Crock Pot Chicken and Dumplings

I’ve only had chicken dumpling soup from a can, so when the weather turned cold I figured it was a perfect time to try making this comfort soup. It was a simple recipe that did not disappoint! It was delicious, but the dumplings were the highlight. This is a definite make again soup. Be sure as you’re planning it into your menu you take into account the additional amount of time to cook the dumplings.

Serves: 6 | Serving Size: 1/6 of soup and 3 dumplings

Cook time: 6 hours on low, plus an additional 30 to 40 minutes for the dumplings.

Ingredients:

• Stew:
  • 3 chicken breast – boneless/skinless (about 18 ounces)
  • salt and pepper
  • 2 tablespoon olive oil
  • 2 sweet yellow onions diced
  • 5 celery ribs – diced
  • 6 garlic cloves
  • 1 tablespoon tomato paste
  • 2 teaspoons minced fresh thyme or 1/2 teaspoon dried
  • 1/3 cup all purpose flour
  • 1/4 cup dry sherry
  • 4 1/2 cups low sodium chicken broth, plus extra as needed
  • 1 pound baby carrots – sliced 1/4 inch think
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 1 cups frozen peas
  • 1/2 cup frozen sweet corn
  • 3 tablespoons minced fresh parsley
• Dumplings:
  • 2 cups all purpose flour
  • 1 tablespoon baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup whole milk
  • 3 tablespoons unsalted butter

Directions:

1. For the Stew: Dry chicken with paper towel and season with salt and pepper. Set crock pot to simmer and heat 1 tablespoon oil – brown chicken lightly on both sides, 3 to 4 minutes per side. Transfer browned chicken to a plate.
2. Heat remaining tablespoon of olive oil now empty crock pot. Add onions, celery, garlic, tomato paste and thyme – cook until vegetables are softened, 8 to 10 minutes. Stir in flour and cook for 1 minute. Slowly stir in sherry, scraping up and browned bits. Stir in 1 cup broth, smoothing out any lumps. Stir in remaining 3 1/2 cups broth, carrots and bay leaves.
3. Nestle browned chicken with any accumulated juice into slow cooker. Cover and cook on low until chicken is tender, about 6 hours.
4. Transfer cooked chicken to cutting board, let cool, then shred chicken into bite-size pieces. Discard bay leaves.
5. Stir shredded chicken, peas, corn and parsley into stew and season with salt and pepper to taste. You can adjust stew consistency with additional warmed broth as needed.
6. Cover and set crock pot to high until simmering (or transfer to dutch over to bring to a simmer over medium-high heat if needed).
7. For the dumplings: (recipe makes about 18 dumplings)
   1. While stew comes to a simmer, whisk flour, baking powder and salt together in a bowl. Microwave milk and butter together until warm for about 1 minute (do not overheat). Then whisk to combine. Stir milk mixture into flour mixture until just incorporated and smooth.
   2. Drop golf ball sized dumplings on top of simmering stew, leaving about 1/4 inch between each. Cover and cook until dumplings have doubled in size, about 30 to 40 minutes. Serve and enjoy!

Nutrition Information:

Per serving of stew: 

Calories: 442; Total Fat: 8g;  Cholesterol: 143mg; Sodium: 416mg; Total Carbohydrates: 27g; Dietary Fiber: 5g; Sugars: 11g; Protein: 59g
Nutrition Bonus: Potassium: 429mg; Vitamin A: 120%; Vitamin C: 40%; Calcium: 15%; Iron: 13%

Per serving of dumplings: 

Calories: 225; Total Fat: 8g;  Cholesterol: 21mg; Sodium: 670mg; Total Carbohydrates: 33g; Dietary Fiber: 1g; Sugars: 2g; Protein: 5g
Nutrition Bonus: Potassium: 68mg; Vitamin A: 5%; Vitamin C: 1%; Calcium: 365%; Iron: 1%

Adopted from: America’s Test Kitchen. “Old Fashioned Chicken and Dumplings.” Slow Cooker Revolution. Boston: America’s Test Kitchen, 2011. 46. Print.