Easy, Delicious Chicken and Dumplings

This is one of the ultimate comfort foods, and here in Arizona I love to take advantage of our very short but sweet winter to make soup for dinner. I LOVE soup, don't you? I first saw this chicken and dumplings recipe in a Family Fun magazine several years ago. I have simplified it a bit by using boneless, skinless chicken thighs (instead of whole chicken pieces you have to tear apart later) and I totally cheat on the dumplings! But if you want to make your own, I am going to include a recipe for those too! The ingredients for this are super simple, but you won't believe how good this tastes! Don't even think about skipping the step below where you brown your chicken, that's what makes this taste so amazing. You can have this delicious dinner on the table for your family in an hour, so let's get cooking!!

Chicken and Dumplings, serves 4-5. *I double this to feed my family of 8*
Recipe adapted from Family Fun
Print Recipe

2 Tablespoons Vegetable Oil
1 pound boneless, skinless Chicken Thighs
1 small onion, chopped
2 ribs celery, thinly sliced
3 cups + 1/2 cup water, divided
1 Bay Leaf
1 teaspoon dried Parsley
3 Chicken Bouillon Cubes or 3 teaspoons Chicken Bouillon Powder
Black Pepper, to taste (I use 1/4 teaspoon)
5 Carrots, peeled and thinly sliced
1/3 cup all purpose flour

Heat oil in a large saucepan. Add chicken thighs and brown them on each side for 2 minutes. Stir in the onion and celery and saute briefly. Then add the carrots, 3 cups of water, bay leaf, bouillon, parsley, and pepper to your chicken and veggies. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer the chicken for 30 minutes. While chicken simmers, "prepare" your dumplings~Yay! This is where I cheat.

Dumplings (please don't tattle tale to your grandma)
5 small refrigerated biscuits.
So you will just buy a package of 10 small biscuits like this:
I say "small" because you can buy a package of like 4-6 "grand" biscuits or just a package of regular sized ones, just buy the smaller ones. Ok so now you will take 5 biscuits and cut each one into 4 small pieces like this:
Once chicken thighs and veggies are done simmering, remove thighs from the saucepan and place on a cutting board. Whisk the 1/3 cup flour together with the 1/2 cup water, stir into to the soup. Cut chicken into bite size pieces and add back into soup. Simmer together for 1 minute and then drop in your dumplings. Cover and simmer for 15 minutes. Check your dumplings, they should be kind of soft and "dough-ey" on the outside, but on the inside they should be cake-like, like the inside of a biscuit like this:
If dumplings aren't done, just cover your pan and cook for a couple more minutes. Yum!

Homemade Dumplings if you don't have biscuits:
1 1/2 cups all purpose Flour
2 teaspoons Baking Powder
1/4 teaspoon Salt
2/3 cup Milk
1 Egg
1 tablespoon Vegetable Oil

Combine flour, baking powder, and salt. Make a well in this mixture and add milk, egg, and oil. Stir briskly to make a batter. Spoon rounded tablespoons of batter into your simmering broth and cook, covered, for 15 minutes.

**A quick note, I always buy extra biscuits when they go on sale and bake them while the chicken and dumplings are cooking to serve on the side!