Instant Pot Chicken and Dumplings
Instant Pot Chicken and Dumplings is full of tender chicken and vegetables with easy homemade dumplings. One of the best Instant Pot dinner recipes!
Instant Pot Chicken and Dumplings
When it comes to comfort food meals, chicken and dumplings is one of the best. This Instant Pot chicken and dumplings recipe is made from scratch, completely in the pressure cooker. You can’t beat the flavor of a homemade meal!
I like to make this Instant Pot chicken and dumplings recipe with chicken thighs because they add the most flavor to the dish. I love cooking chicken thighs in the Instant Pot because they turn out tender and juicy. The broth is seasoned with onion, garlic, celery, carrots and other seasonings. The broth is thickened at the end so that it’s like a flavorful gravy.
The dumplings are similar to drop biscuits, and they are so soft and tender. Pressure cooking the dumplings in the Instant Pot keeps them especially moist.
There are a few different steps to making this recipe, but none of them is difficult or time-consuming. You especially won’t believe how quickly the dumpling dough comes together.
I hope you’ll give this Instant Pot chicken and dumplings recipe a try. It’s one of our favorite Instant Pot Chicken Recipes!
How to Make Instant Pot Chicken and Dumplings
How to Make Dumplings
There are two types of dumplings that you will find in chicken and dumplings recipes: dumplings that are like drop biscuits and dumplings that are like noodles. In this recipe, we’re making drop biscuit style dumplings because they are easiest.
To make the dumplings, combine flour, baking baking powder and salt in a bowl. Use a pastry blender or your fingers to work cold butter into the flour mixture. Then, pour in milk and stir until the dough comes together. You’ll refrigerate the dough while you prepare the other parts of the recipe.
Before pressure cooking, you’ll drop spoonfuls of the dumpling dough on top of the chicken, vegetables and broth. Instant Pot dumplings won’t brown like dumplings cooked in the oven, but they will be tender and delicious.
Brown the Chicken: How to Keep it from Sticking to the Pot
Browning the chicken in the Instant Pot using the sautĂ© function adds a lot of flavor to the finished dish. Sometimes chicken has a tendency to stick to the bottom of the pot when you sear it. To help with this, first be sure to oil the bottom of the pot well. In this recipe, you’ll spread one tablespoon of olive oil over the bottom of the pot.
Be sure to let the pot get hot before adding the chicken. Many Instant Pot models will display “Hot” when they are ready for you to sautĂ©. Adding the chicken to a hot pot lets you get a good sear on the meat, which prevents sticking.
Finally, wait until the meat has browned on the bottom side before trying to flip it over. Using skin-on chicken thighs, as recommended in this recipe, also helps to keep the chicken from sticking to the bottom of the pot.
Pressure Cook Chicken and Dumplings
Once your chicken is browned, you’ll remove it from the pot. Add 1 tablespoon of butter to the pot (you can use olive oil, but butter adds richness to the dish). SautĂ© the vegetables until they start to soften and then add the garlic. Deglaze the pot by pouring in chicken broth and scraping up any bits that are stuck to the bottom of the pot. Turn off the Instant Pot.
Add the remaining seasonings to the pot, along with the chicken thighs. Drop the dumpling dough in spoonfuls on top.
Pressure cook chicken and dumplings for 8 minutes at high pressure, followed by a 10 minute natural release. After quick releasing the rest of the pressure and opening the pot, carefully remove the dumplings and set them on a clean plate.
Remove and discard the bay leaves. Remove the chicken and set it aside to shred into bite-size pieces. Discard the skin and bones from the chicken.
Stir the frozen peas into the pot, along with the cornstarch and water mixture. Turn on sauté mode for a few minutes and this cornstarch slurry will thicken up the broth. Stir the shredded chicken back into the pot, top with the dumplings, and enjoy.
Instant Pot Chicken and Dumplings Recipe Tips
- Can I remove the skin on the chicken thighs before cooking? I tested this recipe with leaving the skin on the chicken thighs until after pressure cooking, and with taking it off before browning the chicken. I found it easiest to take the skin off after pressure cooking, when shredding the chicken. Also, the chicken sticks to the pot less when you brown it if you leave the skin on.
