Acadian chicken fricot with dumplings
70 min · 35 g protein · 363 cals / serving
The chicken stew of Acadian New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and PEI: chicken, potatoes, carrots and onion simmered in a golden broth fragrant with summer savory, then topped with light little dumplings that steam on the surface. Homely, savory and made in one pot.
Ingredients
Fricot
- 2 tsp butter
- 450 g (1 lb) chicken breast, in large chunks
- 350 g (12 oz) chicken thigh, in large chunks
- 1 large onion, diced
- 1.75 litres (7 cups) chicken broth, low-sodium
- 500 g (1 lb 2 oz) gold potatoes, peeled, in 2 cm (3/4-inch) cubes
- 3 carrots, sliced
- 2 stalks celery, sliced
- 1 1/2 tsp dried summer savory dried thyme, or thyme
- 3/4 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
Dumplings
- 175 ml (3/4 cup) all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
- a pinch salt
- 90 ml (6 tbsp) 1% milk
To serve
- 60 ml (1/4 cup) chopped fresh parsley
Steps
- Melt the butter in a large heavy pot over medium-high heat and brown the chicken pieces in two batches, 3–4 minutes each, until golden on a couple of sides. Add the onion with the last batch and cook until it softens.
- Return all the chicken, pour in the broth and add the potatoes, carrots, celery, savory, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, then cover and simmer gently 25 minutes, until the vegetables are tender and the chicken is well past 165°F. Taste the broth and season well; the dumplings need it.
- Stir the flour, baking powder and salt in a bowl, then stir in the milk to a soft, sticky dough. Drop teaspoonfuls onto the simmering stew, about 18 little dumplings, cover tightly and cook 12–15 minutes without lifting the lid, until they are puffed and cooked through.
- Ladle into bowls with a few dumplings each and scatter with parsley.
Good to know
What is summer savory?
The herb of Acadian cooking, peppery and a little minty, sold dried in most Atlantic Canadian grocery stores. Thyme with a pinch of dried sage is the closest stand-in.
Why keep the lid on?
The dumplings cook in the steam trapped above the stew. Lifting the lid lets it out and they turn dense.
Can I use a whole chicken?
That is the traditional way: simmer a cut-up chicken with water for 45 minutes, pull the meat off the bones, skim the fat from the broth and carry on from step 2.
Per
- Calories
- 60
- Protein
- (40%)
- 6 g
- Fat
- (21%)
- 1 g
- Carbohydrates
- (39%)
- 6 g
- of which sugar
- 1 g
- Fiber
- 1 g
- Sodium
- 274 mg
More meals
Computed from the ingredients with our published formula, not yet kitchen-tested. General guidance, not medical advice. Talk to your prescriber. How
As written, 2176 kcal goes into the pot and 3845 g of ingredients comes out as about 3600 g of food: 60 kcal per 100 g. Cooking moves water and energy density is the score's biggest lever, so the dish is scored as cooked, not as an average of its parts. Every ingredient links to its food page, with the same data and score. The label's percentages are each macronutrient's share of the calories. The full formula.