings into boiling broth and lower heat to medium …
Cook 15 minutes or till done……
The first time I made these I used Baking Powder by accident, they were awesome. When I made it a second time, I used the Baking Soda the recipes called for. The dumplings came out terrible. They were gray and chewy. Note to self: use baking powder. Just wanted to let everyone else know as well.
Handy tip, if you are having trouble with the grey color and want it all more golden, when you make the stock keep the peel on the onion. The papery peel gives it a rich color.
Turmeric is a spice that some use for yellow or golden coloring in dish. Just have to be very careful to just use a pinch or it will be screaming yellow and not very attractive. Turmeric is what is used to make good old USA yellow mustard.
My Eastern North Carolina grannie always made her pastry with flour, water and salt. She’d sift the flour and salt then add enough water to make a dough. She then rolled it out and cut her pastry strips. Interestingly, her chicken and pastry was layered in the pot. All of the broth and chicken was removed from the pot-chicken was shredded and no fat skimmed from the broth. First a layer of pastry, chicken and repeated layers ending with pastry. All of the broth was poured back into the pot and lid put on. Bring to a boil then turn down to a simmer for about 30 minutes. That’s how I had chicken and pastry whenever we were together! Also there was always a random black eye pea here and there in my bowl of yummyness!
So many recipes out there for dumplings! I love the Cracker Barrel variety — strips of tough/tender dough in a thick sauce. Dumplings should have some chew to them, not dissolve into feathery bits. I actually like them dense so that you have to cut them with a fork.
Big question — egg or no egg? I know traditional egg pasta is just flour, eggs and water and salt. Some dumpling recipes have egg, some don’t. Some have a lot of fat, some none at all. Other than going all Cooks Illustrated and spending an entire weekend making twenty different kinds, any thoughts on what effect eggs have in dumplings?
Made this tonight and it was awesome. I did change up the dumpling recipe a tad. I used baking powder instead of baking soda due to the comments I read and it worked great. I also added 1 egg to mine to hold the dumplings together since I used the home made chicken broth with the fat that was on top for the liquid/fat that was called for in the original recipe. It made for some pretty flavorful dough and the dumplings were so good. I basically added the egg to the dry ingredients and stirred it in, then took ladles of the hot broth and kept adding and stirring until it held together with no dry flour left in bowl. The dough was warm and sticky but rolled out great with a little flour which I left on the dumplings since I wanted it to thicken the broth as the dumplings cooked. Once cooked, I removed from heat and added some heavy cream to bring out the richness of the broth and added a handful of chopped fresh parsley. The bright green parsley really made it stand out plus it added a fresh flavor.
I’ve made this recipe many times and my family love, love, loves it!!! The recipe is fairly straight forward although it is a little more time consuming than most of the dinners I cook. I usually go untraditional and add celery, onion, carrots and peas to my chicken and noodles. Also, I have only used regular flour and not cake flour and the recipe turns out just fine.
I’m excited to try this recipe. It looks like my grandmother’s Chicken and Dumplings. Sometimes she’d add in slices of boiled eggs. Delicious.
so can I use all purpose flour not sure I have ever seen cake flour?
I have made your dumplings and they are quite good. As an alternative, try Mary B’s Open Kettle dumplings. They are frozen, and I buy them at Harris Teeter. Spread half the package out on a cutting board and let sit for about fifteen minutes, and then cut each strip in half lengthwise with a pizza cutter and then into thirds to make six pieces out of each one. These are really good and cut the time to prepare the dish. Also, I use a store bought (Costco) already roasted chicken. Strip it of the meat. Save all the skin, bones and wings and boil with about 12 cups water with some vegetables (onion, carrot, celery and celery leaves, etc.) with garlic, basil, salt, pepper, parsley for about an hour to make your stock, scoop out the vegetables when ready. Chop up the chicken, throw it in with the dumplings and cook for another hour or so. Yummy. If your want vegetables in it, add for the last thirty minutes or so.
Here is a simple recipe for easy dumplings with no milk. It is for those who like the drop dumplings. They hold together very well. Reheat well and freeze well.
DUMPLINGS:
2 C. all purpose flour 1 1/2 t. salt
1 T. baking powder 2 T. Veg. oil
1 C. warm broth (or warm water)
Mix in a pinch or two of chives or parsley, if desired.
