Chicken and Dumplings

 Ingredients

• 3 lbs chicken thighs (boneless and skinless) cubed (I used thighs, because breasts can end up really chalky tasting if they’re boiled).
• 1 tbs vegetable oil
• 2 tbs butter
• 1 medium yellow onion – finely diced
• 2/3 cup carrots – finely diced
• 2/3 cup celery – finely diced
• 1 tsp thyme
• 1 tsp sea salt
• 1 tsp pepper
• 32 oz chicken broth
• 1 can cream of chicken soup
• 2 cans biscuits (the cheap Pillsbury Buttermilk Biscuits. Whatever you do, don’t get the fancy layered kind, cheaper is better here)
• 1 1/2 cup milk

Home Prep:

1. Cut chicken thighs into 1/2″ cubes, put in large Ziploc and freeze.
2. Finely dice the celery, carrots and onion. Throw into large Ziploc and freeze.
3. Throw the salt, pepper and thyme into a single Ziploc.

Directions:

Before you get started, make sure you’ve taken out your ingredients and given them time to thaw.

Set up your dutch oven for frying. Twelve charcoal briquettes underneath (if you’re using charcoal) should do the trick.

Put your vegetable oil in the dutch oven and let it heat until it shimmers or a drop of water sizzles and pops when you drop it in.

Toss in your cubed chicken thighs and brown on all sides. Once browned, take out and set aside (it doesn’t need to be fully cooked). Make sure you also take out all the liquid with it. (I cooked the chicken at home so it took less time) 

Melt your butter in the bottom of your dutch oven, then throw in your onion, celery and carrot mix. Cook until the carrots start to become translucent and the veggies start to become soft. About 5 minutes. (This part took so much longer than it said, maybe also start this process at home?)

Add your chicken back in along with the drippings, your chicken broth, thyme, salt and pepper and simmer uncovered for 20 minutes.

While that’s simmering, open up your canned biscuits and cut them into quarters.

Once you’ve let it simmer for 20 minutes, add the milk, quartered biscuits and cream of chicken. Cover and simmer for another 30 minutes.

About ten minutes through this simmer, take the lid off your dutch oven. Your dumplings will be floating on top and likely stuck together. Break them up and stir them back in with your wooden spoon. Be sure to cover your dutch oven back up.