I was worried that maybe I built up my Dutch oven too much. That no matter what happened over the weekend, it would not be as amazing as I thought it was going to be. Well ladies and gents, it was pretty freaking amazing.

It was definitely the best chicken and dumplings I have ever made. Granted I don’t know if that had to do with the Dutch oven or the recipe, but I’m going to say it was a little bit of both.

My mom came over for dinner and helped me out a little with the cooking. It was good to have her around because her chicken and dumplings is one of my favorite meals (it was the first dish I requested her to make after we moved back to Atlanta). She also got to experience the awesomeness that is my new Dutch oven.

I used Martha Stewart’s chicken and dumpling recipe as a starting off point, but as we were cooking, we realized we were going to have to make some tweaks. Pretty significant ones in my opinion, mostly in terms of the amount of stock that was used. I prefer my chicken and dumplings to have a decent amount of liquid. Even with the changes, it was a delicious and hearty meal. And I’m already craving the leftovers we’ll be having for dinner tonight.

You could easily adapt this to work in a crock pot, but from start to finish it only took about an hour. That might be a bit too long on weeknights, but was very manageable on a Sunday night. I also used my mom’s recipe for dumplings instead of Martha’s, but am including Martha’s for reference.

Chicken and Dumplings

3 tablespoons butter
1 medium onion, cut into 1-inch pieces
2 cups of chopped carrots (I just used baby carrots I had on hand, cut in half)
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1/4 cup flour
1 1/2 pounds of chicken (I used equal parts chicken thighs and chicken breasts), cut in to two inch pieces
5 cups chicken stock
Salt and pepper to taste
1/2 package frozen peas

(This is Martha’s recipe for dumplings. I would probably double it given the increase in liquid. Or just follow your favorite dumpling recipe.)
3/4 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup of milk
1 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon dried dill

1) In a Dutch oven or other heavy pot, heat butter over medium. Add onion, carrots, and thyme. Cover and cook, stirring occasionally, until onion is soft, about 5 minutes.
2) Add flour and cook for  30 seconds. Add broth and bring to a boil, stirring constantly. With the increase in liquid this will take a bit, but stirring is a important part in thickening the base. Add chicken to post and reduce heat the medium-low. Season with salt and pepper. Cover and cook for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.
3) While the chicken is cooking, mix together the ingredients for the dumplings. The consistency should be like a biscuit dough. Add milk or flour depending if necessary. Be careful not the over stir the batter.
4) Stir in peas prior to adding dumplings. Spoon dumpling batter on top of the chicken mixture. There should be about 10 dumplings. Make sure to spread them out as they will expand while cooking. Cook for ten minutes with the lid off and then another 10 minutes with the lid on. Once the dumplings are firm, it is ready to serve.