Southern Homestead Chicken & Dumplings
Tender chicken. Rich, peppery broth. Hand-rolled dumplings. Southern comfort by the bowlful.
A from-scratch Southern chicken and dumplings made with tender chicken breast and thighs, Homestead Poultry Seasoning, vegetables, a rich creamy chicken broth, and hand-rolled buttermilk dumplings.
No canned biscuits. No condensed soup.
Just chicken, broth, dumplings, and enough time to let everything come together.
Some recipes don't need reinventing.
Chicken and dumplings is Southern comfort food for a reason.
The goal here isn't to turn it into something unrecognizable just to improve the nutrition numbers. Instead, we're changing the balance.
Plenty of chicken gives each bowl a strong protein foundation. Chicken thighs bring richness and deeper chicken flavor, while chicken breast keeps the dish from becoming unnecessarily heavy.
The broth gets its flavor from onion, celery, carrots, garlic, black pepper, thyme, and Homestead Poultry Seasoning. Fairlife 2% milk and a little heavy cream provide richness, while a cornstarch slurry gives the broth the thicker consistency this dish deserves.
And the dumplings?
Those stay dumplings.
Flour, cold butter, buttermilk, and a rolling pin.
Because some things are worth doing the old-fashioned way.
Recipe at a Glance
Yield: About 8 servings
Serving Size: About 1½–2 cups
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: About 1 hour
Total Time: About 1½ hours
Ingredients
🍗 Chicken
2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breast
1 lb boneless, skinless chicken thighs
1 Tbsp Homestead Poultry Seasoning
1 tsp coarse-ground black pepper
1 Tbsp avocado oil or beef tallow
🥕 Broth & Vegetables
1 large yellow onion, diced
3 celery stalks, diced
2 medium carrots, diced
4 garlic cloves, minced
8 cups low-sodium chicken stock
2 bay leaves
1 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp Homestead Poultry Seasoning
½ tsp coarse-ground black pepper
1 cup Fairlife 2% milk
½ cup heavy cream
Final Seasoning
1 tsp Homestead Poultry Seasoning
1 tsp kosher salt
🥟 Southern Rolled Dumplings
250 g all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
½ tsp kosher salt
½ tsp coarse-ground black pepper
30 g cold unsalted butter, cubed
120–140 g buttermilk, as needed
Additional flour for rolling
For Thickening
2 Tbsp cornstarch
2 Tbsp cold water
Instructions
1. Season the Chicken
Pat the chicken breasts and thighs dry.
Season evenly with:
1 Tbsp Homestead Poultry Seasoning
1 tsp coarse-ground black pepper
Let the chicken sit while you prepare the vegetables.
Kirby Rule: Season the chicken itself. A flavorful broth shouldn't be responsible for doing all the work.
2. Brown the Chicken
Heat the avocado oil or beef tallow in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat.
Working in batches if necessary, add the chicken.
Brown for approximately 2–3 minutes per side.
The chicken does not need to cook completely at this stage.
Transfer to a plate.
3. Build the Vegetable Base
Reduce the heat to medium.
Add the onion, celery, and carrots to the same Dutch oven.
Cook for 5–7 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables begin to soften.
Add the garlic and cook for another 30–60 seconds.
4. Build the Broth
Add:
Chicken stock
Bay leaves
Thyme
1 tsp Homestead Poultry Seasoning
½ tsp coarse-ground black pepper
Scrape the bottom of the Dutch oven to release the browned bits left behind by the chicken.
Return the chicken and any accumulated juices to the pot.
Bring everything to a gentle simmer.
5. Cook the Chicken
Partially cover the Dutch oven and gently simmer for approximately 20–25 minutes, or until the chicken reaches an internal temperature of at least 165°F and is tender.
Avoid a hard boil.
Remove the chicken and transfer it to a cutting board or large bowl.
6. Shred the Chicken
Allow the chicken to cool just enough to handle safely.
Shred or roughly chop into bite-sized pieces.
Mix the breast and thigh meat together and set aside.
Make the Dumplings
7. Mix the Dry Ingredients
In a large bowl, whisk together:
250 g all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
½ tsp kosher salt
½ tsp coarse-ground black pepper
8. Cut in the Butter
Add the 30 g cold cubed butter.
Use a pastry cutter, fork, or clean fingertips to work the butter into the flour until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
Small pieces of butter should still be visible.
9. Add the Buttermilk
Start with 120 g buttermilk.
Gently mix until the dough begins to come together.
If dry flour remains, add additional buttermilk a little at a time, up to approximately 140 g total.
The dough should be soft enough to roll but shouldn't be wet or excessively sticky.
Kirby Rule: Work dumpling dough as little as possible. Overworking develops gluten and turns tender dumplings into something considerably tougher.
10. Roll & Cut the Dumplings
Turn the dough onto a generously floured work surface.
Lightly dust the top with additional flour.
Roll the dough to approximately ⅛-inch thick.
Cut into rustic strips or rectangles approximately 1 × 2 inches.
The dumplings don't need to look identical.
A little flour remaining on their surfaces is perfectly fine and will provide a small amount of additional body to the broth.
Bring Everything Together
11. Finish & Season the Broth
Remove the bay leaves.
