This small-batch chicken & dumplings recipe gives you fluffy homemade buttermilk dumplings floating in a rich, hard cider-spiked soup laced with tender chicken breast, carrots, peas, and onions. It's the ultimate cold-weather comfort food dinner, and it's ready in less than an hour!
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If you’ve ever lived in a colder climate, you know that people tend to “hibernate” during the winter months to avoid going out in the cold. This recipe evolved during a polar vortex winter in Chicago (Jan 2014). I first tested it for some friends who gave it rave reviews as cold weather comfort food. I finally perfected the recipe by adding a slight twist, a bit of hard cider in the broth which gives it a great, unique flavor.
One of the many things I love about this recipe is that it's basically a one-pot meal (you'll just need a bowl for mixing the dumpling batter).
Ingredient Notes
- Hard cider: Adding a bit of hard cider to the broth gives it a richer, deeper flavor. You want an unflavored hard cider.
- Chicken breast: I use chicken breast in most of my chicken recipes. You can also use a rotisserie chicken if you want to add both light and dark meat.
- All-purpose flour: As much as possible, I try to use ingredients that most people keep in their kitchen so all-purpose flour was the way to go for this recipe. If you happen to have it, you could sub self-rising flour - just leave out the baking powder and salt.
- Buttermilk: Using buttermilk gives the dumplings a lighter, fluffier texture.
How to make Chicken & Dumplings
- Sear the chicken.This recipe starts by browning the chicken to get it crisp on the outside, which also provides those nice brown bits on the bottom of the pan to add extra flavor to the broth! The chicken won't be fully cooked after searing it but don't worry, it's going back in the pot to finish cooking pretty quickly.
- Sauté the veggies. Next, you'll add the carrots and onions and sauté them for a few minutes. Toss the garlic in at the end so it doesn't burn.
- Cook the chicken. Deglaze pan with hard cider. Pour in the chicken, broth, then add the thyme and bay leaf. Return the chicken breast to the pan, reduce the heat to medium-low and let it simmer for about 20 minutes.
- Make the dumpling batter. Prepare the dumpling batter by mixing flour, baking powder, salt and paprika in a medium bowl. Add the egg and buttermilk and mix until a sticky dough forms.
- Finish the soup. Once the chicken is cooked, remove it from the pan and shred or chop into bite-sized pieces. Add the shredded chicken and peas to the soup and stir to incorporate. Remove the bay leaf before adding the dumpling batter.
- Cook the dumplings. Use a soup spoon to drop the dumplings into the soup. Use all of the batter. Don't worry if it doesn't cover the entire pot. The dumplings will expand as they cook. Let them cook for about 12 minutes, until they are firm to the touch and they are nice and fluffy.
Make Ahead Tip --> You can make the entire soup portion of this recipe ahead of time. Once you add the peas (step 5 above), you'll remove the soup from the heat and let it cool. Then refrigerate for a day or two. When you are ready to finish, reheat the soup then add the dumplings and cook according to the recipe instructions.
To finish out your meal, I'd serve this with a simple salad like this Pomegranate and Grapefruit Winter Salad.
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Hard Cider Chicken + Dumplings
Ingredients
- 6-8 oz boneless, skinless chicken breast
- 1 ½ tablespoons olive oil
- ½ cup chopped onion
- 1 cups chopped carrots
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 6 oz hard cider
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 ½ teaspoons dried thyme
- 32 oz chicken broth
- 1 cup frozen peas
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
- ¼ teaspoon sweet paprika
- 1 large egg, lightly beaten
- ½ cup buttermilk
Instructions
- Brown the chicken. In a large dutch oven, heat olive oil over medium-high heat. Add chicken breasts and brown for 3 minutes per side. Remove from pan and keep warm while you saute the veggies.
- Saute the veggies. Add onion and carrots to the pan, cook for 3 minutes. Add garlic and cook for 1 minute.
- Cook the chicken. Deglaze pan with hard cider. Add chicken, broth, thyme and bay leaf. Return the chicken to the pan, reduce heat to medium-low and simmer for 20 minutes.
- Make the dumpling batter. While the soup is simmering prepare the dumpling batter by mixing flour, baking powder, salt and paprika in a medium bowl. Add the egg and buttermilk and mix until a stiff, sticky dough forms.
- Shred the chicken. Once you've finished making the dumpling dough remove the chicken from the pan and shred or chop into bite-sized pieces. Add the chicken and peas to the soup and stir to incorporate. Remove the bay leaf.
- Add the dumplings. Using a kitchen teaspoon, drop large spoonfuls of the dumpling batter into the simmering soup until the pot is full or all of the dumpling batter has been used.
- Cook the dumplings. Cover and simmer for 12 minutes or until the dumplings are cooked (they will be firm to the touch when done).
- Serve. Ladel the soup and dumplings into two bowls.
Notes
This post was originally published in January 2019. It was updated in January 2026 with some new information and photos. Some modifications were made to the original recipe.
Kristen @ A Mind Full Mom
OH you won me over with this take on chicken and dumplings. Pinned.
FoodieGirlChicago
Thanks Kristen!
heather @french press
comfort food at its best! i absolutely LOVE chicken and dumplings
Nell
I can't wait to try this recipe!
Karly
You had me at the chicken dumplings, but add in the hard cider and I'm now obsessed. This is my perfect fall meal! LOVE!
Kristen Roberts
This sounds so good! I love adding hard cider to recipes and I will definitely have to give these dumplings a try!
FoodieGirlChicago
Thanks Kristen - enjoy!!
Sasha @ Eat Love Eat
What a warming comforting dish!
Carol Borchardt
Yum, Kathryn! This looks amazing! Love the addition of the hard cider!