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    Home » Instant Pot » Alton Brown’s Chicken and Dropped Dumplings

    Alton Brown’s Chicken and Dropped Dumplings

    Published: Oct 16, 2020 by Eric Samuelson

    Jump to Recipe Print Recipe

    Learn how to make Alton Brown's Chicken Dumplings including how to make it in the Instant Pot, which wasn't around when this recipe first appeared on Good Eats.

    Chicken and dumpling soup in a white bowl on top of a grey-blue plate on top of a blue and white striped towel with a black spoon.

    This post includes affiliate links. This means that at no additional cost to you, I will earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase. These are products and services I recommend because I use or trust them. Cookies will be used to track the affiliate links you click.

    I imagine if there was a picture next to the phrase "comfort food" in a dictionary it would be chicken soup.

    Chicken noodle soup is a comfort food alright. But I think when you say chicken and dumplings, you are really talking comfort.

    Dumplings are like pillows floating around in a homemade broth along with shreds of chicken. That's what comfort is made of.

    I first made this dish after watching Alton Brown make it on Good Eats. It was made like he said, I was evenly lucky enough to find a stewing hen - that grocery store has since closed down. Since then I have been making it with a standard chicken, but now instead an old fashion pressure cooker, I have turned to the Instant Pot.

    And with a family of 6, I double the dumplings!

    ? Ingredients

    • 4 to 5 pound whole chicken (stewing hen, if you are lucky)
    • kosher salt
    • water
    • butter
    • all-purpose flour
    • 2 large eggs (single batch), 4 eggs (double batch)
    • Freshly ground black pepper

    There aren't too many ingredients here. It's about creating a flavorful broth. We thought at first we would need veggies to go with it for more flavor but after tasting the broth, found out they weren't necessary.

    The reason Alton calls for a stewing hen is because they are more flavorful. They are tough though so you need to cook them this way, you wouldn't roast a stewing hen - which is why it's called a stewing hen - it needs to stew! But you really can't find them at most grocery stores anymore, so go with whatever whole chicken you can find - air chilled would be best.

    Last time I made this soup, I mixed ½ of the flour with an equal amount of semolina flour to up the flavor of the dumplings. I love the flavor of semolina, we often use it when making noodles for chicken noodle.

    ? Instructions

    Let me take you step by step on how to make this in the Instant Pot, that's what most of us now use for pressure cooking. You will find instructions in the recipe notes at the bottom if you are using a standard pressure cooker.

    Step 1 - place the chicken into the Instant Pot and cover with water
Step 2 - set the Instant Pot to 45 minutes on high pressure

    The whole chicken is cooked at 45 minutes on high pressure. If you wanted to use a frozen chicken without thawing you could add another 15-20 minutes to the cook time.

    To make removing the hot chicken much easier, I use the Instant Pot silicone sling. The whole chicken comes out at once and I can put it on a platter to cool before shredding.

    Step 3 - Remove the chicken from the pot
Step 4 - shred the chicken

    This is an optional ingredient - dried rosemary. I added it last time I made the soup and it added great flavor.

    Once the chicken is cool enough to handle just shred it with a fork, discard the skin and bones.

    Step 5 - add the broth and butter to a sauce pan
Step 6 - add the flour to form a dough

    To make the dumplings, get out a sauce pan or frying pan and take some of the broth out of the pot and combine it with butter and salt, bring to a boil.

    Alton likes to strain the broth through some cheese cloth to make it clear. I never found the need for the extra step but feel free to do it if you want a "cleaner broth".

    Once the broth is to a boil, add all of the flour. Stir until the mixture comes together. A wooden spoon makes for the best stirring device in this situation. You shouldn't have to stir for more than 1 minute to get the dough you see in the step 6 picture. If it's still sticky, stir over low heat until it's not and a ball is formed.

    Step 7 - break the dough into pieces with a hand mixer
Step 8 - add the eggs one at a time

    Move the dough to a mixing bowl and get out a hand mixer. Use the mixer to break the dough into small pieces. Then add 1 egg at a time. The egg should be fully mixed in before you add the next. You may need to scrap down the sides of the bowl between each egg.

    Step 9 - add in all the egg until they are all incorporated
Step 10 - put dough into a plastic bag and cut out a corner of it to make a piping bag

    Add the dough to a plastic resealable bag. You will cut the corner off the bag off to use it as a piping bag. If you want to be more sustainable you can try these reusable silicone pipping bags.

    Step 11 - set the Instant Pot to saute mode
Step 12 - cook the dumplings in the simmer broth

    Lastly I turn the Instant Pot with the broth in it back on. This time just hit the sauté button. Once the broth has come to a simmer, add in the dumplings. Cook for about 8 to 10 minutes until the dumplings are done. If the broth starts to get much above a simmer, turn off the sauté mode, and hit keep warm. I didn't find it to be much of an issue to keep at a simmer.

