Chicken and Dumplings are a bowl full of cozy. They’re comforting, they’re filling, they’re surprisingly decent left over. They can also be a pain in the butt.

But I love (and am comforted by) chicken and dumplings so much that this is the dinner I made the night I took the practicum of my NCIDQ exam (the professional exam for interior designers). After months of studying and hours of testing, all I wanted was to reward myself with a bowl of this deliciousness before I got back to studying for the other exams.

Most chicken and dumpling recipes have you shredding chicken or rolling dough. I have never once wanted to do either of those things on a weeknight. Here I cut the chicken small, but if you’re committed to the texture of shredded chicken, go for it. Put the chicken thighs into the stew whole in step 4, and simmer for 15-20 minutes. Pull them out, shred them, and add them back in with the peas in step 6.

Chicken and Dumplings

INGREDIENTS

Stew

• 2 ½ pounds boneless skinless chicken thighs, cut into small pieces

• salt and pepper

• 4 Tablespoons butter

• 2 stalks celery, diced

• 1 large onion, diced

• 1 small carrot, diced

• ½ cup flour

• 2 Tablespoons apple cider vinegar

• ½ cup water

• 4 cups chicken broth

• ¼ cup milk or half & half

• 1 teaspoon dried thyme

• 1 Tablespoon dried basil

• ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes

• 1 ½ cup frozen peas

Dumplings:

• 2 cups flour

• 1 Tablespoon baking powder

• 1 teaspoon salt

• 1 cup half & half

• 3 Tablespoon melted butter

DIRECTIONS:

1. Cut chicken into small pieces. Season with salt and pepper.

2. Add butter to a pot with deep sides and melt over medium-high heat. Add celery, onion, and ¼ tsp of salt and cook until softened (5-7 min).

3. Stir in the flour until the mixture is almost dry. Add the apple cider vinegar and water, scraping up any browned bits. Next, add the broth, milk, thyme, basil, and red pepper flakes. Whisk the mixture until the flour has been dispersed.

4. Add the chicken into the pot, cover with the stew mix, and simmer until the chicken is fully cooked (about 10 minutes). Stir occasionally.

5. Start the dumplings: stir dry ingredients together. Microwave milk and butter together until just warm (30 seconds - 1 minute). Stir into the dry ingredients with a wooden spoon until just mixed.

6. Stir peas into the stew and return it to a simmer. Taste for salt, adding more if needed.

7. Drop golf-ball-sized dumplings over the top of the stew, nestling them in. There should be 15-18 dumplings. Simmer on low until they’ve doubled in size and have cooked through (10-15 minutes).