When I first met Eric, and he was living in Connecticut, he took me to this wondrous place I had never heard of called...The Cracker Barrel. Crazy, right? Every time we would go there, he would get the same thing: Chicken n' Dumplin's. He was over the moon about them. So, when I decided it was time to branch out and cook some new things, this was the first meal on his list that he requested for dinner.
I was a little hesitant at first...I mean, I'm not a baker, by any means, so...how does one even make dumplings?! Well, I came upon this delicious looking recipe (with step by step photos!), and realized how simple this dish actually was to make. If you play your cards right, this is actually a one pot, no pre-cook, meal. A great dish to end a busy weekend!
What do I mean by no pre-cook? Well, here's the rundown of what you need:
- You'll need chicken. I used two boneless, skinless chicken breasts and cooked them ahead of time. However, you could easily use frozen chicken strips (grilled), or a rotisserie chicken from the market.
- Two cans of chicken broth. I used low-fat and low-sodium.
- A can of condensed chicken soup (I used the Healthy Select version)
- A tube of frozen buttermilk biscuits.
- A cup of flour.
- Butter.
- For the sides: I made Betty Crocker corn muffins and canned green beans (low-sodium).
Here's what you do:
- Occupy your husband so he's not looking over your shoulder at how you claim to be making "dumplings" out of biscuits.
- Boil the two cans of chicken broth and condensed soup together.
- Shred/cut up the chicken into bite size pieces.
- Open the tube of biscuits (it should be thawed) and cut each biscuit into either fourths or eighths (I used eighths). Throw all the cut-up biscuits, now called dumplings, into a cup of flour (seasoned with salt and pepper), toss around to cote. This will prevent the dumplings from sticking to each other, and thicken the sauce.
- When the soup boils, turn it down a bit, shake off the excess flour, throw in all the dumplings. They will rise to the top. Using a spoon, don't mix them all up, just press them down under the soup.
- Give it about 10 minutes, then throw in the chicken, and press it all down under the soup. Throw in about two tablespoons of butter, too. It will melt in.
- Give the whole mixture about fifteen minutes to come together and thicken.
- Serve to husband.
- Delight in the fact that your Southern husband approves of his New Yorker Wife's adaptation of Chicken n' Dumplings so much that he calls his father to brag.
- Eat half the food off your husband's plate even though you're trying to "eat healthy."
Seriously, this meal is so easy, and is such a warm and comforting way to end a busy Spring weekend!
