Slow Cooker Chicken and Dumplings is an amazingly easy crock pot recipe! It’s a warm, cozy chicken soup made with simple ingredients and a few shortcuts!
Looking for more Crockpot Chicken Recipes? Try my Crockpot Chicken Pot Pie or my Crock BBQ Pulled Chicken!
Easy Crockpot Chicken and Dumplings
It’s that time of the year where I feel like my Slow Cooker is on permanent rotation! Of course I use it all year round, but when the kids go back to school in the fall is when my Crock Pot really gets a work out. And today’s recipe is one I know you will be making all year long!
I’ll be the first to admit this recipe definitely uses some shortcuts, but I won’t apologize for them! I have made Chicken and Dumplings from scratch TONS of times, and it’s fantastic, but there is also a place in my life for time savers on busy nights. And since my family loves this version of classic chicken and dumplings so much I thought I would share it with you too!
Why Use the Crockpot?
Crockpot recipes are total time savers! Not only is this recipe delicious, the prep time is super quick! Slow Cookers can really come in handy when you know you won’t have a lot of time to get dinner on the table in the evening. And with this chicken and dumplings recipe you really only need a few everyday ingredients.
What You’ll Need
- Yellow onion – You could also use a white onion.
- Garlic – Minced
- Chicken breasts – I use boneless, skinless, chicken breasts in this recipe. They are lean and shred beautifully after being slow cooked.
- Ground black pepper
- Dried thyme
- Cream of chicken soup
- Chicken broth – You can also use vegetable broth
- Frozen peas and carrots
- Can buttermilk biscuits
How to Make Crockpot Chicken and Dumplings
This is truly an easy chicken recipe from start to finish. There are just a few quick steps you need to do before you turn your slow cooker on.
- Microwave the onions. Place the diced onions in a medium microwave safe bowl. Heat on high for 1 minute. Stir and heat for another 30 seconds, or until the onions are softened and slightly translucent.
- Add everything except the biscuits to your crockpot. Place the onions in the bottom of your slow cooker. Arrange the chicken breasts on top of the onions. Sprinkle with pepper and thyme. Spread the 2 cans of condensed chicken soup evenly on top of the chicken and add in the chicken broth and garlic.
- Cook. Cover and cook on high for 4 hours or until the chicken is tender.
- Shred the chicken. Using two forks, shred the chicken in the slow cooker and stir in the frozen peas and carrots. Alternately you can remove the chicken to shred and place it back in.
- Add the biscuits. Tear or cut the biscuits into 1- inch pieces and drop into the slow cooker. When all the biscuits are added, stir to coat them evenly in the soup mixture, making sure they are all pressed into the liquid.
- Cook again. Replace the lid and cook for 1 more hour, or until the biscuits are cooked through, stirring once halfway through.
- Serve warm.
Why Does the Recipe Say To Microwave the Onions?
Ok, so the first step in my recipe is to microwave diced onions. You CAN skip this if you really want to, but I just like to get the onions cooking a little bit…soften them up…before placing them in the slow cooker.
Onions don’t always soften up in the slow cooker, and I really, REALLY dislike crunchy onions in soups and stews. So cooking them in the microwave gets the process started. It’s a lot like if you were to sauté them…it just gets that crunch gone!
Frequently Asked Questions
I like the combo of peas and carrots in my chicken and dumplings, but you can honestly use just about any type of veggies you prefer!
You certainly COULD use boneless chicken thighs as well, but they typically have more fat to trim, and this recipe really doesn’t need additional fat to make it delicious. But yes, you could use them if you wanted! And yes, of course you could use bone-in chicken and then pull the meat from the bone…but why would you want to?
You can absolutely make your own homemade biscuit dough and use that in this recipe. I just like using canned biscuits in this recipe because it’s a time saver!
For this recipe I believe that you condensed soup is the best option, as they hold up and keep their consistency well in the heat. Dairy can curdle and separate in the slow cooker, and you want this to be as creamy as possible. You can absolutely use low-sodium condensed soup if are trying to watch your sodium intake!
How to Store and Reheat Leftovers
Let your leftovers cool and then transfer them to an airtight container and store in the fridge for 3-4 days.
When you are ready to reheat extras, scoop the desired amount into a microwave-safe bowl and microwave until warmed through, stopping halfway through the heating time to stir everything.
Looking For More Slow Cooker Recipes? Try These:
PrintCrockpot Chicken and Dumplings
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Prep Time: 10 minutes
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Cook Time: 5 hours
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Total Time: 5 hours 10 minutes
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Yield: serves 6
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Category: Soup
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Method: Slow Cooker
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Cuisine: Dinner
Description:
This easy slow cooker chicken and dumplings recipe is quick to prep and the perfect comfort food for busy evenings!
Ingredients:
- 3/4 cup diced yellow onion (about 1/2 medium onion)
- 2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts
- 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- 2 (10.75- ounce) cans cream of chicken soup
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 1/2 cups chicken broth
- 2 cups frozen peas and carrots (alternately 1 cup of each)
- 1 (16- ounce) can buttermilk biscuits
Instructions
- Place the diced onions in a medium microwave safe bowl. Heat on high for 1 minute. Stir and heat for another 30 seconds, or until the onions are softened and slightly translucent.
