Review of Chicken Helper Homestyle Chicken & Dumplings

When I was a young child, my mother used to make really nice Sunday afternoon dinners. We would come home from church, and she’d start cooking. One of my very favorite meals was Chicken and Dumplings. She made it better than anyone, and even I can’t duplicate her meal.

These days when we have hectic schedules, it’s much harder to cook a nice dinner, especially on the week days. I often rely on the Betty Crocker “Helper” meals, and their Chicken Helper’s are quite good. Of course, my favorite is, again, Homestyle Chicken & Dumplings.

The Directions are Easy

You can use cut up chicken, but I like to buy the large packages of chicken tenders from Costco. I cut them into 1 inch pieces. In another bowl I mix the dumpling mix with 1/2 cup milk – then set aside. Next I melt 1 tablespoon margarine (or butter, or oil) in a skillet and cook the chicken pieces for 3 minutes. I add 2 cups water, 1/2 cup of milk, and the prepackaged gravy mix and heat until it starts to boil.

Once the liquid is boiling, I drop the dumpling mixture into the gravy, cover and cook for 10 minutes. The lid should remain on to produce the best tasting dumplings. Uncover and the gravy will thicken as it cools.

Taste?

Of course, the taste depends on the quality of the chicken you use. If you like white meat, use chicken breasts. When my mom made her “homemade” dumplings, she used a box of Bisquick mix! (She used Bisquick for everything!). I have followed suit over the years and have always made my dumplings with Bisquick. Well, guess who makes Bisquick folks! General Mills! The makers of Betty Crocker Chicken Helper. Their dumpling mix also uses Bisquick baking mix.

This meal doesn’t taste like my mom’s homemade, but it is pretty tasty for a box meal. It uses my fresh milk, margarine, and chicken, so it does have more of a homemade taste than some prepared meals. The gravy is surprisingly good (and I don’t usually care for those gravy mixes that come in a paper packet).

You can add variations to the meal by mixing in peas or potatoes, and you can sprinkle cheese over the top if you desire. The box says that you can substitute 1 ten ounce can of chunk chicken, but I don’t recommend it, I think that would ruin the entire dinner.

Nutrition Facts

(Per serving; 6 servings per meal)
Calories: 290 (prepared)
Calories from fat: 90
Total fat: 6g
Saturated fat: 1.5g
Cholesterol: less than 5mg
Sodium: 930mg
POtassium: 80mg
Carbs: 25gSugars: 2g
Protein: 3g

Vitamin A: 4%
Calcium: 10%
Iron: 10%
Thiamin: 15%
Riboflavin: 6%
Niacin: 6%
Folic acid: 8%

Thoughts

If your chicken is thawed and ready to go, you can have a nice hot chicken and dumpling dinner in 15 minutes! That’s fast. The meal is pretty nutritious too, it’s low in calories, (and you can cut the fat and calories even further by using skim milk, skim evaporated milk, or diet margarine), low in sugar, and not too bad in the fat category either. It is quite high in sodium though, so if you are on a salt restricted diet you may want to forego this particular Chicken Helper dinner.

Betty Crocker has a Red Spoon Promise on the box. It is their promise of great taste, quality and convenience. They guarantee this is a product that you and your family will enjoy. You have nothing to lose, give Chicken Helper Homestyle Chicken & Dumplings a try!

This retails for $2.39, but it was on sale for 99 cents.