Easy Crock Pot Chicken and Dumplings.
Juicy chicken breasts cooked to tender perfection in the slow cooker in a rich creamy sauce.
Shortcut dumplings make this deliciously comforting meal effortless for a family favorite everyone will agree on.
Chicken and Dumplings are probably the ultimate comfort food. Tender juicy shredded chicken and soft dumplings in a rich creamy brothy gravy.
Don’t get me wrong, I love Old Fashioned Chicken and Dumplings from scratch but having a busy household with kids, I know that sometimes time is short and I don’t have hours to spend cooking a full Sunday dinner from scratch.
This recipe uses a few little short cuts to make it really quick and easy to put together while not skimping on flavor.
The best part about this recipe is that it cooks up in the slow cooker all day long.
That means you can spend about 5 minutes prepping and head on out and run your errands (or go for lunch with your friends which sounds much more fun).
The slow cooker does all of the work but the results are just as amazing as a from scratch recipe (there’s a reason this recipe has a five star rating ★★★★★)!
Quick prep with optimal results is my kind of cookin’.
I use a can of premade biscuits to make the dumplings to make this dish totally effortless.
You’re going to want to roll them extra thin as they do puff up a little while they cook.
If you don’t want to use (or don’t have) canned biscuits, feel free to mix up a batch of your favorite homemade biscuits to create your own dumplings (or use Biscuit Mix).
Once you shred the chicken and stir it back in, your dumplings will break up a little bit but don’t worry; the edges soak up a bit of the sauce making for a perfect bowl of comfort.
While I know not everyone likes vegetables with their chicken and dumplings, I sure do!
I love the addition of frozen veggies for color, flavor and some extra nutrients (plus frozen veggies are pretty effortless).
If veggies in your chicken and dumplings isn’t your thing, feel free to leave them out (but don’t skip the onion, it adds lots of flavor)!
How to Make Perfect Slow Cooker Chicken and Dumplings
As easy as this recipe is, here are a few tips to make sure it turns out perfectly for you!
- This recipe is best made in a 6QT crock pot.
- While this chicken and dumplings recipe uses frozen veggies, they should be defrosted before adding to the slow cooker.
- My biscuits are always perfectly cooked after 60 minutes however some slow cookers may require extra time to cook the biscuits.
- Open the lid as little as possible as the slow cooker can lose heat quickly and this can cause your biscuits to not cook properly.
- Boneless chicken thighs make an excellent addition to this recipe.
- Once the biscuits are cooked through they should still have a soft, slightly doughy dumpling-like texture.
- Depending on the size of your slow cooker, this recipe may not double well. To double this recipe, cook the chicken portion as directed. Additional dumplings can be cooked on the stovetop or baked in the oven as biscuits.
Dairy (such as cream or milk) doesn’t always do well in the slow cooker; it can often separate or curdle so I’ve subbed in condensed soup in this recipe.
Condensed soups make a great addition to crock pot recipes as they tend to hold up very well in the slow cooker (plus they add lots of flavor to this recipe) without the risk of curdling.
Once you try this easy recipe, it’ll quickly become your go to for slow cooker chicken and dumplings.
Ensure your slow cooker is on high and the liquid should be bubbling along the edges when you open the lid to add your vegetables and biscuits.
It’s really important that you open the lid for as little time as possible and that your vegetables are completely defrosted.
Note: Buttermilk, Country or Homestyle Biscuits work best in this recipe. When adding the vegetables/biscuits ensure the lid is left off as little as possible. Leaving the lid off for long periods of time will drastically increase cooking time.
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 large onion diced
- 10.5 ounces condensed cream of celery soup 1 can
- 10.5 ounces condensed cream of chicken soup 1 can
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
- 1 teaspoon poultry seasoning
- black pepper to taste
- 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
- 2 cups reduced sodium chicken broth
- 2 cups frozen vegetables or peas and carrots, thawed
- 16.3 ounces refrigerated biscuits 1 can, Buttermilk, Country, or Homestyle
Instructions
- Add onion to 6 qt crock pot and top with chicken breasts.
- In a small bowl, combine cream of celery soup, cream of chicken soup, parsley, poultry seasoning and pepper. Spread over chicken breasts. Top with chicken broth and cook on high 5 hours.