Combine flour, salt, and baking powder. Add oil and broth (or water) and mix
until smooth. Add a bit more water (if needed)until dumplings are soft and not at all dry. Dough should be a bit sticky. Bring broth to a boil and add dumplings by teaspoons full. Reduce heat and simmer for 4 to 5 minutes. Add chicken and heat through.
Thanks so much. This is the type of dumplings my mom made, and are the true dumplings in my opinion. I’ve never seen a recipe, before now, for this type of dumplings. They have a much better and fuller taste
My dumplings are my great Aunts recipe and they look just like your picture and taste awesome….and are very easy…..4 eggs, 4 cups of flour, one cup cooled chicken broth from the big fat hen you just cooked all day. A dash of salt and pepper. Remover chicken and bones from broth, make dumplings and drop in boiling broth….add deboned chicken. Simple and delicious.
Hi! Just wanted to say that I made this tonight for my boyfriend who LOVES cracker barrel’s chicken and dumplings (in fact that is all he eats when we goes there) and I also made them for our friends who are from the South (who grew up with chicken and dumplings) and they all LOVED your recipe. Thank you so much for sharing it 🙂
I used this recipe for dumplings this evening. They were absolutely positively delicious! And, they weren’t too thin. I had been using (don’t snort) canned biscuit dough for years. I just rolled them out about 1/3 inch thick on a super floury surface and made a fine slippery dumpling. But, it is impossible to find the biscuits that I used anymore and discovered that “flaky”, “country-style”, or “buttery” biscuits just fall apart in the broth.
I never got my mother’s recipe before she passed away. I only know that she used bisquick to make them but I wanted to just use a basic flour recipe.
I used chicken fat rather than shortening and they turned out wonderfully tender and tasty. I did simmer them for 40 minutes (stirring frequently so that they would not stick and burn on the bottom) and then let them sit for 20 minutes. That rest period adds so much to the final taste and mouth-feel of the dish.
I will definitely be using this recipe exclusively for my chicken and dumplings. Thank you so much for sharing it.
I totally agree that it shouldn’t be contaminated with vegetables. That’s how it was when I was a child and I loved it because of that.
Just made this last night for my husband, who also LOVES CB’s chicken and dumplings. He told me it was “excellent” multiple times as he helped himself to firsts and then seconds. Thanks for this awesome recipe!
Made these a few weeks ago and my family loved them. I lost the recipe and tried others and they were a flop. Finally found this recipe again and can’t wait to make them tonight!
I tried it but my dumplings were brown and not fluffy like Cracker Barrel’s. Why? FYI: I did add a little more milk to the dough because it was so difficult to knead it.
I used to work at cb and they don’t use while fryer chicken it’s just chicken strips
I know this is a tough question, but is there a way to make dumplings without wheat flour, preferably with almond, oat, or coconut flour? Also, can I replace the shortening with beef tallow?
Just a point of clarification, you recipe call for rolling the dough to a 1/4 of an inch thick. That would create much thicker dumplings than those pictured. They would actually finish up looking like small biscuits. It should call for 1/8 thickness.
hi ma’am i dont have a fine mesh sieve is there another way to drain the broth
I made this tonight and it went great! It was my first time ever making homemade chicken and dumplings. It took some time but was well worth it! I also used baking powder instead of baking soda after reading some of the comments. The only thing I would change for net time is to use more spices, I had to use an awful lot of pepper for flavoring this time. Next time, I will know what to do better. Thanks!
If you use baking soda it needs an acid for it to react so i did sourcream mixed with the milk. Dumplings came out light and fluffy.
This looks very similar to what my aunt used to make. She made the best Chicken & Dumplings I have ever had, but never wrote down her recipe. I have been looking for a recipe for years that would compare. Most recipes I found have drop, not rolled dumplings. Going to give this one a try. Thanks for posting this.
Add 3tsps. Baking powder to cake flour when making dumplings.
I could have written your post years ago. My husband is a Charleston, SC country boy. First time I made C&Ds for him (I never had it before), I made the drop dumplings. He stated at it for about 5 min before testing a spoonful and shaking his head.
A while ago I found a recipe similar to yours and got it “right”. It was simple and old fashioned. But now I have kids (4) and dinner is limited to anything I can make in 30 min or less… and I found a way. So if anyone wants to make it taste like you cooked for days and have “grandma’s” taste here is a quick and dirty recipe.
