Dolly Parton's Chicken and Dumplings Recipe Is Her Greatest Gift of All

A few years ago, the Dolly Parton challenge went viral on Instagram when Parton posted four images of herself representing different social media platforms with the caption “Get you a woman who can do it all.” This media frenzy was just one example of the many reasons why the world loves Dolly, with another being her coveted chicken and dumplings recipe.

Related: Dolly Parton’s Secret Ingredient for the Best-Ever Macaroni Salad

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We promise making her world-famous chicken and dumplings isn’t as much of a challenge as it seems, but it is as delicious as it looks!

When Parade asked Dolly Parton what her specialty dish was, she immediately said, “Chicken and dumplings. It’s all country cooking.” And Dolly herself was kind enough to share her recipe with us, so you can make her favorite comfort classic at home.

We also find it fitting that Jennifer Aniston‘s Netflix film Dumplin’ is practically an homage to the country crooner, and they even sing a song together in it. Clearly, you should probably be watching this movie while making Dolly’s legendary dumplings. Enjoy!

Related: Dolly Parton’s Secret for the Fluffiest Scrambled Eggs

Dolly Parton’s Chicken and Dumplings Recipe

Ingredients

• 1 (3-lb) chicken
• 2½ tsp salt
• ¾ tsp pepper
• 1 onion, peeled and left whole
• ¼ cup chopped celery leaves
• 2 cup all-purpose flour, plus extra for kneading
• ½ tsp baking soda
• 3 Tbsp vegetable shortening
• ¾ cup milk

1. Combine the chicken and 2 teaspoons of the salt with 2 quarts of water in a Dutch oven. Cover and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium and add the pepper, onion and celery leaves. Simmer the chicken until the meat falls away from the bone.
2. Remove the chicken and onion from the pot, and strain out the celery leaves. Discard the onion and celery leaves, and set the chicken aside to cool.
3. When the chicken is cool enough to handle, remove the meat from the bones and cut into 1-inch pieces. Set aside. Discard the skin and bones. Meanwhile, raise the heat to high and bring the broth to a boil.
4. Combine the flour, baking soda and the remaining ½ teaspoon of salt in a medium bowl. Cut in the shortening with a fork and knife or a pastry cutter until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
5. Gradually stir in the milk until the dough is moist. Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and lightly knead for about 5 minutes.
6. Roll out to ½-inch thickness and cut into 1½-inch squares. Drop the pieces of dough into the boiling broth. Reduce the heat to low, cover and cook for 10 minutes. Stir gently.
7. Add the chicken back to the pot, stir and cook until the chicken is heated through, about 8 minutes. Serve warm.