Stir in:
1 cup Fairlife 2% milk
½ cup heavy cream
1 tsp Homestead Poultry Seasoning
1 tsp kosher salt
Bring the broth back to a gentle simmer.
Do not allow the dairy mixture to reach a hard boil.
Taste and adjust the black pepper if desired.
12. Thicken the Broth
In a small bowl, whisk together:
2 Tbsp cornstarch
2 Tbsp cold water
Whisk until completely smooth.
Slowly pour the slurry into the gently simmering broth while stirring.
Simmer for 2–3 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the broth begins to noticeably thicken.
Kirby Rule: Don't try to reach the final thickness with cornstarch alone. The slurry starts the job, the dumplings continue it, and the resting time finishes it.
13. Add the Dumplings
Keep the broth at a gentle simmer.
Add the rolled dumplings one at a time, gently stirring between batches to prevent them from sticking together.
Once all of the dumplings have been added, reduce the heat to medium-low.
Partially cover the Dutch oven.
Simmer for approximately 12–15 minutes, stirring gently every few minutes.
The dumplings should become tender while releasing a little additional flour into the broth.
14. Return the Chicken
Add the shredded chicken back to the Dutch oven.
Gently fold everything together so the chicken is evenly distributed without breaking apart the dumplings.
Continue cooking over low heat for approximately 5–10 minutes, until the chicken is heated through and the broth is creamy and thick.
15. Rest
Remove the Dutch oven from the heat.
Let the Chicken & Dumplings rest for 10–15 minutes before serving.
The broth will continue to thicken as it rests.
Taste one final time and adjust salt or freshly cracked black pepper only if needed.
16. Serve
Ladle into bowls, making sure every serving gets plenty of chicken, vegetables, rolled dumplings, and creamy broth.
Finish with freshly cracked black pepper if desired.
Serve hot.
Performance Notes
🍗 Breast + Thigh
Using both cuts gives us something neither can accomplish quite as well alone.
Chicken breast provides a large amount of lean protein.
Chicken thighs contribute richer chicken flavor and enough fat to keep the dish from tasting like diet food.
The ratio deliberately favors chicken breast while keeping a full pound of thighs for flavor and richness.
🐔 Layer the Homestead
Homestead Poultry Seasoning is used at multiple stages instead of relying on one large addition.
The chicken gets seasoned before browning, the broth gets another layer while simmering, and a final teaspoon goes in with the dairy.
That builds the thyme, sage, garlic, onion, smoked paprika, and pepper gradually throughout the dish.
🥛 Creamy Without a Can
There's no condensed cream-of-chicken soup here.
Fairlife 2% milk provides the primary dairy component, while ½ cup heavy cream across the entire pot provides additional richness.
A cornstarch slurry gives the broth the thicker consistency expected from a hearty bowl of chicken and dumplings.
🥣 Why Cornstarch?
The dumplings naturally release some flour into the broth, but testing showed that wasn't enough to produce the thicker consistency we wanted.
A 2-tablespoon cornstarch slurry provides additional body without requiring more flour in the dumpling dough or broth.
Adding it before the dumplings also means the broth can be thickened without aggressively stirring around fully cooked dumplings later.
🥟 Dumplings Stay Dumplings
We're not replacing the flour with protein powder.
We're not trying to turn them into a high-protein baking experiment.
And we're definitely not replacing them with cauliflower.
The nutrition improvement comes from building the dish around plenty of chicken and keeping the dumpling-to-chicken ratio reasonable.
🌶️ Don't Be Afraid of Black Pepper
Chicken and dumplings should have a noticeable peppery warmth.
The recipe builds black pepper into both the chicken and dumplings, but freshly cracked black pepper over the finished bowl is highly encouraged.
Make It Your Own
Richer: Add a little additional heavy cream.
Thicker: Allow the finished pot to rest the full 15 minutes before deciding it needs additional thickening.
Thinner: Add chicken stock a little at a time until the broth reaches your preferred consistency.
More Dumplings: Increase the dumpling recipe by 50% for a more dumpling-heavy version.
More Vegetables: Increase the carrots and celery.
More Pepper: Finish each bowl generously with freshly cracked black pepper.
Fuel Profile — Estimated Per Serving
Calories: ~505 kcal | Protein: ~55 g | Carbohydrates: ~37 g | Net Carbs: ~34 g | Fiber: ~3 g | Fat: ~17 g
Based on approximately 8 servings using 2 pounds chicken breast, 1 pound chicken thighs, Fairlife 2% milk, heavy cream, one batch of rolled buttermilk dumplings, and the cornstarch slurry. Nutrition is estimated and will vary depending on the chicken, stock, dairy, flour, and ingredient brands used.
Storage & Reheating
Refrigerator
Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.
The dumplings will continue absorbing some of the broth while refrigerated, so leftovers will become thicker.
Reheating
Reheat gently on the stovetop over medium-low heat.
Add a splash of chicken stock or Fairlife 2% milk as needed to loosen the broth.
Stir gently to avoid breaking apart the dumplings.
Kitchen Wisdom
“Some Southern recipes don't need reinventing. They just need good ingredients, enough chicken, and time on the stove.”