Thursday, February 14, 2013

Easy Peasy Slow Cooker Chicken and Dumplings

I am usually one to make every aspect of chicken and dumplings from scratch.  And, I'm not sure that I had ever made them in the slow cooker before testing this recipe.  I, normally, like to start with a fresh, whole chicken.  I use the meat and stock from boiling the chicken for my traditional recipe.  And, I like to make my dumplings from scratch.

 
But, I have had a super-hectic schedule recently. I haven't had a lot of time to go the labor-intensive, from-scratch route, but we were all craving Chicken and Dumplings.  So, I utilized my slow cooker and a couple of ingredients that I try to use only in moderation in my everyday cooking - canned soup and refrigerated biscuits - to make this super simple version.  (I almost titled this post "Cheater's Chicken and Dumplings" because it's just so easy.)

Our family loved it. The slow cooker did all of the work. The result was still that comfort food that we know and love. I will say that chicken and dumplings is not a dish that photographs well, so the photos really don't do it justice, as they say. But, please trust me that this recipe is one to have in your back pocket when you may be short on time, but still are wanting something lovely and pleasing on a chilly day.

NOTE: I have found that using buttermilk biscuits yields a dumpling that is oddly too sweet for this recipe. Therefore, I highly recommend using an original-style flavor of biscuit.

Yields 4 - 6 servings.


Ingredients:

2 large boneless/skinless chicken breasts, each cut in half
Salt
Black pepper
1 teaspoon garlic powder
Pinch of dried thyme (optional)
4 chicken bouillon cubes
1 can cream of chicken soup
Water
1 can (8 count) Grands large-style biscuits (original - not buttermilk style)

Directions:

Add the cream of chicken soup to slow cooker.  Add in 4 cans worth of water using the soup can for measuring.  Drop in the bouillon cubes.  Sprinkle in the garlic powder and thyme.  Use a fork or small whisk to blend everything together right in the slow cooker. 

Season chicken slightly with salt and pepper.  Place in slow cooker.

Cook on low for 5 - 6 hours.  Then, break the chicken up a bit using two forks ... you can remove the chicken or do this right in the slow cooker.  Shred or break it up as much as you'd like.

Cut each biscuit into 8 - 10 pieces.  (Clean kitchen scissors work well for this task.)  Drop the pieces into the slow cooker one at a time.  As you do so, let each piece "dip" or "plunge" into the liquid so that each dough piece gets a full coating of gravy on the surface. (This will ensure that the pieces of dough stay somewhat separate and don't stick together as much.) Stir gently once all of the dough is in the slow cooker.


Cover and cook for an additional 2 hours.  If the biscuit pieces stick to the sides of your insert or some are starting to brown/crisp up, you can press them down or very gently stir them into the liquid during the cooking process. Once or twice during the cooking process, very gently move the dumplings around as needed with a spoon.

A little more water (hot) can be stirred in once the dumplings are cooked if your gravy is a little too thick for your liking.

Give everything a slight stir before serving.  Garnish with a little more thyme, if desired.

Excellent served with or over mashed potatoes.


03/10/16: Updated photos. Made clarifications within the post and recipe directions.

21 comments :

  1. Can I put frozen chicken in or does it need to be thawed out? And if I put frozen chicken in should I add more time before adding the biscuits? -Thanks

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    1. Angela @JoyouslyDomesticApril 1, 2013 at 2:31 PM

      I have never tried it with frozen, so I'm not totally sure. I would think it would be okay. You'll have to let us know if you do try it. :) Just shred the chicken or break it up once the meat is fully cooked, then add in the biscuits. Not sure if the time will change.

      Angela

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    2. I used frozen chicken and it worked fine!

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  2. Made this tonight in rainy Colorado. I added peas and carrots at the same time I added the biscuits. So good, kids went for 2nds which is rare and asked to have it for breakfast tomorrow. Thank you for a new staple on our Crock Pot menu!

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    1. Love the addition of veggies. And, so glad to hear that your kids enjoyed this dish! (That's always a great thing, huh!) Thank you for your feedback and for stopping back to comment!

      Blessing,
      Angela

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  3. Have baseball practice tomorrow, this will be perfect for after! Thanks

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  4. you cook the biscuits before adding them into the crock pot right?

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  5. Hi, I have this in the crockpot now and I'm not sure if I'm suppose to bake the biscuits first or if they cook in the sauce, please help. Thanks.

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    1. The canned biscuits go into the slow cooker uncooked. They will cook in the sauce. :)

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    2. they do not cook correctly they are mushy and they do not cook in the sauce.

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  6. How many servings do you get out of this? I have 8 in my family, will I need to make adjustments?

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    1. Hi there. This makes enough for two adults and three children (14, 10 and 5) in our house ... with maybe 1 - 2 servings leftover. So, you may be borderline ... depending on how big of servings your crew will eat. We all eat a pretty good size portion - except for maybe my five-year old. I serve this usually with mashed potatoes and a salad (or cooked veggie) as sides, so our portion size for this dish may be a little smaller compared to if we were having it on its own. You could probably add in another chicken breast and a little more liquid to bulk this up ... I'm not sure about adding in another entire can of biscuits, however. I don't know how it would cook up with that much extra dough in there. If you do try doubling it, please let us know how it works. :) Thanks for your question and for stopping by!

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  7. If you double the biscuits, I would think you would almost double the liquid. Other wise you will not have enough liquid to cook the biscuits.

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    1. Since I have never tried to double the recipe, I'm not sure exactly. But, that would make sense. Thank you!

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  8. My grandson has been asking me if I can make chicken a dumplings. I made this tonight and was somewhat disappointed. The biscuits tasted raw. I cooked it longer than the 2 hours and it still tasted raw and it needed more chicken it made to much gravy. I used two large chicken breast so next time I will use 3 chicken breasts and hopefully it will be better .

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    1. I'm so sorry that the recipe didn't work out for you. I make this at least once a month now and we've never had any problems. Not sure what went wrong for you. :( The only thing I could maybe suggest is to adjust your cooking time to what works for you - slow cooker cooking times can vary greatly - so maybe cooking the biscuits much longer is needed in yours.

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    2. I rolled the biscuits out a bit and then cut them with a pizza cutter.....they cooked perfectly!

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  9. Do you cook the biscuits on low or high for those 2 hours?

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    1. With my slow cooker, I keep it on low. If you think they are not cooking fast enough to your liking, I suppose you can increae temp to high towards the end. :)

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    2. Thanks. I made them late last night and we are eating it now. The biscuits are still kinda gooey and have a semi raw taste and I cooked them 30 minutes longer. My family is enjoying it and my dad (who I cooked it for since his birthday was yesterday) won't stop raving about it. So I say thank you for this recipe! I will definitely make it again!

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