Copycat Cracker Barrel Chicken and Dumplings

The school year is ending. Remote learning is winding down, which means the kitchen table will revert from classroom to kitchen table, and the transformation back will be as strange as the transformation forward — I will look at the table where Tyler struggled with algebra and Josie practiced cursive and Amber wrote papers and Justin sat in silence doing whatever Justin does on his screen, and I will see a table, just a table, and the table will hold dinner instead of laptops, and the reversal will feel like both a loss and a recovery.

Amber finished her sophomore year with straight A's. In a pandemic. From a kitchen table. While her mother drove trucks and her father fixed them and her grandmother sat alone behind a screen door. Straight A's. I do not know how to hold this information — the pride is enormous and the worry is that the A's cost her something, that the perfection is armor, that Amber is controlling her grades the way I control my freezer: filling it, stacking it, making it impenetrable against the chaos outside. But the A's are real and the accomplishment is real and I will let the pride be the thing I hold today.

Justin finished with B's and C's, which is fine, which is more than fine, which is a thirteen-year-old boy doing school from a kitchen table during a pandemic with the ghost of his mother in his DNA and the weight of a world that has gone sideways. B's and C's are a victory. I celebrate B's and C's. I will always celebrate B's and C's.

I made a celebratory dinner: chicken fried steak, mashed potatoes, cream gravy, corn on the cob. The last-day-of-school dinner, even though the last day was on a screen and the school was a kitchen table and the year was unlike any year. The cream gravy covered everything, the way cream gravy does — the food, the plates, the inadequacies of a year that was not enough. Under the gravy, everything is forgiven. Under the gravy, everything is dinner.

Chicken fried steak and cream gravy is what I made that night, but the soul of that dinner — the thing underneath it all — was exactly what this recipe captures: thick, warm, enveloping comfort that says you made it without having to say a word. If you want to bring that same feeling to your own table, this Copycat Cracker Barrel Chicken and Dumplings is the one. The gravy-rich broth, the pillowy dumplings, the tender chicken — it covers everything the way it needs to, and that’s exactly the point. Make it on a night that deserves to be remembered.

Prep Time: 10 minutes | Cook Time: 45 minutes | Total Time: 55 minutes | Servings: 6

Ingredients

2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breasts or thighs
4 cups chicken broth
2 cups water
1 can (10.5 oz) cream of chicken soup
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon onion powder
2 cups Bisquick baking mix
2/3 cup whole milk
2 tablespoons unsalted butter

Instructions

Cook the chicken. Place chicken in a large pot or Dutch oven. Pour in chicken broth and water. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, then reduce to a simmer. Cook for 20–25 minutes, or until chicken is cooked through and easily shreds with a fork.
Shred and season. Remove chicken from the pot and shred using two forks. Return shredded chicken to the pot. Stir in cream of chicken soup, butter, salt, pepper, garlic powder, and onion powder. Bring the broth back to a gentle simmer.
Make the dumplings. In a medium bowl, stir together Bisquick and milk until a soft dough forms. Do not overmix — a few lumps are fine.
Add the dumplings. Drop heaping spoonfuls of dough (about 2 tablespoons each) into the simmering broth. Space them evenly so they have room to expand.
Simmer uncovered, then covered. Cook dumplings uncovered for 10 minutes, then place a lid on the pot and cook an additional 10 minutes, until dumplings are cooked through and no longer doughy in the center.
Serve. Ladle into bowls, making sure each serving gets plenty of chicken, dumplings, and that rich, creamy broth.

Nutrition (per serving)

Copycat Cracker Barrel Chicken and Dumplings — The Gravy That Covered Everything