Leave on the stove to simmer & they will flock to your kitchen
The fire going in the hearth and candles lit while you savour some wholesome chicken stew and dumplings. Outside, the wind is raging, but inside you can relish in the warmth of the fire and your delicious comforting chicken stew, topped with the fluffy goodness of homemade dumplings.
During the cold of winter, enjoying a nourishing chicken stew made with bone broth and topped with dumplings is one of our favourite things about this season. Especially after a cold day of roaming through the forest. And coming home to a good hot bowl of chicken stew topped with dumplings. If you make it in the slow cooker, you would just get it started in the morning before heading out and coming home to a cooked meal. It is why we love our slow cooker. Because it allows us to spend days outside kicking leaves or throwing snowballs and still have a wholesome dinner.
And is there anything more wholesome than chicken soups and stews? The nourishing and health-giving liquid that cures any cold. Not that that means that chicken stews and soups should be confined to the sickbed. Since, when done right, they are just too delicious to not be enjoyed regularly. Especially when topped with delicious fluffy dumplings.
How to make chicken stew & dumplings
Chicken stew and dumplings that is a feast for the soul, with its comforting dumplings. Made with homemade chicken bone broth, leftover roast chicken and plenty of veggies. This stew is as wholesome and nourishing as it is comforting.
Makes: 2.5 litres
Prep: 15 min
Cook: 45 min
Ingredients:
For the chicken stew
- 1,5 Litre of chicken bone broth or stock
- 300 gr leftover shredded chicken
- 2 large or 3 medium carrots (about 400 gr)
- 3 medium onions (about 300 gr)
- 3 celery stalks (about 200 gr)
- 30 gr of butter
- 3 garlic cloves
- 3 tbsp flour
- 2 to 4 sprigs of fresh thyme or 1/2 tsp of dried thyme.
- Salt & pepper to taste
For the dumplings
- 150 gr plain flour
- 65 gr ice-cold grated butter
- 70 ml milk or water
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- Salt & pepper to taste
Preparation:
You could also make this chicken stew in the slow cooker, in which case you transfer the ingredients to the slow cooker after frying off your ingredients. Then let it cook on high for about 4 hours or double the amount on low. You can add the dumplings in for the last hour, ensuring they have enough room to expand.
The chicken stew
If you’ve not already done so before, then remove the chicken meat from the bones. I like to roughly chop the leftover chicken meat. I find it helps with two things, firstly it will alert you if you accidentally have one of those tiny thin chicken bones in there. As well as ensuring that all the chicken is in reasonably equal chunks.
If you don’t have any leftover chicken, don’t worry just throw your raw chicken in your pan when you’re frying your onions and brown it then.
Peel or wash your carrots, celery, garlic and onions, then roughly chop them into equal-sized chunks. You don’t have to be too fussy. Considering that it is a chicken stew, and it’s supposed to be a tad rustic. Although you can mince your garlic if you’re not a fan of big pieces of garlic.
In your soup pot or Dutch oven, add a good big knob of butter or a big lug of olive oil if that is your preferred fat. Leave it to warm up before you add in your chopped up onions, sauté until soft and deliciously fragrant. Then add your carrots, celery and garlic and sauté for a couple of minutes to release some extra flavour.
Add your shredded chicken to the pot, a few sprigs of fresh thyme and sprinkle some flour over everything so that everything is coated and give it a good stir.
Slowly add in your chicken bone broth and bring to a boil, then leave to simmer for 30 minutes, after which you can add in the dumplings and leave to simmer for an additional 12 to 15 minutes.
The fluffy dumplings
To a medium-sized bowl add in your flour, baking powder, salt and pepper then give them a quick mix.
Grate in your ice-cold butter, the colder the better. I always use a bar of frozen butter that I keep in the freezer, I find this gives the fluffiest dumplings that I’ve ever tasted.
Pour in your milk and mix in until you’ve made a rough dough. Then divide the dough in half until you have 8 bits of roughly equal size dough balls. You can roll them around in your hands until they are somewhat rounder, but again don’t be too fussy. After all, a stew is supposed to be on the rustic side.
When the stew has been able to simmer for roughly 30 minutes. And all the veggies are nice and tender, you can add the dumplings. Simply pop them in one by one in a circle with one little dumpling in the middle, and cover them with a lid so that they stay extra toasty.