Boil frozen chicken breasts (6 lg)
Add salt and pepper now (after it thickens makes clumps of pepper and is gross)
Add chicken broth bullion 1/2c (powdered)
Shred chicken into large shreds (just got a kitchen aid mixer and cut my time by 10 min since it shreds for me)
Flour surface
Roll out one biscuit at a time (MUST be Grands Southern Style).
Cut into strips however you like them
Test flavor of stock, should be a tad bland. Add a package of chicken gravy, let thicken and test flavor. Salt to taste.
Add in dumplings and boil on med until almost done, add chicken back in. Simmer 5 min and voila. Olde time Chicken and Dumplings any time you want. Even the hardest Southern critic finds no fault.
My mom grew up in North Dakota. She makes a wonderful German chicken soup with drop dumplings.
I prefer my Southern Grandma’s chicken and dumplings.
I will have to try your version. Thanks.
I have made delicious dumplings that hold together well using only chicken broth(skimmed from the top of the pot the chicken is stewed in so there is a good amount of fat in it), flour, a little ice water and a little salt. My broth had no salt in it yet. If the broth had already had salt added to it, I would not have used any more for the dumpling dough.
I use NO milk and No baking soda or baking powder. My dumplings fluff up so that they are just tender enough, but still have a satisfying “bite” and do not fall apart in the broth.
This is how my grandmother made them too. Just used the stock – yummy!
I’ve been making chicken and dumplings since I was 10… Was taught by my Grandmother. The tip someone said about using chicken fat in place of some of the short ing is a good one. Also, I was taught to use eggs as part of the dumpling dough. If you’re in a hurry and don’t want to debone the chicken and still want a flavorful broth, use skinless boneless chicken thighs: simmer them in chicken broth with the carrots, celery and onion.
A little “cheat” for making the dumplings is using Bisquick. I put bisquick mix in a bowl and mix in milk till it forms a nice dough. Then roll out and proceed the way you do in your recipe. I also have a husband that had “granny’s” recipe to live up to. Lol I finally have perfected it, and the bisquick doesn’t mess up the “right ness” 🙂
i can’t wait 2 c if this is like my aunt Helen’s
I have used lasagna noodles in a pinch, works great. soak a little first, then break or cut into pieces
I am from the Maritime, New-Brunswick, Canada.
This is how I make my chicken stew but no shortening in my dough. Delicious!
My mother and grandmother used to make this. And now my children make it.
Thank you, have looked for this also for over 40 yrs. my mother in law made this in her life time but like most southern cooks, didn’t measure anything and I’m not a good cook so couldn’t keep up.
I followed all the instructions, but the broth did not thicken up. Why?
Add a can of cream of chicken soup to the broth before cooking the dumplings and it will thicken up the broth and gives it a great taste.
I have finally found that if your broth doesn’t thicken enough the trick. Take a container that will seal tight, fill up 3/4 with COLD water. Add 2 or 3 tb of flour. Put lid on and shake. The cold water and flour add last keeps it from clumping. Add to c&d and stir. It will thicken right up.
Oh my…I followed everything exactly except for the Baking Soda, I used Powder instead. I loved it, and the family loved it. This is even better than Cracker Barrel because you make everything fresh, and it is really not hard to do at all. This was the only reason I ever went to CB, and now that I can make it at home…Goodbye CB!
This is my Dad’s grandmother’s recipe. Only difference is the baking powder instead of the soda and she left all the vegetables in. She also boiled eggs and dropped them in the last 5 minutes and added a can of evaporated milk which makes the broth creamier. I have seen it with cream of whatever soup and does not give it the same taste or consistency.
I have used your recipe now for the last several “chicken n’ dumplins” night. Sooo gooood! Thank you for your “right-ness”. This was the way my Granny made it, but I was never able to get her recipe.
I just made this recipie and all I can say is: WOW! This is like the chicken and dumplings my Grandmother made. Love it!
I’ve also read when you cook your chicken in the pot with the veggies let the whole pot cool & even put in fridge over night. the next day scrap the fat that has hardened on top of the pot & use that instead of shortening.
Thank you! Finally a recipe for real/true southern dumplings like my mother made.
Instead of milk, use a 50/50 mix of cold chicken broth and buttermilk. Cook for 25 minutes COVERED!
Can I make this in a crock pot?
I haven’t tried it so I’m not sure. I assume you’d have to make a bunch of adjustments to cooking times, etc. I’ve seen other Chicken and Dumplings recipes on pinterest that were specifically for crock pots, so you’d probably be better off trying one of those recipes instead.
