Dairy Free Chicken and Dumplings Recipe (2024)

FAQs

Can you substitute water for milk when making dumplings? ›

The recipe below can be used either way. You might also like our recipe for cream cheese ranch chicken. This is a basic recipe and works for me every time. You can use milk instead of water and some people even sweeten with a little sugar if adding dumplings to fruit.

Make the Dumplings: In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Add the melted butter and milk and stir with a rubber spatula until the dough just comes together. Stir the chicken, peas, and parsley into the pot.

Create a Slurry.

Combine flour and milk in a sealable container like a Mason Jar, and shake it up. You'll get a smooth flour mixture called a slurry, which will help to thicken your sauce. This turns this recipe into more a a creamy chicken dumpling soup, loaded with flavor.

Use Cornstarch to Thicken Chicken and Dumplings

To give that a little thicker texture we're going to add 1 cup of cool water to 2 tablespoons of cornstarch and stir it up well. Make sure the soup is brought back to a good boil and go ahead and stir in the cornstarch mixture.

Mix one cup of water with 1 ½ teaspoons melted butter. Water can be used in most recipes that call for milk. According to the USDA, 88 percent of the volume of milk is water.

In an absolute pinch, water can sometimes be used as a substitute in a recipe that calls for milk…but you might experience some changes in flavor and texture. (Think: Less creamy, less fluffy and less rich.)

In recipes that call for buttermilk, it is not recommended to replace buttermilk with plain milk, because the absence of acid will not produce the same end result. But using an acidic ingredient combined with plain milk will create a substitute with properties closer to that of buttermilk.

Ingredients: 150g self raising flour (or 150g plain flour and 2 tsp baking powder mixed together) 60g shredded suet (suet gives best results in my opinion but you can substitute it with lard or butter if you must) ¼ tsp sea salt.

If it's boiling too hard, the dumpling dough can fall apart. Simmering broth might not be hot enough to raise the dumpling dough. Remove or tilt the lid after they've cooked so the dumplings don't over-steam and get soggy and dense. At least, that's the way I was taught and dumplings come out fluffy and delicious.

How do you keep dumplings from falling apart in chicken and dumplings? ›

The steam that builds up by covering the pot is what cooks the dumplings. Don't boil or stir the dumplings. Vigorous boiling and stirring will cause the dumplings to fall apart.

Lower your heat so that your broth is just barely barely barely boiling and drop these pieces in one at a time. It is important that you DO NOT STIR. We are not going to stir these as we don't want our dumplings cooking up. If you do stir, you will basically cause your dumplings to dissolve.

Here's how you can tell whether your chicken and dumpling soup is done and ready to eat. If the biscuit pieces feel gooey or mushy, they are not thoroughly cooked—give them more time to simmer in the rapidly boiling liquid until perfectly pillowy and fluffy.

You can make a slurry out of flour and cold water, add to the chicken mixture and cook until thickened (you need to cook this to cook the raw taste out of the flour).

The best dumplings are tender and soft, easy to eat with just a spoon. If your dumplings instead turn tough or gummy, the most likely culprit is overworked dough.

Whether you make your dumplings fresh or get them frozen, you can cook them quickly by boiling them. Raw dumplings are often boiled in water, but southern drop dumplings can be simmered in stock or broth for additional flavor. Chinese dumplings can also be boiled briefly in a pan to become potstickers.

Don't Overwork the Dumpling Dough

First, mix the dumpling ingredients just until the dough comes together. You'll whisk together the dry ingredients, then add melted butter and heavy cream. Stir everything together until the wet and dry ingredients are combined and you don't see any more dry flour.

Water. You can use water in most baking recipes that call for milk. Use 1 cup of water and 1-1/2 teaspoons of butter for every 1 cup of milk called for in the recipe. The extra butter will help your baked goods stay moist.

Most likely contents of the dumplings are inside is still raw so you add the cold water to slow down the cooking process of the dough so it doesn't break apart while allowing the filler to finish cooking.