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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I didn’t notice it said fresh parsley and I used dry kind is this going to affect anything?
It should be just fine. :)
How do you know if the biscuits are done? I cooked mine an hour and they tasted fine, had kind of a gummy texture, but I wasn’t sure how else they would look after soaking in the soup mixture…
The centers of the biscuits should be cooked through. The outer surface will be moist since it is cooked in liquid.
I made this for the family last night, truly simplistic and flavorful dish, reminded me of my grandmothers chicken pot pie filling.
This is one recipe that I will take on future camping trips and put to good use in the Dutch oven.
Thank you for sharing this with us, I look forward to trying more from you !!
I’m so glad you loved it Sonny!
My husband wants me to make this, but is allergic to onions. Is there a substitute for it or will it taste just as good without them?
You can leave the onions out if your husband is allergic.
Made this today and it was wonderful. Loved how easy it was to make. I do not eat onions so left them out but the hubby said it still had great flavor. Thanks for the good recipes.
I’m so glad you enjoyed them!
Before the chicken is put into the crockpot, could it be cut up first instead of shredding it before serving?
I’m sure that would work. I prefer to cook it whole so it doesn’t dry out.
Love your recipes
Can the biscuits be substituted with either egg noodles or Annie’s frozen dumplings? If so, at what point should they be added?
Yes that should work just fine.
Can I put this recipe in a 5 quart crockpot and it’ll still be big enough??
I made this in my 6qt slow cooker and it was fairly full. You’ll just want to ensure your slow cooker is not more than ⅔ full.
Hello Holly I saw this beautiful meal on Facebook and I shared it and It is a meal that me and my family will enjoy thanks
I’m glad to hear it, Felicia!
morning ladies, how do you make dumbling with biscuits pls help im interested
I’m guessing I wasn’t supposed to use grand biscuits for this recipe didn’t specify which biscuits to use.
Yes, grands biscuits should work just fine in this recipe.
I plan on making this tomorrow night for my boyfriend…but my crock pot is only 2 1/2 quarts…can I should half the recipe? Also does the original recipe call for 4 full chicken breasts or are they halved (so only 2 full)??
Yes, I’d suggest halving the recipe. They are 4 chicken breast halves.
I made it exactly as the recipe said and my dumplings were raw…even cooked the dumplings an extra hour and still raw…then microwaved it and it was dry on outside and raw in the center. I rolls the biscuits out and cut into 4’s..what happened?
I can’t say for sure why yours didn’t work out. This recipe works perfectly for me. What type of biscuits did you use?
Made this last night and it turned out FAN-TASTIC!! Thanks for sharing your recipe! :-)
So glad you loved it!
Everything turned out great except the poultry seasoning was overwhelming. I used 1 teaspoon like it called for and I wished I hadn’t put any in it because it overtook the dish. Has anyone else had this problem??
I didn’t have poultry seasoning so I didn’t even try to substitute. It was absolutely delicious! Can’t wait to make it again.
I did! The poultry seasoning was way too overpowering. My 3 kids couldn’t eat it. I was very disappointed. I wish I would have never added it.
I am actually cooking this right now. I did cook on low for 8 hours and the turned the crock pot to high about 20 minutes before I added the biscuits! AMAZING! Thank you
Yay, I’m glad you think so, Amanda! :)
So glad you enjoyed this recipe!
will definitely try , but will add a bit of white wine to the broth. I find it gives a nicer taste to any white sauce in a recipe. And like my own biscuits best and will allow more time for them to cook. thanks for this.
You’re welcome! That sounds like an interesting idea, Sylvia!
I have a 4.5 quart slow cooker, is that going to be too small?
It may be too small for a full recipe, the dumplings do puff up. You might like to half the recipe.
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!