Nothing beats a warm bowl of homemade chicken and dumplings on a busy weeknight. As a busy mom, I’m always on the lookout for an easy chicken dinner that tastes like it simmered all day. This super easy chicken and dumplings recipe is a lifesaver in my household when we need comfort food fast. It’s cozy, creamy, and comes together on the stovetop in about 30 minutes. The best part? We use canned biscuit dough for quick, fluffy dumplings – a clever shortcut that saves time without sacrificing that homemade taste.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Fast and Simple: Ready in about 30 minutes – perfect for those hectic weeknights when everyone’s hungry and you need dinner now.
- Family-Friendly Comfort: Creamy, hearty, and absolutely satisfying – my whole family (even the picky eaters) gobbles it up every time.
- Shortcut Ingredients, Homemade Taste: Using rotisserie chicken and canned biscuit dough means minimal prep – you get all the classic flavor without spending hours making dumplings from scratch.
- One-Pot Meal: Fewer dishes to wash – everything cooks in one big pot, making cleanup a breeze.
Ingredients
- Cooked Chicken: about 3 cups shredded or cubed cooked chicken. (Rotisserie chicken or any leftover cooked chicken works great for this recipe. If you only have raw chicken, cook it separately first until fully done.)
- Chicken Broth: 4 cups low-sodium chicken broth.
- Cream of Chicken Soup: 1 can (10.5 oz) condensed cream of chicken soup.
- Refrigerated Biscuits: 1 can (16 oz) of refrigerated biscuit dough (8-count). (These will be our dumplings. Any standard canned biscuits work.)
- All-Purpose Flour: about 1/4 cup, for dusting the biscuit pieces.
- Salt & Pepper: to taste (for seasoning at the end).
Instructions
- Make the Broth Base: In a large pot or Dutch oven, stir together the chicken broth and the condensed cream of chicken soup. Heat this over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, until it comes to a gentle boil. Once it’s bubbling and the soup is fully dissolved into the broth, stir in the shredded cooked chicken.
- Prepare the Dumplings: While the broth is heating, prepare the biscuit dumplings. Open the can of biscuits and separate them. Cut each biscuit into quarters (so each biscuit becomes 4 small pieces). Place the biscuit pieces in a bowl and toss them with the flour until each piece is lightly coated.
- Cook the Dumplings: Reduce the heat to medium-low so the soup is at a low simmer (not a hard boil). Drop the flour-coated biscuit pieces into the simmering soup one by one. Give the pot a gentle stir so all the dumplings are submerged, then immediately cover the pot with a lid.
- Simmer and Serve: Let the dumplings cook covered for about 10 minutes. Avoid lifting the lid too often – the steam helps cook the dumplings through. After 10 minutes, check one dumpling to make sure it’s cooked (it should be fluffy and no longer doughy in the middle). If needed, simmer an extra 2-3 minutes. Once the dumplings are done, turn off the heat. Taste the broth and add salt and pepper if needed. Ladle the warm, creamy chicken and dumplings into bowls and serve hot. I like to sprinkle a little extra pepper on top of mine before digging in!
Tips for Best Results
- Coat Dumplings in Flour: Don’t skip the flour step for the biscuit pieces. Coating the dough in flour keeps the dumplings from sticking together and helps thicken the broth. (If you skip this, the dumplings might dissolve into the soup.)
- No Over-Stirring: After adding the biscuit dumplings, resist the urge to stir too much. Stirring vigorously can break them apart. Just let them simmer gently – they’ll puff up into perfect dumplings on their own.
- Boost the Flavor: Feel free to jazz it up! A pinch of dried thyme or a bay leaf in the broth can add extra flavor. If you have time, you can sauté a little onion, carrot, or celery at the very start for a heartier dish. Even a handful of frozen peas thrown in towards the end is a nice touch for color. For an extra creamy broth, stir in a splash of heavy cream just before serving.
