Instant Pot Chicken & Dumplings
Now I kid you not, these Chicken & Dumplings have received more raves than a dance party in the 90s. The dumplings are subjective to a family recipe, but I prefer mine as thick, buttery ribbons that melt in your mouth. Prepare for ecstasy to go with that rave.
Ingredients
- 1 1/4 cups of all-purpose flour
- 2 tsp of baking powder (NOT to be confused with baking soda!)
- 1 tsp of salt
- 2 tbsp (1/4 stick) of salted butter
- 1/2 cup of whole milk
- 4 tbsp of butter
- 1 yellow onion, diced
- 2 large carrots, peeled and diced
- 3 stalks of celery, sliced into 1/4″ pieces (with leafy tops reserved)
- 1 tbsp of crushed garlic
- 6 cups of reduced-sodium chicken broth (I used 2 tbsp of Chicken Better Than Bouillon + 6 cups of water)
- 3 bay leaves
- 1/2 cup of Sherry wine (if you leave it out, add in another 1/2 cup of broth)
- 1/2 tbsp of seasoned salt
- 1/2 tbsp of poultry seasoning (salt-free)
- 1/2 tbsp of black pepper
- 1/2 tbsp of rubbed sage
- 1 tsp of dried thyme
- 1 tsp of dried parsley
- Whole chicken (3-4 lbs), chopped into pieces with skin on
- 3 tbsp of cornstarch + 3 tbsp of water to form a slurry
- 1/2 cup of heavy cream
Directions
- 1
Hit “Sauté” on the Instant Pot and adjust so it’s on the “More” or “High” setting. Add in the butter and once melted, add in the onion, carrots and celery and sauté for 5 minutes. Add the garlic and sauté for 1 minute longer
- 2
Then, pour in the broth and stir well. Add the chicken and make sure it’s all covered by the broth. Toss the in the bay leaves and secure the lid
- 3
Hit “Keep Warm/Cancel” and then hit “Manual” or “Pressure Cook” High Pressure for 10 minutes
- 4
When the chicken is done cooking, perform a quick release. Discard the bay leaves and remove the chicken from pot with tongs. Set chicken aside in a bowl to cool
- 5
Add the sherry, seasoned salt, poultry seasoning, pepper, rubbed sage, thyme parsley, leafy tops from celery to the pot and stir well. Let the pot rest for the time being
- 6
While the chicken’s cooling down, make the dumplings by mixing together all the dumpling ingredients. Begin by placing the flour, baking powder and salt in a mixing bowl and whisk together. Then, place the butter and milk in a pyrex and microwave for 40 seconds. Pour the milk/butter mixture into the flour and lightly mix with a fork until totally blended so a warm dough forms. (NOTE: Don’t overdo the mixing as it can make for a tough dumpling). From there, let your hands take over and lightly knead the dough. Then, on a clean surface covered with flour, take a flour-coated rolling pin and roll the dough to be 1/8″ thick max (it’s very important that it’s no thicker than 1/8″ so it cooks properly). Then, using a pizza cutter or knife, slice the into the dough vertically into strips about 1” wide and then slice horizontally about 2” wide, forming little rectangular strips. Dust with additional flour so they don’t stick to each other
- 7
Now give the pot some heat again by hitting “Sauté” and adjust so it’s on the “More” or “High” setting. Once it bubbles, stir in the cornstarch slurry followed by adding the dumpling strips one-by-one and then give them a good stir making sure none are sticking to each other. Then, allow them to simmer for 10 minutes WITH THE LID ON THE POT (NOTE: Make sure the lid is not sealed but rather resting slightly off-kilter on the pot as it may come to pressure otherwise due to the boiling – even with the valve in “venting” position. This way, steam will escape on the sides when it’s in this position and that’s perfectly fine. You may also use a glass lid to fit the 6qt or 8qt)
- 8
After 10 minutes of the dumplings boiling in the pot, hit “Keep Warm/Cancel” so the bubbles die down
- 9
The chicken should now be relatively should be cool enough to handle. Pick the bones clean of all the meat, discarding the bones, skin, and cartilage. Rip the chicken by hand into robust pieces and add to the pot
- 10
Add in the heavy cream and give everything a final stir until well combined
- 11
Ladle into bowls and enjoy!