You need a good amount of liquid to make chicken and dumplings, to ensure that everything remains moist and tender and that the dumplings can cook properly. But it’s easy to overdo it. Adding too much stock, broth, or half-and-half to chicken and dumplings can make its liquid too thin, and you ideally want a soup that’s thick, glossy, and creamy. It’s not as simple as just simmering it for longer to reduce it, either: If you do that, both your chicken and your dumplings will become tough.

An easy fix, however, is to add a small amount of cornstarch slurry into the mixture a few minutes before serving. Mix a few tablespoons of cornstarch with water (as much as you wish, although we’d recommend an equal ratio of cornstarch to liquid so that you don’t water the soup down). Pour it into the chicken and dumplings, mix it through, and simmer it gently until the soup thickens. If it’s still too thin, you can add more in; If doing this makes it too thick, just cut the soup down with some more chicken stock. Cornstarch is basically tasteless, so won’t alter the flavor of the meal, simply working to give it more body. ‌