Ingredients
Soup:
- 3 lbs boneless skinless chicken breasts
- 1/4 cup butter
- 1 large onion, peeled and diced
- 1 1/2 cups chopped celery
- 1 1/2 cups chopped carrots
- 1 tsp. dried thyme
- 1 whole bay leaf
- 1 tsp. salt
- 1/2 tsp. ground pepper
- 8 cups chicken stock
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 1 Tbsp. cornstarch
- 3 Tbsp. chopped parsley
Dumplings:
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup vegetable shortening (butter flavor preferred)
- 1 tsp. salt
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 3/4 cup buttermilk
Directions
In a large pot, add butter and onions. Sauté over medium hear for 3-4 minutes. Stir in the celery and carrots and sauté for another 2-3 minutes.
Add the chicken, thyme, bay leaf, salt, pepper, and broth to the pot. Stir and bring to a boil. Lower heat to simmer, cover, and cook for 20-25 minutes.
Meanwhile in a medium bowl add the flour, shortening, salt, and baking powder. Use a fork or pastry blender to mash the mixture together until it resembles oatmeal. Then mix in the buttermilk until the mixture is mostly smooth.
Onto a floured surface, roll the dough out into an even sheet 1/8 - 1/4 inch thick. Use a pizza cutter to cut the dough into 1 x 1 1/2 inch pieces.
Once the chicken is cooked through, remove the chicken pieces from the broth. In a small bowl, combine heavy cream and corn starch, stirring to remove lumps. Add a few spoonfuls of the chicken broth from the pot into the cornstarch slurry (this will prevent clumping when added to the pot). Pour the mixture into the pot and stir.
Add the dumplings to the broth, a handful at a time, stirring gently in between so they don't stick together. Simmer the dumplings for 8-10 minutes, uncovered.
While the dumplings are cooking, shred the chicken using two forks. Add the chicken pieces back to the pot, along with the parsley. Once the broth has thickened into gravy, turn off the heat and serve. Enjoy!