There's magic in the dog-eared pages of a family cookbook, where sauce-splattered recipes tell stories older than the kitchen itself. Each fold and crease marks a holiday, a Sunday dinner, or that ordinary Tuesday when Mom's lasagna made everything feel extraordinary. These aren't just recipes – they're time machines, whisking us back to grandmother's kitchen, where the scent of fresh-baked cookies could cure any heartache.
Family dinners are more than just meals; they're daily ceremonies where stories are passed down along with the mashed potatoes. They're where children learn the secret ingredient in Dad's famous chili isn't just cayenne pepper – it's love and patience, simmered low and slow. These moments around the table become our anchors, keeping us grounded even as our lives evolve and our nests slowly empty.
Every family has a few recipes that are made on special occasions, or when we need a little comfort food. We have two in our family: Chinese Chicken Salad and Chicken and Dumplings.
This recipe for chicken and dumplings is super easy (as long as no one lifts the lid while the dumplings are cooking), and it's a definite crowd pleaser. Perfect for chilly nights, family dinners, and those days when you just need a little extra something to make your day brighter.
My stepmom, Gail, used to make this all the time, and it's the meal I make when I want to feel her with me. She was an excellent chef and passed on her love for all things cooking to her children, something I'm grateful for every night when I sit down to dinner with my own family.
I hope you make this recipe and enjoy it with your own loved ones!
This family recipe for chicken and dumplings is super easy (as long as no one lifts the lid while the dumplings are cooking), and it's a definite crowd pleaser. Perfect for chilly nights, family dinners, and those days when you just need a little extra something to make your day brighter.
Ingredients
Soup
2 rotisserie chickens or comparable
2 containers of chicken stock
2 packs country gravy mix
2 sticks butter (salted or unsalted)
3 tsp sea salt (divided/2)
¼ tsp ground sage (optional)
1 medium white onion
2 bags sliced carrots
1 pint half and half
Dumplings
3 cups flour
4 tsp baking powder
1 ½ cups milk
6 Tbsp parsley
Directions
Soup
Chop onion, cook in Dutch oven over low heat in 1 ½ sticks butter until translucent.
Add in the country gravy mix.
Pour in chicken stock and use a flat-end wooden spatula to scrape the bottom of the pot.
Add 1 ½ tsp salt (or measure with your heart)
Turn flame up to medium.
Use a whisk to mix.
Add shredded chicken.
Add carrots.
Add half and half.
Cover and turn heat down to medium-low. It will still boil a little. That’s fine. If it sounds like two drunks are under the lid wrestling over the last Old Milwaukee, turn the heat down a little.
Dumplings
Put the last 4 Tbsp of butter in a mug and melt it in the microwave 15 seconds at a time.
Keep an eye on your Dutch oven. If it looks like it’s trying to boil over, turn the flame down a teeeensy bit at a time until it behaves. Boiling—good. Volcanic eruptions in the kitchen—bad.
Put the flour, baking powder, 1.5 tsp salt, milk, butter and parsley in a bowl. You can use a large mixing spoon or the paddle mixer on the kitchen aid.
Mix til blended.
Take a peek at your chicken soup. If it’s boiling, it’s time for the dumplings to head into the hot tub.
Start spooning the dumpling mixture into the Dutch oven one heaping tablespoon at a time. They can be anywhere from a golf ball to a racquetball size. Once they’re all in there, close the lid AND DO NOT OPEN IT FOR TWENTY MINUTES!!!
After thirty minutes, take the lid off and turn the flame off.
Serve as soon as it’s not thermonuclear.
Recipe Note
Soup will be HOT! Spoon servings into bowls and wait for everything to cool down a little.
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