Grandma Oakes Chicken & Dumplings

This is the rolled-style chicken and dumplings you find in old Southern kitchens, where the dumplings are flat strips of dough rolled paper-thin instead of fluffy biscuit drops. The result is closer to a chicken pot pie filling without the crust: thick, creamy, deeply savory.

A whole simmered chicken builds the broth from the inside out, half an onion and good salt and pepper carrying most of the flavor work. Grandma Oakes left the bones in and pulled at the table, but deboning before adding the dumplings makes for an easier dish to serve.

The dumpling dough is barely held together, just flour, baking powder, salt, shortening, and ice water rolled out very thin and cut into rectangles. The dough thickens the broth as it cooks, so a splash of warm milk poured in at the end gives the pot its signature silkiness.

Pro Tips

• Roll the dumplings as thin as you can manage, almost translucent. Thick strips turn gummy in the center.
• Drop them on top of the simmering broth, not into rolling boil. A hard boil tears them apart.
• Warm the milk before pouring so it doesn’t shock the broth and curdle.
• Let the pot rest off the heat for 5 to 10 minutes before serving so the broth thickens to gravy consistency.

Variations

• Use leftover roast chicken and store-bought broth to cut the cook time roughly in half.
• Stir in frozen peas and diced carrots in the last 10 minutes for a one-pot meal.
• Add a few sprigs of thyme and a bay leaf to the broth for deeper herbal flavor.