Chicken and Dumplings recipe in a bowl with a spoon taken a piece out of one of the dumplings.

Our Easy Chicken and Dumplings Recipe is finally here and we couldn’t be more excited! Our simplified and delicious version is so cozy, packed with so much flavor and makes fluffy biscuit-like dumplings. We make our own herb studded drop biscuit dough, making our dumplings so soft, fluffy and super tasty!

We can seriously eat this chicken and dumplings every week and it’s on regular rotation in both our households during fall and winter months. It’s the perfect cozy, chilly weather meal!

What are Chicken and Dumplings?

Chicken and dumplings is a slightly thickened chicken soup dish with the addition of dumplings simmered into it.

Types of Dumplings

There are a few different types of dumplings that are used for chicken and dumplings.

Rolled/Noodle Dumplings

A simple dough is rolled out, cut into short/wide pieces and added to the soup. These dumplings are flat, soft, dense, and hold together well. They’re considered the most common ‘old fashioned’ dumplings used in chicken and dumplings.

Biscuit Dumplings

Canned biscuits are most commonly used for this type of dumpling. The biscuits are separated, quartered and dropped into the soup. These dumplings puff up a bit, but aren’t really fluffy and can also be a bit dense.

Drop Dumplings

Drop dumplings, which is what we use in our easy chicken and dumpling recipe and also by far our favorite, are made with a thick batter that is scooped and dropped into the soup. It produces light and fluffy dumplings and we love the ease of making them.

How to Make Our Chicken and Dumplings Recipe

Ingredients

Soup

Process

Soup

Place a large pot over medium-high heat and melt butter.
Add diced onion, carrot and celery ribs and sauté for 4 to 5 minutes or until vegetables soften. Season with salt and pepper. Add thyme and continue to cook mixture for another minute.

A pot of melted butter to make a chicken and dumplings recipe.

Vegetables and herbs in a pot for chicken and dumplings.

Sprinkle all purpose flour over mixture and stir together until mixture is well coated and no dry spots remain.
Stir in chicken stock (or chicken broth) and lower heat to medium. Continue to stir together until mixture thickens and is smooth with no lumps of flour.

Vegetables in a pot with flour and herbs.

The start of soup to make chicken and dumplings.

Stir in milk, season with salt and pepper and gently boil until soup is thick enough to coat the back of a wooden spoon.
Fold in Chicken.

Dumplings

In a medium combine flour, chives, thyme, baking powder, and salt.
Whisk together.
Add butter and continue to stir together until mixture is crumbly.

Dry ingredients for dumplings in a glass bowl.

The start of batter to make chicken and dumplings.

Stir in milk until mixture just comes together into a thick batter.
Scoop 3 heaping tablespoon sized scoops of batter into the soup until all batter has been used. Cover pot and simmer for 12 to 15 minute until dumplings have puffed up and just cooked through.

Batter for chicken and dumplings recipe in a bowl.

Chicken and dumplings in a pot on a kitchen counter.

Uncover, season with salt and black pepper, gently stir, and top with thyme and chives.

A pot of chicken and dumpling recipe with a napkin next to it.

Tools You Will Need

Tips and Tricks for Chicken and Dumplings Success

Don’t over-mix the batter – which will cause your dumplings to be dense when they cook up. Make sure to just mix the batter until it just comes together, with no dry spots.
Toothpick check for dumpling doneness – just like many baked goods, insert a skewer into the center of one of the dumplings. If the toothpick comes out clean then the dumplings are ready.
Scoop and drop dumplings into pot – without handling them or packing them tightly. This will help achieve light and fluffy dumplings.
Use an ice cream/cookie scooper – which is the easiest way to minimize handling the dumpling batter.
Cover and don’t peek – because you want steam to build up in the pot so the dumplings cook up evenly and tender.

Chicken and dumplings recipe made and in two bowls with spoons on the side.

Make Ahead and Freezing Our Chicken and Dumplings Recipe

Make Ahead

This easy chicken and dumplings recipe can be made u to 3 days ahead of time. To make ahead, cool soup completely, transfer to an airtight container and store in the refrigerator. When ready to reheat, transfer soup to a pot and simmer over low heat, stirring constantly. It’s important to very slowly reheat the soup to prevent it from separating and becoming grainy.

Freezing

Cream based soups don’t generally freeze well because they tend to separate when frozen, making them grainy when reheated. To prevent this from happening, make the soup, but don’t add the milk before freezing. Add the dumplings as usual and simmer until dumplings have cooked through.

Cool soup completely and transfer to a freezer bag, removing as much air out as possible, before sealing. Place soup in the freezer for up to 2 months. To reheat, allow soup to thaw in the refrigerator overnight. Pour thawed soup into a pot and simmer until heated through. Stir milk into soup and continue to simmer for an additional 5 minutes. Adjust seasonings.

Variations

Garnish the dish with fresh parsley instead of thyme and chives, for a more subtly flavored topping.
Stir frozen peas, spinach or chopped kale into the soup mixture to add in a couple more veggies.
Add a bay leaf and some thinly sliced garlic cloves to the soup for a subtle herbaceous and garlic flavor.
We always prefer fresh herbs to dry ones, but if you don’t have any on hand you can substitute with a couple tablespoons of poultry seasoning in both the soup and the dumplings.
While we use a mixture of both white and dark meat from the rotisserie chicken, feel free to use just the shredded chicken thighs and legs or shredded skinless chicken breasts for your chicken and dumplings based on personal preference.

Also check out our post for Best Soup Recipes!