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You’re going to love these old-fashioned Chicken and dumplings, with tender rolled dumplings simmered in buttery Chicken broth. This is the flat, noodle-style kind—not fluffy drop dumplings—and every bite is cozy and comforting. Nothing fancy, just a big warm Pot Of homemade comfort food.
Why You’ll Love It
- Feeds a crowd — makes enough for 8 to 10 servings.
- Made-from-scratch dumplings — sticky dough rolls thin and cuts easily with a pizza cutter.
- Forgiving technique — uneven strips and rustic shapes cook up beautifully.
- Tender chicken — adding it back at the end keeps it from getting stringy.
Ingredient Notes
For the chicken, you can use 2 to 4 bone-in, skin-on chicken breasts or one whole 3-pound chicken. I tend to use a whole chicken when I can find one that doesn’t cost more than a small appliance. The broth has a fuller flavor, and you get plenty of meat tucked between all those dumplings. But bone-in breasts are completely fine, especially on a weeknight when you have already been to two grocery stores and are about one inconvenience away from driving home without dinner.
Keep the skin on while the chicken cooks. You’ll remove it later, along with the bones, but it contributes to the broth while everything simmers.
This recipe uses a full stick of butter in the broth and another full stick in the dumplings. Yes, two sticks. We are not having a spa lunch. We are making chicken and dumplings.
For the bouillon, use two packages or two spoonfuls, depending on what you keep around. I grew up with those little packets rattling around in the pantry drawer behind the measuring spoons. Nowadays I usually have the spoonable kind. Either works.
The yellow food coloring is old-school and purely for that warm golden look. Two drops is plenty. A pinch of turmeric works instead if you prefer, though it can get away from you fast. I once shook in what I thought was a pinch and made dumplings the color of a school bus. Tasted fine. Looked alarming.
Ingredients
- 2 to 4 bone-in, skin-on chicken breasts or 1 whole chicken, about 3 pounds
- Water, enough to cover the chicken in your Dutch oven
- 1 stick butter
- 2 packages chicken bouillon, or 2 spoonfuls
- 1 stick butter, melted
- 3 large eggs
- 1/2 cup 2% milk
- 5 cups all-purpose flour, divided
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon pepper
- 2 drops yellow food coloring, or a pinch of turmeric if that’s what you have
Instructions
Put the chicken in a large Dutch oven and cover it with water. Add 1 stick of butter and the chicken bouillon. Set it over medium heat and let it cook until the chicken is tender—about 45 minutes for chicken breasts, or about 1 hour and 15 minutes for a whole 3-pound chicken.
Don’t wander too far off and forget the pot, which I have done while trying to fold laundry and then got sidetracked looking for a missing sock. Keep an eye on the water level. You want plenty of broth for the dumplings later.
Remove the cooked chicken from the broth and let it cool enough to handle. Do not pour out that broth. That broth is the whole point, bless it.
Take off the skin and discard it, then remove the bones. Shred the chicken or chop it into bite-size pieces. Set it aside for now; don’t add it back to the pot yet. The dumplings need room to cook without you stirring the chicken around and breaking everything up.
For the dumplings, whisk the 3 eggs into the melted stick of butter in a small mixing bowl. It will look a little odd at first, kind of slippery and yellow, but just keep whisking.
Add the milk. The old way of measuring it is to fill half an eggshell with milk six times and pour that into the egg mixture. That comes out to about 1/2 cup. I have done the eggshell thing exactly once, and it felt charming but also like I was setting myself up for a countertop mess. Use a measuring cup if you have one handy.
Stir in the salt and pepper. Add 3 cups of the flour, a little at a time, mixing as you go. The dough should be rather sticky. Don’t panic and start dumping in all the remaining flour at this stage—that was my early mistake. It needs to be sticky before you work it on the floured board.
Stir in the 2 drops of yellow food coloring, or your pinch of turmeric. The food coloring gives the dumplings that rich, homemade look without changing the taste.
Heap about 2 cups of flour onto a wooden board or clean countertop. Take about 1 cup of the sticky dough and place it in the middle of the flour. Work the flour into it until you can roll the dough without it sticking all over your rolling pin, hands, sleeves, and whatever else is within reach.
Roll the dough very thin. Thin is important here. These dumplings plump a bit as they cook, and thick ones can turn doughy in the middle. Use a pizza cutter to cut the dough into strips. Mine are never perfectly even. Nobody has ever complained.
Bring the broth back to a rapid boil. Make sure you have plenty of liquid in the pot so the dumplings don’t scorch. Drop in the first batch of cut dumplings, then turn the heat down to low while you roll and cut the next batch.
