Healthy Gluten-Free Chicken and Dumplings

These healthy, clean eating, gluten-free chicken dumplings are easy to make with roasted chicken and veggies, nutritious GF flour and goat milk butter and yogurt instead of buttermilk.

Chicken and Dumplings

I love chicken and dumplings. It is one of my all time favorite comfort foods. I know I’m not alone on this one. Those light fluffy pillowy dumplings and that creamy delicious broth. So wonderful. Especially when it is cold outside.

I used to request it all the time growing up, too. My mom would make the dumplings with Bisquick All Purpose Mix and milk. But trying to get nice dumplings with gluten-free flour has been challenging.

There is a gluten-free Bisquick mix but I don’t really like it (basically just rice flour, sugar, leavening potato starch, and xanthan gum) or it’s texture. And it isn’t that nutritionally beneficial in any way.

Anyway, I’ve tried a few recipes that never really turned out that well with gluten-free, dairy-free alternatives. You get rock hard yucky dumplings. Until I tried this one and used goat milk products! More about the specifics below.

I will say that the are a little more dense than regular dumplings but pretty light and fluffy for gluten-free dumplings. So hooray to bring back a healthy version of one of my favorite comfort foods into the dinner rotation.

And Brett said this chicken and dumplings is his favorite chicken soup so far. So yay – although my favorite will always be chicken tortilla soup!

Before I get into the cooking part of this post, I just wanted to rave about this new kitchen gadget we started using. I am absolutely in love this new food preparation flat colander from Sinkstation. Not a sponsored post.

It just makes peeling carrots so much easier. And rinsing things like berries and lettuce. It fits into the sink but has room for things to drain. It doesn’t take up a lot of space. Love it. It’s the gadget I didn’t know I needed but can’t imagine not having one now. Okay back to cooking.

Roasting the Veggies and Chicken

I really like an easy chicken and vegetable roast in the oven. You can prep it, pop it in the oven, not worry about it until it is done. Except for maybe tossing the veggies once or twice. We love cooking Lemon Garlic Chicken and Potatoes this way and Spiced Roasted Chicken and Spiced Roasted Potatoes.

So for this chicken and dumpling recipe I though it would be much easier to roast the carrots, onions and garlic in the oven with the chicken. Instead of cooking them in the Dutch oven where I would need to stir them.

We add celery salt, dried thyme, olive oil, and a cup of organic chicken stock in a large baking dish. Gently stir so that everything is coated and evenly distributed.

Then place our favorite air-chilled organic bone-in chicken breast in the center. Drizzle with a little olive oil. Then salt and pepper everyone. Into the oven at 350 degrees F for an hour.

When done, place the chicken breast on a cutting board. We will shred the chicken and add it back to the soup just before adding in the dumpling batter.

Use a slotted spoon to place the roasted veggies in at least a 3.5 quart Dutch oven or saucepan with a lid. Then add about six cups of chicken broth. We are going to bring to a boil on the stovetop then simmer for about 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, add the roasting liquid in the baking dish to a Pyrex measuring cup or small bowl. We are going to let the fat separate to the top. I usually stick it in the freezer for a few minutes. Then use a small ladle to pull off the fat.

This roasting liquid is full of flavor with the garlic and spices we used. It will be added back to the chicken soup once it gets separated to give it a lot more depth of flavor. Adding some Redmond organic real salt seasoning salt and a bay leaf to chicken stock will also add more depth of flavor.

Ingredients: Real Salt, Organic Garlic, Organic Onion, Organic Corriander, Organic Mustard, Organic Black Pepper, Organic Paprika, Organic Celery Seed, Organic Turmeric, & Organic Parsley.

Spices are everything! While that is going, make the dumpling batter.

Making the Gluten-Free Dumplings

So when I was looking for gluten-free dumpling recipes that looked like they would turn out nice and fluffy, I found this one from Simply Gluten Free. And figured I’d give it a shot. I’m so glad I did. We’ve already made it twice now. 🙂

We are following that recipe to make the dumplings with a few substitutions.

Instead of buttermilk we are using goat milk yogurt mixed with some water and a little apple cider vinegar. I use diluted goat yogurt as a substitute for buttermilk when making Chicken Fried Steak and Gluten-Free Fried Chicken Tenders and Okra and it works perfectly.

We are also using goat butter instead of a butter substitute or ghee because it does really well in baking. I think it is the fat content. Anyway, we used it to make the most delicious Orange Glazed Cranberry Muffins and Brown Sugar Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies. So I figured why not try it here, too.

