Ebony’s Stewed Chicken and Dumplings Recipe (2024)

This dish closely resembles Jewish penicillin: I'd probably just mince a clove or two of fresh garlic instead of the garlic salt.It's amusing how, after MSG- normally sold in Asian stores for $4.50/lb - is repackaged, overpriced, and given the French-sounding name "Ac'cent", it miraculously becomes acceptable as a home-cooking staple. (I use MSG *very* sparingly - it gives vegetarian legume dishes a meaty flavor- but I prefer not to get ripped off.)

This is almost exactly how my Mom made Chicken and Dumplings when I was a kid in New York 70 years ago....except for the addition of a carrot or two. I am so intrigued, and plan to make it tonight! The chicken is defrosting! However, I will use Better Than Bouillon rather than Ac'cent for it's rich "chicken-y" flavor.

Keeping the lid on when the dumplings are cooking is very important. Anyone who makes matzoh ball soup knows that the matzo balls (or dumplings) float to the top and in order for them to get the right temperature exposure you keep the lid on so that the steam bathes them with the appropriate heat, if you remove the lid the temperature at the surface above the water is going to be lower than the part of the dumpling under the water and you’ll have unevenly cooked dumplings.

My aunt in western N.C. made this kid-favorite supper but removed the bones before adding the dumpling batter. She served the chicken and dumplings in individual bowls. Comfort food supreme!

This is better the second day. It really needs some thyme and bay leaf and pepper, it is very bland. Let the dumpling batter rest for a while before putting in the soup. Mine was heavy and dry. I believe that the batter wasn't wet enough, and I didn't let the gluten relax.

Sounds delicious and similar to my grandmother’s version. I haven’t seen a recipe with Ac’cent in forever! I have to chuckle because my granddad, in his 80’s, could never get it right way back in the 1950’s. He’d always ask my grandmother to add more “Instinct” instead of Ac’cent! Thanks for the memory!

Same basic recipe I have always made, except no MSG and I make the dumplings out of Bisquick. And I make gravy from the rich broth at the end.

Being a life long Southern girl I have made this many times with a rotisserie chicken using the skin and bones for the broth, discarding them, adding the chicken and celery, carrots, onions, tiny peas, mushrooms, what ever is on hand. Long slow cooking time for the broth only. We leave out the sugar here as well as in cornbread. These are fluffy dumplings as opposed to slickers - also very good. And you are right leaving the lid on is very important.

These thick dumplings are fascinating to me as a southerner who has only ever seen and eaten rolled dumplings. Dough is rolled out to about 1/4 inch thickness, then cut into rectangles (maybe 2 x3 in) before being dropped into the boiling broth. It's common to use canned biscuit dough as a shortcut, rolling them flat and then cutting in half. If you like them extra thin, you can use flour tortillas cut into rectangles with a pizza cutter. They work surprisingly well.

Made this with the following mods, it was SUPERB. The whole family asked for it to be in regular rotation: 1) Used 2-3 lbs of bone in skin on chicken thighs, as that's what i had in the house. 2) Sauteed the onion, celery, 2 small carrots halved and sliced, 2 minced garlic cloves for 5 min before adding chicken. 3) Browned chicken for about 3 minutes on both sides before adding water. 4) Added 2 tsp Better than Boullion, bay leaf & thyme. 5) Removed bones and skin and put shredded meat back in

I grew up on this. Some chicken with dumps has a creamy broth, loaded with roux. This one is better and better for you. People used MSG (a pinch works) to punch up flavor when I was young, but now we have fresh tasting ingredients year round. Keep the lid on the pot, or the dumplings will be leaden.

Lots of cultures have similar recipes. The Irish have one that, unsurprisingly, often contains potatoes. The chicken can be shredded before the dumpling dough is added. The Irish are also fond of lamb stew with dumplings. As in this recipe, my mom's dumplings contained a liberal amount of parsley.

This is also the way my family ate chicken & dumplings for mid-afternoon Sunday supper in Missouri farm country. The chicken was strutting around the yard before church but in the pot when we got home.I loved the dumplings but the skin on the chicken bothered me as a kid. I would remove the bones & skin before adding the dumplings.

@Maeve: Thanks for the info. Interestingly, the best Irish lamb stew I had was made in Mumbai, by a cook working for the National Railway system. It used milk+ stock for a white-sauce base enhanced by tempered whole spices - cinnamon, cloves, crushed peppercorns, and cardamom (no chilies) toward the end of cooking, and finished with chopped fresh mint, like the parsley in your mom's dumplings.

