Mom's Ultimate Southern Chicken and Dumplings

Step 1

Make the homemade chicken broth (*skip this step if using water or store-bought chicken broth instead). Add all of the ingredients for the homemade chicken broth to a pressure cooker, cover, bring to high pressure, and cook for 30 minutes. Alternatively, add all ingredients to a large stock pot, bring to a boil, cover, reduce heat to a simmer and cook for 45 minutes to 1 hour, until the chicken is cooked through. Strain the broth through a fine-mesh sieve and when cool enough to handle, discard the vegetables, and chicken skin and debone it, and set aside in a small bowl while you make the rest of the dish. Using a large spoon. skim off the desired amount of fat from the broth.

Step 2

Make the chicken soup base. Over medium-high heat, drizzle 1 to 2 teaspoons of olive oil into a large soup pot, add the onions, carrots, celery, and salt to taste, and cook for 5 to 7 minutes, or until tender and onions are translucent. Add the whole chicken and pour enough broth (or water, if using) over it to cover the chicken completely. Add salt and black pepper to taste. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat, cover with a lid, and cook for 35 minutes, or just until the chicken is cooked through and tender. Remove the chicken to a plate to cool slightly. Adjust seasonings as needed and turn off the heat while you debone the chicken.

Step 3

Debone the chicken. When the chicken is cool enough to handle, remove the skin and debone it. Shred or chop the chicken into bite-sized pieces and add it back to the chicken soup base and allow it to gently simmer while you make the dumplings. Adjust seasonings one last time if needed.

Step 4

Make the dumplings. Add the flour, baking powder, salt, black pepper, and nutmeg (if using) to a bowl and whisk well to combine and set aside. Melt the butter in a small sauce pot, add the milk, and heat over low until nice and hot, but not boiling. Add the chives, stir to combine, and turn off the heat. Add the warm milk mixture to the flour mixture and using a fork, stir everything together just until well combined. Do not mix too much or too vigorously or the dumplings will be dense and tough.

Step 5

Cook the dumplings. Using a portioning scoop, add the dumpling dough directly to the gently simmering soup (alternatively, add a golf-ball-sized portion of dumpling batter onto a soup spoon, then push the dumpling into the soup using a second spoon. Repeat with the remaining dough until the top is covered with dumplings. Add the bay leaf and any chicken leftover from making the chicken broth to the broth, cover with a lid and steam the dumplings on a low simmer for about 10 to 15 minutes, or until cooked through and doubled in size. Remove the bay leaf and serve piping hot. Enjoy!