- Can I use boneless chicken thighs? Yes, you can make this recipe with boneless, skinless chicken thighs. Keep the pressure cooking time the same.
- Can I use boneless skinless chicken breasts? I haven’t tested this recipe with chicken breasts, but I believe that you could follow the same recipe instructions and cook time using boneless skinless chicken breasts in place of the chicken thighs.
- Always check that your chicken has reached at least 165° F on an instant read thermometer after cooking.
- Be sure to deglaze the pot after sautéing the vegetables by pouring in the chicken broth and scraping up any bits that are stuck to the bottom of the pot. If food is stuck to the bottom of the pot during pressure cooking, it may cause the burn message.
More Instant Pot Chicken Recipes:
- Instant Pot Chicken and Rice
- Instant Pot Chicken Noodle Soup
- Honey Garlic Instant Pot Chicken Breasts
- Instant Pot Butter Chicken
See all of my Instant Pot Recipes.
Instant Pot Chicken and Dumplings
Ingredients
For the Dumplings:
- 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 2 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into 6 cubes
- Âľ cup milk, whole milk is best
For the Chicken and Vegetables:
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 pounds bone-in chicken thighs*, (4-6 thighs)
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
- 1 small yellow onion, chopped
- 3 ribs celery, chopped
- 3 medium carrots, chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 3 ½ cups low sodium chicken broth
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- 2 bay leaves
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ÂĽ teaspoon black pepper
- 1 cup frozen peas
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 1 tablespoon water
Instructions
Make the Dumplings:
- In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt. Add the cold butter cubes and use a pastry blender or your fingers to work the butter into the flour until the butter pieces are very small.
- Pour in the milk and use a fork to mix until a dough forms. Refrigerate the dumpling dough while you prepare the chicken and vegetables.
Make the Chicken and Vegetables
- Heat the olive oil in the Instant Pot using saute mode. When the pot is hot, add the chicken thighs to the pot. Brown on both sides, about 4 minutes per side. Remove chicken to a clean plate.
- Add the tablespoon of butter to the pot, followed by the onion, celery and carrot. Saute the vegetables for about 5 minutes, until they begin to soften, then add the garlic and cook 30 seconds, stirring. Turn off saute mode and pour in the chicken broth. Scrape up any bits that are stuck to the bottom of the pot.
- Stir in the dried thyme, bay leaves, salt and pepper. Return the chicken thighs to the Instant Pot and push them down into the broth.
- Scoop small spoonfuls (about 1 tablespoon each) of the dumpling dough and place on top of the broth.
- Close the Instant Pot lid and turn the steam release valve to the sealing position. Set the cook time to 8 minutes at high pressure using the Pressure Cook or Manual function. The Instant Pot will take about 15 minutes to reach pressure and then the cook time will begin counting down.
- When the cook time ends, allow the pressure to naturally release for 10 minutes by just letting the Instant Pot sit. After 10 minutes, carefully turn the steam release valve to the venting position to release any remaining steam and pressure. When the pin drops down, carefully open the lid.
- Use a slotted spoon to remove the dumplings to a clean plate. Check that the chicken has reached at least 165° F using an instant read thermometer and then remove the chicken to another clean plate. Remove and discard the bay leaves.
- Stir the peas into the Instant Pot. Stir together the cornstarch and 1 tablespoon water in a small bowl. Pour into the pot and stir. If keep warm is on, turn it off and then turn on saute mode. Simmer the broth until it has thickened.
- Meanwhile, shred or cut the chicken into bite-size pieces, discarding the skin and bones. Return the shredded chicken to the pot. Once the mixture has thickened, turn off saute mode. You can return the dumplings to the pot before serving, if desired.
Notes
- To use boneless chicken thighs, follow the same recipe instructions and keep the pressure cooking time the same.
- I haven't tested this recipe with boneless skinless chicken breasts, but I believe that they will work using the same method and cook times.
Amazing! Thank you. I used chicken breast and it came out perfectÂ
Can I use flour instead of cornstarch to thicken?
You could try it, but I don’t think flour will thicken this as well as cornstarch.
