Cracker Barrel Chicken and Dumplings: A Comfort Food Classic Made at Home

2 weeks ago 20

Growing up successful the Midwest, Sunday dinners astatine my grandmother’s location ever meant 1 thing—the intoxicating aroma of chickenhearted and dumplings simmering connected the stove. Years later, I recovered myself craving that aforesaid comfortableness nutrient magic, but surviving hours distant from household meant uncovering alternatives. That’s erstwhile I discovered Cracker Barrel’s version, which transported maine backmost to Grandma’s kitchen. After countless attempts to recreate that heartwarming experience, I’ve yet perfected this copycat look that brings restaurant-quality chickenhearted and dumplings to your eating table.

Copycat Cracker Barrel chickenhearted and dumplings successful 2 bowls.

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What makes Cracker Barrel Chicken and Dumplings truthful good?

There’s thing fancy astir this copycat Cracker Barrel Chicken and Dumplings recipe. You won’t find immoderate vino oregon gourmet nutrient here, but what you get is affluent chickenhearted gravy, flavorful chicken, and brushed dumplings. Cracker Barrel Chicken and Dumplings travel unneurotic successful astir an hr connected the stovetop, and you tin adjacent hole it successful beforehand and frost it for last-minute meals.

Why you’ll emotion this recipe

You tin consciousness bully serving your household this old-style comfortableness nutrient that they volition love. Made with wholesome ingredients that are besides budget-friendly, it’s a simple, satisfying repast that is cleanable for a ample household oregon erstwhile you person a fewer guests over. When you service Chicken and Dumplings, nary 1 volition privation to beryllium precocious for dinner.

Why this look works

This humble crockery mightiness not beryllium fancy, but 1 spoonful of these tender chickenhearted pieces, pillowy dumplings, and rich, velvety gravy volition person you that sometimes, the simplest foods make the astir profound memories. Here’s wherefore this look works:

Freezer-compatible for aboriginal meals
Family-friendly comfortableness food that satisfies adjacent the pickiest eaters
Budget-conscious ingredients that won’t interruption the bank
One-pot simplicity for easier cleanup
Make-ahead friendly for engaged weeknights

Cracker Barrel Chicken and Dumplings ingredients

To recreate the Chicken and Dumplings from Cracker Barrel astatine home, you’ll need:

Carrots – Create a saccharine instauration for the broth and adhd indispensable nutrients
Celery – Provides aromatic complexity and a subtle savory enactment
White onion – Forms the spirit basal and adds earthy sweetness arsenic it cooks
Salted butter – Creates richness and helps vegetables merchandise their flavors during sautéing
Salt – Enhances each the flavors and balances the crockery
Chicken base – Concentrates chickenhearted spirit passim the broth for restaurant-quality results
Water – Creates the cooking liquid that becomes your flavorful gravy
Chicken tenders – Provide tender, easy-to-shred nutrient without the hassle of breaking down a full chickenhearted
All-purpose flour – This forms the operation of the dumplings and helps thicken the gravy
Baking powder – Creates light, fluffy dumplings by generating aerial bubbles during cooking
Buttermilk – Adds tanginess and helps make tender dumplings with a flimsy chew

Copycat Cracker Barrel chickenhearted and dumplings ingredients connected a tray.

How to marque the champion Cracker Barrel Chicken and Dumplings copycat recipe

To navigator the chickenhearted and hole the base:

Cut the carrot, celery, and achromatic onions into ample pieces and acceptable aside. Since you volition region the vegetables later, marque definite the pieces are ample capable to not interruption down portion cooking.
Place a ample cookware implicit mean vigor and melt the salted butter.
Add the chopped vegetables and a pinch of brackish to the lukewarm cookware and navigator until the onions go translucent.
In a abstracted mixing bowl, whisk the chickenhearted basal into the h2o until it dissolves and past determination it into the pot.
Add the chickenhearted tenders to the pot, trim the vigor to medium-low, and simmer for 20 minutes. While the chickenhearted cooks, you person plentifulness of clip to marque the dumplings.

Making broth for copycat Cracker Barrel chickenhearted and dumplings.

To marque the dumplings:

In a ample bowl, bring unneurotic the flour, baking powder, salt, and buttermilk into a shaggy dough.
Lightly flour the enactment aboveground and crook retired the dough.
Roll the dough into a unsmooth rectangle astir a 4th of an inch thick.
Use a weapon oregon pizza cutter to chopped the dumpling dough into one-inch squares. Separate the dough squares and lightly overgarment them with much flour to support them from sticking.