    ❓ Why This Recipe Works

    The reason why this recipe works well is that by pressure cooking the chicken fast you create a flavorful broth without it becoming too oily. When I was in college I tried slow cooking a chicken for soup, the broth it produced was so oily you had to wipe your mouth between bites - it was not good!

    The dumplings themselves are made like you would pate a choux, which is a pastry dough that is used to make eclairs. This process produces a light dough when cooked, so your dumplings won't be too dense.

    ? Try These Alton Recipes

    • Chocolate Pudding
    • Whipped Potatoes
    • Fish Sticks
    • Baked Potato Fries

    ? Try These Instant Pot Recipes

    • Mashed Potatoes
    • Meatloaf Bites
    • Applesauce
    • Ham

    Alton Brown's Chicken and Dropped Dumplings

    Alton Brown's recipe written in my own words to include how to make it in the Instant Pot. And I have doubled the dumplings because who doesn't want twice as many dumplings!
    5 from 1 vote
    Print Pin Rate
    Course: Soup
    Cuisine: American
    Keyword: Alton Brown, Instant Pot, soup
    Prep Time: 5 minutes
    Cook Time: 1 hour
    Total Time: 1 hour 5 minutes
    Servings: 6 people
    Author: Eric Samuelson

    Ingredients

    For the chicken & broth

    • 4-5 pound whole chicken giblets removed
    • 3 tsp kosher salt
    • 7-9 cups water
    • 1 tsp dried rosemary optional

    For the dumplings

    • 5.5 ounces all purpose flour
    • 6 tbsp butter
    • 4 large eggs at room temperature
    • 1 tsp kosher salt
    • ` freshly ground black pepper to taste

    Instructions

    Cooking the Chicken

    • Place the whole chicken in the Instant Pot. If you have a silicone sling you can put that underneath the chicken.
    • Add water to cover most of the chicken, being careful not to go above the maximum fill line. Add 3 tsp of kosher salt (and dried rosemary if using)
    • Put on the lid and set to sealing. Cook on high pressure for 45 minutes.
    • You can do a natural release or manual. If you do manual make sure the steam can go into a open space (not underneath your kitchen cabinets).
    • When cooked enough to handle, carefully remove the chicken to a large plate or platter. Shred and set aside. Toss the skin and bones. Save all the liquid. You can strain it if you want but it's necessary in my opinion.

    To make the dumplings

    • Set a frying or sauce pan over high heat. Add ½ cup of the cooking liquid from the chicken along with the butter and 1 tsp of kosher salt.
    • Bring to a boil.
    • Once boiling add all the flour at once. Stir with a wooden spoon until a dough comes together.
    • Reduce the heat to low and continue stirring for a couple more minutes or until the dough is in a ball and is no longer really sticky.
    • Place into a large mixing bowl and get out a hand mixer.
    • Using the mixer, mix the dough until it breaks into little balls and has cooled.
    • Add 1 egg at a time and mix it to combine. Make sure it's completely incorporated before adding the next egg.
    • Once you have incorporated the last egg, place the dough into a resalable plastic bag. Cut out a corner to make a piping bag.
    • HIt the saute button on the Instant Pot and bring your broth to a simmer. Squeeze the dough out of the corner of the bag, cutting the dough with kitchen shears at about 1 inch.
    • When you are finished, cook the dumplings for 8 to 10 minutes with the lid back on but not sealed. If the water starts to boil too hard, just hit the keep warm button or turn off the pot.
    • Once the dumplings are cooked through (check one), add in the chicken. Give the chicken a couple minutes to warm up then serve the soup.

    Notes

    Optional - you can take away half the all purpose flour and replace it with semolina flour
    How to make using a traditional pressure cooker
    Place the chicken and 3 teaspoons of salt in the pressure cooker. Add water to just cover the chicken without passing the maximum fill line.
    Cover and lock the lid. Over high heat, bring the pot to pressure. It should take about 20 minutes.
    Then reduce the heat to low so that pot will be barely hissing. Cook for 45 minutes.
    Release the pressure according to the device's manual or run under cold water for 5 minutes before attempting to open.
    Procced with the instructions to make the dumplings. 
    Tried this recipe?Mention @eatlikenooneelse or tag #eatlikenooneelse

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    Nice to Meet You,

    Hi! I'm Eric : Father of 4, living just south of Ann Arbor, MI. I'm a reformed picky eater finding a new way to not conform. Eating what's in season is my jam (I also make it!)

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