This recipe makes a quick chicken and dumpling stew that's, in short, perfect

About the recipe

This is a hearty chicken stew with fluffy dumplings poached in its broth is perfect.

While dumplings can take on various forms, we like these drop biscuits for their softness and the fact that they slightly thicken the sauce as they cook.

You can always use a whole chicken to make stock and pull the meat from the bones; however, using a rotisserie chicken and premade broth is a nice time-saver. Save leftover chicken for another soup or a quick chicken salad.

Serves: 6 to 8

Hands On Time: 30 minutes

Total Time: 45 minutes

Ingredients

Stew

1 tablespoon unsalted butter

1 1/2 teaspoons vegetable oil

2 carrots, peeled and diced

1/2 yellow onion, diced

1 bay leaf

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 1/2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

3 cups chicken stock

2 tablespoons heavy cream

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Dumplings

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1 large egg

1/2 to 3/4 cup buttermilk

Half of the meat, skin removed, from 1 whole rotisserie chicken

2 tablespoons chopped fresh Italian parsley, plus more for serving

Instructions

To make the stew: In a large Dutch oven, melt the butter and oil over medium heat. When the butter is foamy, add the carrots, onion, and bay leaves, and cook, stirring frequently, until the vegetables have softened, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and thyme, and continue to cook until aromatic, about 1 minute. Stir in the flour and continue to cook, stirring constantly, until the flour has coated the vegetables and lost its starchy taste, about 2 minutes. 

Slowly pour in the chicken stock, 1 cup at a time, stirring well after each addition. Bring the sauce to a simmer and cook, covered, until it has thickened enough to coat the back of a spoon, about 8 minutes. Reduce the heat to low, stir in the heavy cream and season to taste with salt and pepper.

To make the dumplings: In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt. In a small bowl, lightly beat together the buttermilk and eggs. Add the buttermilk mixture to the flour mixture and stir to combine. Continue to stir until the dough becomes thick and cake-like.

Using two spoons, carefully drop heaping tablespoons of the dumpling batter into the hot stew mixture. The dumplings should cover the top of the sauce, but should not be touching or crowded. Increase the heat to medium-low, cover the pot, and poach the dumplings until they just begin to set, about 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, pull the chicken meat into bite-sized pieces.

Use a spoon to flip the dumplings, and then gently stir in the chicken pieces. Cover the pot and continue to simmer until the dumplings have cooked through, about 5 minutes. Stir in the parsley and season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve garnished with additional parsley.