It’s going to start getting cold and wet again here (so long 70’s and sunshine, boo) so I’ve busted out my comfort food repertoire. I love delicious, creamy comfort food when it’s nasty, and is there anything more comforting than Chicken and Dumplings? Now I love the old school chicken and dumplings, but I find that making it a casserole is just SO much easier. This is a super simple recipe that I basically took the bare bones of and added my own twists to. You may be a breast instead of thigh lover (naughty naughty) and you may hate carrots, but love potatoes. Knock yourselves out with the variations. You can even change up the spices if you’d like. Sage is a pretty common poultry seasoning, but try Italian seasoning or Herbes d’Provence? Whatever makes your skirt fly up.
For those of us with kids? This is a fun recipe to include them in. Dice up the filling and let them throw it all in the bowl. They can even dump the soup in as well. Kid number 1 is awesome at making this!
Chicken and Dumplings Casserole
Filling Ingredients:
Four cooked chicken breasts or thighs – I poach them in chicken stock to get them nice and tender before putting them into the filling… use either breasts or thighs and however much you want. I find that four pieces worked out well, especially since I tend to like more veggies than meat
1/4 – 1/2 cup chicken broth- I use homemade only because I’m an over-achiever like that. Swanson’s will do just fine
1 can (10.5 oz) Cream of Chicken Soup (condensed)- I actually make my own cream base nowadays, but for a quick and easy filling, use the soup.
1 can (10.5 oz) Cream of Mushroom Soup (condensed)
1 small onion chopped
1-2 small potatoes – I like Yukon Golds
Carrots, celery, whatever else you have on hand that you’d like to add…
About a tsp of ground sage
Salt and Pepper to taste
“Dumplings”
1 stick butter; melted
1 1/4 cup Bisquick
1 cup milk (I used 1%, but it can be whatever you have on hand. Just remember, the butter makes it pretty rich to start with)
Directions
Cut all of the veggies and the chicken into roughly the same size pieces. Remember that the bigger the pieces of veggies, the longer they will take to cook. I find that a small chop is the best size to go with, about 1/2-3/4 inch pieces.
Mix all of the filling ingredients together in a bowl. Check the consistency. You may want to add more chicken broth if it seems too thick. I found that with the extra veggies, I added about 1/4 cup more. Again, it’s up to you. Just remember that adding the topping (the Bisquick mixture) is going to thicken up your filling considerably.
Pour filling ingredients into a greased 9×13 casserole dish.
For the dumplings, mix the butter, Bisquick and milk together.
Pour over the chicken mixture and bake at 350 for about an hour. Let sit for 15 minutes to cool and set.
Eat and be comforted. Meanwhile, I’ll go get the last of the sunshine while it’s here.
