Restaurant Recipe Reviews

If you ask any six people on the street to tell you their favorite comfort food, I believe at least one of those six people will say chicken and dumplings. Even though chicken soup and most every other one-pot style chicken dish may be right up there, for some reason chicken and dumplings just whispers “relax” gently in your ear.

Every family has their own version of chicken and dumplings. Each person within that family may also have tweaked their family’s chicken and dumplings recipe. We end up with a variety of methods for cooking this popular chicken dish. The following are just a few examples of how our ideas of the best chicken and dumplings recipes can differ.

Starting with the base for the recipe – the pot of chicken. Some folks swear that chicken and dumplings is no more than chicken soup with dumplings on top. This is one variety that is very well regarded, and very delicious, indeed. Simply taking your favorite chicken soup recipe and mixing up a batch of dumplings to drop on top is a great way to ensure your dish will be well loved by the whole family, since they already love your chicken soup!

Then there’s the creamy pot of chicken style of chicken and dumplings. This is a warm and wonderful dish that is less like chicken soup and more like a chicken stew. You cook the chicken in a little water or broth until tender, then take the meat off the bone and shred. To the pot you add the chicken back in, then add sour cream, more broth, and some vegetables. When that comes back up to a simmer, you drop in your dumplings. This is a very rich and creamy dish with many varieties. It differs from the clear broth type of chicken and dumplings based on chicken soup.

Baking chicken pieces in a Dutch oven is another method to use for creating a chicken and dumpling meal. After fully baking the chicken pieces, you take the Dutch oven out, put it on top of the stove, add liquid, like broth or water, and bring the pot up to a boil. You can add in any vegetables you want at this time. Then once the vegetables soften, you can drop in the dumplings as usual and complete the meal. The chicken pieces remain intact rather than shredding them. It’s not a clear broth style, nor a creamy style, This is sort of an oven baked style.

Dumplings can be as simple as cutting up some store-bought biscuits or as involved as preparing a dough with herbs and seasonings added. Either way, a classic dumpling recipe contains no more than a few ingredients – typically flour, salt, and ice water, with the addition of eggs and oil in some recipes. The ingredients and preparation of dumplings vary a great deal recipe to recipe, so experiment a little to find your favorite.

The actual method for cooking your dumplings will vary according to the recipe. There is no one method that works better than another in every recipe. Some cooks swear by putting the lid back on the pot while others say the lid must remain off. Whatever works in your favorite chicken and dumplings recipes is all that really matters. You’ll find the best method that works for your recipes, which is all any food lover wants anyway.

When you attempt to make your favorite comfort food this winter, don’t worry about sticking to any chicken and dumplings recipe too closely. Experiment with a lot of different recipes. I’m sure you won’t be too disappointed if you develop a whole pile of new favorite chicken recipes in the process! How wonderful to have your very own collection of chicken and dumplings recipes that are uniquely yours!

It’s easy to learn how to make chicken and dumplings with a few simple recipes. A good chicken recipe doesn’t have to be difficult when you learn the basics – and the results are delicious!