This low carb gluten-free chicken and dumplings recipe from scratch has been on the reader request list for a while. It’s a comfort food many of you have told me you miss. And with the weather turning chilly, it’s the perfect time to add it to the list of comfort foods (cauliflower pizza or cheeseburger casserole, anyone?), keto soup recipes, and low carb Instant Pot recipes to make. I’m so excited to be bringing keto chicken and dumplings to life for you! My husband’s (unprompted) reaction was, “This soup is incredibly good!” I hope that’s your family’s reaction, too.
What Is Chicken and Dumplings?
Dumplings can actually mean different things in various recipes. Sometimes they are kind of like pierogies, which are dough stuffed with a filling. But, in the case of a low carb chicken and dumplings recipe, they aren’t filled with anything. An easy chicken and dumplings recipe is basically a soup, even though I’ve never actually seen it called that. For our gluten-free version, I suppose you could call it gluten-free chicken and dumpling soup. Either way, it includes chicken, broth, herbs, spices, and some kind of dough boiled in the broth. The dough is what we call dumplings, and it makes up he most comforting aspect of the dish. For gluten-free, low carb and keto recipes, the main issue with a traditional chicken and dumplings recipe is – you guessed it – the dumplings. But, I’m a firm believer that we can make almost anything low carb and keto.
What Dough To Use For Gluten-Free Chicken and Dumplings?
When making a regular, not gluten-free chicken and dumplings recipe, the dough is typically a biscuit dough. However, I don’t recommend using anything like almond flour biscuits for the low carb version. They are just a different texture, and would be more like soup soaked croutons than dumplings. They also fall apart pretty easily when added to a liquid like soup. Instead, we are going to use fathead dough! You might have already seen it used in fathead pizza and fathead bagels and even fathead cinnamon rolls. Fathead dough works perfectly for low carb dumplings as well, because it’s more stretchy and sturdy than other types of low carb dough.
Tips For How To Make Chicken and Dumplings Keto
To get your keto chicken and dumplings to come out right, here are a few tips…
Saute the veggies to your liking.
I put an estimate of ten minutes to saute he veggies, but it’s up to you! You can even caramelize the onions if you want to. I did less to save time. Here is how mine were done:
Familiarize yourself with fathead dough.
Fathead dough can get sticky if your kitchen is warm. If the dough is too sticky or difficult to work with, you can chill it in the fridge for about 20 minutes until it’s less sticky and easier to roll out. If you haven’t worked with fathead dough before, make sure to check my other tips in my posts for fathead pizza here and fathead bagels here.
Roll the dough thinly and cut small strips.
If the dough is too thick, the pieces might not cook through as well before he outside starts to fall apart. Here is what the dumplings look like cut up before adding to the soup:
Add the dumplings a few minutes before serving.
Even though the gluten-free chicken and dumplings hold up better than other types of low carb dough, they can still start to disintegrate if they sit in the soup too long. It’s best to add them, cook for a few minutes, and then serve right away.
You can choose chicken broth or bone broth.
You can either use regular chicken broth or a mixture of it with chicken bone broth. It’s a great way to get in some extra collagen and nutrients!
Feel free to add a little cream.
If you prefer a creamy low carb chicken and dumplings soup, try adding a little cream toward the end. I omitted it and thought it was already delicious as-is!
Stove Top Alternative for Pressure Cooker Chicken and Dumplings
I really prefer this keto chicken and dumplings recipe in the Instant Pot. Pressure cooker chicken and dumplings are much faster than making them on the stove! But, if you want to make this on the stove top, you can. The method is the same. Saute the veggies, add the chicken and broth, and cook them while you prepare the dumplings. Shred or chop the chicken, return to the soup, then add the dumplings and cook for a few minutes. So, what’s the difference? It will just take longer to make on the stovetop. The chicken could take up to 30 minutes to cook through. But, if you have pre-made shredded chicken, you can also use that here. In that case, you could make this Instant Pot chicken and dumplings recipe almost just as quickly on the stovetop. You’d still need a bit more time to simmer the whole soup together after adding the chicken.
Can You Make Keto Chicken and Dumplings Ahead?
Yes, you can make low carb chicken and dumplings ahead. The only caveat is the dumplings – you need to keep the dough separate. Simply heat the soup and drop in the dough to cook for a few minutes before serving. It’s not recommended to store the soup with dumplings already in it, because they start to disintegrate. That being said, I did have leftover soup and my entire family (including the little ones!) happily ate it anyway. Disintegrated dumplings and all. 😉
How To Freeze Chicken and Dumplings
If you want to, you can freeze gluten-free chicken and dumplings. Just freeze the dough separately from the soup. When you’re ready to serve, heat the soup until hot, then you can just drop in the frozen dumplings. There’s no need to thaw them. They’ll only need to cook for a few minutes, not much longer than fresh ones.
Instant Pot – The main tool we use to cook our low carb chicken and dumplings! It makes it super convenient to do everything in one place, and it saves time. Ladle – This one is both beautiful and functional. My favorite part is it’s very comfortable to hold. Glass bowl – Better than plastic if you use the microwave to melt the cheeses together for the dough. Double boiler – Another option for melting the cheeses together. If you prefer not to use the microwave, use this on the stove. Rolling pin & parchment paper – For rolling out the fathead dough.
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