Healthier Chicken and Dumplings Recipe

Who says comfort food has to be unhealthy? I think a cozy bowl of this Healthier Chicken and Dumplings recipe is perfect for a cold or rainy day. We definitely make this a few times during the fall and winter seasons. Most recipes I found online recommended boxed biscuit mix. As a clean eater, I try to avoid boxed anything whenever possible. And as it turns out, from-scratch dumplings are pretty darn simple!

Healthier Chicken and Dumplings Recipe

The base recipe is actually really great, so I didn’t have to change it too much. It’s simple and fast. Hello, 30 Minute Meals! But, I didn’t love using boxed biscuit mix for the dumplings. Some of those boxed mixes throw in some interesting extras by way of ingredients that Michael Pollan wouldn’t approve.

Speaking of Pollan, I love his straightforward approach to eating as outlined in Food Rules, and it’s probably one of the most influential books I’ve read for my take on healthy eating. His advice is practical and easy to apply, and I thought about it when I adjusted this recipe.

Healthier Chicken and Dumplings Recipe

From extra biscuit mix ingredients to straight up biscuit ingredients, I made this a little extra clean-eats.

Healthier Chicken and Dumplings Recipe | Easy chicken recipe | clean eating recipe

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Who knows what's in that boxed biscuit mix??? Amirite?! Try this CLEAN EATING recipe for HEALTHY chicken and dumplings. The perfect FALL DINNER recipe. And it's ready in 30 minutes. Who doesn't love a quick and easy healthy chicken recipe? #fallfood #fall #fallrecipe #recipe #healthy #healthyrecipes #healthyfood #cleaneating #dinnerrecipe #realfood

Healthier Chicken and Dumplings Recipe

  • Author: Diana of thechiclife.com
  • Prep Time: 5 mins
  • Cook Time: 25 mins
  • Total Time: 30 mins
  • Yield: 4 1x

Description

Here’s a Healthier Chicken and Dumplings Recipe to try out sometime soon. I adapted this recipe from the 30 Minute Meals recipe to make the biscuits from scratch (with a couple other minor changes). It’s really just as easy as using the boxed stuff without the unnecessary added yucky ingredients. Don’t skip the parsley. It’s so good for you and high in vitamin C. Try using whole grains for the biscuit mix to take the health factor up a notch. I really like using spelt flour because the texture is pretty fluffy for a whole grain flour.


Ingredients

Scale
  • 1 to 1 1/2 pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts or tenders, cut into bite-sized pieces (about 1 inch)
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1 russet potato, peeled and diced
  • 2 medium carrots, peeled and diced or thinly sliced
  • 1 medium onion, chopped
  • 2 rib celery, diced
  • 1 bay leaf, fresh or dried
  • 1 teaspoon poultry seasoning
  • 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt (or 1/4 teaspoon table salt), plus more to taste
  • 1/4 teaspoon black pepper, plus more to taste
  • 2 tablespoons, plus 2 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, divided
  • 2 tablespoons, plus 1 cup flour of choice, divided (I like spelt or a mix of half whole wheat and half unbleached white)
  • 1 quart chicken broth or stock
  • 1/3 cup flat-leaf parsley, chopped
  • 1 cup frozen green peas
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 2 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cubed
  • 1/2 cup milk (I used 2%)

Instructions

  1. Pre-heat a large pot on the stove over medium heat. Add oil, potato, carrots, onion, and celery, and cook until onions are translucent, about 5 minutes. Stir in bay leaf, poultry seasoning, salt, and pepper. Add 2 tablespoons butter and melt, stirring a little. Add 2 tablespoons flour to the pan and cook 2 minutes, stirring with a whisk. Whisk in broth or stock and bring to a boil. Add chicken to the broth and stir.
  2. In a medium bowl, stir 1 cup flour, baking powder, and salt until evenly combined. Cut 2 tablespoons butter into small cubes. Cut butter into the flour mixture with a pastry cutter or fork until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in milk and 1/4 cup parsley until the mixture is just evenly combined (be careful to not over mix).
  3. Drop tablespoonfuls of flour mixture into the pot, spacing dumplings evenly. Cover pot and reduce heat to simmer. Steam dumplings 8 to 10 minutes. Remove cover and stir in peas. Cook until peas are warmed through, about 1 minute. Taste test and add salt and/or pepper, if needed. Serve, garnish with extra parsley, and enjoy!

Notes

Sometimes it’s hard to find 1 1/2 pounds of chicken at the grocery store. I find that anywhere between 1 and 1 1/2 pounds works okay. You’ll just have a lot more of the veggies and biscuits if you go towards the lower amount of chicken, but you can still make it work.

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Thanks for stopping by! Hope you enjoy this clean eating Healthier Chicken and Dumplings Recipe!

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Who knows what's in that boxed biscuit mix??? Amirite?! Try this CLEAN EATING recipe for HEALTHY chicken and dumplings. The perfect FALL DINNER recipe. And it's ready in 30 minutes. Who doesn't love a quick and easy healthy chicken recipe? #fallfood #fall #fallrecipe #recipe #healthy #healthyrecipes #healthyfood #cleaneating #dinnerrecipe #realfood

8 thoughts on “Healthier Chicken and Dumplings Recipe”

  1. Hi Diana — met you at last month’s Charlotte WordPress Meetup. I’m super thoroughly impressed with your blog!! Insightful, entertaining, thoughtful, colorful! And I’ll definitely be trying out this recipe tomorrow night — I’m looking for something different from my usual baked chicken. Will let you know how it goes =). Let’s stay in touch!

    Reply
    • Hi Brandon! It’s great to hear from you. Thanks for the kind words and stopping by my blog. Hope you like the recipe. Definitely let me know how it works out for you. Let me know too if your friend wants to chat about starting a blog for her homemade bath goodies. Stay in touch and see you at the next event!

      Reply
  2. I want to make this for a new mom who is nursing her baby and can’t have onions. What else gives that flavor, but would be okay for a new mom and her baby?

    Reply
    • Hi Sandra, That’s such a thoughtful gesture! 🙂 I recommend consulting a doctor on what is safe for consumption for a new mom and her baby. But in terms of general recipe substitutions, for onions you can substitute shallots, green onions, or leeks for a similar onion flavor. Or you could substitute more of the other recipe vegetables in terms of volume. I think this recipe would taste okay without the onions/onion-flavor if you wanted to add more carrots, celery, and/or potatoes. Happy cooking!

      Reply

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