While I’m not a huge fan of chicken in general, homemade chicken and dumplings is my husband’s favorite meal. (followed closely by chicken noodle soup) Now that the temperature has finally started dropping I though it might be a good time to make some up. I’d been making a dairy free version of chicken and dumplings for a few years now since hubby is lactose intolerant, but now I also needed it to be gluten free for my gluten intolerance.

Behold! After making this recipe last week it got two thumbs up from us! The best part was that all the herbs and the cayenne pepper were from my indoor garden. Hopefully you will enjoy it as well!

Ingredients:

• Olive oil
• 1 cup mushrooms, chopped
• 1 onion, chopped
• 3-4 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 cup carrots, chopped (we used the multi-color heirloom ones and they tasted great!)
• 1 stalk celery, chopped
• Parsley (to taste)
• Thyme (to taste)
• Oregano (to taste)
• Salt (to taste)
• Pepper (to taste)
• Cayenne pepper (to taste)
• 1 32oz. gluten free chicken stock
• 2 cups dairy free milk
• 2 tbsp corn starch
• 1 whole gluten free chicken, cooked, skin and bone removed, chopped
• 1.5 cups of gluten free all purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 2 tsp sugar
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 cup dairy free buttermilk (see below)

Directions

1. Saute onion, garlic, carrots, mushrooms, and celery in olive oil
2. Whisk corn starch into the 2 cups dairy free milk
3. Once everything is sauteed to your liking pour in the milk/corn starch mixture and bring to boil while stirring constantly.
4. Add the parsley, thyme, oregano, salt, pepper, and cayenne pepper to the mixture.
5. Stir in the chicken stock and chicken and bring it up to a boil.
6. Boil for about 5 minutes and then turn it down to a simmer.
7. To make a dairy-free buttermilk:
   1. Combine 1 cup dairy free milk and either 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar or 1 tbsp lemon juice and let it sit for 5 minutes. I used the apple cider vinegar, let it sit and then gave it a stir before using it. Worked great!
8. To make the dumplings:
   1. In a bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, sugar, and a dash of salt.
   2. Add the 2 tbsp olive oil or if you prefer a dairy-free butter substitute
   3. Stir with a fork and add about 3/4 cup of the buttermilk
   4. Keep stirring until the dough forms into a soft and semi-loose dough. If need be add more buttermilk or flour to adjust constancy.
9. Drop spoonfuls of dough into the simmering soup (check constancy by making sure the dough is sticking together once in the soup)
10. Cover and simmer for 25 minutes

Serve and enjoy!