This crockpot chicken and dumplings is a warm, cozy chicken soup made with simple ingredients and a few shortcuts!
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 workout. 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!
This Chicken and Dumplings Recipe? Kind of a Big Deal
- Total comfort food. It’s creamy, cozy, and tastes like something your grandma made on a snow day. Except you didn’t have to stand over the stove for hours!
- No dough-making required. I mean, you could make homemade dumplings, but why? Canned biscuits do the job and no one complains. They get all soft and pillowy and soak up that creamy sauce like champs.
- Just a handful of ingredients. Chicken, a couple cans of soup, some seasonings, and biscuits. That’s it. Nothing fancy, but it works.
- Kids love it. This is one of those dinners that disappears fast. No whining. No drama. Just clean plates. That’s a winning chicken recipe if you ask me!
Looking for more ways to cook chicken in your crockpot? Try Crockpot Chicken Pot Pie or BBQ Pulled Chicken!
What You’ll Need
Make sure to scroll down to the bottom of this post to the recipe card for the full ingredient list and printable recipe!
- Yellow onion – You could also use a white onion.
- Garlic, minced – Fresh is great, but the jarred kind totally works. No shame.
- Chicken breasts – Boneless, skinless is the way to go. They shred up nice and soak up all that creamy goodness. You could use boneless thighs if you prefer something a little richer.
- Seasonings – Ground black pepper and dried thyme
- Cream of chicken soup – This is where the magic starts. It makes everything creamy and cozy with almost no effort.
- Chicken broth – Use low-sodium if you’re watching salt. And if you only have veggie broth, it’s fine—no one will notice.
- Frozen peas and carrots – Straight from the bag. No need to thaw. If your family’s anti-peas, just swap for corn or skip them entirely.
- Can buttermilk biscuits – The star of the show. They fluff up into the best little dumplings. I use Pillsbury Grands, but anything similar works. Just don’t use the flaky layers kind, they fall apart and get weird.
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!
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.
More Crockpot Recipes
Crockpot Chicken and Dumplings
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 5 hours
- Total Time: 5 hours 10 minutes
- Yield: serves 6
- Category: Soup
- Method: Slow Cooker
- 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
- Serving Size:
- Calories: 298
- Sugar: 1.9 g
- Sodium: 578.6 mg
- Fat: 6.9 g
- Carbohydrates: 18.9 g
- Protein: 40.8 g
- Cholesterol: 114.9 mg
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 goes to warm. Should I have just left it on that? Did setting it to high again make it too hot for too long, making the biscuits fall apart? Thanks for any feedback.
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 🙂
Just realized this recipe says it was made in a six-quart slow cooker; I checked, mine apparently is a two-quart: Do you just divide all the ingredients by three?
A 6- quart slow cooker definitely isn’t filled to the top with this recipe, so there is room to use smaller sized pots, but 2- quart would be too small, I’m afraid. You could cut the recipe in half.
Again, super glad I asked! And thank you, again!
This looks amazing, someone gave me a slow cooker about four years ago and I’ve never used it, I am contemplating trying this. However, as an idiot, I truly do not understand this part: the instructions say to place the chicken in, pour all the gunk over it, cook, and then….. next part is to “shred the chicken”?
If it is already in there with all that other stuff, are you saying dig out the pieces of chicken and….. take a knife & fork and cut them up into small pieces, then pour them back in the soup? Couldn’t I just cut up the breasts into tiny little pieces BEFORE placing in the slow cooker the first time, or would that be incorrect?
You certainly could do it that way. But yes, shred the chicken right in the slow cooker. I use 2 forks to do this which is easy. You can certainly remove the chicken to shred it and place it back in the slow cooker.
Thank you, Shelly, appreciate it!!
I prefer to cook on low, so what would be the time adjustments? Thanks, I can’t wait to try it!
You would increase the time to 7-8 hours, and the extra time after you’ve added the dumplings, you might need to increase to 1 1/2 hours.
Any suggestions if using fresh instead of frozen carrots?
I would add them in at the same time as stated, with an hour left on cooking as long as you dice them small!
I would sauté them, along with the onions, for a few minutes before adding them to the slow cooker.
Thanks for this recipe. Anything that I can prep before work in the morning and then have dinner when I get home in the evening is a winner.
It’s really a great meal to come home to!
Can this be done in an instant pot?
I have never made this recipe in a pressure cooker, but I am sure it could be done… or do you mean the instant pot using the slow cooker setting? If that’s the case, absolutely!