Chicken and Dumplings are fluffy, tender dumplings that are coated in a sour cream sauce served with chicken.
Chicken and Dumplings, for me, is the ultimate comfort food.
When my mom would pull out her electric skillet I knew exactly what we were going to have for dinner. That skillet was used heavily. Even though the lid had grease stains on it and the skillet was all scratched up, it still served its purpose. Eventually that skillet became mine and I used it until it could no longer stand. Seriously, 2 of the “legs” broke. I now use a large cast iron skillet. But till this very day, every time I make this dish, I remember that skillet. The vessel that served us the best comfort food ever!
Introduction to Chicken and Dumplings
An American dish widely popular in the Midwestern and Southern United States. There are a number of variations for this dish including the name. It all depends what area you grew up in. Some call it Chicken and Dumplings, while others call it Chicken Paprikash or Chicken and Dumpling Soup. Regardless of the name, this dish has been around for a very long time. Even though I have tried several different ways and have a Chicken Paprikash recipe (which by the way comes out the same way as mine but just prepared differently) I wanted to share with you what I grew up with. Let’s do this!
Like with most of my recipes, there are not a lot of ingredients but you don’t need a lot to create something wonderful. Everybody has a preference in what kind of chicken pieces to use so use what you like. Bone in chicken thighs or boneless chicken thighs work just as well. I have been known to use boneless chicken thighs simply because they take a lot less time to cook. This recipe calls for 4 bone in chicken breasts, however, I don’t know about you but these chicken breasts that are in the markets these days are huge so I only ended up using 2.
List of ingredients
- DAIRY: Sour Cream, eggs
- SPICES: Paprika, salt and pepper
- Chicken Breasts
- Flour
- Water
Guess what Chicken Butt…..
Start by getting your “skillet” nice and hot with your oil. Add in your chopped onions and sauté them until they start to become soft and translucent. You might need to turn down the heat a bit because you don’t want to burn your onions. Next, sprinkle your paprika over the onions and stir until all onions are equally coated. Time to add those chicken breasts! I like to brown both sides of the chicken breast, about 5 minutes per side and then add the water and cover. The water helps steam the chicken and it will be used as a thinning agent for the sour cream. Cook until the chicken reaches 165 degrees on the inside. The time is going to range because not all breasts are the same size……(funny, no?)
Dumpling Time!
Meanwhile, let’s start the dumplings. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. While waiting for the water to boil, in a large bowl add your flour, salt and pepper, and 4 beaten eggs. The only tricky part is getting the right consistency of the dumplings. Start by adding a 1/2 cup of water. Let’s get our arm workout in for the day shall we? You’ll soon be adding another 1/2 cup of water. You are looking for a wet consistency but to where a spoon could stand up in the batter…let’s take a look.
Once your water is boiling start by gently dropping in a spoonful of batter, one at a time, until they are all in the water bath getting nice and plump just for you!( By the way, if you want smaller dumplings or bigger ones by all means do it! Just adjust the cooking time.) They will start to rise to the top one by one. It doesn’t take them long to cook. Once they have floated to the top I like to cook them for a couple more minutes. 10 minutes total. If you’re afraid that you are going to over cook them or under cook them take one out and cut it open. You want to try your best not to over cook them. You are looking for some air pockets and no raw dough. Reserve about 1 cup of dumpling water and drain. Let’s finish this up!
Chicken and Dumplings Sour Cream Sauce
Back to the pan with the sautéed onion mixture. Turn heat to low and start adding in your sour cream and stir until it’s all combined. This is where you want to taste and adjust your seasoning if needed. I always find myself adding salt but that is what my taste palate requests. It’s best if your sour cream is room temperature so it doesn’t curdle in the sauce. Now, at this point if the sauce is too thick, take some of the dumpling water and stir or whisk into the sour cream mixture. You’re looking for a thick, creamy sauce that will coat your spoon and more importantly the dumplings. My mom always added the chicken back in but that’s not required. Plus, in my opinion, these dumplings deserve their own space….just don’t forget about the chicken.
After all, this recipe is called Chicken and Dumplings! One of my most favorite dishes. I sometimes like to serve this with a Caesar salad. Hope you enjoy this dish just as much as me and my family.~Christina
Chicken and Dumplings
4
servings30
minutes40
minutesOne of my families favorite comfort food. Fluffy, tender dumplings coated in a sour cream sauce served with chicken is heaven in a bowl!
Ingredients
1 onion, chopped
4 Tblsp. vegetable oil
1 Tblsp. paprika
2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. pepper
4 Chicken breasts (bone in) *SEE NOTE
1 C. water
1 C. sour cream (room temperature)
- DUMPLINGS:
4 eggs, beaten
4 C. flour
Salt and pepper
1-2 Cups water (see notes)
Directions
- Add oil into large pan, on medium heat and add chopped onions.
- Sauté onions until soft and translucent, about 10 minutes.
- Sprinkle the paprika over the onions and stir to coat.
- Salt and pepper your chicken breasts and add them to the pan. Brown for 5 minutes on each side.
- Add in the water, bring to a boil then reduce heat to a simmer and cover.
- Cook until the internal part of the chicken reaches 165 degrees. 20-30 minutes.
- Once chicken is fully cooked, remove to a plate and turn stove off.
- Add in room temperature sour cream and stir or whisk until fully combined. Set aside.
- FOR THE DUMPLINGS:
- Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.
- Using a large bowl, add in your flour, salt and pepper and the beaten eggs.
- Start mixing the ingredients and add in 1/2 cup of water at a time. *SEE NOTE
- Once your water is boiling, take a spoonful of the dumpling batter and add it to the water. Continue until there is no more batter left.
- The dumplings will start to rise. Cook for about 10 minutes or until the dumpling is cooked through and longer raw. *SEE NOTE
- Take about a cup of the dumpling water and set aside before draining. Drain.
- Add your cooked dumplings to the sour cream mixture and combine until all dumplings are coated. *SEE NOTE
You might need to heat up your sour cream sauce once you add the dumplings but I find that the dumplings heat up the sauce nicely. - You can add your cooked chicken back to the pan or not.
- Serve hot.
Notes
- Original recipe calls for 4, bone in, chicken breasts. I find that the bone in chicken breasts that the markets carry are much larger than they used to be. I only used 2. Also, you can absolutely swap out the bone in chicken breasts with bone in chicken thighs or boneless. I have tried both of them and they are just as good. Plus, the boneless chicken thighs cook much faster. Just remember to adjust your time.
- Dumpling batter should be wet but not soupy. This is why you should start with a 1/2 cup of water at a time. You should be able to stand a spoon up in the middle of the batter.
- The dumplings should take about 10 minutes to cook, not any longer. I always take one out and cut through it to make sure they are cooked through.
- The sour cream mixture should be able to coat a spoon. It should be thinner than the sour cream itself. If it’s too thick add in a little bit of the reserved liquid, at a time. They should coat the dumplings nicely.
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