Leave the skin and bones on on while cooking, it adds flavor. Take the skin and bones off before serving.

Big hit tonight! I used leeks instead of onion, added sliced carrots and garlic instead of garlic salt, and chicken stock instead of water, after several notes said that it was bland. I also took the meat off the bones after I cooked it, because my guys are spoiled!

Memories of my childhood! And, yes, my mother used Ac'cent, modern mid-20th- century woman that she was. I use anchovy paste or mashed tinned anchovies, which provide depth to gravies, stews, and soups. None of my fish-averse family notices anything except the deliciousness of the final product.

Forget flavor enhancer. Instead, if you have an instant pot within 45 minutes plus natural release, you will have the best chicken soup extracted including bones. Use coarse kosher salt for sweetness (why chefs use K salt), two thickly cut carrots, small bunch of dill and a clove (not a head) of garlic. Pepper to taste when finished. I make a kettle of chicken soup and freeze it, increasing all ingredients, sweet potato, and a turkey wing. For a quick meal, my instant pot for soups/broths.

I do a very similar chicken and dumplings meal but I also add green beans and mushrooms and onions and carrots to the chicken broth, making it a true meal in a bowl. My grandkids' favorite.

I made as directed this weekend (minus the MSG) and it was just okay. The dumplings were good and cooked well, but I think broth was too soupy and thin. I cooked extra chicken and made extra broth so I could put some together the next day at my mom’s house. This time I started with a roux made with butter and flour, then added the broth, which gave it a little more body.

Off topic: All I ever knew was southern Italian food that my mom cooked. Then I meet my future wife who's father was from Tulsa OK and her mom was from Fort Smith ARK. I was invited for dinner one evening, her mom had made chicken and dumplings. Her father then asked me if l knew what the lumps of dough were and I said no. He said they were "chicken innards" and my girlfriend then kicked me under the table and got after her dad!!

This was fantastic! Easy, delicious, and cheap. Used four leg and thigh quarters, and a big tsp of Better than Bouillon, and added some fresh rhythm and bay leaf that I had. Pulled the chicken out after 40 mins, and shredded it before adding it back in and adding the dumplings. Also added thinly sliced carrots at that time to boost the veggie content and make it a one pot dinner. Might add kale or greens next time too.

Did as someone else recommended and browned the cut & seasoned pieces in some oil, then removed; added the chopped onion, celery and carrot to pot and sauteed for 6-7 minutes, added some garlic, bay leaf & some white wine to deglaze the pan. Added back the chicken and covered with water, boiled for 45 minutes. Removed and de-boned the chicken, returned to pot. Made dumpling batter, let rest 10 minutes then dropped the dumplings, scattered the parsley, & covered for 20 minutes. Superb taste!

My grandmother taught me to make chicken and dumplings. They were similar but we added carrots and made the dumplings with chicken broth rather than milk. Lovely dis though. Brings back memories of my Deep South home.

Just seeing this recipe photo gave me all the feels. Chicken and Dumplings was the one dinner dish my dad would make. His recipe was "a bunch of carrots and a bunch of celery" etc .. so good and homey. "His" dessert was rhubarb sauce, usually over vanilla ice cream. I will definitely try this and enjoy the nice memory of him.

This is very similar to the one I make, only mine has some carrot. It's good! Keep the lid on, so the dumps steam. When I was young, long ago, the stew was thick and gravy like. Maybe that was to compensate for the ancient birds that ended up in the pot?

In another southerners who is surprised by the thick balls of dough. We eat thin rolled dumplings down here. They do puff up in the broth, but maintain their rectangular, flattish shape. My mother’s shortcut was to roll out canned biscuits and cut them in half. A friend’s mom used flour tortillas, which works surprisingly well.

The soup was easy and came out delicious, how we the dumplings didn’t work. Perhaps it’s because I substituted self-rising flour (and modified accordingly). They just didn’t fluff up. I also removed all the meat from the soup before cooking the dumplings go clean things up and separate the meat, which I always do for a chicken soup. Overall the soup was delicious minus the dumplings. Made some matzoh balls instead. Yum! Also, better than bullion works great with this.

Very bland, but that might have been because hubby put in much more water than 4 cups. Said he needed to cover the chicken. We had tried another recipe years ago where the chicken was first browned and recipe was very labor intensive. This was simpler to make, but it was hard to look at with the white skin and dumplings. Herbs would have helped also.

I added rosemary to pop the flavor of the chicken and a little lemon juice also. I remembered a recipe from the past that included lemon juice.