Cheater’s Chicken and Dumplings in the Instant Pot
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There are two major shortcuts in this cheater’s (but still deeply flavorful) take on classic Southern chicken and dumplings. The first is that instead of making dumplings from scratch, I use packaged potato gnocchi, which are, after all, technically dumplings, and make for an especially hearty dish. The second is that I don’t bother browning all the chicken pieces. I only brown as many as fit in the pot for one batch. Since the skin is discarded after cooking, there’s no need to stand there getting splattered by chicken fat for any longer than you have to, which is just long enough to build a caramelized layer on the bottom of the pressure cooker to add flavor to the broth. This comforting recipe takes some time to put together, but it’s still doable on a weeknight, and worth every minute.
This recipe was excerpted from ‘Dinner in One’ by Melissa Clark. Buy the full book on Amazon. For more easy chicken recipes, head this way →
Veg it up by stirring 4 to 5 ounces (4 to 5 cups) baby spinach or kale, or 1 cup thawed frozen peas or corn kernels into the pot with the green beans. Or stir 2 cups diced ripe tomatoes into the pot with the gnocchi.
Recipe information
Total Time
1 hour 10 minutes
Yield
Serves 4 to 6
Ingredients
Preparation
Step 1
In a large bowl, toss the chicken pieces with the salt and pepper and set aside while prepping the other ingredients.
Step 2
In the pot of an electric pressure cooker, using the sauté function set on high, melt 2 tablespoons of the butter. Add as many chicken pieces as will fit in a single layer (without crowding) and brown them on all sides until they’re a deep golden brown, about 5 minutes per side. Transfer the browned chicken back into the bowl with the remaining unbrowned pieces. You don’t need to brown the rest of the chicken.
Step 3
Add the remaining 2 tablespoons butter to the pot and stir in the celery, carrots, onion, garlic, and bay leaf. Sauté until softened, about 12 minutes.
Step 4
Stir in the chicken stock, scraping up any browned bits from the bottom of the pot. Nestle in all the chicken along with the accumulated juices in the bowl. Seal the pot and cook on high pressure for 13 minutes.
Step 5
Manually release the pressure and open the pot. Transfer the chicken pieces to a plate and pluck out the bay leaf. When the chicken is cool enough to handle, remove the bones and skin and shred the meat into chunks (you can save the bones and skin to make stock, if you like).
Step 6
Switching back to the sauté function, bring the soup to a boil. Stir in the gnocchi and cook for 5 minutes. Add the green beans and cook for another 5 to 8 minutes, until the beans and gnocchi are tender and the broth thickens. Stir the chicken back into the pot to warm it up. Turn off the pressure cooker and stir in the parsley and vinegar, then taste and add more salt and vinegar, if needed. Serve sprinkled with smoked paprika, if you like.
Recipe notes
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