Soft and pillowy homemade dumplings are dropped into the a thick and creamy chicken stew and steamed to perfection. Some of the best comfort food! LISTEN TO THE AUDIO RECIPE WITH THE PLAYER BELOW.
Start with a large heavy bottom pot that has a lid (like an enameled cast iron pot or Dutch oven) over medium heat.
Add the olive oil. Once it is hot add the onions, carrots, and celery. Sauté for about 8-10 minutes, stirring often, so the onions are nice and soft.
2 tablespoon olive oil, 1 yellow onion, 2 cups carrots, 1 ½ cup celery
Stir in the minced garlic, onion powder, turmeric, salt, pepper, and chicken base, so it coats the veggies.
3 garlic cloves, 1 teaspoon kosher salt, ½ teaspoon black pepper, ½ teaspoon onion powder, ¼ teaspoon turmeric powder, 2 teaspoon chicken base
Pour in the chicken broth, water and add the bay leaf. Give everything a good stir.
32 oz chicken broth or stock, 1 ½ cup water, 1 bay leaf
Simmer over medium heat for 20 minutes, until the carrots and celery are just fork tender.Go ahead and make the dumpling dough at this point and set aside until the stew is done simmering. See instructions below.
Remove the bay leaf and discard. Stir in the cooked chicken.
3 cups cooked chicken
Increase the heat to medium-high to bring the pot to a gentle boil. Drop tablespoons full of the dumpling dough into the simmering broth. PRO TIP: Resist the urge to stir the dumplings!!!! They will have a better texture if you let them simmer/steam.
Once all the dumplings are in the pot, lower the heat to medium-low and pop the lid on. Let the dumplings lightly simmer for 15 minutes without disturbing!
Meanwhile, in a small bowl mash together the flour and butter (Beurre Manié) until it is combined. Set aside.
1 tablespoon butter, 1 tablespoon all purpose flour
Remove the lid and pour in the heavy cream and frozen peas. Lightly stir in the flour/butter thickener. Let it simmer over low heat for another 5 minutes. The heat will thaw the peas and thicken the stew.
1 cup heavy whipping cream, ¾ cup frozen peas
Remove from the heat and let it cool for 5-10 minutes before serving.
Dumpling Dough Instructions
In a medium bowl sift together the all-purpose flour, baking powder, and kosher salt.
2 cups all purpose flour, 1 tablespoon baking powder, 1 teaspoon kosher salt
Stir in the melted butter and milk JUST UNTIL the dough comes together. PRO TIP: Do not overmix your dumpling dough or you will have tough dumplings!
¾ cup milk, 4 tablespoon butter
This will make about 25-30 dumplings.
Video
Notes
INSTANT POT: To make this in your electric pressure cooker follow this recipe for Instant Pot Chicken and DumplingsRecipe Tips to Remember:
Sift the dry ingredients together. This eliminates any clumps in the flour or baking powder and lightly mixes it together.
Don't skip the kosher salt in the dumplings, it adds just enough flavor.
Lightly stir the milk and melted butter into the dry ingredients, JUST until everything is wet. Avoid overmixing the ingredients, which will result in firmer dumplings.
Make sure the liquid is simmering before adding the dumplings.
Do not "form" the dumplings. You want them to be kind of craggy. Using a small cookie scoop is a great tool to do this.
Do not stir the dumplings until the very end. Let the simmering liquid form and steam/cook the dumplings.
Do not lift the lid while the dumplings are cooking, for 15 minutes. You want them to steam through.
Don't skip the chicken base or turmeric powder they add really great depth of flavor. The flavor won't be the same without it.