Crock Pot Chicken and Dumplings

January 4, 2015 By Arlene Mobley

Crock Pot Chicken and Dumplings

This easy Crock Pot Chicken and Dumplings is the first crock pot recipe of 2015. As I mentioned in my 25 Best Flour On My Face Recipes post the other day that I would be sharing more crock pot recipes in 2015 I got right to work.

One of the best things about cooking in a crock pot is that many recipes only require a few ingredients. This Crock Pot Chicken and Dumplings recipe only has 3 ingredients plus the seasonings to flavor the broth.

How to make Chicken and Dumplings in a Crock Pot

You will need 4 boneless chicken breasts, canned biscuits, low sodium chicken broth, an onion, some chopped garlic, a few bay leaves and salt and pepper to make this Chicken and Dumplings recipe.

Many many years ago-before the internet even existed when I was learning to make meals for my growing family I learned that canned biscuits make wonderful dumplings when you drop them in a pot of boiling broth. Back before I ever used a crock pot I would make this Chicken and Dumplings recipe in a big stock pot. I would boil bone in chicken breasts (my family hates dark meat) with all the ingredients to make a lovely broth. I would then pull the meat from the bones and put it back into the pot. I would slice up a couple cans of biscuits and drop them in the pot. They behaved and taste just like homemade dumplings would.

So since this is going to be the year of Flour On My Face crock pot recipes I decided to convert that old family recipe into a Crock Pot Chicken and Dumplings recipe. The biscuits behaved the same way in my crock pot as they did when I made this recipe the old fashioned way. Once you drop the canned biscuits into the hot broth they float to the top. After they cook through the middle they sink just like a homemade dumpling do.

Add all of the ingredients except the biscuits to your crock pot. Cook on high for 4 hours or until the boneless chicken breasts are cooked through.

Once the chicken breasts are cooked through remove them from the crock pot and carefully strain the hot broth through a fine mesh strainer.

Straining the crock pot broth gives you a nice clear chicken broth and removes of those weird little pieces you get when cooking chicken. This is also a must if you cooked chicken breasts on the bone which you can do if that is what you have on hand. Bone in chicken breasts creates a richer broth while straining also makes sure that no pieces of chicken bones end up in your Chicken and Dumplings.

Cut or pull the chicken apart into bite size pieces and return the chicken to the crock pot. Add a couple of bay leaves and salt and pepper to the tastes.

Replace the cover on the crock pot and cook on high for about 30 minutes until simmering.

I used 2 rolls of buttermilk biscuits to make the dumplings for this recipe. You can use any flavor of bisucuits you’d like but avoided the “layered” biscuits. They don’t work as well as the plain old style of biscuits. The layers tend to separate and the dumplings are thin. With this type of biscuit the dumplings turn out nice and plump.

Cut this size of biscuit into fourths. Cut all of the biscuits at once before adding them to the crock pot or some biscuits will be cooked through while the biscuit pieces added to the crock pot last with be doughy.

Add the biscuits to the crock pot and stir them well.

Replace the lid and cook until the dumplings are no longer doughy in the center and have sunk below the broth. They start cooking immedietly from the heat of the broth.

Serve a big bowl of this Easy Crock Pot Chicken and Dumplings recipe on a cold winter day and your family will love you for it!

How to make Crock Pot Chicken and Dumplings

Ingredients

4 boneless chicken breast halves
6 cups chicken broth
1 medium onion
3-6 bay leaves
2 garlic cloves minced
salt
pepper
1-2 cans of biscuits

Directions

Put the first 7 ingredients in a crock pot and cook on high for 4 hours.
Remove the chicken breasts from the crock pot.
Carefully strain the hot broth removing the onion, bay leaves and any sediments.
Return the broth to the crock pot.
Cut or pull the chicken into bite size pieces.
Return chicken to the crock pot and heat on high for about 30 minutes.
Cut biscuits into 4ths or strips.Drop biscuit pieces into the crock pot and stir.
Return the lid and cook until the biscuits are cooked through, about 30-60 minutes depending on how many biscuits you use.
To thicken the gravy mix 2 teaspoons flour with 2 teaspoons water until lumps are gone. Add to crock pot and stir.
Replace lid and cook on high until biscuits are cooked through and gravy has thickened.