Low Sodium Chicken and Dumplings was so good and easy to make I couldn’t believe it. The only time I’ve had chicken and dumplings was when my grandmother hand made them or at a Cracker Barrel. I had never made them before and I had just assumed they were rather tedious to make. Let me assure you it wasn’t and I’ll be making this much more often in the future.
This recipe also uses a flattened dumpling as I think it cooks better for the home cook. No worries about a dumpling ball not being cooked through or an uncooked doughy center. It also takes less time for the broth to soak into the entire dumpling reducing your cooking time required. Plus I think it is just plain easier to do.
How much sodium is in chicken and dumplings?
The canned version from the store shows on the label that it contains 1787mg of Sodium per 1 and 1/3 cup of the soup. This is way, way over most of our sodium limits for such a small portion or of any size. I still just shake my head about how much sodium is in our foods.
Cracker Barrel Chicken and Dumplings is a little better and is listed at 940 per cup. It is unclear how much or how many cups an order is exactly, but I am sure it is 2 to 3 cups. And is still much more sodium than I can consume for a meal in any case.
| Typical sodium amount per serving | 940 -1780 mg |
| Sodium per serving for this recipe | 85 mg |
Fortunately you can easily make low sodium chicken and dumplings at home with about 85mg of sodium per serving (roughly 2 cups). A significant sodium savings while still getting a delicious easily, made down home comfort meal.
How to make low sodium chicken and dumplings?
Making Low Sodium Chicken and Dumplings from scratch is really much easier than you’d think. If I had known how easy ti was I would have been making this years ago. Most of your time is spent letting everything simmer until the flavors meld and the chicken is cooked.
The first great thing about this recipe is you can use any type of chicken you like, whether it’s breast meat or chicken thighs if you like darker meat. The only difference being once the chicken is done, you need to remove and discard any bones. At this point you can either shred or chop the chicken into bite size pieces.
For this recipe I used two chicken breasts and just quickly chopped it up when cooked.
Making the chicken and broth
Add 2 quarts (8 cups) of no salt added chicken stock or broth along with chicken, onion, carrots, celery, Herb Ox bouillon and bay leaf into a large pot. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover and simmer 50-60 minutes or until chicken is fork tender. While mix is simmering you will have plenty of time to prepare dumplings below.
When finished cooking, remove chicken and vegetables from broth to large bowl or platter. Discard any skin or bones and chop or shred chicken.
Making the dumplings
In a medium bowl, combine flour, no sodium baking powder and shortening. I like using the butter flavored shortening for a little more buttery taste.
Combine it all and cut shortening into flour using a fork or a pastry cutter. Personally, I just use a potato masher and have found it to be the fastest and easiest.
Now pour in about 1/2 cup of milk keeping the rest if required later. Using a spatula, mix it all together into a wet dough ball in a bowl making sure to scrape down the sides and bottom. Your dough should be fairly sticky and shaggy, add more milk or flour if required. Don’t worry, it’s not too exacting and you can hardly mess it up!
Dust your rolling surface with a generous amount of flour. Place you dough on the counter and dust it with more flour. With a rolling pin, roll the dough out to about 1/8” to 1/4″ thick. Roll from the center out. Sprinkle more flour on the dough as necessary if it starts sticking to the rolling pin.
Using a knife, start cutting out your dumplings into squares or rectangles about 1” wide. Your dumplings don’t have to be perfectly shaped, it doesn’t really matter how they’re cut. I use a rolling pizza cutter and it is quick and easy.
Putting your soup all together
Bring the chicken broth up to a low boil. Begin adding dumplings one at a time so they don’t all stick together. Stir while adding them into the boiling chicken broth.
Allow dumplings to cook for about 5-10 minutes. Then add back the chicken and vegetables. Stir to combine, reduce heat and simmer for about 20 minutes. You should notice your broth starting to thicken as the dumplings soak up the broth. Taste test a dumpling, it should not have a doughy taste when done.
Towards the end of cooking if you want or need a little thicker broth you can thicken the broth with a little bit of cornstarch and water once the dumplings are cooked. Dumplings soak up a lot of broth so be sure to wait till the end.
