I love a good one dish comfort food meal, such as this classic recipe for Vegan Chicken and Dumplings, which is inspired by a well used, handwritten recipe card in my mom’s old green recipe box. She grew up in Arkansas on a farm, and this simple chicken dumpling recipe was handed down from my grandmother Edith, who would round up the ingredients in her own backyard. This dumpling recipe was a common feature in my mom’s childhood house; the pot simmered away on my grandmother’s wood-burning stove. Though my mother raised me in a mostly vegetarian home, we managed to enjoy a variety of Southern dumpling recipes, from savory to sweet. So, I took on the task of recreating my grandmother’s beloved recipe into a vegan dumpling version, swapping out the chicken for a plant-based chicken alternative, and updating the dumpling recipe to include chives, whole wheat flour, and plant-based milk.
This dish is popular with my entire family—and best of all it’s a comfort meal in one you can cook up in 30 minutes. Just get your vegetable and faux “chicken” stew simmering in a big heavy pot, mix up the dumpling batter, and drop it by heaping spoonfuls into your stew. Within minutes, you’ll be rewarded with soft, tender dumplings in a thick flavorful stew. Try making an Instant Pot Chicken and Dumplings version of this recipe by cooking up the stew using the Soup/Broth setting, then releasing the pressure to add and cook the dumplings using the sauté setting.
This Vegan Chicken and Dumplings recipe is truly a healthy meal masterpiece, combining plant protein, whole grains, and vegetables into one delicious, fragrant pot. It’s so easy, because you can just serve the entire pot on the dinner table, and let people reach in to fill their bowls. So clean up is a cinch. It’s also quite delicious warmed up the next day. I love to serve this recipe for holidays, too. You can swap out the ingredients, too. If you want to skip the faux “chicken”, try a can of chickpeas, seitan, or cubed tofu. You can also try seasonal produce instead of potatoes, carrots and green beans—give zucchini, broccoli, cauliflower, and peas a try. To make this recipe even easier, use a frozen vegetable blend. Pretty soon you’ll want to keep all of these ingredients on hand to create this classic comfort food meal any time you are so inclined.
This classic comfort food Vegan Chicken and Dumplings is based on a vintage Southern recipe. Full of flavor and good nutrition, this vegetables dumpling recipe is a fabulous one-dish meal that cooks up in 30 minutes.
2 tablespoons chopped fresh chives (may use dried)
Instructions
To Make Stew: Add broth to a large pot or Dutch Oven (4-5 quarts) and place on medium heat.
Add poultry seasoning, garlic, onion, carrots, potatoes, and green beans.
Stir well, cover, and cook over medium heat for 15 minutes.
Stir in plant-based chicken.
Mix ½ cup plant-based milk with 3 tablespoons flour and stir into vegetable stew, cooking for 1-2 minutes to thicken. Season with salt (optional) and black pepper.
While stew is simmering (in step 3), make Dumplings: Mix together 1 cup whole wheat flour, 1 cup all purpose flour, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl. Cut in margarine with a fork or pastry blender until crumbly. Stir in enough (3/4 – 1 cup) plant-based milk to make a soft, slightly sticky dough. Stir in chives. Do not overmix.
Drop 8 dumplings by large spoonfuls over hot stew. Cover and simmer on medium low for 15 minutes, until dumplings are firm and tender.
Serve immediately. Makes 8 servings (about 2 cups each).
Notes
*Poultry seasoning is a vegetarian blend that includes sage, thyme, marjoram, rosemary, nutmeg, and black pepper.
To make this gluten-free, substitute 3 tablespoons flour in the stew with corn starch, and use a gluten-free flour blend instead of the 1 cup whole wheat and 1 cup all purpose flour.
Prep Time:15 minutes
Cook Time:30 minutes
Category:Entree
Cuisine:American
Nutrition
Serving Size:1 serving
Calories:306
Sugar:4 g
Sodium:240 mg
Fat:8 g
Saturated Fat:1 g
Carbohydrates:54 g
Fiber:5 g
Protein:15 g
For other vegan comfort food meals, try some of my favorite recipes:
I have a dumpling question. Growing up my mom made 2 kinds one was the large fluffy kind for stew one was a small hard dumpling she used in soup. I’ve looked for recipes for the hard moist kind but all I keep seeing are the fluffy ones.
Yes, there are some food traditions that have large, dense dumplings. I’ve seen these in the Alps and in Eastern Europe. Look for recipes from this region, which often focus on bread crumbs and potatoes and include no leavening agent. In contrast, fluffy American style dumplings are more like biscuits.
(12 votes, average: 4.50 out of 5)
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Can’t wait to make this!
I have a dumpling question. Growing up my mom made 2 kinds one was the large fluffy kind for stew one was a small hard dumpling she used in soup. I’ve looked for recipes for the hard moist kind but all I keep seeing are the fluffy ones.
Yes, there are some food traditions that have large, dense dumplings. I’ve seen these in the Alps and in Eastern Europe. Look for recipes from this region, which often focus on bread crumbs and potatoes and include no leavening agent. In contrast, fluffy American style dumplings are more like biscuits.