When old man winter comes knocking at my door, it's time to hunker indoors, warm up by the fireplace with a cup of hot cocoa and enjoy all my favorite winter comfort foods. Some of my favorite cold weather dishes are garden harvest stew, venison chili, creamy chicken and noodles, chicken spaghetti, chicken and dressing, pinto beans with ham and cornbread, chicken corn chowder and this Homemade Chicken & Dumplings.
Some people think chicken and dumplings is hard to make, but it's really pretty simple. I like to use a fresh whole chicken, but a store bought rotisserie chicken can also be used if you're in a pinch for time. See my note at the end of this post for directions on making this recipe using a rotisserie.
To make the broth, I add enough water to cover the fresh chicken and then add a cut up onion, carrots, celery, celery leaves, bay leaves, garlic powder, poultry seasoning, butter, salt and pepper to season the broth. The chicken should be cooked in about an hour. Once cooked, remove the chicken to cool, strain the broth and discard the veggies and the bones. Now you have a beautiful, flavorful broth, perfect for chicken and dumplings. Just add 5 cups broth back to the pot and cream of chicken soup. Blend using a wire whisk. Pull the chicken from the bone, add the cut up chicken to the broth, return the broth to a boil and add the dumplings.
You can make homemade dumplings or use a biscuit baking mix (such as Bisquick). I've made this dish using both. Scratch dumplings are the best, but my husband loves both versions. I hope your family enjoys this dish as much as mine does.
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Kristin
A Store bought Rotisserie Chicken can be substituted for a whole chicken. If using a rotisserie chicken, remove all the meat from the chicken and set aside. Place the chicken carcass into a large pot and cover with water. Add celery ribs, carrots, onions, pepper and bay leaf to flavor the broth. Bring the mixture to a boil, reduce heat and simmer broth for 30 minutes. Strain the broth through a mesh strainer and discard the bones and vegetables. Add the broth back to the pot and continue with the recipe above adding the chicken, cream soup, butter, salt and pepper if needed and dumplings.