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Last Updated on April 30, 2025
Perfect paleo dumpling served in a rich chicken broth rich with favor. This Paleo Chicken and Dumplings recipe is a cozy southern meal in a soup bowl.
My Grandmother made chicken and dumplings for me during of one her infrequent visits to Arizona.
If there is one downside to growing up in the military, it’s the lack of connection that I feel with my extended family because I didn’t grow up around them.
Anyhow, back to me watching Grandma mixing up flour and salt then rolling them into dumplings.
I can hear the broth bubbling as it cooked the soft doughy balls into magical gooey biscuits.
It was love at first bite and then, well, the visit was over.
I saw my Grandma several years ago during the holidays and she gave me an old family cookbook with her scribbled notes inside.
Low and behold, I found her recipe and was also able to recreate the dumplings into a Paleo, egg-free version that is on the money.
I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.
What you’ll need for this Recipe:
BROTH
- chicken thighs with skin and bone
- sea salt
- poultry seasoning
- onion
- celery
- water
- milk of choice
- parsley
- tapioca flour
DUMPLINGS
How to Make This Paleo Chicken and Dumplings Recipe:
Over medium heat, add the chicken thighs, onions, celery, water, poultry seasoning , and salt to a soup pot.
Cover and let cook over medium heat for 45 minutes.
Turn down the stove to low and remove the chicken thighs from the broth.
Remove the meat from the bones and place the meat back into the soup.
In a small cup, combine the milk and the 2 tbsps of tapioca flour to make a slurry.
Add this to your soup.
To make the dumplings, first grind the slivered almonds into a fine flour in your blender or food processor.
Next add the tapioca flour and salt to the blender and pulse for 30 seconds.
Then add in 1/3 cup of the soup broth and mix until you have soft dough.
Roll the dough into 1″ balls, you should get 9 dumplings.
Drop this into the broth and cook for 15 minutes over medium low.
If you like this Paleo recipe, you’ll love:
Did you make and love this recipe? Give your review below and make sure you share your creations by tagging me on Instagram!
Paleo Chicken and Dumplings
The perfect savory bowl of Paleo Chicken and Dumplings when you want comfort food!
Ingredients
Broth
- 3 lbs chicken thighs with skin and bone
- 1 tsp sea salt
- 1 1/2 tsp poultry seasoning
- 1 small onion peeled and diced
- 2 ribs of celery diced
- 6 cups water
- 1/2 cup milk of choice
- 2 tbsps parsley fresh and diced
- 2 tbsp tapioca flour
Dumplings
- 1/2 cup Tapioca flour
- 1 1/2 cups blanched slivered almonds
- 1/2 tsp sea salt
- 1/3 cup broth
Instructions
- Over medium heat, add the chicken thighs, onions, celery, water, poultry seasoning , and salt to a soup pot.
- Cover and let cook over medium heat for 45 minutes.
- Turn down the stove to low and remove the chicken thighs from the broth.
- Remove the meat from the bones and place the meat back into the soup.
- In a small cup, combine the milk and the 2 tbsps of tapioca flour to make a slurry.
- Add this to your soup.
- To make the dumplings, first grind the slivered almonds into a fine flour in your blender or food processor.
- Next add the tapioca flour and salt to the blender and pulse for 30 seconds.
- Then add in 1/3 cup of the soup broth and mix until you have soft dough.
- Roll the dough into 1″ balls, you should get 9 dumplings.
- Drop this into the broth and cook for 15 minutes over medium low.
- Enjoy!
This looks delicious. I’m not sure it could replace my matzo ball soup, but I do like the idea of trying something new. I need to find some of these flours you use and try them out!
My mom’s Chicken & Dumplings is one of my all-time favorite meals! I’ll have to try your dumplings! Thanks!
Yum, yum, yum! I have been craving some good chicken & dumplings and was struggling to figure out how to make it grain-free. Thank you so much for this recipe! I just started following your blog a few weeks ago and am loving it! And it’s always nice to see bloggers from the Pacific NW (I’m in Seattle). 🙂
Nice to meet you hun and i that you like the recipe. I hope you’re getting lots of sunshine this week too 🙂
I haven’t made dumplings since I gave up gluten and I really miss Chicken and Dumplings. I will give your dumpling recipe a try.
You might want to correct a typo in your instructions. (4. Remove the meat from the breasts and place this back into the soup.) Of course everyone will know you meant thighs but…..
