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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They all look very good, I’m a chicken and dumplings person bad, so I’m going to try yours out.
Delicious & easy!
My family loved this, I didn’t make any changes!
One question – how much is a serving? I’m counting my calories and would like to know what the 640 calories per serving is equivalent to in volume 😊 thank you!
I am so happy to hear this recipe was a hit Kiley! For serving size, it is approximately 2 cups or so.
1st time making chicken and dumplings and it will not be last thank you very much
Hi! I’ve made this recipe before and I love it. I was wondering how exactly I could double this recipe? And could I double it in an 8 qt crockpot?
I think it would be a close call to double it in an 8qt slow cooker but it should fit. We also have a 2x feature on our site that allows you to double the ingredients for this recipe. I would love to hear how it turns out for you!
I changed up the recipe just a bit. I did my chicken breast 5 hours on low, came out perfect. I did crescent rolls instead of biscuits, dusted them with flour before cutting them to thicken up the broth. I think they turned out better than biscuits. I did one full box of chicken broth and filled the box with water and added that. I added 2 tablespoons of better than bouillon roasted chicken, parsley, paprika, pepper and a pinch of salt. Came out amazing.
This dish cooked up fine but was so salty I couldn’t get through a single portion.
Oh no, I am sorry to hear that, Jolen. You could try using reduced sodium soups to help reduce the salt.
Can I add Wild Rice to this?
I haven’t tried this so I can’t say for sure Mary. If you try it I would love to hear how it turns out.
Delicious! This will be made again and again. I do have a question though, when you say 4 chicken breasts what is the approximate total weight that you use?
A boneless chicken breasts weight approximately 6 oz. So for this recipe we use roughly 24 ounces of chicken. I hope that helps!
College-age daughter said she “licked the bowl clean” because she liked it so much. Every single recipe I’ve tried from your site has been a hit in this house so thank you for making me look like a rockstar home chef!
Great recipe, great flavor. I think I’ll use thighs next time. Chicken breasts got dry very quickly.
the recipe doesn’t mention high or low for temperature? and, I will be using thighs also
Hi Lisa, this information is in step 2: cook on high 5 hours. I hope this helps!
Can this be cooked on low for longer to extend the cooking time? Trying to see if I can time this well with sports this weekend and four hours isn’t enough time. Just wondering thanks!
I haven’t tried cooking this recipe on low, but I would love to hear how it turns out for you!
The recipe said 1 onion but didn’t say when to put in…I assume at the beginning? Also can I shred the chicken before putting the rest of veggies and biscuits in at the end?
Hi Marisa, in step 1 we “add onion to 6 qt crock pot and top with chicken breasts”. You could shred the chicken at that point but we prefer to shred it before serving.
it says add onion before chicken
I have used your recipes many times over the last several years and have never had any problems. Every dish I’ve made has been a five star experience.
This dish, is however, was just awful. There was no salt listed in the ingredients and using the low sodium chicken broth did very little to flavor the dish. i followed the directions exactly and the chicken breasts were overcooked and dry and there were so many dumplings it was overwhelming. I watched the video and the proportion of ingredients used
were not the same as what was in the written recipe. I will, of course, continue using your recipes, but with with a grain of salt, so to speak.
Oh no! I’m sorry to hear you had that experience Jon. I’ve made this recipe many many times and not had my chicken be dry. What size were your chicken breasts? If they were on the smaller side (5-6 ounces) maybe they could have overcooked? And how long did you cook for? It should be a TOTAL of 5 hours (4 hours plus 1 hour after adding the biscuits).
I added more than 2 cups of regular stock, close to 3 cups. Also added salt when you mixed the soups and pepper and parsley together. Once everything comes together at the end. I adjust salt and pepper to my liking. Hope you try it again.
This recipe (as well as all your other recipes I’ve tried) is fabulous! Do you have a conversion to make in an instant pot? Thank you!
Hi! What would the cook time be if I only have thin sliced chicken breasts?
Hi Taylor, you will want to use approximately 1/5lbs of chicken. If using less you may need to cook it less. Just make sure the chicken reaches an internal temperature of 165°F before serving.
so after 4 hours of cooking, you add the biscuits? and cook an additional hour?
Yes that is correct. Enjoy, Ann!
All I can say is WOW! What an absolutely easy and delicious meal! I was going to bake the biscuits separately, but my husband insisted I just follow the directions. He’s the main cook of the household so I took his advice. The only variation I made was I used regular chicken broth, not low sodium, and I added garlic salt to the chicken before I put the soups on the chicken. After a full four hours I cut up the canned buttermilk biscuits and layered them on the top of everything. I did move fast as she instructed. I let it cook and additional 90 minutes. She said 60-90 minutes and the biscuits browed up nicely at 90 minutes. When I pulled the chicken to shred it, it was already falling apart. That’s a good sign. The chicken was moist and the biscuits were exactly how dumplings should taste after they were mixed with everything. This is a legit recipe. I will be making it again! Thank you!
Easy and delish! My family loved this and can’t wait for me to make it again!
My mother made chicken n dumplings growing up, US four boys would feed the dumplings to our dog, they were so terrible, flat, no taste dough…gross ..1960ish
Then in the early 2000’s my brother invited me over for dinner, he told me we were having chicken n dumplings..ACK!! But, they were nothing like when I was a kid, they were ‘drop dumplings’ ..a chicken stew was prepared as normal, the dumplings were flour, baking powder, salt, pepper and milk/egg mixture, these were steamed in a basket UNCOVERED for ten minutes, then COVERED for an additional 10 minutes, they were like biscuits..oh..an addition was added to the chicken stew,…..SAFFRON…This added so much more flavor..
please explain why my biscuits came out soggy. They didn’t firm up just a goofy mess. Yes I left the lid on as directed
thank you
The biscuits become dumplings which have a different texture. They’re expected to be soft and moist rather than crisp and flaky.