If you’ve ever had Cracker Barrel’s Chicken & Dumplings, you know how deliciously addictive they are. Even if you don’t have a Cracker Barrel near you, you can have these whenever you want.
How? Make them yourself!
There are a ton of copycat recipes for this southern delicacy online, but I think this one is the best. It tastes delicious and makes an awesome comfort meal!
Here’s how to do it.
Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour plus more for kneading and rolling
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup whole milk
- 1/4 cup vegetable oil
- 2 quarts water
- 3 chicken bouillon cubes or about 2 teaspoons of soup base
- 3 tablespoons butter
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon sugar
- 1 cup buttermilk or whole milk
- 2 chicken bouillon cubes, crumbled or about 2 teaspoons chicken soup base
- 1/2 to 3/4 cup dumpling cooking liquid (from after dumplings have been cooked) 1/2 to 3/4 cup dumpling cooking liquid (from after dumplings have been cooked)
- Cooked chicken (however much or little you’d like with your dumplings, white or dark meat)
Instructions
Dumplings:
Mix the flour, baking powder, salt, milk, and oil, blending well, and turn out onto a floured surface. Knead four or five times. Divide the dough into two pieces.
Roll out one piece to 1/8-inch thick and cut into 1 x 1 1/2-inch dumplings. In a large saucepan, combine the water and bouillon cubes/soup base.
Boil until the bouillon cubes/soup base dissolve. Cook half of the dumplings until they float up towards the top of the pot. Use a strainer to remove them to a bowl and set aside.
Finish the other half of the dumplings in the same way. Reserve the cooking liquid.
Sauce:
While the dumplings are cooking, you can start to prepare the sauce. Melt the butter in medium saucepan. Add salt and flour; stir until thick.
Mix the sugar with the milk/buttermilk and add to flour mixture a little at a time, stirring constantly with a whisk until thick and smooth.
Remove from heat. Add the cooked dumplings to the sauce. Dissolve the crumbled bouillon cubes in 1/2 cup of the cooking liquid and stir gently into the sauce and dumplings.
Return to low heat and simmer until blended. If the sauce seems too thick, gently stir in a little more cooking liquid.
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Once this is all put together, add your cooked chicken to the dumplings and sauce. That’s it, you’re done!
How do you like your chicken and dumplings?