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 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.
And the dumplings?
Those stay dumplings.
Flour, cold butter, buttermilk, and a rolling pin.
Because some things are worth doing the old-fashioned way.
🧪 In Testing — Kirby Kitchen Test Kitchen
This recipe is currently being tested.
The recipe below is the current working version from the Kirby Kitchen Test Kitchen.
We're testing the chicken-to-dumpling ratio, broth thickness, seasoning level, dumpling thickness, cooking time, and balance between chicken breast and thigh meat.
We're also looking for a broth that's rich and creamy without relying on condensed soup or an excessive amount of heavy cream.
You're welcome to test it along with us. If you do, leave a comment and let us know how your dumplings turned out and what you'd change.
Once we're happy with the final result, the In Testing label will come off and this page will be updated with the finished recipe.
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
Kosher salt, only if needed
🥟 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
Instructions
1. Season the Chicken
Pat the chicken breast 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 through 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 black pepper
Scrape the bottom of the Dutch oven to release any browned bits left behind by the chicken.
Return the chicken and any accumulated juices to the pot.
Bring to a gentle simmer.
5. Cook the Chicken
Cover partially and simmer gently for approximately 20–25 minutes, or until the chicken reaches 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 enough to handle.
Shred or roughly chop it into bite-sized pieces.
Keep the breast and thigh meat mixed together.
Set aside while you prepare the dumplings.
Make the Dumplings
7. Mix the Dry Ingredients
In a large bowl, whisk together:
Flour
Baking powder
Kosher salt
Black pepper
8. Cut in the Butter
Add the 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 remain visible.
9. Add the Buttermilk
Add 120 g buttermilk and gently mix.
If dry flour remains, add additional buttermilk a little at a time until the dough just comes together.
Don't knead it like bread dough.
Kirby Rule: Work dumpling dough as little as possible. Overworking develops gluten and turns tender dumplings into something considerably tougher.
10. Roll the Dumplings
Turn the dough onto a generously floured work surface.
Dust the top lightly with flour.
Roll to approximately ⅛ inch thick.
Cut into rustic strips or rectangles approximately 1 × 2 inches.
They don't need to be perfectly identical.
A little flour remaining on the dumplings is fine. It will help thicken the broth.
Bring It Together
11. Finish the Broth
Remove the bay leaves.
Stir the Fairlife 2% milk and heavy cream into the simmering broth.
Bring it back to a gentle simmer, not a rolling boil.
Taste the broth before adding additional salt.
Homestead Poultry Seasoning and chicken stock already contribute salt, so add more only if the broth actually needs it.
12. Cook the Dumplings
Add the dumplings to the gently simmering broth one at a time.
Don't dump the entire pile into the pot or they'll stick together.
Gently stir between batches.
Once all the dumplings are added, reduce the heat to medium-low.
Partially cover and simmer for approximately 12–15 minutes, stirring gently every few minutes.
The dumplings should become tender while releasing some of their flour into the broth.
Kirby Rule: Let the dumplings help thicken the broth. Give them time before reaching for flour or cornstarch.
13. Return the Chicken
Add the shredded chicken back to the Dutch oven.
Gently fold everything together.
Continue cooking over low heat for approximately 5–10 minutes, until the chicken is heated through and the broth reaches the consistency you want.
14. Rest
Remove the pot from the heat.
Let the Chicken & Dumplings rest for 10 minutes before serving.
The broth will continue to thicken slightly as it sits.
Taste one final time and adjust black pepper or salt if necessary.
Performance Notes
🍗 Breast + Thigh
Using both cuts gives us something neither can accomplish 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 breast while keeping a full pound of thigh meat.
🐔 Homestead Does the Seasoning
Homestead Poultry Seasoning brings thyme, sage, garlic, onion, smoked paprika, pepper, and salt into the recipe.
Using it on both the chicken and in the broth builds flavor in layers.
🥛 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 gives the broth additional richness.
The flour released from the dumplings provides much of the thickening naturally.
🥟 Dumplings Stay Dumplings
We're not replacing the flour with protein powder.
We're not making Greek-yogurt dumplings.
And we're not pretending cauliflower belongs here.
The nutrition improvement comes primarily from building the dish around plenty of chicken and controlling the dumpling-to-chicken ratio.
🌶️ Don't Be Afraid of Black Pepper
Chicken and dumplings should have a noticeable peppery warmth.
Start with the recipe amount, but fresh cracked black pepper over the finished bowl is highly encouraged.
Make It Your Own
Richer: Increase the heavy cream slightly.
Thicker: Let the finished dish rest longer before adjusting it.
Thinner: Add additional chicken stock.
More Dumplings: Increase the dumpling recipe by 50% for a more traditional dumpling-heavy pot.
More Vegetables: Increase the carrots and celery.
Extra Pepper: Finish each bowl with freshly cracked black pepper.
Fuel Profile — Estimated Per Serving
Calories: ~500 kcal | Protein: ~55 g | Carbohydrates: ~35 g | Net Carbs: ~32 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, and one batch of rolled buttermilk dumplings. Nutrition is estimated and will vary depending on the chicken, stock, dairy, flour, and ingredient brands used.
That puts us at roughly 9 calories per gram of protein, so we're right where we want to be without turning Southern Chicken & Dumplings into a "fitness recipe."
Storage & Reheating
Refrigerator
Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.
The dumplings will continue absorbing broth while refrigerated, so leftovers will become considerably thicker.
Reheating
Reheat gently on the stovetop over medium-low heat.
Add a splash of chicken stock or Fairlife milk as needed to loosen the broth.
Stir gently so the dumplings don't break apart.
Kitchen Wisdom
“Some Southern recipes don't need reinventing. They just need good ingredients, enough chicken, and time on the stove.”