Broth

Chicken and Dumplings

Chicken and Dumplings
Chicken and Dumplings

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

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.

Chicken and DumplingsThe 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.

 

Print

Chicken and Dumplings

Chicken and Dumplings
Print Recipe
  • Author: chrissy@mythankfultable.com

Ingredients

Scale
  • 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

  1. In a large pan, saute onions and carrots in a little bit of oil. Sauce until soft.
  2. Remove vegetables and add chicken tenders, cooking until golden brown.
  3. Add carrots, onions, and peas to the pan, add chicken broth and simmer.
  4. In a bowl, combine ingredients for dumplings until combined.
  5. Turn out dumpling dough onto a floured surface and roll until 1/4″ thickness.
  6. Slice dough into 2X2″ squares or larger/smaller if desired.
  7. When broth is simmering, slowly add dumplings to the pan, turning to make sure cooked.
  8. Allow dumplings to cook for approx. ten minutes, serve.

Did you make this recipe?

Share a photo and tag us — we can't wait to see what you've made!

Cheeseburger Chowder

Cheeseburger Chowder

There is one meal I make in which I have takers for leftovers. This is that meal. This is that soup. Typically my children are one meal wonders. They don’t like leftovers. At. All. Where I am always trying to make “just enough” for this reason, usually I am bringing lunches that clean out the fridge to work, which isn’t a bad thing. Thursday is usually leftover night, which has no fans at all. Except, maybe the puppy, who loves a leftover turkey slice or a hamburger warmed up in the microwave for a few seconds.

However, this Cheeseburger Chowder is the no soup left behind miracle in my house. Very easy, a recipe I have only recently started to make as a result of my friend Erika (of the Eggplant Rollatini), and Beth (of the mandatory fun), I make this chowder in the cooler months at least once every three weeks. In my world, that is a regular rotation. It still gets eaten, every time.

The one part of this recipe that I love is the chunks of Sweet Potato. So pretty, and healthy too.

Sweet Potatoes and Onions on Cutting Board

Cheeseburger Chowder with Sweet Potatoes

The one part of this recipe that I don’t love but it literally makes the chowder and it is not the same without it, good old Velveeta Cheese. (Is Velveeta Cheese)?

Yes, this soup holds ground beef, onions, crumbled bacon, sweet potato, and processed cheese product. I have made this chowder with real cheddar and the consistency was different, the taste was just as good, but a chowder thats soupy isn’t really chowder in my son’s eyes, so off to two grocery stores to find the block of orange wonder that makes this chowder.

Essentially this whole chowder is made in the crock pot. I pre cook the ground beef and onions and bacon because I like the consistency and the sweet potatoes

Bowl of Bacon Cheeseburger Chowder

Cheeseburger Chowder

cook in the crock pot with the melty cheese.

It can be prepped the night before, it is so yummy, and like I said, its a hearty well received soup in our house.

For serving, I either serve this with tortilla chips, or crumbled bacon, hot sauce, or extra shredded cheese. It’s also good with a fresh salad, so you feel good about basically eating a bacon cheeseburger with sweet potato fries in chowder form!

I hope you enjoy this recipe, and as always, thank you for coming to the table!

Chrissy

 

Click below for a printable recipe!

Print

Bacon Cheeseburger Chowder with Sweet Potatoes

Print Recipe

Hearty Bacon Cheese Burger with chunks of sweet potato!

  • Author: chrissy@mythankfultable.com

Ingredients

Scale
  • 3 Pounds 80/20 Ground Beef
  • 32 Ounces of Velveeta Cheese (The BIG BLOCK)
  • 1/2 Package Thick Sliced Bacon chopped into 1/2 inch dice.
  • 24 Ounces Beef Stock
  • 24 Ounces Beef Broth
  • 3 Sweet Potatoes, Peeled and Cubed
  • 1/2 Sweet Onion
  • 1 Tablespoon Worcestershire Sauce
  • Salt and Pepper to taste

Instructions

  1. Chop and saute 1/2 Sweet White Onion – set aside.
  2. In a fry pan, cook diced bacon until crispy. Drain off fat and add chopped onion
  3. Saute onion until translucent. Add bacon and onion to crock pot set on low.
  4. Fry your ground beef until brown and cooked. Drain off the fat and add meat to the crock pot.
  5. Add chopped sweet potatoes  to the crock pot and season with salt, pepper, and Worcestershire.
  6. Add beef stock, and beef broth to crock pot.
  7. Cook on low heat 4 hours or until sweet potatoes are soft.
  8. Cube Velveeta cheese and put in crock pot. Turn heat up to High.
  9. Stir melted cheese throughout the soup until combined.
  10. Serve with tortilla chips, or soft rolls, and a smile.

Did you make this recipe?

Share a photo and tag us — we can't wait to see what you've made!