Storing and reheating your soup
This recipe for Low Sodium Chicken and Dumplings turned out really well and was so easy to make. I’m kinda kicking myself for never having made it before. The leftovers were even better…just reheat in a covered bowl in the microwave for one minute, give it a stir and continue for approximately another minute. Yum! (Your microwave may vary a bit)
Store your chicken and dumplings in a large Tupperware container with a tight lid after they cooled completely. Or separate into smaller “lunch-able” containers. Store in the fridge up to about 5 days.
Dumplings may be frozen for 3-6 months. When using again they should be thawed before reheating or microwaved on low heat.
A few of my other great dishes to enjoy!
As always, please let me know how you like this recipe in the comments! I get motivated when I hear from you and am interested to learn about how you liked and served your Low Sodium Chicken and Dumplings. And please leave a comment or rating and share any tips you might have.
Low Sodium Chicken and Dumplings
Ingredients
Broth and chicken
- 2 chicken breasts large
- 1 onion chopped
- 3 large carrots chopped
- 3 stalks celery chopped
- 8 cups chicken broth unsalted
- 2 teaspoon Herb Ox chicken bouillon no sodium
- 1-2 bay leaf
- pepper to taste
Dumplings
- 1 3/4 cups flour
- 1/3 cup shortening (I like the butter flavor)
- 1 teaspoon Hain’s no sodium baking powder
- 3/4 cup 2% milk
- 1 teaspoon Mrs. Dash Original Table Blend seasoning no salt (sprinkle on top of rooled out dough)
Optional
- 2 tablespoons cornstarch
- parsley or chives for garnish
Preparation
- Add 2 quarts (8 cups) of no salt added chicken stock or broth along with chicken, onion, carrots, celery, Herb Ox bouillon and bay leaf into a large pot. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover and simmer 50-60 minutes or until chicken is fork tender.
- When finished cooking, remove chicken and vegetables from broth to large bowl or platter. Discard any skin or bones and chop or shred chicken.
- In a medium bowl, combine flour, no sodium baking powder and shortening. Cut shortening into flour using a fork, pastry cutter or potato masher.
- Pour in about 1/2 cup of the milk, reserving the remaining. Using a spatula mix it all together making sure to scrape down the sides and bottom. Your dough will be fairly sticky and shaggy, add more milk or flour if required.
- Dust your rolling surface with a generous amount of flour. Place dough on floured surface and dust top with more flour. Using a rolling pin, roll the dough out to about 1/8” to 1/4″ thick. Roll from the center out. Sprinkle more flour on the dough as necessary if it starts sticking to the rolling pin.
- Using a knife or pizza cutter, cut out dumplings into squares or rectangles a little over an 1" wide. They don’t need to be perfectly shaped.
- Bring chicken broth up to a low boil. Begin adding dumplings one at a time so they don’t stick together. Stir while adding them into the boiling chicken broth.
- Allow dumplings to cook for about 5-10 minutes. Then add back the chicken and vegetables. Stir to combine, reduce heat and simmer for about 20 minutes. Broth will thicken as the dumplings soak up the broth. Taste test a dumpling, it should not have a doughy taste when done.
- Towards the end of cooking, if you want or need a little thicker broth, you can thicken the broth with a little bit of cornstarch and water once the dumplings are cooked. Dumplings soak up a lot of broth so be sure to wait till the end.
Notes ______________________________________________
I use, own and recommend these products and ingredients used in this recipe and I may earn commissions from qualifying purchases.
Nutrition
The information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice. Please understand that not everyone’s sodium and dietary requirements are the same, therefore some recipes may be higher than you’re allowed.
https://tastyhealthyheartrecipes.com/a-la-cart/soups/low-sodium-chicken-and-dumplings/© 2024 Tasty Healthy Heart Recipes
Nutrition Information – The information shown is provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be substituted for a doctor’s or nutritionist’s advice. Please understand that not everyone’s sodium requirements are the same, therefore some recipes may be higher than you’re allowed. Always consult with your doctor for your recommended daily sodium allowance.
Thank you for the recipe, low sodium chicken and dumplings. It was exactly what I wanted. It was delicious !
Thank you Laura!
Hi. Could you tell me what you consider a serving size? (ie: 1 cup , etc.) Thank you.
Hi Linda,
The serving size for this recipe is 2 cups.
Thank you Bill. 😊
Superb page, Keep up the beneficial work. Thanks a ton.
Thank you for your comment James!
Bill