First we mix together the dry ingredients. Then add the melted butter and stir before adding in the goat milk/water/vinegar. Start with about half a cup and add in batches until you get a nice wet dough. The firmness of the batter will likely depend on the type of gluten-free flour you use.

I like Bob’s Red Mill gluten-free all-purpose baking flour (no xanthan gum). It is a blend of garbanzo bean flour, potato starch, tapioca flour, whole grain sweet white sorghum flour, and fava bean flour.

It is a little more nutritious and has more dietary fiber than the Bisquick mix plus no added sodium or sugar. We are going to add a little sugar in the recipe but it is clean, nonGMO, organic cane sugar from Wholesome Sweet.

The batter is a little sticky, so I use a fork to help “spoon” chunks of the batter into the simmer chicken stock and cover. Let them steam for about 15 minutes. And you should have a lovely easy gluten-free chicken and dumplings dinner.

It also keeps well when refrigerated so it makes great leftovers. Just reheat in the microwave for a few minutes. Yum!

Want More Comfort Food Recipes Like These Chicken and Dumplings?

• Clean Eating White Chicken Enchilada Casserole
• King Ranch Chicken Casserole
• Herbed Meatballs & Spaghetti
• BBQ Chicken Tacos
• Gluten-Free Eggplant Chicken Parmesan
• Blue Cheese Buffalo Chicken Salad
• Classic Wedge Salad
• NOLA Chicken Andouille Sausage Gumbo

Print

Healthy Gluten-Free Chicken and Dumplings

These gluten-free chicken dumplings are easy to make with roasted chicken and veggies, GF flour and goat milk butter and yogurt instead of buttermilk.

Course Main Course

Cuisine American

Keyword chicken and dumplings, gluten-free biscuits, roasted chicken

Prep Time 15 minutes

Cook Time 1 hour 30 minutes

Total Time 1 hour 45 minutes

Servings 6

Author Deana Larkin Evans

Ingredients

Roasting Chicken and Veggies

• 1 medium onion
• 5 skinny carrots
• 3 cloves garlic
• 1 tsp dried thyme
• 1/4 tsp celery salt
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 cup chicken broth
• 1 large bone-in chicken
• salt & freshly ground black pepper

Chicken Soup

• roasted vegetables
• roasting liquid (separated from fat)
• 6 cups chicken broth
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 tsp Redmond Real Salt Seasoned Salt
• shredded cooked chicken

Gluten-Free Dumplings

• 1/4 cup filtered water
• 3/4 cup goat milk yogurt
• 1 tsp apple cider vinegar
• 1 1/2 cups gluten-free all purpose flour (bean blend, no xanthan gum)
• 1 tsp aluminum-free baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1 1/2 tsp organic cane sugar
• 2 tbsp goat butter, melted

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

2. Wash and peel the carrots. Chop into slices and add to a large baking dish. Chop the onion and mince the garlic. Add the onion and garlic to the baking dish. Sprinkle with olive oil, thyme, celery salt, and one cup of chicken broth. Toss so that everything is well coated.

   Add the chicken breast to the middle. Drizzle with a little more olive oil. Sprinkle salt and pepper over everything.

   Place into the oven and bake for about one hour. Tossing the vegetables at least one time.

3. When cooked through (165 degree F for the chicken) remove the baking dish from the oven. Place the chicken on a cutting board. When cool enough to handle shred and reserve the chicken.

   Meanwhile, scoop the roasted vegetables with a slotted spoon and put them in a 3.5 quart Dutch oven or large saucepan.

   Pour the remaining roasting liquid into a Pyrex measuring cup or small bowl. Allow the fat to seperate to the top then remove with a small ladel. Reserve the remaining cooking liquid.

4. Add six cups of chicken broth to the vegetables in the Dutch oven or saucepan. Add seasoned salt and a bay leaf. Bring to a boil on the stovetop over medium high heat. Add the reserved cooking liquid and reduce heat to achieve a nice simmer. Simmer for about 15 minutes.

5. Make the buttermilk substitute by adding the water, goat yogurt, and apple cider vinegar to a measuring cup. Stir well and set aside.

   Make the dumpling batter by adding the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and organic cane sugar to a medium bowl. Melt the butter and add it to the dry ingredients. Stir well.

   You may not need all of the yougurt mixture so start with half and add more in batches.

6. Add the shredded chicken to the simmer soup. Then add in large spoonfuls of the batter into the simmering soup. Cover and let cook for 15 minutes without removing the lid. When done remove the bay leaf and serve with a large ladel. Enjoy!