Chicken and Dumplings is the ultimate comfort food. Period. The fluffy dumplings combined with flavorful chicken soup make this meal irresistible! In just minutes from now, you’ll be enjoying an amazingly creamy and delicious dinner that tastes like it’s made from scratch!
The easiest and fastest way to make chicken with dumplings is to use a can of biscuits. It’s true, canned biscuit dough makes excellent dumplings in this classic Southern comfort food dish the whole family will love!
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Let’s take a look at just how easy it is to make this Southern chicken dish.
🥘 Ingredients
There are only a few items that you need to make this super delicious one-pot dish:
- Chicken – be sure it is already cooked.
- Chicken broth – you can also use chicken bone broth. Bone broth will impart a richer flavor and darker color.
- Cream of chicken soup – this helps to make it nice and creamy, naturally.
- Canned biscuits – use either two cans of regular biscuits or one large of Pillsbury Grands.
- Pepper – good old black pepper is all you need.
🔪How to easily make Chicken and Dumplings
It doesn’t take special equipment to make these quick and easy chicken and dumplings – a nice large pot will do the trick.
Heat chicken broth in a pot on medium-high heat and cook until it starts to gently boil.
Add chicken. You’ll want to use chicken that has already been cooked.
Cut biscuits into small pieces and place in chicken broth mixture. Stir well.
Add cream of chicken soup and stir.
Put a small layer of pepper over the dumplings.
Stir well, reduce the heat, and let the chicken and dumplings simmer for 5-10 minutes.
📌 Tips and Notes
Cut the dough into small pieces. Smaller dumplings cook better than larger dumplings. The dough will expand once it is placed in the warm broth.
Some people may find that canned biscuits work better if you coat the biscuit dough in a small amount of flour. (Flour will help to keep the biscuits from completely dissolving in the broth. Once you get used to making them, you will learn how to tell that the dumplings are done and won’t need to flour them.)
You can use regular chicken broth or chicken bone broth. Bone broth will impart a richer, darker color to the dumplings.
For the chicken, you can cook chicken ahead of time and shred it. Boneless, skinless chicken breasts work really well in this recipe. You can also purchase a cooked rotisserie chicken and pull the meat off of the bones and use it. If you are really in a pinch, you could purchase pre-cooked chicken chunks in the meat section of your grocery store and use it.
Store any leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator.
🤷🏻♀️ Chicken and Dumplings FAQs
Chicken and Dumplings are a staple in the deep South. Basically, it’s like a thick, creamy chicken stew with pillowy dumplings. The dumplings are cooked in a broth and seasoned, usually with a lot of pepper.
Yes, you can! Check out my recipe for Instant Pot Chicken and Dumplings for making them in America’s favorite pressure cooker.
Yes. Using a Crockpot, you can make chicken and dumplings using uncooked chicken, butter, water, Grands, cream of chicken soup, and pepper. We have a Crockpot Chicken and Dumplings recipe you might like on the blog.
Chicken and dumplings should be thick, somewhat like a stew.
Canned biscuits. You can use either 2 cans of refrigerated biscuit dough or one package of Grands biscuit dough.
Absolutely. While we prefer the simplistic version, feel free to add frozen veggies when you add the biscuit dumplings.
🐓 Got Chicken? I’ve got recipes!
- Easy Baked Chicken Taquitos – Creamy and cheesy, these Mexican favs are crispy and will be a hit for Taco Tuesday! (You say Taco, I say Taquito.)
- Chicken Fiesta Casserole– Chicken and shredded potatoes are combined in one dish to make an easy weeknight delicious dinner.
- Spicy Basil Chicken Stir-Fry – The dish is full of veggies and can be prepared in one skillet. Serve with some rice and it’s a great Thai dinner for 4-6 hungry folks.
- Sesame Chicken – Crispy, tender, sesame seed battered chicken nuggets made at home.
- Chicken Noodle Casserole – Chicken breasts, egg noodles, and veggies are baked in a homemade cream sauce and topped with buttery Ritz Crackers. Yum!
- Chicken Pot Pie – Creamy chicken filling is surrounded by a buttery crust and it all just melts in your mouth.
📖 Recipe
Quick and Easy Chicken and Dumplings
Ingredients
- 32 ounces Chicken broth
- 10.5 ounces Cream of Chicken Soup
- 2 cups cooked chicken shredded
- 2 cans refrigerated biscuits
- pepper to taste
Instructions
- Heat chicken broth in pot on medium-high heat and cook until gently boiling. Add chicken.
- Cut biscuits into small pieces and place in chicken broth mixture. Stir well.
- Add cream of chicken soup and stir.
- Put a small layer of pepper over dumplings.
- Reduce the heat, stir well, and let simmer for 5-10 minutes.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
If you prefer dark meat, then check out the recipe that Martha Stewart makes. If you prefer to use your slow cooker, check out our recipe for Crockpot Chicken and Dumplings.
