Chicken & Dumplings
Alright, Imma level with you. This is SO good. You may look at this brownish bowl and say, “Eh. Not interested.” Trust me, you are. Or you should be! This is a rich chicken stew that’s incredibly savory, and yet still light and bright with flavor.
Like most things that are worth doing well… this recipe does have a few ingredients, but I’ve streamlined the entire process, so it’s easier than other Chicken & Dumpling recipes. Not that it’s a competition (but can I still win?).
First—the vegetables are easy by design. I bought pre-sliced mushrooms, and I’m not doing any fussy knife work with rest—everything can just be roughly chopped. I didn’t even peel the carrots (just give ‘em a good scrub!). Elizabeth and I are big nerds, because we called each other recently to talk about what a huge difference mushrooms make in a chicken soup/stew. If you are mushroom-averse (who hurt you?), you can skip them, and instead substitute a teaspoon or two of soy sauce, tamari, or Maggi Seasoning. Add some frozen peas and plenty of lemon at the end, and I swear it will remind you that Spring is near.
Second—the chicken. Traditional recipes will have you use bone-in, skin-on pieces that you dredge in flour, brown, and then braise. Not here, folks. I used boneless, skinless chicken thighs. And we’re not searing them. A little tip I picked up from producing some Jamie Oliver cooking segments on GMA (he was promoting his ABC show Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution at the time): You don’t have to sear meat before making any stew. Just combine some flour, spices, and herbs with the diced chicken thighs in a resealable bag and shake!
Third—the dumplings. I grew up eating chicken & dumplings, and often times the dumplings were dense, heavy, and could sink an ocean liner. This was probably because I was ordering them at a home-cookin’-style chain restaurant called The Black-Eyed Pea.
But the dumplings in this stew are light, airy, and fluffy, with a slight chew. Little chive-studded pillows from heaven are easy to achieve!
Mix the dry ingredients and chives together, then whisk an egg into your dairy of choice (I used whole milk, but you can also use yogurt or buttermilk), pour the wet into the dry, and just barely mix. When there are a few streaks of flour still remaining, pour in the melted butter
The resulting dough should be very light, and almost spongey looking…
Then either use two spoons or a cookie scoop to drop tablespoon-sized dumplings into the simmering stew to cook.
Once cooked, the dumplings become gorgeously light and airy inside, but still have a nice bite to them…
Chicken & Dumplings
Few things are as comforting as a big bowl of chicken soup. But the one thing that is more comforting? Chicken & Dumplings! My version doesn’t require any searing or shredding of the chicken, and the dumplings are light, fluffy, and studded with chives (unlike the lead balloons you may have had before). No need to chop things too perfectly here; this is a rustic stew.
Serves 4-6
INGREDIENTS:
Chicken Stew:
2 Tablespoons unsalted butter
8 ounces cremini or shiitake mushrooms, sliced
2 lbs. Boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cut into 1” pieces
¼ cup flour
½ teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon dried herbes de provence (or other herb blend)
2 medium yellow onions, roughly chopped
4 cloves of garlic, sliced
4 ribs of celery, sliced ¼” thick
2 large carrots, diced ¼”
1 cup dry white wine
4 cups chicken stock
1-2 sprigs each: fresh thyme, rosemary, sage (tied together with kitchen twine)
1 cup frozen peas
1 lemon
⅓ cup finely chopped parsley, plus more for garnish
Kosher salt & freshly ground black pepper
Olive oil
Dumplings:
1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
¾ teaspoon kosher salt
¼ teaspoon black pepper
¾ cup whole milk, yogurt (not greek), or buttermilk
1 large egg
2 Tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
⅓ cup finely chopped chives
METHOD:
Melt 2 tablespoons of butter in a 5-quart dutch oven or pot over medium-high heat. Add an additional 2 tablespoons of olive oil to the pan. Once oil is shimmering and butter has stopped foaming, add mushrooms. Give them a quick stir to coat in fat, and let cook undisturbed until deeply browned and crispy on one side, about 4 minutes. Stir mushrooms and continue to cook for another 2 minutes (you can stir occasionally). Remove mushrooms from the pan with a slotted spoon and set aside.
While mushrooms brown, add cubed chicken to a resealable bag. Sprinkle in flour, paprika, herbes de provence, 1 teaspoon kosher salt and ½ teaspoon black pepper. Seal bag, and shake to coat chicken pieces evenly. Set aside.
Once mushrooms have been removed from the dutch oven, sauté the other vegetables: Make sure you have about 3 tablespoons of fat left in the pan. Add onions, garlic, carrots, and celery and a big pinch of kosher salt. Cook, stirring occasionally, until onions become translucent and start to brown at the edges, about 8-10 minutes.
Add the contents of the resealable bag (the chicken and flour mixture) to the pan, and stir to combine. Let flour-coated chicken cook for a few minutes, then add white wine to deglaze. Let the wine simmer vigorously until reduced by half. Use this time to really scrape up any fond on the bottom of the pot with a wooden spoon. Add chicken stock, and zest the lemon into the pot. Tie rosemary, sage, thyme together with kitchen twine, and nestle into the broth. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to a simmer. Let cook for 15-20 minutes.
Meanwhile, make the dumplings: In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, salt, pepper, and chives—stir ‘til evenly distributed. In a measuring cup, whisk egg and dairy (milk, yogurt, or buttermilk) with a fork. Pour wet ingredients into dry and mix until a few flour streaks remain. Then add melted butter and mix until everything is just combined (do not overmix).
Remove the herb bundle (for easy serving) from the soup, then drop tablespoon-size dollops of dough into the simmering stew, using either a small spring-loaded cookie scoop, or two spoons. Distribute dumplings around the entire surface of the stew, trying to give them space (they will expand!). It’s okay if some are touching. Cover pot and cook for 18-22 on a low simmer.
After 18-22 minutes, remove a dumpling from the pot and cut it in half to see if it’s cooked through. The interior should be light and fluffy with some air bubbles. If you see any dry or dense spots, cover the pot and continue cooking for about 5 minutes more. Once dumplings are cooked through, stir in frozen peas, cooked mushrooms, parsley, and the juice of the zested lemon. Check stew for seasoning, and adjust if necessary. Spoon into bowls, top with additional parsley, and enjoy!
*Notes
Mushrooms pack a huge flavor punch of umami in this stew, but If you don’t like them, you can leave them out. I highly suggest adding a teaspoon of soy sauce, tamari, or Maggi seasoning in their place.
