Just like the title says. I’m looking for a reasonably easy recipe for chicken and dumpling soup, something for the cook who can boil water but probably should not attempt a souffle. Can you help a girl out?
This recipe tends to be less soupy than some, but it’s so damn good I had to post it. Chicken and Dumplings are my favorite meal. (If you don’t want to make the gravy which isn’t hard but is a bit rich, you could use broth as others do.)
Chicken and Dumplings
Chicken:
A frying chicken works fine.
Add 1/4 cup chicken boullion powder such as Dona Maria or Knorr to the pot(not essential). Add half a large yellow onion and one stalk of celery. Add salt and pepper to taste. Cook on high heat until boiling then reduce to a gentle boil. Cook until done when the meat comes off the bone easily and the legs separate from the body when lifted, about 1 and a half hours. Remove from pot and allow to cool. Remove meat from the bone and conserve.
Gravy:
1 stick salted butter
3/4 cup plain flour
2 egg yolks
chicken broth
salt and pepper to taste
Melt butter over medium heat. Add flour, stir and reduce to low heat. Cook for 2-3 minutes. Slowly add chicken broth to desired consistency. Carole generally uses 3 1/2-4 cups. Beat egg yolks well, add a bit of the gravy to the yolks, and mix well. Add this mixture the to gravy and mix well. Cook for 3-4 minutes and test for seasoning.
Dumplings:
3 cups plain flour
1 tsp salt
2 tbsp lard or shortening
Thoroughly mix together lard, flour, and salt until lard is mixed totally. You may use either your hands or a pastry blender. Add one cup milk and stir with a fork. Add more milk as needed to form a sticky ball. Flour ball lightly, and place on a floured surface. Roll out dumplings to 1/8 inch thickness and cut into strips that are approximately 1x2 inches.
Bring broth back to a boil and add dumplings. Let it return to a boil and then reduce it to a gentle boil. Cook for about ten minutes(from the time the dumplings are first added) and remove with a skimmer.
To assemble:
Place a layer of chicken in the bottom of a casserole dish or bowl. Add dumplings and then the rest of the chicken. Pour gravy over the top.
Bisquick … yeah!!!
I don’t wish to do a commercial message for a business I have no financial interest in, but a certain remarkably famous soup company does sell chicken and dumpling in a microwavable bowl.
hmmm… are you looking for a chicken soup with dumplings in it? Or Chicken and Dumplings, ie what percypercy posted? 'round here, those are two different things.
Originally, I was looking for chicken soup with dumplings in it, although I’m definitely interested in percypercy’s recipe. So… both, I guess. The soup might be more immediately useful - there are a lot of colds going around right now, and there’s nothing like chicken soup for a cold.
Julius Henry - it’s a good thought, but I prefer to make my own when I can. I may not be a good cook, but I still really like cooking.
Usually I roast a chicken first, then I make a broth from the bones, back, wing tips, and skin the next day. I chop up the leftover chicken, add that to the broth, and make Bisquick dumplings. We all love Bisquick dumplings. Sometimes I add various vegetables to the broth as well as the chicken, sometimes we just eat a salad on the side. Either way, it’s good.
Well, here’s a chicken dumpling soup recipe I’ve never seen anyone but my mother and I make. I think the dumplings are French-Canadian, but I’m not sure. In the ways of family recipes, the origin is a bit muddled.
Make your basic chicken stock. If you don’t know how to make chicken stock, either buy the best you can find (I use the Swanson’s broth that comes in the sealed boxes) or you can try making quick stock using the following recipe. It’s not the greatest stock, but it is quick and easy:
Quick chicken stock
Buy a whole cut up chicken. Get a big soup pot. Heat some oil in the bottom, and add the chicken breasts. Brown on both sides and remove from the pot. Throw in about a cup of diced onions, and the rest of the chicken (if you feel like it you can chop the chicken up into 2-3" chunks, if you’re lazy just throw 'em in). You can put some celery in, too, if you feel like it.
When the chicken parts are browned, reduce heat to low and cover the pot. Let them stew in their chickeny goodness about 15-20 minutes. Add in about 2 quarts of boiling water, the chicken breasts, some salt and pepper, and a couple bay leaves if you want. Cover and simmer about 20 minutes, until the breasts are done. Remove the breast and put aside until cook enough to touch. Shred breast meat and set aside for the soup.
Strain the rest of the stock, throw away the rest of the chicken (it’s mushy at this point).
Chicken Soup
Cut up the veggies you want in the soup (Carrots, celery, onions are typical) for a total of about 2 cups of veggies. Or more, if you really like veggies. Saute them in the bottom of a large soup kettle until barely soft. Add about 2 quarts of chicken stock.
If you have cooked chicken (like the breasts from the previous recipe) you’re good to go. If you don’t, throw a couple pieces of skinned raw chicken into the broth and poach. Breasts or thighs are good for this. Allow to cook for about 20 minute (until done) then remove the meat, allow to cook, and shred. If you’re a stickler, you might want to do this before you saute the vegetables, as the veggies might get mushy before the chicken is done.
Now, the good part: the dumplings!
In a small bowl, combine:
- 2 eggs
- 1/2 cup water
- 3/4 t. salt
- 1/4 t. baking powder
- 1.5 c. flour
Mix well. Using a teaspoon, drop the dumplings into the simmering chicken stock one at a time. They’ll poach in the chicken stock. They’re done when they float to the top (just a few minutes).
Stir in the shredded chicken. Voila! You have soup!
Now I gotta go to the store and buy a chicken to make this! It sounds SO GOOD!