To decorativeness the Cracker Barrel Chicken and Dumplings recipe:

Strain and reserve the cooking liquid. Set the cooked chickenhearted speech and discard the vegetables.
Shred the cooked chickenhearted with a fork.
Bring the chickenhearted broth to a boil implicit precocious vigor successful a ample cookware oregon Dutch oven.
Drop the chopped dumplings into the boiling broth a fewer astatine a time. After a fewer seconds, disturbance the cookware a fewer times to guarantee the dumplings aren’t sticking. Continue adding and mixing the dumplings until you person added each of them to the pot.
Add the shredded chickenhearted to the cookware and trim the vigor to medium-low.
Cook until the dumplings are cooked through, astir 15 minutes.
The cooking liquid should person thickened up. Taste and set seasonings according to your preference.

Making and cooking dumplings for Cracker Barrel chickenhearted and dumplings.

What to service them with

A fewer sides crook this hearty Cracker Barrel Chicken and Dumplings look into the cleanable household meal. Here are a fewer suggestions:

Grandma’s Three Bean Salad. The saccharine and tangy dressing successful this look turns green, waxed, and kidney beans into a agleam crockery that is successful singular opposition to the heaviness of the Chicken and Dumplings from Cracker Barrel. Since you usage canned beans for this recipe, you tin easy propulsion Grandma’s Three Bean Salad unneurotic successful conscionable a fewer minutes.

Oven-roasted Broccoli and Cheese. Do you deliberation that you hatred broccoli? That’s lone due to the fact that you haven’t tried Roasted Broccoli and Cheese! This low-carb broadside crockery has truthful overmuch garlicky cheddar food that adjacent your kids volition emotion it. And you’ll emotion making it due to the fact that it’s truthful easy!

Cracker Barrel Carrot Cake. Carrot Cake is 1 of those desserts that astir radical don’t spell retired of their mode to get, but if you person a slice, you wonder, “Why don’t I person this much often?” The crushed walnuts, pineapple pieces, shredded coconut, saccharine raisins, and lukewarm baking spices springiness Cracker Barrel Carrot Cake its moist texture and flavor. And the pick food frosting takes it implicit the top!

Two bowls of copycat Cracker Barrel chickenhearted and dumplings.

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Homestyle Cracker Barrel Chicken and Dumplings

Tender chicken, pillowy dumplings, and affluent gravy travel unneurotic successful this comforting one-pot repast that tastes conscionable similar the edifice favourite but made successful your ain kitchen.

Course Main Course

Cuisine American

Keyword Cracker Barrel Recipes

Prep Time 20

Cook Time 45

Total Time 1 5

Servings

Calories 314kcal

Author Stephanie Manley

Ingredients

2 tablespoons salted butter
1/2 cup diced carrots
1/2 cup diced celery
1/2 cup diced achromatic onion
1 teaspoon salt divided use
6 cups water
6 teaspoons chicken base
1 pound chicken tenders
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 cup buttermilk

Instructions

Melt the food successful a ample cookware implicit mean heat. Add the carrots, celery, and onions to the cookware on with 1/2 spoon of salt. Cook until the onions are translucent.
Add the h2o and chickenhearted basal to the pot. Stir until the chickenhearted basal is incorporated into the water. Add the chickenhearted tenders and navigator for astir 20 minutes connected medium-low heat.
While the chickenhearted is cooking, hole the dough for the dumplings: Combine the flour, baking powder, buttermilk, and 1/2 spoon of brackish successful a mixing bowl. Stir until the dough conscionable comes together—it volition beryllium shaggy. Transfer the dough to a floured aboveground and rotation it retired into a rectangle astir 1/4 inch thick. Cut the dough into 1-inch squares, separating the squares arsenic you chopped them truthful they bash not interaction 1 another. Sprinkle the squares with much flour.
Strain the chickenhearted and vegetables from the broth and instrumentality the broth to the pot. Bring to a boil. Slowly adhd the dumplings, a fewer astatine a time, stirring arsenic you go.
Return the chickenhearted to the pot. Reduce the vigor to medium-low and simmer for 15 minutes to guarantee the dumplings are cooked through. Taste and set the seasonings.

Notes

Tips for Perfect Chicken and Dumplings

Don’t overmix the dumpling dough – This tin marque them pugnacious alternatively of tender
Maintain a gentle simmer – Boiling excessively vigorously tin interruption isolated the dumplings
Allow resting time – Let the finished crockery beryllium for 5-10 minutes earlier serving to let flavors to meld
Season gradually – It’s easier to adhd much brackish astatine the extremity than to hole an overly salty dish

Nutrition

How to store and reheat leftovers

The champion method for storing chickenhearted and dumplings is to abstracted them into 2 airtight containers. Put the chickenhearted and dumplings successful 1 instrumentality and support the gravy successful different to forestall the Chicken and Dumplings from absorbing each of it. You tin store the crockery similar this for 2 days successful the fridge oregon a period successful the freezer. Thaw frozen Chicken and Dumplings earlier reheating.

Warm the gravy successful a cookware implicit mean vigor to reheat the dish. You whitethorn request to adhd immoderate chickenhearted banal to loosen the gravy. Once the gravy is hot, adhd the chickenhearted and dumplings and navigator them until they lukewarm through.