Super easy Slow Cooker Chicken and Dumplings are the ultimate cold weather comfort food. This recipe is filled with vegetables and chicken swimming in a light cream sauce, then topped with buttery biscuits creating a family favorite for years to come.
What are Chicken and Dumplings?
Chicken is cooked with broth and vegetables until tender. Then the mixture is topped with a simple dumpling dough. The dumplings bake right on top of the chicken mixture. They turn out soft and doughy. It’s all made easier when made in a slow cooker. This is a great comfort food recipe that is always a family favorite dinner.
Finally, there’s a chill in the air. I love the summer but it just got so darn hot that I was counting the days until a little crisp fall temps arrived in my area. And they’re here…to stay….and I’m already craving all the comfort food. It truly is the best way to enjoy the cooler weather. That….and thick fluffy sweaters!
A lot of people are “dusting off” their slow cookers right about now but the truth is…mine’s been working overtime all summer long. It’s just another tool in the kitchen that allows me to enjoy a hearty meal without spending tons of time hovering over my stove. I can multi-task like a pro and look like I have my entire life pulled together….which is not entirely true. But at the very least, my family has full bellies at the end of the day with a tasty home cooked meal that didn’t take much effort at all. These Slow Cooker Chicken and Dumplings are a fantastic way to hunker down on a chilly night.
This recipe is so simple to make. You simply layer your vegetables and chicken in your slow cooker then pour in the stock. Cook for a few hours, then shred your chicken into bite-sized pieces before returning to the slow cooker to continue cooking. Stir in a bit of cream, top with your dumpling dough and cook for a little while longer.
By the time dinner rolls around, you have a hearty one-pot dinner the whole family will be begging for every single week.
Here are a few more slow cooker recipes you might enjoy:
- Lightened Up Slow Cooker Beef Stroganoff
- Slow Cooker Hawaiian Sticky Chicken
- Slow Cooker Butter Chicken
- Easy Chicken Santa Fe
- Slow Cooker French Dip Sandwiches
Slow Cooker Chicken and Dumplings
Ingredients
- 1½ cups chopped onion
- 1 cup chopped carrot
- 1/2 cup chopped celery
- 2 medium garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
- 1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts
- 2 cups low-sodium chicken broth
- 2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme
- 1/2 teaspoon Kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1 cup half and half cream
- 2 tablespoons cornstarch
- 1 cup all purpose flour
- 1½ teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon Kosher salt
- 3 tablespoons cold salted butter, cut into small cubes
- 1/2 cup milk
- 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley, for serving
Instructions
- In the bottom of the slow cooker, layer the onions, carrot, celery and garlic cloves. Place the chicken breasts on top of the vegetables and pour the broth over the chicken. Sprinkle the chicken with thyme, salt and pepper. Place the lid on the slow cooker and cook for 3 hours on high (or 6 hours on low).
- Remove the chicken from the slow cooker and shred into bite-sized pieces with a fork. Return to the slow cooker.
- In a medium bowl, whisk the half and half together with the cornstarch. Pour the mixture into the slow cooker and stir to combine.
- In a small bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, garlic powder and salt. Work in the butter using your fingers until course crumbs begin to form.
- Stir in the milk and combine well until a sticky dough begins to form.
- Drop tablespoon-sized dollops of dough over the stew in an even layer. Place the lid on the slow cooker and cook for 1 additional hour or until the dumplings are cooked through.
- Sprinkle with parsley and serve immediately.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
One of the few truly from scratch recipes out there, and it was delish. We added Worcestershire sauce, paprika, poultry seasoning, and dried thyme leaves instead of fresh, celery salt instead of salt b/c no celery, canned veg, frozen green beans, and a bit of red chilli powder on top, and cooked 2hrs longer b/c we used frozen, boneless, skinless thighs.
My family loved this dish. I’d never made chicken and dumplings before, but my husband grew up eating this dish, so I thought I’d try it. I used homemade chicken broth that I created the day before. I didn’t have celery, so I omitted it. I cooked it on high instead of on low and I made sure to temper the half and half/cornstarch mixture before adding it to my crock pot. Dumplings were very, very flavorful. I’ve already had my kids ask me to make this dish again! Thanks for sharing.
I love this recipe. My kids love it.
I cook the first 6 hours on low & the last hour on high.
I made this for dinner, with a few tweaks…
I added 8 oz of chopped mushrooms to the other veggies, used a homemade vegan “chicken bouillon mix” instead of
commercially prepared chicken broth…
and cooked it in a 6 & 1/2 quart cooking pot
on top of the stove (biz I didn’t have time to use the crockpot, by the time I returned from the grocery store). I also used a home made
blended ‘almond cream’, instead of
half-&-half. And used a lb of cooked
gnocchi (instead of making biscuits) added
to the cooking pot just prior to serving.
Total comfort food!