Crock Pot Chicken and Dumplings
This Crock Pot Chicken and Dumplings is an easy, comforting crockpot meal, made from scratch. A delicious chicken soup is topped with fluffy, tender dumplings, all cooked in the slow cooker!
Looking for more crockpot chicken recipes? Try these next: Crockpot Chicken Noodle Soup, Crockpot Chicken and Potatoes and Slow Cooker Chicken Broccoli Rice Casserole.
This crock pot chicken and dumplings is one of the best meals I’ve made in my slow cooker lately. Like Instant Pot Chicken and Dumplings and this stovetop Chicken and Dumplings, it’s hearty, flavorful and so comforting.
Why You’ll Love this Crock Pot Chicken and Dumplings
You’ll love making chicken and dumplings in the crockpot because it’s an especially easy way to prepare this classic comfort food. The chicken is fall apart tender after cooking in the slow cooker and the dumplings cook up perfectly soft and fluffy in the moist low heat environment of your crockpot.
While many crock pot chicken and dumplings recipes call for using store-bought biscuits and canned cream of soups, I opted to make this version from scratch. Making the dumpling dough from scratch takes just 5 minutes and it’s so much better than using store bought biscuits. And there’s no need to add canned soup; this slow cooker chicken and dumplings is just as good (and better for you) without it.
Ingredients You’ll Need
You’ll need just a few simple ingredients to make the flavorful chicken soup:
- Onion: For flavor.
- Butter: Adds richness and flavor.
- Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts.
- Seasonings: You’ll need dried thyme, garlic powder, salt, pepper and bay leaves.
- Chicken Broth: Use low sodium chicken broth so that the crockpot chicken and dumplings doesn’t turn out too salty.
- Cornstarch: Slightly thickens the soup.
- Frozen Peas and Carrots: I like to use frozen vegetables in this recipe to save prep time. Not only do they make the recipe easier, but frozen vegetables are typically just as nutritious as fresh.
For the Dumpling Dough
- Flour: All-purpose flour works perfect here.
- Baking Powder: Makes the dumplings rise as they cook.
- Salt: An essential ingredient for flavor.
- Milk: Whole milk is best for richness and flavor, but 2% will also work.
- Melted Butter: For flavor.
Find the full recipe with ingredient amounts in the recipe card below.
How to Make Chicken and Dumplings in a Crock Pot
Add soup ingredients to slow cooker. Put the chopped onion and butter (cut into 4 pieces) in the bottom of the slow cooker. Place the chicken breasts on top and sprinkle with the seasonings. Then pour in the chicken broth.
Slow cook on high for 3-4 hours or low for 6-7 hours, until the chicken is cooked through and tender.
Make the dumpling dough when the slow cooking time is almost done. Whisk together the dry ingredients and then stir in the wet ingredients with a fork until the dough comes together.
Shred the chicken and add the frozen veggies to the slow cooker. Return the shredded chicken to the slow cooker and stir in the cornstarch slurry.
Cook the dumplings. Scoop small spoonfuls of dumpling dough on top of the soup in the slow cooker. Cover and cook on high for 1.5-2 hours, until the dumplings are cooked through.
Then serve and enjoy! All you’ll need to round out the meal is a salad. I recommend this Kale Salad or a simple Green Salad.
Recipe Tips
- If you want to use fresh vegetables (such as chopped carrots and celery) instead of frozen, you can add them to the slow cooker with the onion.
- Don’t leave slow cooker lid off for too long when adding the vegetables or dumplings. The longer the lid is off, the more heat will escape and the longer it will take the crockpot to come back up to temperature when cooking the dumplings.
- See my post about how to shred chicken for easy ways to shred chicken. My favorite way is to use a stand mixer. It’s so fast and easy!
- Be sure to have the slow cooker set to high when cooking the dumplings. To check if the dumplings are done, I like to split one in half with two forks. If the inside looks cooked through rather than doughy, they are done.
More Easy Crockpot Meals
Crockpot meals are a lifesaver for getting dinner on the table on busy days. Here are a few more of our favorites:
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Crockpot Chicken and Dumplings
Ingredients
For the Chicken Soup
- 1 medium sweet yellow onion, chopped
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into 4 pieces
- 1 ½ pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- 2 bay leaves
- 3 cups low sodium chicken broth
- 2 tablespoons cornstarch
- 2 tablespoons water
- 12 ounces frozen peas and carrots*, 2 ½ cups
For the Dumplings
- 1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup milk, whole milk is best
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
Instructions
- Add the onion and butter to the bottom of the slow cooker. Place the chicken breasts on top. Sprinkle the dried thyme, garlic powder, salt and pepper over the chicken breasts and add the bay leaves to the pot. Pour in the chicken broth.
- Cover and cook on high for 3-4 hours or low for 6-7 hours, until chicken is cooked through and tender.
- When the cook time is almost done, make the dumpling dough. In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt. Pour in the milk and melted butter and stir with a fork until the dough comes together. Put in the refrigerator for a few minutes while you shred the chicken.
- Make a cornstarch slurry by whisking together the 2 tablespoons cornstarch and 2 tablespoons water in a small bowl. Set aside. Remove the chicken to a clean plate or bowl. Remove and discard the bay leaves. Stir the cornstarch slurry and frozen vegetables into the slow cooker and put the lid back on. If you had been cooking on low, switch the slow cooker to the high setting because the dumplings need to be cooked on high.
- Shred the chicken. Stir the shredded chicken into the slow cooker.
- Working quickly so as to not have the lid off of the slow cooker for too long, scoop small spoonfuls (about 1 tablespoon each) of the dumpling dough and place in a single layer on top of the soup in the slow cooker. There may be some space in between the dumplings; they will expand some as they cook. Spoon a little of the broth over each of the dumplings. Cover and cook for 1 ½ – 2 hours on high, until the dumplings are cooked through. Serve.
Notes
- If you want to use fresh vegetables (such as chopped carrots and celery) instead of frozen, you can add them to the slow cooker with the onion.
This was really tasty and easy to make and the dumplings are great! For some reason mine didn’t have much liquid when it was time to cook the dumplings. I had to add another cup of chicken broth and didn’t add all the shredded chicken back to the crockpot.
So delicious! I never made this before but I tried your Beef Stew recipe last night and it was great so I tried this one today. I used one Bay Leaf and took it out after a couple hours because I don’t love the taste. Everything was exact. Wow! Thank you for the recipe.
I’m so happy to hear that you enjoyed this meal. Thank you for trying my recipes!