Working in small batches is easier than rolling out all the dough at once. It keeps the dough manageable, and you don’t wind up with a flour-covered counter that looks like a very unsuccessful snowstorm.
Continue adding the dumplings in batches until all the dough is in the broth. Let the pot stay at a low simmer as you go. Be gentle. This isn’t one of those times to stir aggressively like you’re mad at the onions.
After the last dumpling goes in, add the shredded or chopped chicken back to the Dutch oven. Stir very gently, just enough to distribute it through the dumplings.
Remove the pot from the heat, cover it with a lid, and let it sit for about 10 minutes before serving. That little rest makes a difference. It gives the dumplings time to settle into the broth and lets everything become one big, comforting situation.
Variations
Chicken breasts work well for a simpler option, and the dumplings can be cut into neat little squares instead of strips. Same recipe, different personalities.
You can use turmeric instead of yellow food coloring, as mentioned, but go easy. Too much turmeric can give the chicken and dumplings a strong opinion about themselves.
I would not add vegetables to this particular pot. Peas and carrots are lovely in plenty of chicken dinners, but this is meant to be chicken, broth, and dumplings. Clean and plain. I did toss in celery once because I had some languishing in the refrigerator drawer, and everybody ate it, but it changed the whole feel. Sometimes “using things up” is how Casseroles happen. Not every meal needs that energy.
Storage & Reheating
Leftovers keep in the refrigerator for a few days in a covered container. The dumplings will soak up more broth overnight, so don’t be surprised when the pot looks thicker the next day. That is normal. In fact, some people swear it’s better the second day. I am one of those people, except when I’m hungry right now, in which case I reject all delayed gratification.
Reheat it gently on the stovetop over low heat, stirring carefully so you don’t tear up the dumplings. If it has thickened more than you like, add a small splash of water to loosen it. Not too much at once—you can always add more, but you can’t un-water chicken and dumplings. Well, maybe some wizard can. Not me.
I don’t love freezing this one because the dumplings change texture after thawing. They’re still okay, but not their best selves. Like leftover hair after a humid August day.
Final Notes
There’s a particular moment after the lid comes off—steam on the windows, dumplings folded into that golden broth—that gets me every time. The house feels full, even if only for an hour. The dishes pile up, somebody leaves a spoon in the sink, and there’s flour in places flour has no business being.
Still. Worth it.
Old Fashioned Homemade Chicken & Dumplings
Ingredients
- 2 to 4 bone-in, skin-on chicken breasts or 1 whole chicken, about 3 pounds
- water enough to cover the chicken in your Dutch oven
- 1 stick butter for the broth
- 2 packages chicken bouillon or 2 spoonfuls
- 1 stick butter melted, for the dumplings
- 3 large eggs
- 1/2 cup 2% milk
- 5 cups all-purpose flour divided
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon pepper
- 2 drops yellow food coloring or a pinch of turmeric
Instructions
- Put the chicken in a large Dutch oven, cover it with water, add 1 stick of butter and the chicken bouillon, then cook over medium heat until the chicken is tender, about 45 minutes for chicken breasts or about 1 hour and 15 minutes for a whole 3-pound chicken.
- Remove the cooked chicken from the broth and let it cool enough to handle, keeping the broth in the Dutch oven.
- Take off and discard the skin, remove the bones, then shred or chop the chicken into bite-size pieces and set it aside without adding it back to the pot yet.
- For the dumplings, whisk the 3 eggs into the melted stick of butter in a small mixing bowl until combined.
- Add the milk to the egg and butter mixture, using about 1/2 cup.
- Stir in the salt and pepper, then add 3 cups of the flour a little at a time, mixing as you go, until the dough is rather sticky.
- Stir in the 2 drops of yellow food coloring, or use a pinch of turmeric, to give the dumplings a warm golden color.
- Heap about 2 cups of flour onto a wooden board or clean countertop, place about 1 cup of the sticky dough in the middle, and work in enough flour so the dough can be rolled without sticking.
- Roll the dough very thin, then use a pizza cutter to cut it into strips, repeating with the remaining dough in batches.
- Bring the broth back to a rapid boil, making sure there is plenty of liquid in the pot, then drop in the first batch of cut dumplings and turn the heat down to low while rolling and cutting the next batch.
- Continue adding the dumplings in batches until all the dough is in the broth, keeping the pot at a low simmer and stirring gently.
- After the last dumpling goes in, add the shredded or chopped chicken back to the Dutch oven, stir very gently, then remove the pot from the heat, cover it, and let it sit for about 10 minutes before serving.