This Crockpot Chicken and Dumplings Recipe is easy to make and full of old fashioned goodness with delicious flat rolled dumplings made from scratch.
Chicken and dumplings are a classic American comfort food. This Southern-style chicken and dumplings is made from scratch in the slow cooker. Chicken is cooked low and slow with a little onion and garlic until it is easily shredded with a fork. Once the chicken is shredded
Drop Biscuit Dumplings vs Flat Rolled Dumplings
Dumplings vary from being flat and noodle like, to being more like a drop biscuit. This will depend on your region and personal preferences. This particular recipe uses the flat noodle strip dumplings. It’s a simple dough with only a handful of ingredients that is rolled out and cut into strips. The strips are then dropped directly into the soup base and cooked. You can use either buttermilk or regular milk to make the dumplings.
How do I make flat rolled dumplings? How thick should they be? And how should I cut them?
Rolled dumplings are a simple mixture of all-purpose flour, salt, baking powder, and either milk or buttermilk. You can also add in additional fat with melted butter. This mixture is stirred together in a bowl until a workable dough ball is formed, which is then kneaded and rolled out. Dumpling dough should be rolled about 1/8th of an inch thick. Once the dough is rolled out, simply cut them out. It doesn’t matter the size or shape of the dumplings so you can cut them however you’d like. A good starting place is to cut them in strips that are 1/2-inch by 1-inch. See the pictures below for reference.
How do you thicken up chicken and dumplings?
If you want to thicken the soup base on your chicken and dumplings, you’ll need to do it BEFORE you add in your dumplings. Whisk 2 – 3 tablespoons of cornstarch into some milk. If you don’t want to use milk you can just use some of the liquid from the crockpot. Once the mixture is smooth, pour it back into the soup pot and stir in. Then, you are ready for dumplings. The soup base will thicken as the dumplings cook.
If you like this recipe you may also be interested in my other chicken and dumpling recipes or other slow cooker comfort food recipes:
- European Style Chicken and Dumplings
- Southern Style Chicken and Dumplings with vegetables
- Slow Cooker Turkey Soup
- Slow Cooker Beef Short Ribs
Watch the video below where Rachel will walk you through every step of this recipe. Sometimes it helps to have a visual, and we’ve always got you covered with our cooking show. You can find the complete collection of recipes on YouTube, Facebook Watch, or our Facebook Page, or right here on our website with their corresponding recipes.
Crockpot Chicken and Dumplings
Chicken
- 3 boneless skinless chicken breasts
- 1 small white onion diced
- 3 cloves minced garlic
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 6 cups chicken broth
- 2 cups milk
- 2-3 tablespoons cornstarch
Dumplings
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
- 3/4 cup milk or buttermilk
- 2 tablespoons melted butter
- Place chicken breasts into the bottom of a 6 to 8 quart slow cooker. Top with onion and garlic and season with salt and pepper. Pour in chicken broth,
- Cover and cook on low for 6 hours, or high for 3 hours. Shred chicken with a fork.
- Whisk cornstarch into milk. Pour mixture into crockpot and stir to combine.
- Make the dumplings by whisking together flour, baking powder and salt in a mixing bowl. Slowly pour in milk and butter and stir to combine into a dough. Roll out on a lightly floured countertop until it’s 1/8th inch thick. and cut into 1 inch by 1/2 inch strips.
- Transfer dumpling strips into the slow cooker. Cover and cook on high for 1 hour, until dumplings are cooked through. Serve hot.
I was so happy to see this recipe! My mother always made homemade noodles/dumplings and they were delicious – even better the second day! The thickness of the dough determines if you’re making noodles or dumplings. I much prefer this to biscuits although those are tasty as well. I plan on trying your recipe this weekend but I wanted to give you a nice alternative to cutting with a knife. Just as my mother did I used a knife to cut the dough. One day I was emptying the dishwasher and picked up the perfect noodle tool…a pizza cutter! I… Read more »
Thx so much for posting the recipe for crock pot chicken and dumplings. It’s virtually the same as my grandmother’s recipe. We never even THO’T of putting it in the crockpot. Thx again, can’t wait to try this!
So simple and easy. And here I was afraid to try home made dumplings I can’t wait to make this. I love your site, your the best. Thank you so much for all I have learned from o..
Hey! I hope your safe and well. I know you chose chicken broth instead of chicken stock for a reason and just wanted to know why please. I know broth is more common and why I’ve always used it. If you’ve tried it both ways which was your favorite and why?
Stay safe. Thanks, Janet
Easy to make. ..love it!
This was perfect! I was looking for a slow cooker version of my mom’s chicken and dumplings, and with a few altercations, it was EXACTLY as I remembered. We use chicken thighs instead of breasts, and my mom always had carrots and celery in hers, so I added those. We ate until we were stuffed, with me telling my family about memories of sitting around the dinner table. What a great, nostalgic evening!
Excellent recipe. Family loved it. Easy to make.
2 words simple and delicious!
Thank you!
I watched the video several times and followed the recipe exactly. Adding 2 cups of cold milk to my slow cooker before adding the dumplings was a mistake. It took over 2 hours for it to get back up to a simmer and that ruined my dumplings. They took forever to cook and many turned into gross mush. This is a rather bland recipe but not bad, and I would make it again. We all added some seasonings to it after plating it. I’m mostly disappointed in myself for adding so much cold liquid in the middle of cooking it.… Read more »
I made this recipe tonight for dinner. My teenagers loved it It was delicious but very rich.
Love it very good