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Cracker Barrel Chicken and Dumplings

Cracker Barrel Chicken & Dumplings

A homestyle copycat of Cracker Barrel's chicken and dumplings where you make your own broth while the chicken cooks.
Print Recipe
Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour 40 minutes
Total Time 2 hours 10 minutes
Ingredients Method Notes

Ingredients
  

  • 1 lb chicken
  • 1 pinch salt
  • water to cover
  • 1 lemon halved
  • 2 stalks celery sliced
  • 1 small onion chopped
  • 2 carrots sliced, or more to taste
  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • salt and ground black pepper to taste

Method
 

Chicken and Broth Preparation
  1. Place the full chicken and a pinch of salt into a large pot and cover with water. Bring the water to a boil.
  2. Next, add the lemon, celery, onion, and carrots to the pot. Simmer the chicken and broth over medium heat until the chicken becomes tender and falls off the bone. This should take about 1 hour. Every few minutes, skim the fat off the surface with a slotted spoon.
  3. Discard lemon halves. Remove the chicken from the pot, and let it cool. Allow the broth to continue simmering.
Dumplings Preparation
  1. In a large bowl, mix the flour, salt, and pepper in a large bowl. Make a well in the center of the mixture, and ladle in 2 to 3 scoops of hot broth. Blend the mixture with a spoon until the dough comes together into a ball.
  2. Turn the dough out onto a floured surface. Knead the dough ball carefully until it's smooth. Roll it out into a large rectangle, and cut out small rectangular dumplings.
  3. Drop the dumplings one at a time into the simmering broth. Cook, stirring occasionally, until tender, about 30 minutes.
  4. Meanwhile, shred the cooled chicken. Add the chicken pieces to the pot with the dumplings and cook until heated through, for about 5 minutes.
Serving Chicken and Dumplings
  1. Ladle broth, chicken, and dumplings into a bowl, and serve with a side of biscuits or bread.

Notes

  • To shred the chicken, use one fork to hold the chicken steady, and use another fork to scrape and tear the chicken into small, shredded pieces.
  • Before rolling out the dough, be sure to sprinkle flour on your countertop surface so the dough doesn't stick.
  • Be sure your broth is still simmering when you drop the dumplings in, so they cook properly.
  • You can also prepare biscuits using the same dough used to make the dumplings.