Crock Pot Chicken and Dumplings
Crock Pot Chicken and Dumplings is a weeknight favorite at our house. Easy to make, it’s a comforting dinner your whole family will love!
Why We Love Crockpot Chicken and Dumplings
- Chicken and dumplings is one of my favorite comfort food meals. Rich, creamy soup loaded with chicken and veggies with tender, yummy dumplings. Happiness in a bowl friends.
- What’s better than your favorite meal? Making it in the slow cooker so you can set and forget it for hours. There is some babysitting the crock pot once the dumplings are added, but it’s no biggie.
- I use noodle-style dumplings for this recipe, but you could easily swap them out for refrigerated biscuit dough for a fluffier dumpling that’s just as easy to prepare.
- This meal is fantastic for busy nights when you’re running around. You only need an hour to finish things up and then you’re eating. (A very low maintenance hour.)
Ingredients You’ll Need to Make Chicken and Dumplings
CHICKEN: You’ll need 3 pounds of boneless skinless chicken breasts. If you want to cut this recipe in half (and feed 4 people) you’ll only need 1.5 pounds of chicken.
PRODUCE: We’re adding yellow onion, carrots, celery, and garlic into the soup part of this recipe.
PANTRY ITEMS: Pretty simple, just some chicken stock (I like using low-sodium), salt, and pepper.
DUMPLINGS: This chicken and dumplings recipe uses noodle-style dumplings. You can find them in the freezer section at Walmart or on Amazon. It’s WAY cheaper to get them at Walmart though.
How to Make Chicken and Dumplings in a Crock Pot
Jump to RecipeSTEP 1 Add the chicken breasts to your slow cooker. Season them with salt and pepper. Then add the veggies and garlic and pour in the chicken stock.
STEP 2 Cover the slow cooker and cook on LOW for 4 hours or on HIGH for 3 hours. Once cooked, take the chicken out and shred it. Then return it to the crock.
STEP 3 Break the frozen dumplings into thirds. Add them 1 piece at a time to the slow cooker, stirring them into the soup every 5 pieces or so.
STEP 4 Turn the slow cooker to HIGH and cover. Cook for another 1 to 1/2 hours stirring every 15 minutes. Once the dumplings are tender and puffed up and the soup has thickened your meal is ready. Portion it into bowls and sprinkle a little chopped parsley on top.
Tips & Tricks
- You can use boneless skinless thighs instead of breasts if you prefer. Just make sure you have the same amount of chicken by weight.
- Stirring the dumplings as they cook helps prevent them from sticking to each other and to the crock.
- I highly recommend a stovetop version if you love your Chicken and Dumplings with fluffy dumplings. But if it’s a slow cooker night, you can use refrigerated biscuit dough instead of noodle-style dumplings. See the cooking times below for more information.
Crockpot Chicken and Dumplings Recipe FAQ
How long does it take for dumplings to cook in a slow cooker?
This will depend on the type of dumpling you use. But here’s a general outline. All of the recipes I’ve seen cook the dumplings on HIGH heat in the crock pot.
Noodle-Style Dumplings
- from frozen, they take 1 to 1 1/2 hours
Fluffy Dumplings
- from scratch, they take about 1-2 hours
- pieces of refrigerated biscuit dough will take about 45 mins to 1 1/2 hours
For fluffy dumplings, it’s important that you don’t open the slow cooker lid. They need to steam to puff up. You should be able to see how they’re doing through the glass. You can always check at the 45-minute mark and then cook them longer if needed.
Can you put dumplings in a slow cooker?
Yup! You just need to have the soup portion of your chicken and dumplings cooked and ready before adding them.
How do you make chicken and dumplings sauce thicker?
If your soup isn’t thick enough once everything has cooked you can mix together 2 teaspoons of cornstarch and 1/4 cup of liquid from the crock. Then pour it back in and cook uncovered and HIGH, stirring occasionally, until thickened.
Other Recipes You May like
Crock Pot Chicken and Dumplings
Equipment
Ingredients
- 3 pounds boneless skinless chicken breast
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- 1 small yellow onion diced
- 2 carrots peeled and sliced
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- 64 ounces chicken broth
- 24 ounces frozen noodle-style dumplings
- Fresh parsley chopped, for garnish
Instructions
- Place the chicken breasts into the bottom of a large slow cooker. Sprinkle the salt and pepper over the chicken. Add the onion, carrots, celery, and garlic on top. Pour in the chicken stock.
- Cover and cook on LOW for 4 hours or HIGH for 3 hours.
- Take the chicken breasts out of the slow cooker and shred them. Add the chicken back to the crock, give everything a taste, and add salt and pepper as needed.
- Break the dumplings into thirds (yes, the dumplings should still be frozen when you break them). Add the dumpling pieces one at a time to the pot, stirring them into the soup every 5 pieces or so.
- Place the slow cooker on HIGH and cook for another 1 hour to 1 hour 30 minutes, stirring every 15 minutes. This will help prevent the dumplings from sticking together or sticking to the pot.
- Dinner is ready when the dumplings are tender and puffed up, and the broth has thickened. Portion the chicken and dumplings into bowls and garnish with chopped parsley if desired before serving warm.
Notes
Nutrition
All nutritional information is based on third party calculations and is only an estimate. Each recipe and nutritional value will vary depending on the brands you use, measuring methods and portion sizes per household.