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.
Crock Pot Chicken and Dumplings
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 large onion diced
- 1 can cream of celery soup (10.5 oz)
- 1 can cream of chicken soup (10.5 oz)
- 1 tablespoon fresh parsley
- 1 teaspoon poultry seasoning
- black pepper to taste
- 4 skinless boneless chicken breasts
- 2 cups low sodium chicken broth
- 2 cups frozen vegetables or peas and carrots, defrosted
- 1 can refrigerated biscuits (8 pieces) 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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How many hours if I set the crockpot on low? I would like to cook it while I’m at work, but I’m gone for 10 hours
While I haven’t tried it Angie, many readers have cooked this one on low for 7-8 hours successfully. When adding the biscuits and veggies, you’ll want to turn in up to high. It may need a little bit of extra time to heat up so they’ll likely have to cook a little bit longer.
Can you start with frozen chicken?
I haven’t made this with frozen chicken breasts so I can’t say for sure Lenora. But the increase in cook time will be very minimal, maybe an extra hour. You’ll want to ensure your chicken reaches 165°F. Let us know how it goes!
What would be a substitute for the canned biscuits? I live in a location where those are not available.
Thank you!
You can make your own biscuits to use in place.
What would happen if I used a 4qt crock pot?
It might be too full so the dumplings may not cook through. The chicken/sauce part will fit just fine.
Delicious recipe took it to a Friendsgiving at where everyone said it tasted good, but this is not chicken and dumplings. This is more like a crockpot chicken pot pie.
This was absolutely phenomenal thank you thank you thank you. Wanted to satisfy my craving without having to do old fashioned.. the only thing I did just a tad different was add diced celery and carrot raw with the onion. It came out so perfect. Yummy thank you again!!!
Delicious! Absolutely delicious!
Fantastic!
I used mixed vegetables in mine and I don’t know if that was the problem but this was not a hit with my family. My biscuits didn’t cook and I ended up switching my machine to pressure cooker to finish the dish in time for dinner. All around it just didn’t work for me.
Oh no! I am sorry to hear this recipe didn’t work out for you Kathy. This recipe works perfectly for us every time, so I can’t say for sure why yours didn’t work out. What type of biscuits did you use?
Will it be as good if I use a 10 quart crockpot?
I haven’t tried it so I can’t say for sure, but you will want to ensure your crockpot is a minimum half full Renee. If you try it I would love to hear how it turns out!
This recipe is INCREDIBLE! I’ve made this for my husband and I, my dad, and a group of friends multiple times over. Every single time, it is a HIT! Only things I change, and this is strictly personal preference: instead of frozen veg I use a 1 Lb bag of baby carrots at the beginning with the onion, and instead of rolling the biscuits, I quarter them and lightly dust in flour so they don’t stick together. Do yourself a favor and make this and curl up next to a bonfire with friends and family. They’ll all thank you.
this was really good
Would you recommend freezing any leftovers?
Yes, leftovers can be frozen.
Great receipe!… But to make it absolutely perfect I add chopped celery and garlic with the onion at the beginning. Definitely makes it more flavorful. I use the frozen veggie mix of carrots, peas and green beans. The addition of the green beans and celery add to the flavor and even gives you a few more servings.
I am giving the recipe four stars because for me, it was a little bland and way too much chicken. I made the recipe as written, no variation. I was cooking for two and thought about cutting it in half and I will do that next time. I had a 24 oz. container, a 16 oz. Container and an 8 oz container of leftovers. We did enjoy the recipe.
I would like to try this for an office pot luck later this week. I was thinking of doing everything the night before except for the dumplings. I would bring to work with me, plug in on low for a couple of hours to heat back up and then up to high and add the biscuits and let cook 1 1/2 – 2 more hours. Do you think that would work? I’d rather not have to get up at the crack of dawn to do all on the same day lol
I haven’t tried it so I can’t say for sure Jamie. If you try it I would love to hear how it turns out!
Yes, this is what I typically do the night before. The chicken kinda marinades overnight. It’s just as good.. If not better.
Not sure if anyone has done this but I want to add precooked chicken strips at the end as my husband hates shredded chicken. Since my chicken wont need to cook, any idea how I need to adjust the recipe? I would think I would basically add the ingredients and jump right to step 3.
Hi DeAnna, we have not tried using precooked chicken but other readers have with great success. They did reduce the cooking time to approximately an hour before adding the biscuits. We’d love to hear how yours turns out!
It does not finish the “dumplings” off. If you want to actually finish them, take the insert out of the crock pot. With the lid off, put it in the oven at 350 til those biscuits look pretty and brown on the top!
The crockpot does a great job making “dumplings”. The browning in the oven makes it more of a “chicken casserole or chicken bake”. Both great but very different. Refrain from the oven if you want dumplings. They should be soft and not golden.
Great recipes!!!!!
Oh my lanta! This was wonderful, I wish I would have doubled the recipe to have left overs for days, but knowing I’ll have some for tomorrow makes me just as happy! Can’t wait to try some of your other things