One Pot Chicken and Dumplings (Printable)
Comforting one-pot meal of tender chicken, vegetables and fluffy dumplings—ready in about an hour for six servings.
# What You'll Need:
→ Chicken and Broth
01 - 1½ pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs or breasts, cut into bite-sized pieces
02 - 2 tablespoons olive oil
03 - 1 medium yellow onion, diced
04 - 2 medium carrots, peeled and sliced into rounds
05 - 2 celery stalks, sliced
06 - 3 cloves garlic, minced
07 - 5 cups chicken broth
08 - 1 teaspoon dried thyme
09 - 1 teaspoon dried parsley
10 - 1 bay leaf
11 - Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
12 - 1 cup frozen peas
13 - ½ cup heavy cream (optional, for richness)
→ Dumplings
14 - 1½ cups all-purpose flour
15 - 2 teaspoons baking powder
16 - ½ teaspoon baking soda
17 - ½ teaspoon salt
18 - 2 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped (optional)
19 - 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
20 - ¾ cup whole milk
# How-To Steps:
01 - Heat olive oil in a large Dutch oven or heavy-bottomed pot over medium heat. Add the diced onion, sliced carrots, and celery. Sauté until the vegetables have softened, approximately 5 minutes. Add the minced garlic and cook for an additional 1 minute until fragrant.
02 - Add the bite-sized chicken pieces to the pot. Season with salt, pepper, dried thyme, and dried parsley. Sauté until the chicken is lightly browned on all sides, about 3 to 4 minutes.
03 - Pour in the chicken broth and drop in the bay leaf. Bring the liquid to a gentle boil, then reduce the heat to medium-low and let the stew simmer for 15 minutes so the flavors meld together.
04 - While the stew simmers, whisk together the all-purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and chopped parsley in a mixing bowl. Pour in the melted butter and milk, stirring gently until just combined. Be careful not to overmix, as this will make the dumplings tough.
05 - Remove and discard the bay leaf from the simmering pot. Stir in the frozen peas and heavy cream if using. Allow the mixture to return to a gentle simmer.
06 - Drop spoonfuls of the dumpling dough, approximately 1 tablespoon each, onto the surface of the simmering stew, spacing them about 1 inch apart. Cover the pot with a tight-fitting lid and cook over low heat for 18 to 20 minutes. Resist lifting the lid during cooking. The dumplings are ready when they are puffed, fluffy, and cooked through.
07 - Taste the finished stew and adjust the salt and pepper as needed. Ladle into bowls, ensuring each serving gets a generous portion of chicken, vegetables, broth, and dumplings. Garnish with additional fresh parsley if desired and serve hot.
# Expert Advice:
01 -
- Everything cooks in one pot, which means cleanup is almost nonexistent and the flavors meld together beautifully.
- The dumplings steam directly on top of the stew, soaking up all that savory broth while staying impossibly fluffy inside.
02 -
- Lifting the lid while the dumplings steam lets all the precious heat escape and can leave you with gummy, undercooked dough.
- Stirring the dumpling dough too much develops the gluten and turns them dense instead of light and tender.
03 -
- A splash of dry white wine added to the broth right before simmering adds a layer of complexity that people will notice but not quite be able to identify.
- Letting the dough rest for five minutes before scooping it gives the baking powder time to activate and makes the dumplings even lighter.