The Pioneer Woman Tasty Kitchen
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Down Home Chicken and Dumplings

5.00 Mitt(s) 1 Rating(s)1 vote, average: 5.00 out of 51 vote, average: 5.00 out of 51 vote, average: 5.00 out of 51 vote, average: 5.00 out of 51 vote, average: 5.00 out of 5

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Level: Easy

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Description

Just like your Mama used to make—except better! This dinner is beyond yummy, so thick and delicious, and perfect for a cold winter’s day. It is certainly very adaptable. Any spices you like? Just throw ‘em on in there. Here in the South, we don’t get all riled up about things like that.

Ingredients

  • 3 pounds Chicken, Uncooked
  • 2-½ quarts Salted Water
  • 2 whole Bay Leaves
  • 1 Tablespoon Oregano, to taste
  • ½ whole Onion, Chopped
  • 10 Tablespoons Butter
  • ½ teaspoons Salt To Taste
  • ½ teaspoons Pepper To Taste
  • 4 cups Self-Rising Flour
  • ½ cups Shortening, Like Crisco
  • 1 cup Milk
  • ½ packages (16 Oz. Package) Baby Carrots, If Desired
  • ½ packages (10 Oz. Package) Frozen Peas, If Desired

Preparation

Cook the chicken in salted and seasoned water with the chopped onion until chicken is done. There is no harm in leaving it to simmer for as long as you want; the longer it simmers, the more tender it becomes. When you begin to make your dumplings, pull the chicken out to a cutting board so that it can cool. Go ahead and add your butter, peas and carrots (if using) now so that they can be cooking.

In a large bowl, mix the flour with the shortening using a pastry blender. It comes together very easily. Add about 1 1/2 cups of your chicken stock, straight out of the pot, and stir to combine. The dough will still seem pretty dry, but that’s okay. Dump it out on your counter and knead it a bit until it all comes together.

Using a rolling pin, roll the dough out thinly, to about 1/8-1/4 inch thick (I prefer to smoosh them pretty thin – it’s just the way we like them here). Then use a knife or a pizza roller to cut the dough into strips. Any size will do, but mine are typically 1 1/2 inches across by 3-4 inches long. Add the dumplings and milk to your boiling stock, and allow to simmer for 10-15 minutes.

While they are cooking, chop up your chicken into bite-sized pieces. Add it back in at any point, it’s up to you. It is best to keep a lid on the boiling dumplings so that they steam—the outcome is better. I filled my pot so full though that it caused overflow, so just be careful! When ready, spoon out and enjoy!

4 Comments

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nancy32408 on 1.1.2013

I broke New Year’s tradition about eating black eyed peas for good luck and made this recipe. The peas in this dish are maybe from the black eyed pea family (LOL). I will definitely make again, but I will definitely omit salting the water. Everything was just too salty. I added 2 peeled whole potatoes to sop up the salt taste. Love the dumplings.

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brandijo47 on 3.3.2010

I made this tonight & it was so good! I didn’t have any carrots so I only used frozen peas. Will make it again!

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sandjsikora on 1.13.2010

This turned out SO good! The last time I tried to make Chicken and Dumplings, the dumplings turned out horrible. These were light and fluffy!

Be sure and follow the recipe to the T. I left out the carrots and peas and just made it straight.

Thanks for posting this recipe!

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jessicad on 1.8.2010

I want to try this but want to make sure I have this right. You leave all of the broth in the pot and add to that?

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WestsWife on 3.21.2011

My husband says this is a 5 star recipe. He loved it. It is very buttery… I love it but I’m glad it’s only a once-in-a-while recipe because if I ate this all the time I’d be WAAAAY overweight! I made this without the veggies because I don’t think of vegetables and dumplings as going together in the same dish. Thanks for sharing this delicious recipe!

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