Thanks for sharing your recipe.
Thanks for catching that Ronalyn 🙂 I hope you enjoy it!
This looks amazing! I just had chicken soup on Friday night, and was not happy that I couldn’t have any matzah balls floating around in there, so I will definitely be trying out your dumpling recipe for future chicken soups!
Thank you! I hope that you enjoy it 🙂
My grandma never made chicken & dumplings, but she always made chicken noodle soup and she just gave me her recipe and I de-chickened it. 🙂 It’s fun to take those family classics and put our own spins on them!
That is awesome 🙂 We tore this up and I called my grandma to share I’d made her recipe but she still can’t wrap her mind around my diet, lol.
Wow this looks great! I’ve had duck dumplings at Primal Pantry cafe in Brisbane (QLD, Australia) before but have never attempted making something similar myself. They just seem so fancy, how on earth could I replicate that myself?! But this recipe looks do-able for me, so I’m keen to give it a go!
With the tapioca flour could I use arrowroot instead? I’ve read it’s a bit less tricky on digestion so I have it in the pantry.
Thanks!
Aimee x
Yes Aimee 🙂 It’s a great substitution. I hope you enjoy it!
I love chicken and dumplings. I never would have imagined that it could be made “Paleo.” It looks delicious.
OH, how I have missed my chicken and dumplings! It’s that time of year here in the South where it’s being made everywhere too! Can’t wait to try this! 😀 How do you think it would cook up in a crockpot? LOVE, LOVE, LOVE your blog!!! xoxo
Thanks so much! I don’t see why it wouldn’t work in a crockpot. I would just add the dumplings 20 minutes before you are about to eat.
will give it a try! Thanks! 😀
This is exactly how my ex always described dumplings to me. They look and sound just delicious and very feel good!
Thanks so very much for this recipe! I made it right away and the result was the best broth ever with fantastic dumplings! I ended up throwing all of the parsley into the soup. I simmered the soup for hours to extract all of the good stuff from the bones. Yummmm!
Yeah! I’m so glad you liked it Deirdre and love that you simmered it longer. Best way to get all the goodness out of that chicken 🙂
Looks great and looking forward to trying the recipe. Could I sub almond flour for the blanched almonds? If so about how much? Thank you
Yes, that should work prefectly 🙂
How much almond flour?
Hun, I would start with 1 cup and add more as needed.
Kelly–just wanted to tell you that I made this wonderful soup the other night and my family tore it up!!! The only thing I subbed was Arrowroot instead of tapioca–bc that is only what I had. Great job, I love your recipes—you rock!
Thanks Carol! I love this recipe and it just is so perfect for fall/winter 🙂
Do you think this would work with chicken breasts instead ofthighs, or maybe a mix of them both?
I think a mix would be better so you get some of the fat from the thighs.
I made this tonight (minus parsley) and it’s scrumptious! I looove chicken & dumplings. 🙂
Yeah, I’m so glad you love it! It’s my favorite and so easy to make!
Hi, I recently found your blog and LOVE it! You have wonderful recipes. Thank you!! I already have almond flour on hand and would like to use that instead of grinding the almonds. I am wondering how much almond four to use? When you grind the almonds up do you know the amount of flour it makes. Thanks, Tessa
Hi Tessa, it completely varies per flour. I would think you need anywhere from 1 1/2 cup sto 2 cups of finely ground flour. Start with adding 1/4 cup at a time until you get a “bread-like” dough. Good luck hun!
Made this tonight with leftover roasted chicken and broth from the crock pot yesterday. Not quite as fluffy as regular flour dumplings, but, hey, definitely a great dish and it quenches the hunger for one of my favorite dishes that I haven’t been able to have for way too many years! Delicious! Thank you Kelly!
I’m so glad you enjoyed it Mary!
How many servings would you say this recipe makes? It looks fantastic!
I would say 4 to 6 🙂
You have no idea how excited I was to find this recipe. Trying it tonight! Could I use pre-bought almond meal instead of grinding almond slivers and would the measurement be the same you think?
Yes, you may have to change the quantity of flour so look at the photo to gauge when the dough is correct.
I made this recipe for my husband I and another couple. We all loved it. BUT apparently I made the dumplings too small because they disintegrated. Besides that it was fantastic. I added carrots and cauliflower. The biggest dumplings I made stayed intact but 3/4 of them were small and disintegrated I can’t wait to make it again with larger dumplings.. YAY!