- Approximately 1 hour (I allow 60 - 90 minutes) before serving (after 4 hours of cooking time), roll each biscuit thin and flat. Cut into 4 strips. Add vegetables to the slow cooker and stir. Add biscuit strips on top. Replace lid as quickly as possible.
To Serve
- Remove chicken breasts and slightly shred. Add back into slow cooker and stir (this will break up the dumplings somewhat which is ok). Let cook an additional 10 minutes and serve.
Notes
Nutrition Information
Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.
Course Dinner
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Really good! Much better than I thought it was would be. Will definitely make it again.
What is the cook time if I use an instapot
Hi Lindsey, we don’t have this recipe in an Instant Pot version for this chicken and dumplings recipe, but you can check out our Pressure Cooker section for some great Instant Pot inspiration!
I love this recipe and am so excited it’s getting cooler out so I can give my slow cooker some love! One thing I will advise is that this recipe works best in a Crock Pot brand slow cooker. I was using my Instant Pot multicooker and the dumplings would never cook right because the multicooker on “slow cook” function never got as hot as my Crock Pot!
This is definitely one of my favorites that I go back to in the cooler months because it is hearty, filling, and it gives me that “warm belly” feeling. It’s also really nice because it’s not expensive to make at all.
Thank you for sharing Lisa! So happy to hear that you love this chicken and dumplings dish as much as we do!
My husband couldn’t get enough of this recipe! I used no salt chicken broth and the low sodium cream of soups. I seasoned with salt to taste and it was still amazing! Thank you.
The ONLY chicken and dumplings recipe I’ve use for years. It’s amazing I use the same recipe for chicken noodle soup just add reames noodles instead of biscuits! My boyfriend always raves when I make it! Thanks for the recipe.
This was the first time that I’ve ever made chicken and dumplings. My fiancé LOVED it and we’ll be dipping into leftovers tomorrow night. Thanks for this easy recipe!
You’re so welcome Lydia!
Based on the reviews I expected to like this. I followed the recipe as written except I used 1.5 cups chicken stock instead of 2. It came out very loose and very bland. It needs a lot more seasoning for our liking.
I would make the following modifications when I next make chicken and dumplings:
Salt and pepper the chicken, be liberal, chicken breasts don’t have a lot of flavor on their own. Add garlic and onion powder and 1 pkg of chicken gravy mix. Use 1c stock definitely not 2 if you want it to be thick.
I generally dont like cooking in the crockpot on high. Am I able to cook this on low? If so, how long and when would you put the biscuits in? Thanks!
Hi Angel, we have only tried this recipe as writing but if you prefer to cook on low, I would cook for 7-8 hours and then add the biscuits for an additional hour. Let us know how they turn out for you!
I don’t have canned creme of chicken, but I have heavy creme. Should I add jt at the end before serving so it doesn’t curdle in the crock pot?
Adding it towards the end of cooking is a good idea, you’ll likely need to bump up the seasonings/salt in this recipe. Let us know how it goes.
How much chicken do you recommend using in this?
We use 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts, about 24oz total.
This was really good except the biscuits strips all came together and didn’t really make dumplings. Next time I would roll the strips or just take the biscuits and cut into small pieces
Do u put the crockpot on low or high?
We cook this recipe on high. Enjoy!
Love this.
Have tried some of your recipes and they were great!
Love cooking
I would like to add potatoes to this recipe, when should I add them? Thanks!
I’m sure that would be delicious. I would add the potatoes in right at the beginning. The cooking time may need to be adjusted slightly to ensure the potatoes are cooked through.
I was wondering if you can use shredded rotisserie chicken instead and how long would i need to cook it?
Hi Carly, we have not tried using rotisserie chicken but other readers have with great success. They did reduce the cooking time to approximately an hour before adding the biscuits. Let us know how it turns out!
The BEST recipe ever! It has never failed me!
Hi Holly! I am excited to try. However, I just added my biscuits and realized I forgot the chicken broth at the beginning of the recipe. Do you have any advice on how to possibly fix this mistake? Thanks!
I would suggest adding a bit of hot broth (if you add cool or cold broth it will take too long to come back up to temperature). I hope it works out ok, let us know how it goes!
I followed the recipe exactly. However it’s very soupy watery like. Wasn’t creamy like I expected. Next time I’ll cut down the broth from 2 cups to one cup. Perhaps the chicken Breast had more retained water.
how many servings is this for
This recipe makes 4 servings William.