Gluten Free Chicken and Dumplings

Hey friends!

Since all of the recipes I’m posting this month are Christmas/Holiday themed, I wanted to share with you what we had for dinner just last night, gluten free chicken and dumplings! One of my favorite things about Christmas dinner growing up was my great grandma’s chicken and dumplings and it’s something I’ve really missed since going gluten free. You could make these as drop dumplings, but I prefer to roll mine out and cut them into squares. I also used boneless skinless breasts because it’s what we had in the freezer but feel free to use any type of chicken you prefer.

For the chicken:

I like to roast my chicken while I make the stock and dumplings and then chop it up and add it in. You can chunk up your chicken and put it directly into the pot and cook it but I feel like roasting/baking adds more flavour.

You’ll want 2-3 pounds of chicken, and I generally like to rub it with basil, oregano, thyme, and a little bit of salt and pepper. If you’re using chicken with the skin on I love mixing all the herbs with a little bit of butter and massaging it under the skin. Then I wrap it loosely in aluminum foil and bake it at 350 for about 15 minutes, peel back the foil and roast it for another 5-10 minutes. Having the foil around the chicken helps keep all the juices in a nice little packet that you can add into your pot

For the dumplings:

• 2 cups gluten free flour (I like to use a 60/40 mix of brown/white rice flour)
• 1 tsp xanthan gum
• 4 tsp baking powder
• dash of salt
• 1 egg
• 2 T softened butter or Earthblend for lactose free
• 1 cup water, milk or other lactose/dairy free milk (I would stick with rice or soy, almond or coconut could give it an odd flavour)
• 1/4 tsp parsley

Add all of your dry ingredients into a mixing bowl, then add in the egg and softened butter. Mix by hand or on low until the mixture turns crumbly and the egg and butter are incorporated. Slowly add in your milk/water just until the dough comes together. You want it to look a bit like this:

After I mixed the dough I covered it and set it in the fridge while I started on the broth.

For the broth:

• 2.5 litres chicken broth
• 1 can cream of chicken soup (optional)
• 1 tsp oregano
• 1 tsp basil
• 1 tsp parsley
• 1/2 tsp onion powder
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• salt and pepper to taste
• 2-3 T corn starch
• 1/4 c. cold water

Add all the ingredients except for the water and corn starch into a large pot and bring to a boil. Save the cornstarch and water for later.

Add in the dumplings one by one, making sure that they don’t touch each other until they’ve begun to cook. (I always roll out my dumplings so I haven’t tried this recipe as drop dumplings.) If you want rolled dumplings take the dough and roll it out between two sheets of wax paper until they’re between 1/8 and 1/4 inch thick, then cut into 1 1/2 inch squares using a pizza cutter. Don’t get to upset if they’re not all the same. They’ll look a bit like this:

The dumplings will puff and rise to the surface as they cook. After all the dumplings are in the pot cover and cook for about five minutes, then add in your shredded chicken. If you’re lactose free like me you can’t add in cream of chicken, so I like to use cornstarch as a thickener instead. Mix the corn starch into the cold water and slowly pour into your soup, stirring constantly. The soup should start to thicken up instantly and thicken a bit more as you let it set. If you’d like your soup a little thicker you can add a bit more cornstarch when you make your mixture. I like to let it set for five minutes or so to make sure it’s thickened up. Now serve and enjoy! Not much more can get me in the holiday spirit than a bowl of chicken and dumplings on a cold night.

I hope you enjoy this and I’ll see you all next post!

Amber