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.
To all who have made this recipe: did you use the high or low setting after putting in the dumpling batter? I plan to make this tomorrow night and don’t want to mess it up.
Thanks!
This looked great and I really wanted to make it but not run to the store. I sort of had everything I needed and wanted to use a few things around the kitchen anyway. I folded 4 large cabbage leaves I needed to use up on bottom. Used some recently fermented carrots and celery for those as I didn’t have fresh. Still crunchy though. Thighs instead of breasts. Can of cannellini beans poured over top. Didn’t have thyme. Instead used a dusting of turmeric and cayenne and a heavy dusting of mustard powder (really wanted the color but tasty too). Heavy cream instead of milk in dumplings. Skipped parsley. End result looks very similar. Heck of a kick. Very flavorful even if a bit different.
Perfect dumplings! Don’t overwork the butter and they will come out moist and perfectly steamed. A solid basic recipe to which other vegetables and herbs can easily be added for extra flavor. I am home with pneumonia and this was exactly what I needed! Thanks for a great recipe!
Awful! Followed this recipe to the letter. Thought it would be the perfect comfort food for a cold, cloudy rainy day. It was so bland! Tasted like flour and the “dumplings” were raw, tough, blobs of tasteless dough. Waste of time and money. Don’t make this recipe!
My family has been feeling under the weather for several days. I was looking for a quick slow cooker recipe that I didn’t have to leave the house to make. The only subs I made were chicken theighs and I added bay leaves as well (had fresh and needed to use). I just spooned out the first bowl to my 10 year old. She just yelled “this is awesome!” from the other room. Because of this, I was compelled to leave a comment. It’s flavorful and not salty and I feel good giving it to my family. Thanks!!
awesome, thanks for sharing the good news!
made me his tonight. I choose this because i had all on hand and I enjoy fresh vegetables, and i was craving this.. i did everything and followed all expect parsley, just didn’t have it. i’m not sure what to think.. it cooked all day on low for 7 hrs and making biscuits, I felt it came out very milky. I added some more seasoning, garlic pepper, onion pepper etc. It was great.. thank you for sharing
Hi. How big of a Crockpot did you use?
This sounds like the perfect comfort food! I love chicken and dumplings!
Yummmmmmmmmmmm!!!
Hi Kellie! I love everything about this recipe! Thanks for sharing it; I can’t wait to fix it! Love Chicken & Dumplings 🙂 I’m wondering if you cooked the Dumplings on High or Low for that last hour?