Beth, I wouldn’t make them in a crock pot. I have beem making chicken and dumplings for 45 years, and I am 56 years old. I don’t have a real recipe per SE, but here is hoe my grandma taught me: she boiled a whole chicken with onion, celery and carrots, then cooled and deboned it, but what I do now is use about 2# of boneless skinless chicken thighs, same onions, carrots and celery, 48 oz of chicken stock, water, and a chicken boullion cube. Boil chicken, then remove chicken, strain stock and discard veggies. For dumplings, I beat 5 eggs, about 1/3 cup milk (I don’t measure) in a small bowl. In a large bowl, I start with about 4 cups flour and maybe a half Tablespoon baking powder and maybe a Tablesppon of salt mixed in. Pour in egg mixture and make a mess! Then, when you have enough flour mixed in, put flour on the kitchen counter and get to kneading! Just start kneading in flour until the dough is no longer sticky. Next, get a knife and cut off some dough, and start rolling out the dumplings thin with a rolling pin. Roll them out the thickness or thinness you want. Cook them in the broth a handful at a time. When you’re done cooking all the dumplings, add everything back into the pot (I always add some cream to the remaining stock) and serve. This is REAL chicken and dumplings: none of that biscuit dough nonsense!
I make mine like my grandmother did which is similar to these but I cook my chicken in the crock pot and then add water to the broth that cooks off, the chicken is much more tender this way. Also, I use my chicken stock for my liquid in the dumplins instead of milk. I add chicken bullion and a can of cream of chicken soup to add more chicken flavor. Hands down my kids favorite meal!
I’ve been using this recipe for years. My hubby and our two picky kids all love it. We never have leftovers. My sister will even drive over for dinner when she knows I’m making this. No more Cracker Barrel – this tastes so much better! I don’t change anything – I follow the dumplings recipe as is and it’s always perfect. Yummy yummy
I have made this many times, but I only use flour, eggs, and salt. I have never had any problem with the noodle falling apart…
I was always taught using biscuit dough, it does not disintegrate in the broth! I just throw them in after the chicken is done cooking add a little salt and pepper and voila!
Delicious I love this one I feel like you do I have search and search for a recipe I like
Speaking from a chemistry point of view: Baking Soda requires the use of buttermilk. 1 Tablespoon of Baking Powder may be used if using Whole Milk. Baking Powder is most commonly used in biscuits, pastry’s, dumplings, etc. There is a difference. In order to be able to refrigerate the dumplings before cooking, I recommend using the baking powder.
I never heard of cake flour is that all purpose flour?
Hi Pamela,
Cake flour isn’t the same as AP flour, it’s lighter than AP flour so it’s usually used to make soft/tender cakes and similar baked goods. I believe it’s used in this recipe so that the dumplings won’t be too hard or chewy. You shouldn’t have any trouble finding it in your grocery store along with the rest of the flours. It’s usually in a box instead of the satchels that AP flour comes in. Alternately, you can make it at home just by sifting together AP flour and cornstarch. Here’s a good recipe to follow.
I wouldn’t recommend using self-rising or cake flour for dumplings. I’ve tried both when I didn’t have AP Flour on hand, and the dumplings were a mess: they would either puff up or disintegrate. A real Southern dumpling in chicken and dumplings is flat: only AP flour with a little baking powder (and eggs and either milk or broth) will produce the wonderful, real thing!
Thank you for your reply to my question. I always have AP flour, so this has helped me alot. My mom always made these but I cant remember how she did them. I think she just used flour and the broth. Maybe this will work for me. Thanms again.
Pamela
That is why the folks are saying their dumplings disentegrated when using the chicken broth, my Great Grandmother taught me using the broth with AP flour, no eggs nor cake flour either.
Old fashioned dumplings are not typically light or fluffy.
Totally agree! And so happy it’s finally chicken and dumpling weather here in Texas!
I’m in my 50’s and have been eating the chicken and dumplings my grandmother or mother made all my life. They of course mixed together the ingredients until it felt “right”. I cook a lot and decided I would find a recipe that I could get “right”. This one hit the mark! Really the only thing I added was some potatoes which was how I have always eaten this. My family is from Pennsylvania and we have always called this pot pie. Very confusing I know, but none the less, that is what we call it. Btw, I have had this made with chicken, turkey and beef and all three are delicious! Thanks for the wonderful recipe!
