This is one of my favorite cold weather recipes. You know those days you don’t even wanna look outside? This is for that.
We usually eat on it for a few days. The best thing is the longer it goes, the better it gets! I start this recipe in the mid-morning if I can so it will be done by late afternoon. The most time consuming part is the bone broth.
I covered cooking the chicken, and making the bone broth in other posts. So to save you reading a book, I’ll just link you there.
The first thing you want to do is cook the chicken for your soup.
Once the chicken is done, shred as much meat as you can get off, and place it in the crockpot on low.
Take the rest of the chicken carcass and scraps, and begin to make your bone broth.
*NOTE: If you want to save time with this recipe, buy a cooked rotisserie chicken, and some chicken stock from the store. You’ll be missing out though. There is nothing like making this entire recipe from scratch!
After your broth is done, strain it thoroughly and add it to the crockpot. Turn the crockpot on high, cover and bring to a low simmer (it may take a few hours depending on your cooker).
While that is heating up, I like to sauté a few diced carrots in a little bacon grease or olive oil to give them a head start. Another option is to shred the carrots using a cheese grater. The smaller shreds of carrot will cook faster in the crockpot. Either way is delicious though, it’s all about how tender you like them. When they are done, add them and 1/4 cup of milk to broth, stir.
Once everything is close to simmering in the crockpot, go ahead and get your dumplins ready. I use my biscuit recipe for my dumplins. I just cut them into 1-2 inch squares.
Make sure your broth is nice and hot before adding the dumplins, otherwise they may start to melt down into a goo in there. Ask me how I know..
Once everything is nice and simmering, add the dumplins, a few at a time. Add a few, stir, add a few, etc. You’ll want to keep dunking and stirring them with a wooden spoon for the first few minutes until they’re finished puffing up. This just keeps you from having one big dumplin.
I let the crockpot go for at least another 30-45 minutes on high after adding the dumplins to make sure they cook thoroughly.
Give it a good stir and enjoy!
Chicken and Dumplins
Ingredients
- 1 whole chicken or about 3 pounds
- 2 carrots
- 1/4 cup milk
- seasonings to your liking
Bone broth
- chicken bones and scraps
- 1 onion
- 4 garlic cloves
- 2 celery stalks
- 6-8 cups water
Dumplins
- 4 tbsp frozen butter
- 2 cups bread flour
- 3 tspn baking powder
- 1 tspn baking soda
- 1 cup buttermilk
Instructions
- Prepare chicken in Dutch oven.
- Shred chicken and place in crockpot on low, covered.
- Prepare bone broth in Dutch oven.
- Strain broth into crockpot and bring to a simmer on high.
- Sauté diced carrots in cast iron skillet for about 10-15 minutes, until slightly tender. Add to crockpot along with the milk and stir.
- Prepare dumplins, then add to the crockpot slowly in batches.
- Dunk and stir dumplins until they are done puffing up.
- Let cook for at least another 30 minutes, then enjoy!