Southern Low Carb Chicken and Dumplings

This Southern low carb chicken and dumplings recipe is full of old fashioned flavor. My dish has everything about traditional southern chicken and dumplings that you love and leaves out the pesky carbs. Whip up a pot of this home cooked comfort food and enjoy!

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How many carbs are in chicken and dumplings?

With just 3 net carbs there’s no reason not to make this chicken recipe often. Although this dumplings recipe calls for chicken breast you can also use boneless skinless chicken thighs for even more flavor. With a low carb count, it’s an easy keto meal to make.

PLEASE NOTE– This recipe contains a small amount of gluten which does not add carbs. While it’s fine for a low carb or keto diet, those who are allergic to gluten or have celiac disease should not eat this dish.

For this recipe you’ll need: eggs, cream cheese, wheat gluten, herbes de Provence, olive oil, chicken breast, 0 carb chicken stock, onion, celery, salt, pepper, heavy cream, and butter.

What is chicken and dumplings?

I nearly fell over after tasting this recipe because these low carb chicken and dumplings are about the best thing I’ve had on a fork lately. The chicken breast cooks up SO tender that it shreds. The dumplings are chewy and soak up the flavor of the sauce. The sauce is rich and creamy. I’m telling you this is real keto comfort food.

I love Southern food. The sad thing is that Southern food is usually pretty heavy in the net carbs department and it doesn’t always lend itself to low carb (or keto or low fat) lifestyles. This recipe is exactly that, a southern comfort food dish that apparently came out during hard economic times (like now for instance?). The ingredients are low cost and the meal is filling in case you have to go plow the fields later.

I’ve been working on this recipe on and off for about a year but I couldn’t get the dumpling part perfect. If they were too thin the recipe came out like chicken and noodles. If the dumpling came out too thick they had a weird texture. Add to that the frustration of getting a thick creamy sauce and I was ready to give up many times.

I even tried using coconut flour and almond flour for the dumplings recipe and they were a disaster. Weird tasting and weird texture.

I’m glad I didn’t give up and hopefully you will be, too.

How do you make keto chicken and dumplings?

This recipe for Southern low carb chicken and dumplings is not difficult to make but there are a few things to be aware of.

• There is no substitute for the gluten. I’ve had a lot of people say that they used this or that but so far nothing works as well as the gluten. Gluten is wheat protein, it’s not a carb. I use only a small amount and it doesn’t add carbs. If you are not allergic this will not kick you out of ketosis so your keto efforts will not be sidetracked. Oh and gluten free chicken isn’t a thing since meat doesn’t have wheat in it.
• A very surprising thing is the time it takes for the liquid to evaporate can vary a lot, even from one day to the next. Keep an eye on it and simmer as long as it takes to keep the finished dish from becoming dumpling soup.
• If you’d like to add some sliced carrot you can. Be careful of the amount and the carbs.
• While I like chicken breast for this, for more flavor you can use chicken thighs. They have a bit more saturated fat but your body is running on fats when you are on a keto diet. Since my family loves the dark meat on a rotisserie chicken, the chicken breast is left over to use.
• Some chicken stock brands have carbs. Some do not. Make sure to read the labels carefully.
• This will keep overnight in the refrigerator but don’t try to freeze it. I tried it and it was just weird in texture after.
• You want the dumpling dough to be a little thick but not so thick they it has a spongy texture. You may need to try a couple of different sized pans to get the thickness you prefer. I found that an 8?8-inch square works best for me.
• Don’t overcook the dumplings. They’ll be really weird in texture.
• You can use more chicken to create a bigger, heartier meal without adding net carbs. This was perfect for 2 meals for me.

Recipe Variation for Chicken and Dumplings

You can make this into a creamy keto chicken enchilada casserole by adding chiles in place of the celery, cumin in place of the herbes de Provence, and stirring in about 2 tablespoons of sour cream at the end. Sprinkle a tablespoon of cilantro and some grated cheddar cheese on top before serving.

Step by Step Images

Here are some images that will help you visualize how the dish comes together and looks at different stages. The first image is a picture of the keto dumplings after they’ve come out of the oven and as they’re being cut. You can see that I made them about 1/2-inch thick.

Next, the cut up dumplings go into the pan with the onion, celery, and chicken. They’ll simmer in the chicken broth to pick up more flavor and absorb some of the liquid.

Once the keto dumplings and chicken have simmered in the broth AND the broth is almost completely evaporated, it’s time to add the cream mixture.

The ingredients are simmered in the pan until the cream mixture reduces and coats the cooked chicken and dumplings.

At that point it’s finished and time to eat!

Wheat gluten is a wheat protein that works to keep these noodles together. It gives texture as well as structural support so they don’t fall apart during the simmering stage. You don’t use much and a bag of it will last forever in the freezer.

Southern Low Carb Chicken and Dumplings

This Southern chicken and dumplings recipe is sure to be one of your favorites. Want to make more? You can slide the number of Servings up and it will change the amounts in the ingredients. Place your cursor over the number “2” to the right of the Servings heading in the recipe. A slider will appear and you can move it to the desired quantity. It’s great if you want to make this for the whole family and not just chow down by yourself. While the kids are in school. Not that I’ve done that. Like several times, no never.

If you like this recipe please give it 5 stars!

If you liked this low carb Southern Chicken and Dumplings recipe you may also like…

Click on the image to see the recipe. From left to right (all low carb): Low Carb Tuscan Garlic Chicken, Low Carb Chicken Pot Pie, Low Carb Chicken Alfredo