I grew up eating this recipe, and I like you, knew this as chicken pot pie. I was also born in Penn. I make the recipe with eggs and flour and water. It never falls apart in the chicken broth and thickens up nicely.
When my brothers all come home for the family reunion this is one of the recipes they always want to have while they visit. It brings back so many memories of our Mom fixing this for it was one of her favorites for a growing family.
I was also born and raised in Pa. And my mother made this…and we also called it pot pie. Excited to find this!!
Thank you for this recipe! It is PERFECT! Chicken and dumplings was my favorite meal as a child growing up in NC, but it seemed like no one made it like it was back then (everyone takes short cuts these days, like using egg noodles instead of making dumplings.) I made this and it was just like I remembered from my childhood. This recipe is absolutely a keeper!
I too have been trying to find a recipe like this one. Though not like my Mom’s, but so close it hurts to wait to make this. Tried the bisquick ones, but too doughy. Mom would take the broth and add her flour, salt and pepper, roll on floured board and roll to about a quarter inch thick by 3inches. So this has me excited, but wishing she was still here to help. So thank you to the person who has let us see her recipe and go crazy!!
How would you figure out the calories in this??
Jennifer! This is chicken and dumplings! If you have to figure the calories, you shouldn’t be eating them! 😉 Seriously, since I don’t measure anything, there would be no way to accurately gauge the calories. But girl, just this one meal, sit yourself down and ENJOY!!!!
My best friends mom taught me to make almost this exact recipe 20 years ago. I’ve adapted it because I don’t like to roll the dough out (too messy). I just add flour and egg to a bowl and gently stir it. Then I add about a halt cup of chic broth, a few tbs of mill and Lawreys seasoned pepper. After it’s mixed I add a little more flour on top and take small pieces of dough (I flatten them as I toss them in) and throw it into the boiling stock. It’s just as good and I don’t have to clean up the mess on the counter.
I meant milk 😉
I need to know if I can use regular flour since I dont use cake flour. My Mother always used self rising flour. I am scared to try these because hers were the best and she had no chance to teach me since she passed away before we could do this together. So anyone who can help, I appreciate your replies.
Hi Pamela,
AP flour is probably fine (there are lots of comments from people saying they use it instead) but I stick with cake flour for this particular recipe since the texture of the dumplings is very important and I think they may be too tough with regular flour. Also, I’ve seen comments from people complaining about their dumplings turning gray and I’m pretty sure that’s because they didn’t use cake flour. But if you have some corn starch it’s very easy to make your own cake flour at home. Follow these instructions from Joy the Baker. I hope you try the recipe!
Thank you for the response. Guess I will have to try and perfect my Mother”s recipe.
There was a request for a dumpling recipe that doesn’t use milk.
I just made a batch of Chicken and Dumplings, using our old family recipe. This recipe was passed down, without measurements, for generations (3 that we know of), but my wife and I got her aunt to ‘measure’ out the ingredients and we put them into cups and spoons, to get the recipe we now use.
Broth is prepared in the same way as your recipe, but we don’t use the vegetables. Once skin and bones are removed from the chicken, and it is cut to bite-size pieces, it is put back into the broth and brought to a low boil, in preparation for cooking the dumplings.
The dumpling portion of the recipe is:
2 cups all purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
cold water
Mix dry ingredients well, in a bowl. Mix in cold water until dough forms and pulls away from the sides of the bowl. Roll out to about 1/8 inch thick, on a well-floured surface. Cut into desired shape. I use a pizza cutter and cut into 1-inch strips, about 1 1/2 inch long.
Using a well-floured surface, and sprinkling some flour on top of the dough, when rolling it out, will prevent sticking. An added bonus is that the extra flour will thicken the broth, as the dumplings cook.
Dumplings are added, immediately, to boiling broth, until top of broth is covered. Allow to cook for a minute or two, then push the dumplings down and add another layer. Repeat this process until all dumplings are cooked.
Allow to simmer until broth thickens to desired consistency.
Thanks for posting your recipe. this is closer to my Mom’s, but she did not use a bowl. she used her bread board to mix. she did not measure anything due to many years of making this dish. and the only one I can’t master. so again, thank you for posting your version.
The batch I made yesterday I made with just thighs. I was being lazy and used them because it is easy to get the meat off the bones – 1 pack (about 1.5 lb) makes a good single batch, which works for the quantity of dumplings from the recipe I posted (I made a double batch and froze some for later). I’ve found that the broth, from thighs, is just as good as using a whole chicken, even if it is non-traditional.