After about 12 to 15 minutes, the dumplings will have puffed up and become lovely fluffy clouds of dumpling goodness.
Serve with a sprinkling of some fresh herbs like parsley or extra thyme and a good fat slice of homemade sourdough loaf.
Share your chicken stew & dumplings around the table
Light the fire in the hearth and relish in the comfort of your homemade chicken stew and dumplings while the wind rages on outside. And if you’re feeling generous. Call your family and friends around the table to share in the nourishing comfort of your chicken stew.
While you’re indulging yourself with some nourishing chicken stew & fluffy dumplings, I would love it if you have a second to tag me on Instagram so I can see your delicious creation.
And if you have any questions, just leave a comment down below so that I can answer them.
Want to try out some more wholesome soups and stews?
- Rustic beef stew & red wine recipe for Crockpot
- Old fashioned rustic French onion soup
- Vegetable filled beef stew +DIY slow cooker tip
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Chicken stew & dumplings
Ingredients
For the chicken stew
- 1.5 litre chicken bone broth or chicken stock
- 300 gr leftover shredded roast chicken or fresh chicken if you don't have leftover
- 3 medium carrots
- 3 medium onions
- 3 celery stalks
- 30 gr butter
- 3 garlic cloves
- 3 tbsp plain flour
- 2-4 sprigs of fresh thyme or ½ tsp of dried thyme
- salt & pepper to taste
For the dumplings
- 150 gr plain flour
- 65 gr ice-cold butter grated
- 70 ml milk or water
- ½ tsp baking powder
- salt & pepper to taste
Instructions
- You could also make this chicken stew in the slow cooker, in which case you transfer the ingredients to the slow cooker after frying off your ingredients. Then let it cook on high for about 4 hours or double the amount on low. You can add the dumplings in for the last hour, ensuring they have enough room to expand.
The chicken stew
- If you've not already done so before, then remove the chicken meat from the bones. I like to roughly chop the leftover chicken meat. I find it helps with two things, firstly it will alert you if you accidentally have one of those tiny thin chicken bones in there. As well as ensuring that all the chicken is in reasonably equal chunks.
- If you don't have any leftover chicken, don't worry just throw your raw chicken in your pan when you're frying your onions and brown it then.
- Peel or wash your carrots, celery, garlic and onions, then roughly chop them into equal-sized chunks. You don't have to be too fussy. Considering that it is a chicken stew, and it's supposed to be a tad rustic. Although you can mince your garlic if you're not a fan of big pieces of garlic.
- In your soup pot or Dutch oven, add a good big knob of butter or a big lug of olive oil if that is your preferred fat. Leave it to warm up before you add in your chopped up onions, sauté until soft and deliciously fragrant. Then add your carrots, celery and garlic and sauté for a couple of minutes to release some extra flavour.
- Add your shredded chicken to the pot, a few sprigs of fresh thyme and sprinkle some flour over everything so that everything is coated and give it a good stir.
- Slowly add in your chicken bone broth and bring to a boil, then leave to simmer for 30 minutes, after which you can add in the dumplings and leave to simmer for an additional 12 to 15 minutes.
The fluffy dumplings
- To a medium-sized bowl add in your flour, baking powder, salt and pepper then give them a quick mix.
- Grate in your ice-cold butter, the colder the better. I always use a bar of frozen butter that I keep in the freezer, I find this gives the fluffiest dumplings that I've ever tasted.
- Pour in your milk and mix in until you've made a rough dough. Then divide the dough in half until you have 8 bits of roughly equal size dough balls. You can roll them around in your hands until they are somewhat rounder, but again don't be too fussy. After all, a stew is supposed to be on the rustic side.
- When the stew has been able to simmer for roughly 30 minutes. And all the veggies are nice and tender, you can add the dumplings. Simply pop them in one by one in a circle with one little dumpling in the middle, and cover them with a lid so that they stay extra toasty.
- After about 12 to 15 minutes, the dumplings will have puffed up and become lovely fluffy clouds of dumpling goodness.
- Serve with a sprinkling of some fresh herbs like parsley or extra thyme and a good fat slice of homemade sourdough loaf.
