
The tandem post will be up later this week. To tide you over ’til then, I’m posting the recipe for Chicken Dumpling Casserole, which was submitted by reader Elaine. She said that if her son had his way, she’d make this three times a week, and he’d have the leftovers the other four days. Nance wasn’t up for giving this one a try, so I went it alone!
The original recipe came from The Shady Porch; adapted recipe can be found at the bottom of this post.
The ingredients:
The recipe calls for 3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, boiled and shredded. I opted, instead, to boil a whole (small) chicken, then debone it and shred it. I think I ended up with about the right amount of chicken. Other ingredients are chicken stock (from boiling the chicken – if you use canned chicken or a rotisserie chicken, you can use canned broth instead), a stick of butter, Bisquick (or self-rising flour), 2% milk (I suspect that skim milk would have worked okay, too), cream of chicken soup (the original recipe highly recommends the herbed cream of chicken soup; I only had the regular kind on hand), instant bouillon (or cubes), sage, salt, and pepper.
In a 9×13 casserole dish, melt 1 stick of butter. I did this by throwing the butter in the baking dish, and sticking it in the preheating oven ’til the butter was melted.
Spread your shredded chicken over the butter. Sprinkle salt, pepper, and sage over this layer.
Mix your Bisquick (or self-rising flour) and milk together in a small bowl, and slowly pour over the chicken.
In a medium bowl, whisk together chicken stock (strain it first, if you need to), chicken granules/bouillon, and soup. Once blended, slowly pour it over the Bisquick layer.
DO NOT STIR THIS TOGETHER, MUCH AS YOU MIGHT BE TEMPTED TO.
Bake ’til the top is golden brown, 50 – 60 minutes.
The verdict? Man, this stuff is GOOD. I liked it a lot, and Fred liked it even more. The sauce reminded me very very much of the sauce in a frozen chicken pot pie, so I initially told Fred that next time, I should add a layer of vegetables. But to be honest, we both liked this so much as is, that I fear adding a layer of veggies wouldn’t be as good.
This is absolutely going into regular rotation. The only change I might (I say MIGHT) try next time would be to maybe take the butter down to 1/2 stick instead of a whole stick.
Thanks for the submission, Elaine!
- 3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, boiled and shredded (alternately, you could use the meat from a rotisserie chicken or canned chicken; I boiled and deboned a whole (small) chicken)
- 2 c. chicken stock (from boiling the breasts, or from a can)
- 1 stick of butter
- 2 c. Bisquick or self-rising flour
- 2 c. milk (I used 2%, but am sure that skim or whole would work as well)
- 1 can cream of chicken soup
- 3 t. chicken bouillon granules or 3 bouillon cubes
- ½ t. dried sage
- 1 t. black pepper
- salt, as desired
- Place boneless, skinless chicken breasts in sauce pan with enough water to cover the chicken. Bring to a boil, then turn off the heat; cover your pot and let sit for 10 - 15 minutes to finish cooking. Remove from stock (reserve stock) and allow to cool, then shred the chicken.
- (Alternately, use the meat from a rotisserie chicken, canned chicken, or boil a small whole chicken.)
- ------------------------
- Preheat oven to 350ºF.
- In 9x13 casserole dish, melt 1 stick of butter (place butter in baking dish and place in preheating oven until butter is melted.)
- Spread shredded chicken over butter. Sprinkle black pepper, salt, and dried sage over this layer. (If you want to make a pot pie, add a layer of vegetables over your chicken.)
- In a small bowl, mix milk and Bisquick/self-rising flour. Slowly pour over chicken.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together 2 c. chicken stock (strain it first, if you need to), chicken bouillon granules/cubes, and soup. Once blended, slowly pour over the Bisquick layer.
- Bake time varies; bake until the top is golden brown, 50 - 60 minutes.
I use black pepper and poultry seasoning on the chicken before I add the flour/milk layer.
I use the Better than Bouillon chicken base that I buy at Costco. Lower in sodium and I think it has more chicken flavor.