- Place the onions in the bottom of your slow cooker. Arrange the chicken breasts on top of the onions.
- Sprinkle with pepper and thyme.
- Spread the 2 cans of condensed chicken soup evenly on top of the chicken and add in the chicken broth and garlic.
- Cover and cook on high for 4 hours or until the chicken is tender.
- Using two forks, shred the chicken in the slow cooker and stir in the frozen peas and carrots. Alternately you can remove the chicken to shred and place it back in.
- Tear or cut the biscuits into 1- inch pieces and drop into the slow cooker.
- When all the biscuits are added, stir to coat them evenly in the soup mixture, making sure they are all pressed into the liquid.
- Replace the lid and cook for 1 more hour, or until the biscuits are cooked through, stirring once halfway through. Serve warm.
Notes:
Store airtight for up to 3 days in the refrigerator. If you prefer a more soup texture, as opposed to thick stew add in 1/2 – 3/4 cup more chicken broth.
Nutrition Information:
Keywords: crock pot chicken and dumplings recipe, slow cooker chicken and dumplings, easy chicken crockpot recipes
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Do you stir the biscuits throughout the soup or are you stirring to coat and leaving on the top?
They will come up to the top, but do your best to cover them in liquid so they cook evenly!
Undercooked biscuit dough!
★
THIS LOOKS ABSOLUTELY DELICIOUS, BUT I WAS ACTUALLY LOOKING FOR A DUMPLING RECEIPE.
This recipe turned out SOOO good! It is now a favorite in my house and even though I just made it I already want to do it again! Thank you so much for the recipe. ❤❤❤
I would double the recipe because 4 of us cleaned it out so quickly there was no room for anyone to have seconds. We will be having tbis again soon!
★★★★★
Love hearing this!!!
Biscuits have been cooking on high for over an hour now, I made sure they were saturated in liquid like instructions but they are still like dough???
That’s very strange… I can’t imagine why cooking in the oven for an hour wouldn’t work… dumplings are naturally slightly “doughy, but they shouldn’t be raw. Sounds like a temperature issue?
I had the exact same thing. slow cooker on high for 90 min after biscuits and they were still totally raw. Left on high another 90 min and it was only marginally better. Guessing “high” on my crock is just not hot enough. Will try recipe again using a Dutch oven in the oven so I can crank up the temp.
Same issue. Just had to send the hubby to Subway for last minute dinner as we cant keep waiting with school tomorrow. 🙁
I just had a similar issue. I was wondering if the temp of the frozen peas and carrots brought the temp down too much and that’s why the biscuits didn’t adequately cook. Otherwise, I loved the recipe. But next time I’m going to make sure it’s really hot before adding the biscuits. Also I don’t know if the shape of the slow cooker makes a difference but hers looks more spread out because it’s oval and mine is round so everything is more stacked.
★★★★★
Is it normal for the biscuits to shred instead of staying in one piece?
hmmm, I have never had that happen!
What would your recommendation be for timing if the chicken is already cooked and shredded?
I would just add that in at the end to warm up, maybe 30 minutes or so!
So I love this recipe – it’s always a huge hit – and I love Shelly’s version. I have done this a little bit differently and it always comes out consistently good. I dice about 2.5 lbs of raw chicken thighs and breasts. For me – the dark meat makes a huge difference. I season the chicken chunks with Bell’s Chicken Seasoning, salt, and pepper, and then dice chunks of carrots and celery to add to the onion and place the chicken over that. I cover it with the cream of chicken soup – then out the other half of… Read more »
Thank you so much for your detailed review!!
So what’s the conclusion in the biscuits? 1 1/2 hr?
Do I turn it down for the biscuits?
Nope!
Can I use frozen chicken?
I have never done this with frozen chicken, but I know that it’s possible.
I used frozen chicken breast and just added about 30-40 min to the initial cook time before shredding. Turned out tender and delicious!
★★★★★
This recipe tastes super good, I could’ve just shredded the chicken and put the sauce and chicken over rice , however, after adding in the biscuit pieces for the dumplings. I cooked for an hr like it said, but when I stir it and started to serve, the biscuits didn’t really turn to dumplings they just fell apart into mush. What did I do wrong? I did turn it back on high to cook for an hr. Should I have left it on warm or low? When my crockpot reaches the desired cooking time that I set it for it… Read more »
This happened to me to! I would love to know why because it was very good otherwise.
I just made it last weekend and had left my crock pot on high for about 30-40 minutes longer than the recipe said. Biscuits were cooked although my wife wants to make her own dumplings when we do it again.
★★★★★
Same thing happened here :/
Make your dumplings with the bisquick recipe always comes out great.
★★★★
Can you freeze this?
This was so good! My entire family loved it. Thank you for the recipe!
★★★★★
Yum!! Can’t wait to make this….If I wanted to use a rotisserie chicken…when would you add that??
You could add it when you add the biscuits. Of course the only reason to slow cook it for hours before is to cook the chicken, so you could really do it on the stove top if you’re adding rotisserie 🙂