Healthy Food Recipe: Low Fat Chicken and Dumplings

Chicken and Dumplings is a favorite southern comfort food but is often loaded with excess fat and calories. Fortunately, this winter time food staple can easily be converted into a healthy low fat version without sacrificing taste. This Low Fat Chicken and Dumplings recipe is not only lower in fat, but it's also quicker and easier to prepare!

If this healthy Low Fat Chicken and Dumplings recipe can pass the test with my father-in-law, then it can probably pass just about anyone's taste test! Chicken and Dumplings is his and my husband's all time favorite dish, so I wanted to be able to cook and enjoy this meal minus the fat while keeping the flavor robust.

The secret to a healthy but flavorful Low Fat Chicken and Dumplings recipe is to replace the flavor lost from the fat with seasonings. In most Chicken and Dumplings recipes, the broth is made rich by skin-on chicken including the fattier dark poultry. In this healthy Low Fat Chicken and Dumplings recipe, the only chicken used is skinless breasts. This change alone makes a big difference in the amount of fat in this recipe.

To replace the rich broth that would be created from the skin and fatty dark poultry in this Low Fat Chicken and Dumplings recipe, use canned low sodium chicken broth. But the key flavor boosting ingredient for this healthy low fat version is dried thyme leaves. It adds a wonderful flavor to the broth and you don't even miss the fat and extra calories!

3 large or 4 medium size skinless chicken breasts (boneless or bone-in)
3 14 oz cans of low sodium chicken broth
3 chicken bouillon cubes
2 tablespoons (divided) + 1 teaspoon dried thyme leaves (not ground thyme)
1/4 teaspoon ground sage
½ teaspoon salt (optional)
½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 cups low fat biscuit mix/skim milk

Place chicken breasts in a large pot such as a Dutch Oven and add water to cover (approx. 8 cups) Add 1 tablespoon of the dried thyme leaves. Bring to a full boil. The chicken breasts don't even need to be thawed for this recipe! Reduce the heat and simmer the breasts on medium heat about 20 to 30 minutes or until the chicken is no longer pink in the center. Remove the breasts with tongs and cut into bite size pieces. Return the chicken to the pot and to the remaining reduced water in the pot add: the cans of broth, bouillon cubes, the other 1 tablespoon of dried thyme, sage, salt and pepper.

Bring the broth to a gentle boil while preparing the biscuit mix according to package directions, but add the remaining 1 teaspoon of dried thyme to the biscuit mix. The broth must be simmering gently but not in a full rapid boil. Carefully drop the biscuit mix by large rounded tablespoons into the gently simmering broth.

The dough will disappear beneath the broth, but quickly rise back to the surface of the broth. This is where you will watch them transform into tasty dumplings! The top surface of the broth will become very crowded with dumplings as you continue dropping all of the dough. Gently stir the broth with a wooden spoon between the many dumplings. Don't worry if some of the dough breaks apart in the broth as you to drop spoonfuls. It's actually these "crumbs" of dough that dissolve and give the Chicken and Dumpling broth a thick and hearty consistency.

Allow the dumplings to continue to simmer uncovered for about 20 to 25 minutes or until the centers are done. Occasionally stir the broth to help the dumplings evenly cook. You'll be able to distinguish the difference in the cooked dumplings verses the raw ones as the dough begins to rise and has a bread-like appearance in the middle. Remember, these are drop dumplings so they're big and don't resemble the thin noodle-like dumplings. The broth should be somewhat thickened to the consistency of potato soup.

Ladle this Low Fat Chicken and Dumplings recipe into large bowls. Top the dumplings with a dash of freshly ground black pepper and salt to taste if desired. To reap the full enjoyment of this southern staple, serve it with a slice of hot cornbread. This is a delicious way to enjoy a cold weather favorite while trimming much of the unwanted fat from the recipe.