Using a bowl for the dough works well as ‘pulls away from the sides’ is a better indicator than ‘it feels/looks right’ – at least for me.
Awesome recipie! Suggestion for the extra broth and veggies, do not toss them. I use the extra broth and veggies, added egg noodles, and it was an awesome chicken soup! The second time i added 2 breast to the the chicken while it cooked and out have me lots of chicken for the leftover veggies and broth. 2 meals in one, family lived it! Just a suggestion.
The recipe is for “slicker dumplings,” as opposed to the “puffy dumplings” prevalent in the North. Lips that touch puffy dumplings will never touch mine!
Easy method. Buy some original KFC pieces or use Left-over ones. Cover in boxed no salt added chicken broth and simmer for one hour. Remove skins & debone. In our part of the country (Texas) you can buy very good frozen slicker dumplings from the freezer case in many super markets. Brand is Aunt B’s. Separate defrosted package of dumplings and add to simmering pot for 20-30 minutes until done. Bingo, slicker chicken & dumplings.
I don’t know why KFC does not use this method for their extra chicken.
As a youngster growing up in Alabama and Tennessee, chicken and dumplings were a well loved staple that we all loved. I remember my grandmother spreading wax paper out and rolling and dusting the flour for what seemed like hours…oh the anticipation! Many southern moons later, my mother made me the dish. It was wonderful. She asked how I liked it and “good” was all I could get out of my stuffed mouth. SHE USED FLOUR TORTILLAS FOR THE DUMPLINGS! Immediately, I wasn’t feeling the love…but it was sooo good. I’ve since made it myself (I like sliced boiled eggs in mine) with the tortillas and they have been a huge hit. Naysayers, give it a try. By the way, the old man on the Cracker Barrel sign is my great uncle Herschel.
Being half southern (father from N Carolina) and half Hungarao(mom 1st generation) I grew up having Fried Chicken and southern potatao salad and black eye peas (chopped white onion on top) or Chicken Paprikosh with little tiny dumplings or Chicken pastry as they always call it. My grannie showed me how to make it during a visit as a young adult AND those buttermilk biscuits. Proudly I came back up north and made it all for my dad. Pleasant memories!
I have a dumpling recipe that uses no milk. It is: 2 cups self rising flour, 3 tbsp. canola or vegetable oil and enough canned chicken broth to form into a ball. I just pulse in my food processor and it works great!
You need lots of black pepper. Otherwise looks like my moms
A few years ago we had a family supper where this ‘copycat’ was served (maybe not yours exactly but this same method) and we all loved it. I’ve never been to a CB even though there is now one in our area. My grandma made what she called Chicken and Dumplings that was just a similar soup with homemade thick egg noodles. Hubby’s family is from the South and their ‘Chicken and Dumps’ were closer to this recipe but the broth was thinner. Both Grandma and Nana were careful to remove excess flour. Nana also floated a stick of butter on top of the soup right after the dumps (no eggs) went in the pot. Hubby has a bad cold and I thought he’d enjoy a pot of this copycat recipe since it is so thick and hearty. Since these dumplings are so specific I appreciate your recipe for it. Thank you and stay healthy!
I have been looking for the right dumpling recipe and this is close. My grandmother was a cook in Bedford, In and she was known for her chicken and dumplings. They were square and the sauce was like a chicken pot pie filling. The two things I know were get a fatty chicken and she used hot broth and flour in the dumplings. Cracker Barrel ‘s are close, her’s were more golden in color. My aunt’s are close but still not quite right. I have a theory that the chickens we have now aren’t fatty enough to give that golden color and taste to the sauce. Also shortening has changed to be healthy. If anyone has a recipe that sounds like her’s and wants to share I would love to have it. Thanks.
Diana
No fail recipe using broth instead of milk……
Dumplings- 2 cups all purpose flour, 2 teaspoons baking powder, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/4 cup butter softened, 3/4 cup broth reserved fro cooking chicken,. Combine dry ingredients, cut in butter with fork, add broth while stirring until moist (may not use all the broth). Turn onto well floured surface, knead till smooth, then roll to desired thickness. Cut into strips then pieces and drop one at a time into boiling broth. Stir, reduce to simmer, cover and cook 8-10 minutes.
Dumpling recipe:
3 cups of flour
dash of salt
1-tablespoon- shortening (crisco)
1 to 2 cups of broth
a drop of yellow food coloring (optional) Makes dumplings look rich with broth.
