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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Can I use fresh veggies if I leave them in for the entire cook time? Hoping so and to throw this all in the crockpot on my lunch break in a few hours… :)
Fresh vegetables should work great in this recipe!
Hey, I was wondering if this recipe freezes well? I live alone and while I would love this recipe I don’t think I could eat the entire thing at once! LOL!
I haven’t tried freezing this recipe so I can’t say for sure.
I believe you could freeze it, but I would do it without the dumplings and add them later.
Can you substitute any other soup for the celery bc we can’t have it
You can use two cream of chicken soups.
Loved this recipe! I wanted to try it because my grandma used to make chicken and dumplings :) This is SO close to her yummy dish.
I also had fun counting my pennies to see how far this recipe could take them! For me it turned out to make 6 servings totally $5.83 per serving! Awe-some!
Thanks so much… tonight it’s Turkey Meatball with tomato sauce and spaghetti squash noodles!
I’m so glad you loved it, we love it too! Tonight’s dinner sounds so good, I love spaghetti squash!!
My two daughters are both lactose intolerant. Is there an easy way to make this lactose free?
I have only made this as written but hopefully another reader may have a suggestion.
Would it make a difference if the xhicken is already cooked… or how much of a difference would it be??
While I’ve only made this as written, several readers have used cooked chicken or turkey with great results. I would suggest reducing the cooking time.
I made the Chicken & Dumplings tonight for the first time to serve 8 people. I double the recipe and it was delicious. Exact pepper ingredient used was 1/4 teaspoon per 4 servings. Yum Yum!!!
I’m so glad you loved this!
Great Recipe Thanks
I made this today and let me say….it was so delicious! I will definitely be making it again!
I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
The instructions don’t indicate when to add peas and carrots?! Did I miss that part somewhere?
Yes, they are added in step 3.
Made this and it was a huge hit!
Any idea if this would freeze and re-heat ok?
I haven’t tried freezing this recipe so I can’t say for sure.
do you have a recipe for the dumplings please i want to try the chicken and dumplings thank u
The biscuits in this recipe are the dumplings.
I made the chicken & dumplings recipe and made two changes, used chicken stock instead of broth and used a whole bag of frozen vegetables. Delicious!
So glad you loved it!
The chicken is in the crackpot now for the chicken and dumplings recipe. Can’t wait to try it!!
Enjoy Sharon!
Do you think this could work for leftovers turkey?
Yes, this would be great with leftovers. The overall cooking time would need to be reduced.
Can I stir it while it’s cooking? Novice cooker.
It’s best if you don’t open the slow cooker while cooking as it takes too long to get back up to the right temperature. Slow cookers are designed for the food not to be stirred during cooking (most of the time).
Thank you
Was going to make this with turkey leftovers. Would the cooking time be the same for everything without the chicken do you think?
The cooking time would be less. I would cook the turkey about an hour or so on high before adding the dumplings to blend the flavors. (And an additional hour after adding them).
I made it today. However it doesn’t look like the picture. It came out brown instead of cream color. It still tastes good though
I’m glad you enjoyed the flavor of this dish!
Thank you for your recipe! I added extra garlic powder, onion powder & a bit of lipton vegetable & french onion (powdered) soup. Yummy!
No problem, Ann! That sounds like a tasty addition to this recipe. Awesome!
This looks delicious! I have all the ingredients except cream of celery. Is there something I could substitute?
You could try adding another type of ‘cream of’ condensed soup.