What size instant pot did you use? I have a 3qt, would I need to reduce any ingredients?
I made this in my 6 quart Instant Pot. I would try halving the recipe ingredients in a 3 quart pot. The cook time will stay the same.
Amazingly delicious. I added 1 tsp of Italian seasoning to recipe. Made a pot yesterday and making another today!
Delicious! We all had two helpings. I had no plan for dinner. Searched frozen chicken in an instant pot and found my way to this tasty recipe and I had all the veggie staples on hand! Win!Â
first time using instant pot chicken and dumplings came out Awesome.
Can you substitute frozen soup mixture vegetables for the fresh? If so, would the cooking time be the same?
I haven’t tried that but it should work. I would recommend skipping the step where you saute the vegetables if using frozen veggies. The cook time is dependent on the time it takes to cook the chicken and the dumplings, so the cook time will stay the same. Frozen veggies will likely be very soft in the finished dish.
Made it with chicken breast and it was delicious. Didn’t need to thicken it at the end. Perfect dish.
I used 6 bone-in skinless chicken thighs with a total weight of just over 2 pounds. Followed the time in the recipe exactly. The thighs, dumplings and veggies were all all over cooked. Veggies very soft and almost flavorless. However the gravy was really excellent!
Living at 8 feet above sea level may play into the timing. Next time I’ll pressure cook for 6 minutes instead of 8, and manual pressure release in 5 minutes instead of 10.
Made this with left over rotisserie chicken. Didn’t need to thicken when it was done. Was super good.
Question on leftovers, do the dumplings get soggy when leftovers are stored in the refrigerator? Should they be removed and stored separately?
Since this cooks in the Instant Pot the dumplings are soft (not soggy) right after cooking. I don’t usually bother storing them separately but you can if you prefer.
This was AMAZING! I have a little leftover, do you think it would freeze well?
I haven’t tried freezing this. I don’t think the dumplings would freeze and reheat well.
Can you use frozen chicken and if so, do you need to adjust the cooking time?
Yes, you can use frozen chicken. I would try increasing the cook time to 10 or 12 minutes, and then check that the chicken has cooked through to 165 degrees F.
Tried this recipe with chicken breast and it was fine. Came out really thick and stew like, next time I’ll add more broth
This was excellent. It is time consuming but not difficult at all to make. I was hoping to have leftovers for lunch but my 16 year old son had three helpings.
I’ve always made a similar recipe in my crock pot. A lot less trouble! But I am going to try this version and see if it’s worth all the extra steps.
Hi Kristine!
I’m new to your recipe site and love it! The instructions are so well organized and easy to understand. Made your instant pot chicken and dumplings the other night and it is excellent! I used boneless skinless thighs and they browned nicely and were perfect in the dish. The broth thickened nicely during the pressure cook so I didn’t even need to use the cornstarch slurry – one less step! Looking forward to more cooking with you! 🙂
Very easy and very quick it was absolutely delicious.
How would I make this into a freezer, dump and go meal?
Hi Bernadette, Unfortunately this recipe isn’t easily adaptable to be a freezer dump and go meal.
Boneless skinless chicken breasts worked great! I also added a tsp of rosemary and left out the cornstarch and peas. My family love it!
Excellent! We are Gluten Free and Dairy Free so I substituted my GF All-Purpose mix for the flour and then coconut milk for the milk and our regular vegan “butter” and they still tasted great! My husband is super picky when I make things GF & DF (he and my son are fine so we usually have both around) and he made no comments about texture for this! He raved about how good it was!
This was an excellent recipe! Thank you. I did add a little more salt to my finished dish, but that is probably just me and my love of salt!
I make a very involved, time consuming Chicken & dumplings on the stove top that I usually only make during the dead of Winter so it’s nice to be able to throw together a pot in the IP and still have it taste like good, homemade dumplings and choose it to be a soup or a stew. I was able to short cut this by using cut small chicken tenderloin and a frozen veggie bag trinity I make of carrots, celery, onion and a clove of garlic. I needed it to go a little further amount wise so I added 2 extra cups of broth before thickening. Just throw it together with broth and done. So easy and so helpful. I will def. be making this again in both soup and stew form. Thanks for a great recipe.
