From scratch, chicken and dumplings, made in a slow cooker and using a whole chicken for a homemade stock, a creamy roux base and drop dumplings.

Slow Cooker Chicken with Drop Dumplings

I love chicken and dumplings. Love it! It's one of my favorite dishes and that goes for any time of the year, not just winter.

While I do tend to follow the same basic guidelines, even with a variety of methods, I'm not married to any one of them. So many folks make chicken and dumplings one way all of their life, but I love playing around with it!

A whole, cut-up chicken, browned in cooking oil, slow stewed and finished with fluffy, rolled dumplings.

Browned Chicken and Fluffy Rolled Dumplings

Whole chickens go on sale around here all the time, usually at 99 cents a pound, though sometimes as low as 69 cents. They usually restrict the number you can get, but I always get the limit and go back for a few more another day if there's room in the freezer.

It's considered a loss-leader in the industry, and it works, because that second trip always ends up with additional grocery purchases, even if only to stock up the pantry with canned goods and such. Although a 3 to 4 pound chicken is sufficient, I say get a bigger one and put up what you don't use here - that's what I do! The chicken I used here was nearly 6 pounds, so I had a few cups to freeze for another meal.

Step by Step How to Make Homemade Southern Style Chicken and Dumplings

Homemade from scratch, Southern style chicken and dumplings, made from a whole chicken and rolled dumplings, and served here with steamed, buttered carrots, crowder peas and corn muffins.

Homemade Southern Style Chicken and Dumplings

I didn't grow up with what many of you deem to be a classic Southern style rolled dumpling. Mama's chicken and dumplings had fluffy little puffs of biscuit dough floating in them and they were so good. It's the way I made them when I moved on from my parent's house to the house I shared with my husband, and they remain my favorite still today.

Frankly, no two Southerners are likely to agree on how chicken and dumplings should be made anyway, but I know of quite a few other Southerners who quietly admit that they grew up with drop dumplings too. Guess it just all depends on what you grew up with.

 

  A creamy chicken soup that uses strips of flour tortillas as a dumpling.

Chicken Dumplin' Soup

How can you not love a soup that is called Chicken Dumplin' Soup? I mean seriously.

When we were chatting one day over on the Facebook page about Chicken and Dumplings, or more specifically, drop dumplings versus rolled dumplings, one of the readers there mentioned using tortillas as her dumplings.

A classic southern comfort dish made of stewed chicken with fluffy drop dumplings.

Old Fashioned Chicken and Fluffy Drop Dumplings

You just cannot beat this Southern classic of stewed chicken with dumplings in the comfort meal category. While most of us Southerners can agree on that, it's the dumplings that can cause a stir as much as our cornbread can.

One of the most popular recipes on the site, this no-stir chicken and dumpling casserole, made with self rising flour, cream soup, and chicken broth, is reminiscent of the flavor of the real deal, but in an easy casserole form.

Chicken and Dumpling Casserole

While the name may be the same, this version is of course, a casserole, and not technically exactly like good ole old fashioned chicken and dumplings. To me, however, it provides a consistency and flavor similar to the more labor-intensive homemade version, but in a super-easy form, especially if you are using leftover chicken or a rotisserie chicken from the grocery store.

If you are cooking fresh chicken, especially if you are using boneless, skinless chicken you want to just slightly under cook it when you poach it, since it will essentially continue cooking in the oven.

A shortcut method of making chicken and dumplings that uses precooked chicken, commercial chicken broth and a can of flaky biscuits cut into strips for the dumplings.

Shortcut Chicken and Biscuit Dumplings

Love classic from scratch, old fashioned Southern style chicken and dumplings but don't have the time to stew a chicken? Then this shortcut chicken and dumplings is just what you need and there's even a slow cooker version included at the bottom of the recipe to make it even easier.