Easy Pancake Mix Chicken and Dumplings Recipe | Practically Homemade (2024)

FAQs

How do you thicken homemade chicken and dumplings? ›

Use Cornstarch to Thicken Chicken and Dumplings

To give that a little thicker texture we're going to add 1 cup of cool water to 2 tablespoons of cornstarch and stir it up well. Make sure the soup is brought back to a good boil and go ahead and stir in the cornstarch mixture.

Baking soda or another leavening agent will enhance that old boxed mix that's been sitting in your cupboard for a few weeks (or months), leaving your pancakes with a yummy, fluffy texture. If your boxed mix doesn't already call for it, you can also add in a few eggs.

So that they cook perfectly, the dumplings need to steam, so cover the pot with its lid. Keep the pot at a gentle simmer when cooking the dumplings. An aggressive simmer or boiling will break them apart. Keep the heat low and cover the pot so that they steam.

While pancake mix and Bisquick share many ingredients, the two are not the same. The main difference is that the pancake mix is sweeter. Most pancake mixes can be used in place of Bisquick and vice versa in sweet recipes. Compare your pancake mix with Bisquick's ingredient list before swapping.

Don't Overwork the Dumpling Dough

Stir everything together until the wet and dry ingredients are combined and you don't see any more dry flour. The dough might look a little lumpy, but that's okay! Overworking the dough is one of the easiest ways to end up with tough dumplings.

Yes, you can use water instead of the chicken stock. While the stock will give the chicken and dumplings more flavor, you can still make them without it. However, I recommend using all of the broth made from cooking the chicken to add as much flavor as you can.

Eggs also give the batter additional, richer flavor from the yolk fat. If you add too many eggs, you'll have “pancakes” that look more like custard or crepes. When you don't add enough eggs, the cakes will be drier and tougher.

Pancake lovers' biggest complaint when adding water instead of milk is that the flavor seems to change. Pancakes aren't as richly flavored with water. There are a few ways to improve your batter when you've used water, including: Add extra butter.

Using Pancake Mix as Flour: Pancake mix can be used as a substitute for flour in recipes that call for flour, baking soda, and baking powder [3]. It is not suitable for recipes that require yeast. Cakes, cookies, frying batters, and pastries are more ideal for using pancake mix instead of flour.

Cook them covered for about ten minutes and then uncover for a while to thicken up. They are so good!

Why did my homemade dumplings fall apart? ›

Homemade dumplings can fall apart for a number of different reasons, or any combination of them. Often they burst during cooking because they have too much filling for the amount of dough. Some doughs are too dry, so the dumplings won't stay sealed. Others can be too wet and sticky and end up tearing.

The dumplings are ready when they have doubled in size, and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Once done, divide the dumplings between bowls and serve.

Yes, you can substitute Bisquick with a combination of flour, baking powder, salt, and shortening or butter. For every cup of Bisquick needed in a recipe, use 1 cup all-purpose flour, 1½ teaspoons baking powder, ½ teaspoon salt, and 2 tablespoons shortening or cold butter.

The Bisquick available today is not the same one sold early on. In the late 1960s, General Mills decided to change the recipe. They wanted to make biscuits lighter and fluffier in texture. To do this, they added buttermilk and more shortening, and then began selling the product as New Bisquick.

Batter is too cold. When using a refrigerated batter, warm slightly before using. Stir the batter lightly with a whire whip before depositing the pancakes. Batter has separated.

FIX: Easiest thing to do is drain off the excess liquid. If it's still too wet, add a little cornstarch to soak up the liquid and turn it into yummy juices once the dumplings are cooked.

It could also be that your doughballs cooled your broth enough that the outer surface of the doughball couldn't get "set" fast enough and the flour began to mix with the broth. If that was the issue, I'd think hotter broth, a larger volume of hot broth, or smaller/fewer dumplings at once would help.

Set instant pot to saute and once boiling, drop dumplings into hot liquid; simmer for several minutes. Add shredded chicken back to instant pot. Place cornstarch and cold water or milk in mason jar. Shake until well combined and then add to boiling chicken and dumplings to thicken.

Mix equal amounts butter and flour into a smooth paste, add bit by bit to the cooking stew, stirring until melted each time, until you like the thickness of the stew.