Thanks for sharing about the dumplings! I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
I tried the dumplings tonight using my fresh homemade chicken stock and your dumpling recipe. We are in love with it. I did add about 1/2 teaspoon baking soda to the dumplings and just spooned with into the boiling broth. Wonderful! Thanks so much.
Yeah! This is one of my favorite soups also hun 🙂
Thanks for this recipe! I didn’t have slivered almonds but had some honeyville flour and decided to wing it. I used a packed half cup of tapioca flour and a packed 3/4 cup of almond flour plus about a half teaspoon of baking soda the salt and also added garlic powder and dried parsley. They puffed up about 30% bigger and tasted great! I got 18 balls out of the dough.
Wow, I’m going to have to try that next time Rachel! So glad you enjoyed this hun.
Hi! I made your chicken and dumplings and it almost convinced my southern raised husband but he thought the dumpling weren’t cooked through and had a grainy texture. Any advice? Would almond flour work too?
Yes, perhaps going with a super fine almond flour would help with the texture hun.
I just made this meal.! It was delicious. I definitely don’t miss the wheat flour dumplings. We are still finding paleo replacement meals for our used to be favorites. This wins a spot!
I made your dumplings to accompany the beef stew that my husband made for dinner. So amazing! I was really missing dumplings and these will be my new go-to! The whole family loved them. Thank you!
So glad you enjoyed them hun!
This looks great. We are new to the Paleo lifestyle and I’m always grateful when I find a recipe like this to make for my family. Is there anything you can recommend as a substitute for the almonds? My son has a tree nut allergy.
Hrmm. .. can he have sunflower seeds? This would change the flavor a touch but it should work.
Umm…Kelly. Now you KNOW I’m going to have to make your chicken and dumplings all AIP-ified, right?
This looks so delicious!
And I understand what you mean about the military life and extended family. My dad did civil service and we moved around quite a bit too. I remember my grandfather ALWAYS being in the kitchen when we did get to visit him (maybe that’s where I get it from).
I can’t wait to see the recipe hun!
Recommend to serve the soup immediately. I made the soup and allowed the pot to sit on the stove for 30 minutes while waiting for everyone to come home for dinner.. The dumplings disintegrated.
Thanks for the tip Sandi
Just found this recipe. I love chicken and dumplings. The soup part is great, but my dumplings are too chewy. What do you think I did wrong?
Maybe too much tapioca flour? Did you add more?
KELLY. KEL-LY! I made these dumplings and let me tell you…. I thought I knew something about food, these dumplings made me realize I don’t know NOTHING about food! I’m from the deep deeeeep south, and chicken and dumplings were a staple in our household growing up. Dumplings were always made from scratch and tasted almost like mini biscuits. After going paleo, I gave up on the idea of ever tasting a dumpling again… until your recipe. I literally just made these and I am speechless! They smell and taste almost identical to normal dumplings! I literally said, “What the hell” after tasting one.
I add a few things that a fellow commenter suggested… I subbed the sliced almonds for 3/4 cup of Almond flour, added in 1/2 tsp of baking soda, a sprinkle of garlic powder and salt …. Amazing!! I also combined your broth recipe with one I use for soup. In addition to your broth recipe: I used 2.5lbs of boneless skinless chicken breasts instead of thighs, added in 4 bullion cubes to 7 cups of broth, added 3 carrots, some dried basil, and rubbed sage, and a 2 minced cloves of garlic…. Delicious! Thank you so much for taking the time to create recipes like these ♥
Yeah! I’m so happy you enjoyed it hun and thank you for your suggestions <3
Tried this when my grandson was home for a visit from the Navy. He groaned with Ooooohs and Aaaaahs. SUCCESS!!!!
Finally found a Paleo version of my southern roots’ Chicken and Dumpling Recipe. Have spent years w/o one of my family’s favorite recipes. THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!
So glad you both enjouyed it Nina!
Would 1.5 cups silvered almonds equal 1.5 cups almond flour? I have finely group almond flour in my pantry but no almonds. Thanks!
More than likely it will be a couple of flour hun. I would start with 1 cup and add more if needed.
This soup was delicious! My son said it was the best he’d ever had! Thank you!
So glad you enjoyed it hun!
Could I sub balanced almond flour instead of the almonds in a pinch?
Never mind….I read the post and now see your suggestions. I was just so excited to see chicken and dumplings…..