Mix and roll out on floured surface until very thin
This is the best dumpling recipe! I’ve used it for a couple years, but last week made it for a potluck. It went so fast my own family didn’t get any so I am making more today. Thanks for sharing the recipe.
Followed your recipe exactly and OMG! This is awesome! My grandsons had some at Cracker Barrel and were talking about it one night at dinner. So I decided to surprise them using your recipe and they loved it! The only bad thing about it is… now I’ll never be able to serve them a plain ol’ can of chicken noodle soup again LOL
If are using 2% milk you definitely do not need a full cup of milk.
This Canadian wife dared to attempt this dish for her SC husband……..a smashing success!!!
Ok, I followed the recipe and I now have a pot of mush. My dumplings completely fell apart. What did I do wrong. We cant even eat it. Help!
Sounds just like my Grandmas. She cooked all of the chicken parts though. They weren’t in the actual dish but eaten separately. My dad liked the neck and gizzards. My mom liked the liver.
My family has been reluctant to part with her recipe. One of my fav meals.
She was from Mississippi. Married and lived in Louisiana before moving to Washington State.
Hi. My Grandma hailed from North Carolina as did all of my dad’s side. I grew up eating Chicken pastry as it was called. Later my Grandma taught me how to make it. All the pastry is: AP flour, salt and water to make a dough. Roll it out and cut the rectangles.
Also there are no vegetables to flavor the stock. Put a chicken in a big pot, cover with water, add salt and pepper. Simmer until tender and falling off bone. Take chicken out and when cool enough shred it. While chicken is almost done is when the pastry is made. The next thing is to put broth in a big bowl. When pastry cut, chicken shredded, pour some of the broth back into pot and heat it up. Add a layer of pastry then chicken and continue pastry and chicken layers-end with chicken on top. Then pour in rest of broth (and a few left over butter beans or black eye peas-just a few though-always fun to be the one who gets one). There you go-NC style. Oh takes about 30-45 minutes of simmering.
I also have a cooking Facebook page called Cullum southern cooking, and like you I was born and raised down south. I’m from Tennessee. And I have made chicken and dumplings most of my life, but I noticed that some people use all purpose flour without using baking powder. I have always used self rising flour. I think I will try it with all purpose flour this time and see how it turns out, without adding baking powder. I think your recipe looks great ‘…..vernon.
I love chicken and dumplings and these are similar to the way my grandmother made hers. I think she used water instead of milk and also added a little bit of the broth to the dumpling mixture. So good!
An easy shortcut that is 95% as good is to to just cut tortillas into strips to use as dumplings. Not the fat free ones. Also, not sure where you are but our grocery stores here in NC sell ‘flat dumplings’ in the freezer section. We usually have a roast chicken one day, put it in fridge once everyone is done, a few days later put the it in a big pot and boil it until meat falling off bone, strain out the broth, separate bones and skin out return meat to broth and lay tortilla strips on top until each layer is soaked and then add another layer. This way we always eat about 99% of the meat on that chicken.
Also, if they don’t eat all the chicken and pastry, which hardly ever happens, put leftovers in blender and freeze cubes. Later on put a few cubes with a bag of frozen peas and carrots in a pie crust and makes good chicken pot pie.
Roll the dumpling dough twice for rea slick dumplings.
Can you make dumplings a head of time and place on freezer to make at a later date?
Baking Powder! Not Baking Soda!
These are just like my maternal Grandma’s and so good. Grandma always used shortening too.
This is similar to original recipe with the exception of adding milk/ cake flour. Original recipe use stew the chicken down; it makes it own stock. Also, I always used all-purpose flour as did my mama and grandmother. Both from the Carolina country.
Ms Barbara
You mentioned you wanted to hear about milk free dumpling ideas? For decades I’ve just used self rising flour and just enough water to work I into a dough. I then kneed it and fold it 4-5 times adding a sprinkle of flour if the dough is sticky, then I roll the dough out flat on a floured surface. I roll mine to about 3/16 to 1/4″ max thickness, then cut into varying width and length strips, usually about 1″x2″. I get me stock and water to a rolling boil and drop my dumpling strips in one at a time, then reduce to a simmer. I’ve never had a dumpling come apart or disintegrate yet. Good luck.
I always use buttermilk than just milk. Makes them really fluffy.
