Vegan Chicken & Dumplings

There ain’t much better than Fluffy Dumplings swimming in a THICK Savory Broth! This Southern Staple gets a VEGAN MAKE OVER as Vegan Chicken & Dumplings!

Growing up in Southern California, I never ate Chicken & Dumplings. Even all the times my parents took me to places like Marie Callender’s or Carrows, I never tried it. I was, unsurprisingly, more interested in the burgers!

But as an adult, especially one who has learned that there is more to eat than burgers, my interest was piqued as more and more of my YouTube followers asked for Chick’n and Dumplings. So I looked into it, and I realized, “oh it’s basically like Chicken Pot Pie but more of a soup with soft biscuits?” Obviously I was immediately on board!

And this is quite similar to the Pot Pie recipe I got, but with some differences. This is a lot easier as you don’t have to mess with puff pastry, and there’s no baking involved. It’s a one pot stop as well! It’s super dang easy!

Here’s a handy dandy video!

RECIPE NOTES

The Chicken

For this recipe I used Soy Curls, but you could use Tofurky Chick’n or any store-bought vegan chicken of your choice! You could even use chickpeas, mushrooms, whatever you like! Or you could make some Seitan Chick’n using this RECIPE here too!

One note about the Soy Curls, I’ve had folks ask if they can reuse the broth that we rehydrate them in. Personally, there’s a slight aftertaste that I don’t like so I don’t, but if it doesn’t bother you then go for it!

The Veggies

I’m using a traditional medley of carrots, celery and shallots (onions work too) but you could totally throw whatever you like in there. Also some garlic and fresh thyme and sage as well. You could used dried herbs but I would reduce the amount by half.

The Filling

For the filling we are doing a pretty traditional roux with some added vegan chicken stock. I used THIS STUFF, but use whatever you can find. Veggie broth is totally fine too! I also added in some Mushroom Seasoning and Nutritional Yeast for an UMAMI punch!

Vegan Heavy Cream

To make the filling extra decadent we’ll be making a quick Cashew Cream or Tofu Cream. You can use any vegan heavy cream you like a well. You’ll have some leftover cream to use in other dishes too!

The Dumplings

The Dumplings are super easy to whip up, it’s basically just flour, baking powder, plant-milk, vegan butter, and some seasonings. You just wanna make sure the dough is fairly wet so they don’t come out dry. I recommend making each dumpling about 2 – 3 Tbsp worth of the dough, and using a scooper to drop them in the broth. They will double in size once cooked.

To cook them you just need to simmer them covered for about 15 – 20 minutes, or until you can stab them with a toothpick and it comes out clean.

The Skillet

I made this in a Cast Iron Skillet so it’s a one pot meal, but feel free to use a dutch oven too.

Prepping

I recommend soaking the soy curls and cashews while you chop up the veggies and herbs for maximum efficiency!

Vegan Chick’n & Dumplings

Thee Burger Dude

4.73 from 11 votes

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Servings 6

Ingredients

 

US CustomaryMetric

 

1x2x3x

Soy Curl Chick’n

• 4 oz. Dried Soy Curls
• 2 cups Vegan Chicken Broth (or Veggie Broth)

Soup / Broth

• 2 Tbsp Vegan Butter
• 2 Tbsp Neutral Oil (Canola, Vegetable, Avocado, etc)
• 1 cup Chopped Carrots
• 1 cup Chopped Celery
• 1 cup Chopped Shallots or Onions
• 1 cup Frozen Peas
• 4-5 cloves Garlic (minced)
• 1 tsp Fresh Thyme (or 1/2 tsp Dried)
• 1 tsp Fresh Sage (or 1/2 tsp Dried)
• 4-6 Tbsp Flour
• 4 cups Vegan Chicken Broth (or Veggie Broth)
• 1 Tbsp Mushroom Seasoning (I used Imperial Taste Brand) (or 1 tsp Miso Paste)
• 1 Tbsp Nutritional Yeast
• 3/4 cup Cashew Cream** (or Tofu Cream)
• Salt & Pepper to taste

Dumplings

• 2 cups Flour
• 1 Tbsp Baking Powder
• 1 tsp Salt
• 2 tsp Fresh Thyme
• 3/4 – 1 cup Plant Milk (Unsweetened)
• 1/4 cup Vegan Butter (melted)

Instructions

 

• Prepare the Cashew Cream or Tofu Cream.
• First prep the soy curl chicken by soaking them in the 2 cups of vegan chicken broth for 15 minutes. Then drain and squeeze out the excess liquid. You can reuse the chicken broth if you like, but I find it has a bit of a strange aftertaste. Chop up the soy curls into bite size pieces.
• Next melt the vegan butter and oil in your skillet and then add in the carrots, celery and shallots / onion. Stir to get them all nice and coated and cook down for about 8 minutes or until they begin to soften a bit.
• Add in the chopped thyme and sage, a pinch of salt and black pepper, mushroom seasoning, nutritional yeast and then add in the minced garlic. Stir around and cook for 1-2 minutes making sure to not burn the garlic!
• Whisk in the flour. I recommend doing this a tablespoon or so at time and whisking in, and then adding in more flour once it's combined. Repeat this process until all the flour is whisked in.
• Next do the same with the vegan chicken broth, add a little and whisk in, then add in more until it's also whisked in. Repeat this with 3/4 cup of the cashew cream.
• Add in the reserved soy curls, stir to combine and then add in the frozen peas and stir to combine those as well.
• Taste and adjust for seasoning! Very important!
• If broth isn't thick enough, add a cornstarch slurry (1 tsp cornstarch mixed with 1 Tbsp of water). Or if the inverse is true and it's too thick, add in a bit more stock.
• Keep covered, and warm on low while we prepare the dumplings.
• Add the dry ingredients for the dumplings to a bowl and whisk to combine. Then add in the wet ingredients and gently fold together. If the dough seems dry add some more plant milk until it comes together and is quite moist. Scoop out about 2-3 Tbsp worth of the dough and drop it in the skillet, first starting on the outside and going around in a circle. You should have about 12-14 dumplings.
• Feel free to spoon over some of the broth over the dumplings. Bring to a simmer, and then cover and continue to simmer for 15-20 minutes, or until you can insert a toothpick in to the dumplings and it comes out clean.
• Once the dumplings are cooked through you can serve immediately! Add some fresh chopped parsley on top and ENJOY!

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