Chicken and Dumplings
Wait, what? Another round of snow? My calendar says it is officially Spring. Oh well, welcome to life in New England. Better make some comfort food for supper!
Chicken and Dumplings is one of those dishes that screams out “Comfort Food!” It is a combination of chunks of chicken and sautéed vegetables served in a broth that has been slightly thickened by square pillows of dough.
The dumplings in and of themselves are a wonder. Quickly mixed and rolled out, the dough is cut into squares and actually cooks in the broth. This creates two things: The broth is thickened and the dumplings take on the broth flavor as they cook.
Chicken and Dumplings
Now, if you do not like doughy things (and are we friends if you don’t?), this may not be the recipe for you. Dumplings are soft thicker noodles. They are tender and have an entirely different texture which contradicts the protein of the chicken and the tooth of the mostly cooked carrots.
Now the chicken. I use tenderloin or tenders, because it is easier. I left mine whole. You can chunk yours up if you want. I wanted easy. Leaving them as is, was easy. That is why you give your eaters forks and knives. They can cut up their own chicken. (I crack myself up).
While this type of meal may not be a regular on our rotation, I think because it isn’t, my family enjoyed it immensely. It is definitely a comfort food for cold winter nights. It is even better the next day, as the dumplings continue to soak up the broth and get bigger and more tender.
The dumplings are the hardest part in that you have to mix and roll out the dough. Technically this can be accomplished in the time you would order, drive through, pay, and pick up your fast food. I’m not joking. Mix, roll, cut.
So, it isn’t like you are giving up a night for this meal. It actually comes together much faster than you would imagine, and you can pat yourself on the back and give yourself a hug for doing something so cool as making your own dumplings. You go thankful table maker, you.
In a world where a little bit of comfort served in a bowl is a small but big gift, I am thankful I could share this recipe with you.
I hope you enjoy this recipe, and as always, thank you for coming to the table.
Chicken and Dumplings
Ingredients
- 2 Pounds Chicken Tenders
- 1 Cup Chopped Carrots
- 1/2 Cup Chopped Onions
- 24 Ounces of Chicken Broth
- 1 Package frozen Peas
Dumplings:
- 2 Cups AP Flour
- 3/4 Teaspoon Baking Powder
- 3 Tablespoons Butter
- 1/2 Teaspoon Salt
- 1 Cup Milk
Instructions
- In a large pan, saute onions and carrots in a little bit of oil. Sauce until soft.
- Remove vegetables and add chicken tenders, cooking until golden brown.
- Add carrots, onions, and peas to the pan, add chicken broth and simmer.
- In a bowl, combine ingredients for dumplings until combined.
- Turn out dumpling dough onto a floured surface and roll until 1/4″ thickness.
- Slice dough into 2X2″ squares or larger/smaller if desired.
- When broth is simmering, slowly add dumplings to the pan, turning to make sure cooked.
- Allow dumplings to cook for approx. ten minutes, serve.