- Leftovers: The dumplings will continue to soak up broth as the dish sits. If you have leftovers, store them in the fridge and enjoy within 2-3 days. When reheating, add a bit of water or extra broth to loosen it up, and warm gently on the stove or in the microwave.
Chicken and Dumplings Recipe
This cozy homemade Chicken and Dumplings recipe features tender chicken thighs simmered in a rich gravy and topped with fluffy dumplings made from scratch.
Prep Time
20 minutes
Cook Time
35 minutes
Total Time
55 minutes
Ingredients
Chicken and Gravy
- 4 boneless, skinless chicken thighs (about 1 lb.) ($3.29)
- 1 Tbsp olive oil ($0.12)
- 1 yellow onion, diced ($0.32)
- 2 cloves garlic, minced ($0.16)
- 2 stalks celery, diced ($0.50)
- 2 carrots, diced ($0.31)
- 1/4 cup all-purpose flour ($0.04)
- 4 Tbsp butter ($0.50)
- 1 tsp dried parsley ($0.10)
- 1/2 tsp dried thyme ($0.05)
- 1/2 tsp dried rosemary ($0.05)
- 1/2 tsp dried sage ($0.05)
- 1/4 tsp freshly cracked black pepper ($0.02)
- 2 cups chicken broth ($0.34)
- 1 cup whole milk ($0.48)
- 1/2 tsp salt ($0.02)
Dumplings
- 1 cup all-purpose flour ($0.16)
- 1.5 tsp baking powder ($0.09)
- 1 tsp dried parsley ($0.10)
- 1/2 tsp sugar ($0.01)
- 1/2 tsp salt ($0.02)
- 1/8 tsp garlic powder ($0.02)
- 1/8 tsp freshly cracked black pepper ($0.02)
- 1/2 cup milk ($0.24)
- 2 Tbsp butter, melted ($0.25)
Instructions
Chicken and Gravy
- Heat the olive oil in a deep skillet or Dutch oven over medium heat. Once hot, add the chicken thighs and brown on each side. The chicken does not need to be cooked through at this point, just make sure they get very brown on the outside. Transfer the partially cooked chicken to a clean bowl.
- After removing the chicken from the skillet, add the diced onion and minced garlic and sauté over medium heat until the onions have softened. Stir to dissolve the browned bits off the bottom of the skillet as the onions cook.
- Add the diced carrot and celery to the skillet with the onion and garlic and continue to sauté for about five minutes more.
- Add the butter and flour to the skillet and stir until the butter has melted and created a paste with the flour that coats the vegetables. Continue to cook and stir this mixture for about two minutes.
- Add the parsley, thyme, rosemary, sage, salt, pepper, chicken broth, and milk to the skillet. Turn the heat up to medium-high and continue to stir and cook until the mixture comes up to a simmer and thickens into a gravy.
- Dice the chicken and add it back to the skillet with the vegetables and gravy. Cover with a lid and let the chicken simmer in the gravy over medium heat while you prepare the dumplings.
Dumplings
- To prepare the dumplings, combine the flour, parsley, sugar, salt, baking powder, garlic powder, and pepper in a bowl.
- Pour the milk and melted butter into the flour mixture, then stir until a soft, scoopable batter is formed. Do not over stir.
- Remove the lid from the chicken and gravy and drop the dumpling batter onto the surface of the gravy in 2 tablespoon dollops. You should get about 12 dumplings.
- Make sure the gravy is still simmering, then place the lid back on the skillet and allow the dumplings to simmer for 15 minutes. Make sure they're simmering the entire time. After 15 minutes the dumplings should have doubled in size and will be fluffy and cooked in the center. Serve hot and enjoy!
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
6Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 399Total Fat: 22gSaturated Fat: 10gTrans Fat: 1gUnsaturated Fat: 10gCholesterol: 129mgSodium: 1090mgCarbohydrates: 28gFiber: 2gSugar: 5gProtein: 24g
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