Made this for supper last night with the ingredients I had on hand- substituted the thighs with frozen chicken tenderloins from a bag. I cut them up and sauteed them with the garlic so I could skip shredding the chicken and didn’t add the cornstarch. It was delicious and my family loved it!
This is a wonderful recipe! But mine came out really thick with hardly any broth. Can I add more than 3 and 1/2 cups of chicken broth?
Yes, you can increase the amount of broth if you want it thinner. I’m glad you enjoyed it!
Thank you!
If I double this recipe, does the cook time stay the same? Are there any adjustments or considerations you would recommend?
The cook time will stay the same for a double recipe. I’m not sure you will be able to fit a double amount of dumplings in an even layer on top of the chicken soup ingredients in the pot. I’d suggest just fitting as many as you can, very close together. I hope you enjoy!
I used leftover turkey. I was out of milk so I used heavy cream and a little chicken broth to thin it. I swapped cauliflower for carrots and frozen broccoli for the peas next time I’ll add it when I was supposed to add the peas. Served the dumplings to the ones not on low carb. I loved this recipe and will try again with the right ingredients.
This was amazing!! The only thing I did differently was used 3 chicken breast and 64 oz of low sodium chicken stock.. Everyone in the family raved about it!!
Thanks for a great recipe!
This is an excellent recipe with wonderful directions. Â My family loved this and so will yours! Â Thanks Kristine!
Kristine, I have made this recipe many time, with great raves. I love it. Question how would I convert this to a crockpot recipe?Â
I’m glad you’re enjoying this recipe! I haven’t yet tested it in the crockpot, but I’m hoping to at some point.
Making this now. My kids loved adding the dumplins to the pot.
I’m going to make this over the weekend.
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Quick question: I have an 8 Quart instant pot. Would this change the amount of liquid I use? What about the cooking time?Â
No changes are needed for the 8 quart IP. I hope you enjoy the recipe!
I made this recipe last night for our dinner. Â My mother made chicken and dumplings in her 1950s pressure cooker when we were kids and it was always a favorite. Â This recipe has steamed dumplings like Mom made so I was excited to make it in my Instant Pot. Every bit was delicious and brought back good memories. Â I made my dumplings with Bisquick because that is what Mom did. Â Next time, I will try the dumpling recipe given here. Â Thank you Kristine!Â
 Is there a way to save my favorite recipes?Â
Hi Anne,
I am so happy to hear that this recipe brought back warm memories for you! I currently don’t have a website feature to save recipes but it is something I am considering for the future. 🙂
Great recipe, I was a little skeptical of cooking the dumplings with the chicken and veggies but followed the directions and it turned out perfectly. Loved the moist and flavorful dumplings. Will make it again!
Delicious
I make this every other week! It’s so good and I hand puree the “soup” after cooking and my kids don’t care that it’s carrots and celery! Some things I’ve changed, bc kids, is I don’t add thyme, I use chicken breast, add an extra 1/2 cup flour and stock bc we want more of everything
Delicious! I used the flat dumplings to save time. GONE! The family devoured it, and we’re so sad when we ran out! It’s going to be a new staple in our house.
Just curious if you could used canned biscuits instead of the homemade dumplings?
Thanks for your awesome recipes!
I have not tested canned biscuits in this recipe.
So good. Will be great when the weather gets cooler here.
This recipe is awesome.
Can I use chicken tenders instead of breasts or thighs?
You can but they may be tough or overdone. Reducing the cook time would not be advised because then the other ingredients won’t be fully cooked.
This was easy and excellent! I did make a few additions though. I always have frozen peas in my freezer so was anxious when I couldn’t find any. I took all my frozen veggies out looking for them. What to do? I came across a half bag of frozen mushrooms and thought, why not? Also, a half a bag of cubed butternut squash. In it went. Then I added a couple of handfuls of Lima beans. Now Lima beans need to cook awhile so I put the lid back on and cooked 3 minutes more. While it was cooking I deboned the chicken. The result was delicious!!! Thank you for this delicious recipe.
The flavor was wonderful. The only draw back with the recipe was the dumplings were a bit doughy. BTW, chicken breast work out fine.