Vegan Chicken and Dumplings

5 from 1 vote

Vegan Chicken and Dumplings

This delicious comfort food dish of vegan chicken and dumplings is loaded with tender veggies, meaty vegan chicken, and fluffy vegan dumplings. I'll share my best tips for packing in the umami for authentic flavor.

Prep Time15

Cook Time35

Total Time50

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: American

Diet: Vegan, Vegetarian

Servings: servings

Calories: 489kcal

Author: Vaishali · Holy Cow Vegan

Equipment

Bowl
Dutch oven
Cookie scoop or spoon (for dumplings)

Ingredients

3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil (divided)
16 oz seitan (or any vegan chicken substitute)
2 teaspoons dried sage (divided)
2 teaspoons dried oregano (divided)
1 medium onion (finely diced)
2 medium carrots (finely diced)
4 stalks celery (finely diced)
5-6 cloves garlic (minced or crushed through a garlic press)
¼ cup unbleached all-purpose flour
½ cup red wine (or ¼ cup vodka or ¾ cup beer)
3 cups mushroom stock (or water)
1 tablespoon vegan broth powder (or bouillon powder. Use only if you are using water instead of mushroom stock)
2 tablespoon tamari
1 teaspoon vegan Worcestershire sauce
1 cup vegan heavy whipping cream
1-2 teaspoon Sriracha sauce (or any hot sauce)
1 teaspoon dried rosemary
8 oz cremini mushrooms (sliced)
Salt and ground black pepper to taste

For the dumplings

1½ cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt (add more or less according to your preference)
¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
½ teaspoon garlic powder (optional)
¼ cup vegan yogurt (my homemade yogurt is not nut-free. If nut-free use any store bought, unsweetened, nut-free yogurt)
¼ cup vegan heavy whipping cream
1 cup non-dairy milk (like oat milk or almond milk. You may not need all of it)

Instructions

Season and brown the vegan chicken

Season the vegan chicken chunks with salt, ground black pepper, and half a teaspoon each of sage and oregano. Toss to mix.
Heat olive oil in a Dutch oven over medium heat and add the seitan chunks to it in a single layer. You might need to do this in batches to prevent overcrowding the pot.
Brown the seitan on all sides - it should take 3-4 minutes on each side to get a nice, golden sear. Remove the browned chunks to a bowl and set aside.

Make the "chicken" stew

In the same Dutch oven, heat another tablespoon of olive oil. Add onions, carrots and celery and season with with salt and ground black pepper. Saute the vegetables for 3-4 minutes until they begin to soften, then stir in the crushed or minced garlic. Saute for a minute.
Add the flour to the pot. Mix it in until it is coating all the veggies.
Add in ½ cup of red wine (4 oz) or ¼ cup vodka (2 ounces) or ½ a bottle of beer (about 6 ounces). Saute the veggies until all moisture has evaporated.
Add 3 cups mushroom broth, if using, or water and vegan broth powder or bouillon. Add Worcestershire sauce, tamari and hot sauce. Mix well and bring to a boil.
Add the rosemary and the remaining oregano and sage, Stir them in.
Add the browned seitan chunks and mushrooms to the pot. Mix them in, cover, and cook five minutes until the mushrooms are almost tender.
Check seasoning and add more salt and ground black pepper if needed.

Make the dumplings

While the stew is cooking, make the dumpling batter. Place flour, sage and oregano, garlic powder, if using, salt and ground black pepper in bowl.
Add ¼ cup vegan yogurt and ¼ cup vegan cream. Mix.
Make the dumpling batter by slowly pouring the non-dairy milk to the flour mixture, mixing with a fork all the time. The batter should be looser than a biscuit dough and more like a cookie batter that you can scoop up.
Use a spoon or cookie scoop to drop the dumplings into the stew. You can make the dumplings as big or as small as you like.
Once all the dumplings are in the pot, return the stew to a boil, then lower heat and cover the pot with a tight lid. Let the dumplings cook for 15 minutes. Don't peek or remove the lid at any point. After 15 minutes, use a knife or fork to pierce one dumpling in the center. If it comes out dry the dumplings are cooked and you can turn off heat. If not, let them cook for a few more minutes.
Garnish the vegan chicken and dumplings with fresh parsley before serving.

Notes

Make the dumplings as big or as small as you want them to be. I like big dumplings and I used a 1-inch cookie scoop to drop them into the pot. They increase in size as they cook, so keep that in mind.

The stew shouldn't be too thick nor too soupy. I use 3 cups stock and 1 cup vegan cream for my perfect consistency. If you prefer a soupier stew, add another ½ to 1 cup stock. To make it thicker, use just 2 cups stock total. The mushrooms also release some juices as they cook.

Nutrition