I use 1 egg mixed in 2 cups water, 1tbsp. shortening and 1/2 tsp salt. 6cups flour. Roll out just like your photos. Try it by cooking 1 ham end and cook dumplings in ham broth. In central Pa we call this ham pot pie.
I love this recipe. Love love love. Finally found one that is “right”. Just like my grandma’s. Love it!! Thank you!!
I am doing everything by the recipe but my dumplings aren’t getting done. They stay chewy. I tried cooking them longer but it doesn’t seem to help. Do I need to let them dry more than a half hour?
Thanks for the dumpling recipe! I’ve been using it for a couple years now. It’s s family favorite and my potluck go-to dish. Works great to make the broth the day before then fix the dumplings in the morning and put it all in the crockpot to take along for Sunday lunch.
Made these last night with leftover lemon/rosemary chicken cooked in a crockpot. My dumplings have never turned out right, but this time they were perfect. I believe letting them sit for a while before putting them in to the broth is the secret! Thanks for the recipe. This is a keeper!!
Thanks For Sharing this amazing recipe. My family loved it. I will be sharing this recipe with my friends. Hope the will like it.
My grandma put eggs in her noodles (dumplings). Do you have a recipe for egg noodles?
Thank you for this recipe. This is how my grandmother made dumplings.
This is by far the absolute BEST recipe! Tastes exactly like Cracker Barrel but much better. All the other recipes call for AP flour but cake flour really makes a big difference- you get more of a bite in each dumpling. That’s what makes this so good!
So, I think I finally found a recipe similar to my great-grandmother and grandmother’s. I don’t know their original recipe, but this was so close that it brought on an emotional response when I sat down to eat. The only change I made to the recipe was that I used buttermilk instead of regular milk. I’m sure it changed the flavor profile of your recipe, but it tasted just like my grandmother’s.
Btw… I always use White Lily. It’s made from a different variety of wheat than Gold Medal or King Arthur, and gives a different end result.
Butter works great! For more flavor mix 1/2 cup broth with 1/2 cup milk for dumplings.
Hi, u I’m sure this recipe will make for a fine meal. But it’s simply not the southern chicken-in-dumplins tha⁹t C.B. or my Grandma’s. If water is a ingredient. Than there is only four ingredients in chicken-in-dumplins. It’s water, chicken, all purpose flour, and salt. That’s it. You see this is one of those poor man’s meals. Just like Oysters and trigger fish. Or bream and Chanel cat. It’s a fish not a cat. There was no money for all that in the dumplins. When it came time. Granny would go out to the chicken coop and return with the one that wasn’t producing eggs. Minus the head. Clean and cut up all of the chicken, cover with water. Boil till done. Lower heat on the broth . A good size mixing bowl. Hold up. Before we get really in to it. Let me explain something. This is very important. If it’s two eating half a chicken and start with two cups of all-purpose flour. ONLY all-purpose! This will be enough to fest like kings and have a little leftover. A whole chicken and four cups of flour will knock out 8 with a little left. Take your four cups of all-purpose flour, and put almost the four cups in the bowl. Save about a 3rd to flour your counter an rolling pin. Now the last ingredient. That’s right. The salt. For every cup of flour add one mound of salt. A mound is about a tea spoon. So now you have someone pulling your chicken from the bone or not. Turn your broth back to high. Your bowl of all-purpose flour with salt. Now get a glass of water. About room temperature slowly need it into your bowl. It will start dry as you continue it will start to get sticky and goowie. Stop with water aND start folding it adding a little puff of flour as you continue. Folding can be done on a lightly all-purpose floured counter. Ten to fifteen should get it. It will have a leather fill to it now. Let it sit for about ten minutes. Pinch off about the size of a tangerine, flatten it with hill of hand. Then roll it out. Flipping it serial times. It’s about 1/16- 3/32 thick. Cut in stripes about one inch. Place in Boling broth. Repeat till it’s all in the pot. After 10 minutes are so reduce heat to medium and cover. Lightly stir 20-30 minutes apart.45 minutes or so reduce to simmer return chick to pot. Simmer slow about 30 minutes until dumplins are tender as you like. I turn mine off when the inside is just chewing. Let setup for 20 or so. While you clean up the mess you have made. Yes you will make a mess. Because there is no lolli gagging. All-purpose flour every where. Three or four times. You should have the realistic chicken-in-dumplins. You will learn something every time. Just can’t not make a mess. God bless and enjoy. Yee-Yee! In the 70’s Oysters where $6.00 60lbs bag Apalachicola