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
- 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 oz 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
Cuisine American© SpendWithPennies.com. Content and photographs are copyright protected. Sharing of this recipe is both encouraged and appreciated. Copying and/or pasting full recipes to any social media is strictly prohibited. Please view my photo use policy here.
My husband gave me a 10 on this one! Soooo good. Perfect on a cold day like today. Will be making this one again.
can I add half and half to the broth with some corn starch in stead creamed soup.
I’ve only tried this as written so I can’t say for sure.
I have to say I love everyone you made my husband just loves everything I made from your sight thank you so much
Can I make real dumplings with flour etc and use the rest of this recipe?
I haven’t tried homemade dumplings in the slow cooker so I can’t say how it would work.
could you use all chicken thighs?
You sure can, you’ll need about 1 ½ lbs of skinless boneless chicken thighs.
Can you substitute Cream of Chicken instead of Cream of Celery?
Yes, that will work just fine.
Could I use cream of mushroom instead of celery? or would that ruin it?
Absolutely, Valerie! You can use any ‘cream of’ soup in this recipe :)
Super yummy! I’ve made this a few times now for my family but we always have too much leftover. Does this freeze well? If so how could I reheat it? Thanks!
Hi Jenna, a lot of readers have frozen this meal with success. Just freeze in an airtight container and, when ready, thaw fully overnight in the fridge. We reheat it on low on the stove or for single portions you can reheat it in the microwave as well.
When adding the dumplings do you roll them in flour first? That’s what I do when I make it on the stove pot and that fluffs up the dumplings, but not sure if you do that in the crockpot recipe. Thanks for your help!
P.S. So very glad that I found your website! Can’t wait to try more of your recipes.
Hi Cathy, we just cut the biscuits and put them straight in the crock pot. Let us know how it turns out for you if you decide to try it!
Can this be frozen for future meals?
Absolutely, Melissa!
Do I add the entire can of biscuits? In the video it doesn’t look like the entire can was used. Wanted to double check.
Hi Rhonda, we use the entire can!
This sounds amazing! Quick question, can I skip adding veggies as my husband doesn’t care for them. Thanks!
Hi Stefanie, you can if you prefer! Enjoy ❤️
Just made this tonight and WOW it exceeded my expectations – delicious! super easy to throw together before work. I left it on low for about 8 hours then put it up to high for the dumplings and veg. It took 1.5 hours to finish the dumplings due to the temperature change at the end. Only thing I’d change next time is to up the seasoning a tad, needed a lot of salt and pepper to taste. I used 4 chicken breasts and it was a lot of chicken, so maybe 3 next time instead too. Either way, definitely will be making this again!!
I have a rotisserie chicken I need to use up… would it affect the taste at all? would I just need to lower the cooking time?
It shouldn’t change the flavor too much but you are right, you will definitely want to reduce the cooking time so you don’t overcook the chicken. We would love to hear how it turns out for you!
Hi! When do you add the onions? The recipe doesn’t mention them again except for in the ingredients.
Hi Emily, in step one we add the onions to the crock pot and top with chicken breasts. I hope that helps!
Totally missed that thank you! That’s what I get for reading the recipe half awake haha. Appreciate the response!
Hi! In watching the video it seems like you’re adding 2 cans of cream of celery and 2 cans of cream of chicken. The recipe calls for just one each so I’m a tad confused…. can you please clarify?
Hi Susan, we add one of each for this recipe. It might look like two in the video because it takes us two scoops to get everything out of the can and into the bowl. I hope that helps!
Whoa! Super easy & absolutely yummy. Waistlines beware cuz this is a winner.
Watch the video cuz the written recipe directions are a bit confusing.
It’s 4 hrs before you add the veggies & ‘dumplings’ then another hour. You could prolly get away with 3 chicken breasts & 4 cups of veggies if it’s you & the hubby…but with kids, keep it as is with 4 chkn breasts. Mmmmm. Soooo good!!!
made this recipe for my family of 5 turned out amazing
I plan on making this recipe for a crowd of about 20 people. Is it as simple as tripling the ingredients OR should I cook in batches?
I would worry that the slow cooker will be too full and that the biscuits wouldn’t cook through if you tripled it.
Does this fill a 6qt to the top or make a lot? I do a lot of meal prep and am interested as long as this is a big yield.
It should be approximately ½ full.