Dutch Oven Chicken and Dumplings
It’s easier than you think to make the ultimate comfort food from scratch. These Dutch Oven Chicken and Dumplings are quick, easy and just the right amount of creaminess to be insanely delicious!
As I sit here writing this post, my daughter just came up and asked if we could have these for dinner again tonight. I’m not sure if you understand the significance of this request, but the fact is she rarely likes anything I make, aside from the crab rangoon she helped create last week and then proceeded to devour. The fact that these have been requested again is nothing short of a miracle, and given the fact that they were devoured by all to the point of there being zero leftovers, I can assure you these Dutch Oven Chicken and Dumplings will be on regular menu rotation at my house.
How to make chicken and dumplings?
There are so many ways to go about making these, so I’m just going to keep it simple and from scratch. Maybe another day we can delve into more varieties, but for today let’s just use our favorite dutch oven and simple ingredients.
I’ve made this recipe with both chicken thighs and chicken breasts and it turns out great either way. So use what you prefer or have on hand and don’t stress a bit.
You’ll either need a really sharp knife and some mad skills to finely chop your carrots and celery, or you can use a mini-chopper like I did and save yourself a whole lot of time.
What are the dumplings made of?
To be honest, you could use canned biscuit dough or even potato gnocchi, but I wanted to show you how easy it is to make dough from scratch. All it takes is flour, baking powder, egg, milk and seasoning.
They key to making light and fluffy dumplings is to not over-mix the flour. Stir everything together until just combined and then slowly spoon into the simmering sauce.
The dough will thicken the sauce a bit as they simmer. You’ll know they’re done when you can stick a toothpick in and they are no longer doughy in the middle. It generally takes about 5-7 minutes of simmering for them to cook through, depending on what size you make them.
The best seasoning for chicken and dumplings is whatever seasoning blend you love to have with chicken. You can do a simple poultry seasoning, an herb and garlic seasoning, or anything with herbs that compliment chicken. If your seasoning doesn’t already have salt, you’ll want to add a little (or a little more).
The total cook time on these is about 40 minutes. There’s not many things better than a good comfort food recipe like this all in one cozy pot. If you love dutch oven recipes, make sure you check out my others to find more favorites.
Dutch Oven Chicken and Dumplings
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 pound boneless skinless chicken breasts (thighs are fine too)
- 1 cup finely diced carrots
- 1/2 cup finely diced celery
- 1 teaspoon poultry seasoning (or herb and garlic seasoning)
- 4 cups chicken broth
- 1/4 cup heavy cream
- 1 cup flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 egg
- 1/2 cup milk
- 2 teaspoons dried parsley
- 1 teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Cut chicken into tiny bite sized pieces
- Heat olive oil in dutch oven, add chicken, and cook for 5-7 minutes while stirring occasionally until browned on both sides
- Add carrots and celery and cook for 3-4 additional minutes
- Add seasoning and broth and simmer covered for 15-20 minutes until veggies are tender
- Add cream and return to a simmer
- Mix together remaining ingredients for dough stirring until just combined
- Drop by spoonfuls into simmering broth and cook for 5-7 minutes until dumplings are fully cooked
Nutrition
Dear Jennifer, I am new to your sites, however not a new cook. I am having a little health difficulties and like to take advantage of crock and instant pots, etc. I also like the idea of cooking healthy. The recipes that I have tried are wonderful, hubby likes them too! Just wanted to let you know how much I appreciate you, thanks again.
Thanks Robin! I’m so glad you are enjoying the recipes, it means so much to me because this is the reason I create them!
Yum! My husband and all 3 of my kids loved this dish. It is the best chicken and dumpling recipe I have found and successfully made so far. I will absolutely make this a regular dinner option. Super easy too.
Flowed the recipe and got a pot of mush. The dumpling did not stay formed. I don’t know what went wrong. It smelled good.
I’m so sorry it didn’t work out for you! I find when the dumplings won’t stay formed it’s one of two issues, either the liquid is not simmering enough or there is too much liquid in my dough.
Hi there, I have a couple of questions. After dropping in the dough do you cover pot or leave uncovered? Also does the salt go in the dough or the rest of the rest of the ingredients? Thank you!
yes, the salt will go into the dough. Feel free to add any additional salt to taste to the soup once it’s done cooking. And the pot can remain uncovered while the dumplings simmer. Let me know how it turns out for you!
Do you cover the pot when you drop the dumplings in?
I didn’t cover it!
I don’t have any heavy cream right now. Could I sub half-and-half instead?
Yes, that should work just fine. If it’s not as thick as you would like because of the swap, you could always whisk 1 T cornstarch with 1 T water and mix it in and let thicken (repeat as needed).
The whole family loves this meal!
I was gifted a cast iron dutch oven from my mom last week, and this is the first recipe that I made in it. It turned out delicious! Mind you, I did tweak it a bit because my husband hates celery in all forms, lol. I swapped the celery for diced potatoes, and added a 1/4 cup of diced onion as well, which I think made it more of a stew consistency. My picky guy went back for seconds!
So glad it turned out so well for you!
Do you cook the chicken in the Dutch oven or separately in a skillet and then place it in the Dutch? (Literally no common sense cooking skills for me, total newb)
Good catch! That should say to cook the chicken in the dutch oven!
The recipe came out pretty good. It lacked color so I added spinach to it. The recipe also lacked fresh seasoning so I added fresh rosemary, thyme and sage in place of the poultry seasoning. Yes, I know poultry seasoning has all that in it but this recipe needed color and freshness. The main reason I gave this a 4 star is for the dumpling part. This recipe causes the dumplings to be a bit runny. I had to add more flour and baking powder. By the time I got to the right consistency, I’d worked the dough too much and the finished product was a bit dense/tough. They weren’t awful but they could have been better. I’d suggest correcting this part of the recipe since I’ve seen another review with this same issue. I’d also suggest adding a bit more freshness and maybe some fresh or granulated garlic which I also added 🙂
I helped my 9 year old make this for our 8 person family, we doubled the recipie.He did this for a cub scout requiremebt. It was a huge hit with everyone, my husband gave it a A++, and my daughter who eats like a bird got 2nds! Great recipie! Family hit!