Dump-and-Simmer Chicken Stew with No-Work Dumplings

EASIER

Makes 4 hearty servings

Not only are we using pizza dough to make easy dumplings, we’re also making a super-flavorful chicken dinner by stewing chicken thighs with vegetables. You’ll create a crazy delicious supper—and save lots of work on the dumplings. (The pressure-cooker version below saves even more time.)

2 to 2½ pounds bone-in skin-on chicken thighs

1 large yellow onion, roughly chopped

3 medium carrots, peeled and chopped

2 medium celery stalks, chopped

One 14-ounce can chicken broth

1 teaspoon minced garlic

½ teaspoon kosher salt, plus more as needed

1 bay leaf

Water as needed

Up to 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley leaves

½ pound fresh pizza dough

Ground black pepper, to taste

1. Place the chicken, onion, carrots, celery, broth, garlic, salt, and bay leaf in a Dutch oven. Add enough water so the ingredients are covered by 2 inches.

2. Bring to a boil over high heat, stirring occasionally. Cover, reduce the heat to low, and simmer until the chicken is very tender, about 1 hour.

3. Turn off the heat and transfer the chicken thighs to a cutting board. Cool for 10 minutes or so, just until you can handle them.

4. Pull the skin off the thighs and discard. Debone and chop the meat. Stir the meat back into the stew, add the parsley, and bring it back to a low simmer over medium-high heat.

5. Break the pizza dough into 8 balls; drop these on top of the stew. Cover, reduce the heat to low, and simmer slowly until the dumplings are puffed and cooked through, 15 to 20 minutes. Discard the bay leaf. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Test Kitchen Notes

• For more flavor, toss a chicken back or even a chicken neck into the pot. Just remember to pull it out before serving.

• If desired, stir in up to ½ cup heavy cream with the chopped, deboned meat in step 4.

• A Dutch oven will work but a wide, high-sided pot, like a large sauté pan or an enamel-coated, cast-iron casserole (sometimes called a “French casserole”) will work even better because there’ll be more space for the dumplings to spread without fusing.

To make the stew in a pressure cooker, complete step 1 in a stovetop or electric pressure cooker. Lock the lid onto the pot and bring it to high pressure. Cook at high pressure for 15 minutes in a stovetop pot (15 psi) or for 23 minutes in an electric pot (9 to 11 psi). Use the quick-release method to bring the pressure back to normal. Complete step 3 as written. Then complete step 4 with the stovetop pot set over medium heat or the electric pot turned to its simmer function. Do not lock the lid onto the pot or engage the pressure valve when you cover the pot in step 5.