Chicken & Dumplings
From start to finish! I made this recipe a couple days after roasting a chicken. It was perfect because I was able to make stock using the leftover chicken pieces, meaning just the carcass. Below you'll find the recipe for the stock, the chicken soup, and the dumplings. If you'd rather not make stock from scratch because you're a reasonable person, I've got nothing against store bought stock. If you happen to have an extra chicken carcass lying around, making stock is super easy but you do have to put in some time making it, about 4 hours on the stove.
This recipe was originally just supposed to be chicken soup, which half way through making I decided to go ahead and add dumplings instead of sliced cabbage, trying to be low carb over here. Not the "healthiest" but by far the most satisfying way to prepare chicken soup is with dumplings.
Ingredients
Ignore the chicken stock ingredients if you're getting that pre-made, you'll need about 5 cups. If you want to make the stock and don't have a chicken carcass lying around, you can always use raw chicken pieces (legs, wings, drumsticks), preferably with bones and skin included, to make the stock and then remove the pieces of meat to reserve for the soup later.
Chicken Stock
onion
2 carrots
2 celery
3 garlic cloves
1 1/2 tsp salt
chicken carcass
4 sprigs thyme
2 sprigs sage
1 sprig rosemary
bay leaf
water
Chicken Soup
onion
2 carrots
2 celery
3 garlic cloves
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
4 cups stock
1 lb cooked chicken
2 sprigs thyme
2 sprigs sage
2 sprigs rosemary
Dumplings
2 cups flour
1 tbsp baking powder
2 eggs
1 cup chicken stock
For the Stock:
Quarter the onion, carrots, and celery. (they don't need to be chopped, they get too mushy to eat later anyways.
In stock pot combine chicken carcass and any uneaten skin, bones, and bits with our onion, carrots, celery, garlic, herbs, and bay leaf. Fill with water until covered. Put on lid, bring to a simmer, and leave partially covered for 4.5 hours.
Take out large pieces with aslotted spoon and discard before pouring the stock through a mesh sieve.
For storing I recommend freezing it, either in ziploc bags or cubes (baby food trays work best) Or just go ahead and make chicken and dumplings right away.
For the Soup + Dumplings
Heat large stock pot over medium heat before adding onion. Let them cook for a few minutes before adding celery and carrots.
Add Salt and Pepper. Cook until veggies begin to soften, about 10 minutes.
Add 4 cups of stock and cover to bring to a simmer, let simmer for 15-20 minutes
Add our cooked chicken bits, either from a previously roasted chicken or quickly cut up and cooked in a pan to the side. Cover and let the soup come back to a simmer.
Make dumplings. Combine flour and baking powder, stir. Combine eggs and chicken stock. Pour the liquid in with our flour mixture and stir to combine.
Drop spoonfuls of dumpling mixture into the soup. Cover and let simmer for 15 minutes.
Sprinkle with chopped fresh herbs, and enjoy!
