Healthy Chicken and Dumplings

This healthy version of Chicken and Dumplings is just as delicious as the full-fat version. A hearty stew of shredded chicken in flavorful broth with carrots, celery, onions and peas is topped with light and fluffy buttermilk dumplings.

(This recipe was originally published in September 2014, but was updated with new photos and content in 2023).

This healthy chicken and dumplings recipe is adapted from America's Test Kitchen. Chicken and dumplings is a classic comfort dish originating from the Southern United States. Yet there are many regional variations including different styles and shapes of dumplings.

This version features a hearty chicken stew with a variety of colorful vegetables topped with pillowy scoops of buttermilk dough dumplings. It's a bit healthier than the traditional versions, but still tastes amazing!

The stew itself is not thickened with a roux (this saves calories) nor does it contain cream, but it develops wonderful flavor from searing the chicken with the skin on (fat equals flavor, and the skin is later removed), then adding some thyme and aromatics.

The chicken remains moist in this super chunky stew. The flavorful broth is a lovely base for the dumplings, which are somewhat dense, yet tender at the same time, especially when soaking up the rich broth.

I love the balance between the hearty veggies and chicken, fragrant broth, and fluffy dumplings. I'm not sure I'd ever feel the need to create a full fat version of chicken and dumplings when this healthy variation hits every note.

Ingredient notes

• Chicken: This recipe uses split bone-in, skin-on chicken breasts. The skin provides a bit of fat and flavor when searing the chicken, but is later removed. Cooking the chicken breast with the bone helps keep it moist and adds even more flavor to the broth. You could certainly use leftover shredded chicken from a roasted or rotisserie chicken, but I think it's worth the extra step here to cook it yourself.
• Chicken Broth: Use a good quality chicken broth or stock. If it's homemade, even better, but there are great quality broths you can buy and use to save some time.
• Flour: Regular all-purpose flour works perfectly for making the dumplings.
• Buttermilk: The buttermilk adds a nice tangy flavor as well as moisture to the dumplings without adding too much fat.

How to make it

For the stew: Pat the chicken dry with paper towels and season with salt and pepper on all sides. Heat the oil in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat until just smoking. Brown the chicken well on all sides.

Transfer to plate and remove the skin.

To the fat left in the pot, add carrots, onions, celery, and salt. Cover and cook over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally, until softened.

Stir in white wine, scraping up any browned bits. Add broth, thyme, and chicken along with any accumulated juices.

Bring to simmer over high heat, then reduce heat, cover, and cook until chicken registers 160°F.

Remove pot from the heat and transfer the chicken to plate. When chicken is cool enough to handle, shred the meat into large pieces, discarding the bones. As you shred each chicken breast, you can add the meat directly to the pot. This will help keep it from drying out as it sits in the open air.

For the dumplings: Whisk flour, sugar, salt, and baking soda together in a large bowl. In a separate bowl, stir chilled buttermilk and melted butter together until the butter forms small clumps, then whisk in the egg white.

Add the buttermilk mixture to the flour mixture and stir with rubber spatula until just incorporated. If it seems really wet, sprinkle in a little more flour. If it seems dry, add a splash of buttermilk. It should be a fairly firm dough that you can easily scoop and maintain its shape.

To finish: Return the stew to a simmer (you should have already added the shredded chicken back to it). Stir in peas and parsley, then season with salt and pepper. 

Using a greased tablespoon measure, scoop and drop dumplings on top of stew slightly spacing them apart.

Wrap the lid of your Dutch oven with a clean kitchen towel (keeping the towel away from heat source) and cover the pot (this will prevent steam droplets from dripping onto the dumplings and making them soggy). Cook over low heat until the dumplings have doubled in size. Serve immediately.

Please scroll to the bottom of the post for the full recipe (in a printable recipe card) including ingredient amounts and detailed instructions.

Expert tips

For serving, I suggest gently removing dumplings from Dutch oven and then ladling stew into individual dishes, then topping with dumplings again. It’s awkward trying to evenly distribute the stew without moving at least some of the dumplings out of the way.

The original recipe from America's Test Kitchen (which I've adapted slightly) stated it made 8 servings, but realistically I think it's more like 6 satisfying servings. I've calculated the nutrition estimate based on that, but you can serve smaller bowls if you'd like to yield 8 servings.

To store leftover chicken and dumplings, I recommend carefully removing the dumplings from the top of the stew and storing them separately in an airtight container in the fridge. Store the stew in its own airtight container in the fridge. Both will keep for several days.

To reheat, either heat the stew on the stovetop in a small pot or in individual bowls in the microwave, stirring occasionally. When the stew is mostly heated through, add the dumplings to the top, cover the pot or bowl with a lid and continue heating briefly until the dumplings are soft and warm.

Other recipes you may like

• Easy Chicken and Leek Pie
• Turkey Meatloaf with Onion Gravy
• Thomas Keller's Ad Hoc Buttermilk Fried Chicken
• American Baked Mac and Cheese with Ritz Crackers
• Healthier Veggie Mac and Cheese Primavera

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