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Grandma's Old Fashioned
Chicken & Dumpling Recipe for Dieters

Article by Diet Bites

We've wrestled the official recipe from grandma's hot little hands and reduced the calories so it will fit just right into your diet....

Chicken legs tend to make Chicken & Dumplings more flavorful but white meat, or a mixture of white and dark meat also work well in this low calorie, low fat recipe.

Based on the flavor of the bird, we're opting to use the legs in our recipe.

Recipe Ingredients for Old Fashioned Chicken & Dumplings

4 - 8 chicken legs,depending upon how much chicken you like in your dumplings.
1 can of Pillsbury Biscuits (10 to the can - 110 calories each)
5 Chicken Bouillon Cubes, Additional Salt* and Cracked Pepper
1/2 cup of Chopped Parsley
1 cup of skim or reduced fat milk
All Purpose White Flour

Reduced Fat Margarine (40 calories per serving)

How to Prepare Our Old Fashioned Chicken & Dumplings Recipe

Boil chicken legs in one quart of water. While chicken cooks, roll out biscuits as thin as possible using a bit of flour for dredging. If rolling pin becomes sticky, dust with flour. Form a stack of 'dumplings'.

dumpling recipeOnce chicken has cooked thoroughly, retain broth and remove cooked chicken. Allow the chicken to cool so that it doesn't burn your hands when working with it; bone and remove all visible fat as well as any gristle. Set meat aside.

Next, add enough water to your broth from the legs to create about one quart of water. Add chicken bouillon cubes, 2 Tablespoons of the reduced fat margarine, salt and pepper to suit personal taste.. While water reaches boiling stage, take a butter knife that has been dipped in flour and cut through the stack of dumplings. Cut right down the center to form two stacks, then cut again - making an x in the dough  to create four triangular stacks.


Cooking Tip: If you don't dip the knife in flour, it may stick to the dumplings when you cut into them.

*Salt: Because the bouillon is high in sodium content you must control any added amount of salt to the dish.

If salt is added before test-tasting, the dumplings may turn out to be too salty - which is almost possible to remedy.

Sticking a raw potato into the dumplings or any other recipe to absorb sodium content just doesn't work well.

Adding more liquid is the best manner in which to remedy sodium overload - so if by chance your dumplings are over-salted,add a bit more milk. If the liquid is too thin, you can always mix cornstarch with water to thicken the liquid.

Carefully drop the rolled out biscuit dough into the boiling water a few at a time, stirring now and then to ensure that dumplings do not stick to the bottom or sides of the pot. If this starts to happen, remove the pot immediately to prevent scorching.

Transfer the dumplings to a microwave-safe dish and finish cooking in the microwave. Dumplings will be done when they are tender and no raw dough exists in the center of the biscuit dough.

Once dumplings have cooked to desired tenderness, add milk and stir gently. If the dumpling liquid is too thin, then use the cornstarch tip above. If it is too thick, add more milk.

Enjoy this recipe with a serving of English peas, a cup of skim milk and a chunk of lightly buttered bread with reduced fat margarine.

This low calorie, low fat free diet menu recipe makes 10 servings at about 150 calories per serving.

This basic dumpling recipe has been in our family for generations - except prepared with high calorie, high fat ingredients. Switching these out with smarter ingredients turns this comfort food into a good meal for your diet plan.

The dumpling recipe can also be used to make apple dumplings - and other fruit-based dumplings. Simply substitute the chicken with fresh sliced, peeled apples. Add ground cinnamon in place of the following ingredients: bouillon, parsley, chicken legs and salt.

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