Grandma's Dairy-Free Southern Style Chicken and Dumplings Recipe (2024)

FAQs

Why are my chicken and dumplings not creamy? ›

Combine flour and milk in a sealable container like a Mason Jar, and shake it up. You'll get a smooth flour mixture called a slurry, which will help to thicken your sauce. This turns this recipe into more a a creamy chicken dumpling soup, loaded with flavor.

Overworking the mixture, thus having heavy dumplings is a common mistake people make. Dumplings need very gentle handling, so mix only until the ingredients are just combined, and if your recipe involves rolling them out with extra flour, avoid using too much.

The recipe below can be used either way. You might also like our recipe for cream cheese ranch chicken. This is a basic recipe and works for me every time. You can use milk instead of water and some people even sweeten with a little sugar if adding dumplings to fruit.

What are dumplings made of? The dumpling dough is made of three main ingredients: flour, water and salt.

Use Cornstarch to Thicken Chicken and Dumplings

To give that a little thicker texture we're going to add 1 cup of cool water to 2 tablespoons of cornstarch and stir it up well. Make sure the soup is brought back to a good boil and go ahead and stir in the cornstarch mixture.

You will of course want to use salt and pepper, and I like to add a poultry seasoning blend. Poultry seasoning blends typically have spice and herbs like sage, rosemary, thyme, garlic and onion (and others!), so if you don't have a blend but have any of those individual spices- add them!

These dumplings start with all-purpose flour, which creates structure and holds the other ingredients together. Baking powder is a leavening agent, which means it releases gas that makes the dough expand. It's responsible for the dumplings' light and fluffy texture.

Once your water is boiling, let your dumplings cook in the steam for about ten minutes. Don't remove the lid as letting the steam escape will disrupt the cooking process and result in undercooked dumplings, so keep that lid on!

Don't overmix the dough. Overmixing will develop the gluten in the Bisquick, which will make the dumplings tough. Instead, stir the dough just until the ingredients are combined. Let the dough rest for a few minutes before dropping it into the broth.

What can I use in place of milk in a recipe? ›

Chicken Broth Substitute: Salted Butter + Water

If you don't have broth on hand and want a little more flavor than just plain water, try subbing in 1 cup of water plus 1 tablespoon of butter for every cup of chicken broth in your recipe. The butter will help create a richer flavor than just water alone.

Dumplings: In a large bowl, mix flour, salt, baking powder and shortening with a fork. Add egg and 1/2 cup milk; mix to form dough. Roll dough to 1/4-inch thickness on floured surface. Cut into four-inch strips with sharp knife.

Chinese chicken dumplings, also known as “Jirou Jiaozi” (鸡肉饺子), are a delicious and popular dish that we love. These dumplings consist of a filling made from ground chicken, carrot, and corn, bundled in a thin dough wrapper and pan-fried.

For dumplings made with wheat flour, all purpose or plain flour will suffice. If your recipe calls for leavening, you'll need to add baking powder and salt.

Hand-mincing meat and adding more pork belly results in the juiciest dumplings. Traditionally, some Chinese cuisine uses hand minced meat for their dishes. For example, lots of dim sum items like siu mai, pork buns, beef meatball, and more use hand minced meat to control the texture and fat content of the dish!

If the dough is dropped right into the liquid, the simmering action may break up the dumplings. Also, the dough will soak up moisture from the liquid so the dumplings will become soft and soggy.

Simmering broth might not be hot enough to raise the dumpling dough. Remove or tilt the lid after they've cooked so the dumplings don't over-steam and get soggy and dense.