Chicken With Dumplings Casserole is a classic, homemade Southern dish. It is one of my favorite dishes. This recipe makes a delicious and filling meal for the whole family. It is best with homemade dumplings, but egg noodles can be used instead: cut 2 cups in half, then put them on top of the chicken mixture, cover and bake as instructed.
Chicken casserole with herby dumplingsB
- Preparation and cooking time
- Prep:30 mins
- Cook:1 hr and 10 mins
- Easy
- Serves 6
Bypass the suet and make lighter dumplings for this family-friendly one-pot stew
- Freezable (Freeze without dumplings)
| Nutrient | Unit |
|---|---|
| kcal | 744 |
| fat | 38.3g |
| saturates | 17.3g |
| carbs | 43.9g |
| sugars | 6.6g |
| fibre | 4.3g |
| protein | 34.9g |
| salt | 3g |
Ingredients
- 12 skinless chicken pieces – a mixture of thighs and drumsticks on the bone, and halved chicken breasts
- 3 tbsp plain flour
- 2 tbsp sunflower oil
- 2 onions, sliced
- 2 carrots, diced
- 200g bacon lardons, smoked or unsmoked, or streaky rashers, snipped
- 3 bay leaves
- 3 sprigs thyme
- 250ml red wine
- 3 tbsp tomato paste
- 1 chicken stock cube
For the herby dumplings
- 140g cold butter, diced
- 250g self-raising flour
- 2 tbsp chopped mixed herb – try parsley, thyme and sage or chives
Method
- STEP 1Heat oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Toss the chicken pieces with the flour and some salt and pepper, to coat them – it’s easy to do this in a plastic food bag.
- STEP 2Heat the oil in a casserole with a lid. Brown the chicken pieces well on all sides – you’ll need to do this in batches. Remove all the pieces to a plate, and tip the onions, carrot, lardons, bay and thyme into the pan. Cook gently for 10 mins until the onion is softened.
- STEP 3Return the chicken pieces, with any juices that have collected on the plate. Then pour in the red wine, 250ml water and tomato paste and crumble in the stock cube. Add a splash more of water if you need, until the chicken is almost covered. Bring to the boil, then cover with a lid and bake in the oven for 20 mins. Remove the lid and bake for another 10 mins while you make the dumplings.
- STEP 4Rub the butter into the flour with your fingertips until it feels like fine breadcrumbs. Stir in the herbs with ½ tsp salt and some pepper. Drizzle over 150ml water, and stir in quickly with a cutlery knife to form a light dough. Use floured hands to shape into ping pong sized balls.
- STEP 5Place the dumplings on top of the stew and bake for 20 mins more until the dumplings are cooked through.
Chicken and Dumpling Casserole
Chicken and Dumpling Casserole is the easiest way to enjoy Chicken and Dumplings. This creamy and delicious chicken casserole is comfort food at its best.
Use a rotisserie chicken and this casserole just takes minutes to prep and then it bakes for 35 to 45 minutes. Pure comfort food. Serve this easy casserole with cornbread or yeast rolls and a salad for a full meal the whole family will love.
The great thing about this recipe is there are no dumplings to make. The dumplings make themselves. If you’ve ever made a Peach Cobbler recipe like this one, it’s the same concept. Arrange the chicken in a casserole dish and then pour a liquid mixture over it. The dumplings form themselves as the casserole bakes. You won’t have actual physical dumplings but the top layer will have the taste and texture of dumplings.
Chicken and Dumpling Casserole Recipe Tips:
- Use rotisserie chicken to make this casserole quick and easy. You’ll need about 4 cups of chicken, but as little as 3 cups will work. If you don’t want to use rotisserie chicken, you can cook some chicken in the crock pot to use.
- Be sure to use self-rising flour which already has leavener added. Regular all-purpose flour will not work.
- Cook the onion and celery long enough to get them soft. You don’t want the celery to be crunchy in the casserole.
- Cream of Mushroom Soup or Cream of Celery Soup can be used instead of Cream of Chicken.
- If you like peas in casseroles, try adding 1/2 cup to 1 cop of frozen, defrosted peas to the casserole. You could also add a little carrot in with the onion and celery.
- When you add the milk mixture and the soup mixture, DO NOT STIR.
Chicken and Dumpling Casserole
Chicken and Dumpling Casserole is the easiest way to enjoy Chicken and Dumplings. This creamy and delicious chicken casserole is comfort food at its best.
PREP: 10 mins
COOK: 35 mins
SERVINGS: 61x2x3xSave
Ingredients
- ▢8 tablespoons salted butter
- ▢1 small onion, finely diced
- ▢1 celery rib, finely diced
- ▢4 cups shredded cooked chicken
- ▢1 cup milk
- ▢1 cup self-rising flour
- ▢2 cups chicken broth
- ▢1 (10.75-ounce) can condensed cream of chicken soup
- ▢1/2 teaspoon dried sage
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
- Melt butter in a nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add onion and celery and cook for 5 minutes. Season with a little salt and pepper.
- Transfer mixture to a 9×13-inch baking pan. Spread evenly.
- Add chicken to baking dish and spread evenly.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together flour and milk. Slowly pour evenly over chicken. Do not stir.
- In a medium bowl stir together chicken broth, chicken soup,and sage. (You can use the bowl you just used.) Slowly pour into baking pan. Do not stir.
- Bake uncovered for 35 to 45 minutes. Let sit 5 minutes before serving.
AN EASY WAY TO MAKE CHICKEN AND DUMPLINGS
This Chicken and Dumplings Casserole was crazy delicious! My pictures do not do this recipe justice but we absolutely fell in love with it! The flavor was amazing and it was a family-pleaser for sure. Serve with a salad and your favorite vegetable. This is the food of my childhood right here.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS:
Could I use store-bought cooked chicken?
Absolutely! You do not need to make this totally from scratch if you are short on time. Pick up a rotisserie chicken. Get the family size chicken and just dice it up (you’ll need 3 cups of chicken.) Costco sometimes even sells pulled rotisserie chicken. A huge timesaver!
What if I don’t like celery?
Then just leave it out. You don’t need to substitute it with anything.
Can I substitute self-rising flour with all-purpose flour?
Self-rising flour contains a leavening agent as well as salt. It is all included for you. So, if you only have all-purpose flour then you are going to need to add these additional ingredients. To the one cup of all-purpose flour you would need stir in 1 ½ teaspoons of baking powder and ¼ teaspoon of salt. Whisk together well then continue with the recipe as written.
Can I substitute margarine for butter?
Margarine (like Country Crock) will not work in this recipe. Margarine is mostly oil. The recipe won’t come together like we want if you use margarine.
Can you put raw chicken in a casserole?
Casseroles are usually made with cooked meats. When you use raw chicken, everything else in the casserole will be overcooked by the time the meat is done. So if you do see raw meat in a casserole recipe, the meat is usually started first in the cooking process because it takes longer to cook than the other ingredients.
What other cream soups could I use?
This really is all about what your family enjoys. You could substitute with cream of mushroom, cream of onion or cream of celery.
Can chicken and dumplings casserole be frozen?
I don’t recommend it. When you reheat it from frozen or go to cook it from frozen, the texture will be off. Now, if you don’t mind this not being the same texture as if you made it fresh, then thats fine. Sometimes people just like a taste of a recipe and not so much the texture. But for this to turn out exactly as it was intended, it should not be frozen.
INGREDIENTS NEEDED: (FULL RECIPE AT THE BOTTOM OF THE POST)
- salted butter
- onion
- celery
- cooked chicken
- self-rising flour
- milk
- chicken broth
- cream of chicken soup
- salt & pepper, to taste