Crockpot Chicken & Dumplings

Ingredients

• 2 Cups of Diced Celery
• 2 Cups of Diced Carrots
• 1 Cup of Diced Onion
• 6 to 8 Boneless, Skinless Chicken Thighs
• 2 Cartons of Chicken Stock, About 8 Cups
• 1 T of Salt
• 2 T of Black Pepper
• 2 Cloves of Garlic Crushed
• 1 Stick of Salted Butter + 3 Tablespoons
• 1 Handful of Fresh Thyme
• 1 Handful of Fresh Parsley
• 1 Package of Chateau Potato Dumplings
• Good Quality Parmesan
• Fresh Ground Black Pepper to Taste

Crockpot Steps

I have a crockpot that has a sauté setting for the next step. If you do not, I would recommend giving the carrots, onion, celery and garlic a stir around a frying pan in some butter before adding this to your crock.

• Set crock pot to sauté, add your stick of butter and let it melt.
• When your butter is melted, add your celery, onions, carrots and garlic and cook until they are semi soft.
• While your veggies sauté, salt and pepper both sides of the chicken thighs and then add them to the crock pot when the veggies are semi soft.
• Add in the handfuls of the herbs and the two cartons of chicken stock.
• Add in frozen mini soup dumplings or cut up regular potato dumplings.
• I set my crock pot to 12 hours and let it cook overnight, or all day if I start it early in the morning.

Stove Top Steps

• Add the stick of butter to your stock pot and sauté the celery, onions, carrots and garlic and cook until they are semi soft.
• While your veggies sauté, salt and pepper both sides of the chicken thighs and then add them to the pot when the veggies are semi soft.
• Add in the handfuls of the herbs and the two cartons of chicken stock.
• Add in frozen mini soup dumplings or cut up regular potato dumplings (you can also boil these separate if you want a loose broth, if you like a hearty broth cook them together)

**When the soup is finished, I let it cool a little and settle and I take a small measuring cup and skim off some of the fat on the top. Remember you added butter so there will be some fat. If this does not bother you then leave it; you can also discard some of the fat if you let the broth sit in the fridge overnight in the bowl. The fat will rise and harden on the top and you can lift it off.

• If you boiled your dumplings separate add the dumplings to the bowls with about a ladle or two full of the soup on top with fresh parmesan.

You can find us at your local Mariano’s in the frozen food section!