🆚 Quick and Easy versus Old-Fashioned Chicken and Dumplings
From the recipe above, you can see how easy this recipe is to make. Let’s take a quick look at Old Fashioned method with homemade dumplings.
First, you need either chicken stock or chicken broth. You can get it either by boiling a whole chicken in a large Dutch oven preferably with some aromatics (herbs and spices) over medium-high heat. The results are tender chicken and homemade broth. This is a good time to turn the burner off momentarily.
Next, you have to transfer chicken, chicken pieces, and other flavoring ingredients from the broth and skim any undesirable floating materials like chicken fat. The chicken meat needs to be taken off the bones. Return the shredded chicken meat to the broth.
Now it’s time to look at making dumpling dough. For this, you need a mixing bowl, all-purpose flour, baking powder, salt, thyme, whole milk, and butter. Combine flour and the dry ingredients, melt butter, and then add the butter and milk to the dry ingredients. Mix it all well with a wooden spoon or a spatula. You can then either roll out the dumpling dough and cut it into strips or simply scoop it into the flavorful broth. Turn the burner on and adjust to medium heat. Let the dumplings cook for about 15 minutes.
To me, using canned biscuits is the clear winner when it comes to convenience. It’s the perfect recipe for saving time in the kitchen. Truth be told, making everything scratch is a winner when it comes to eating cleaner. Unfortunately, we don’t always have enough time and just need an easy recipe to follow.
I hope you enjoy this family favorite. It’s a great recipe with simple ingredients that you can pick up at the grocery store. It’s perfect all year round, but especially on a cold night.
If you are new to Southern Kissed, stay a while and check out some of our other recipes or travel posts. Reader favorites include Ooey Gooey Butter Cake, Zucchini Tots, and Dining in Panama City Beach.
Krista says
I tried this way because I got too late of a start on my slow cooker recipe. I was pleasantly surprised and will repeat this recipe for sure. Also , I had extra diced up biscuits and rolled them into balls and baked them. They puffed out like flowers and they were great on the side!
Lynda says
I am glad you liked it. I like what you did with the extra biscuit pieces.
HB says
Easy and fast alternative when you don’t have time to make it from scratch.
Kim says
This recipe was so easy and delicious. I had pretty much stopped making chicken and dumplings because it was too much trouble. I wasn’t sure about using precooked chicken but it came out perfect. I will definitely keep this recipe in my monthly rotation.
Lynda says
I am so glad you liked it.
My name is complicated says
Where are the celery and the carrots? And just a speck of seasonings. Holy cow. What a mess.
Lynda says
You should try it! It’s a simple version and thousands love it. Sometimes less is best.
Nicole says
I had hand surgery earlier this week. So I’m only working with one hand and this was amazing. So easy and delicious. My entire family loved it. Thanks for the recipe.
Lynda says
Wishing you a speedy recovery!
We are glad that you all loved it and are grateful that you visited our blog.
Kim says
I’m so excited I found your recipe!!! I’m making your quick and easy chicken and dumplings for supper tonight!!! I can’t wait, thanks for sharing!!!
Lynda says
I hope you like it as much as we do!
Amber says
Delicious! Thanks for sharing
Lola says
can I also combine egg noodles with my dumplings?
Lynda says
I would not recommend it.
Mike says
I’ve made this several times with a few minor adjustments. My kids ask for this every week now. Thanks for the recipe. It’s pretty awesome.
Lynda says
You’re welcome. I am so glad to hear that your family likes it.
Jaclyn says
You left out the #1 important rule of cooking chicken n’ dumplings – the dough should only be put in when the broth mix is boiling. If you don’t, the dreaded dough separation will happen. Learned this from my granny many, many years ago.
Lynda says
Thanks for the tip!
Janice Crawford says
I have always made my true southern dumplings by boiling bone in chicken until all the goodness from the chicken is released into the broth. Canned biscuits does not sound appetizing. Sorry but I am a old school southern cook.
I think chicken and dumplings are on the menu tonight. Yum
Misty says
Then why even comment? At what point did you think “Quick and Easy” was going to be everything from scratch? I’m making this right now and it’s perfect for the 30 minutes I have to make something my sick kid asked for.
Bill says
If the only thing one can say is criticism, then often it is best to not say.
Jimmy says
My thoughts exactly. It did not say “homemade from scratch” so keep your negative comments to yourself. Oh by the way, my grandmother made chicken and dumplings with canned biscuits (she worked and did not have the luxury to spend hours on dinner) and the were REALLY good!
Brenda Uldrick says
I was looking for a recipe for my brother when I saw this – I also make them from scratch, but not everyone can do that and it’s very rude and unnecessary when someone like you feels compelled to criticize them! Who’s to say this recipe is not VERY good??? Not you ! Try minding your own business next time!
Doug says
Very good but next time I will use low sodium broth and cook my own chicken too improve the overly salty result I got with rotisserie chicken and store brand chicken broth
Lynda says
Sorry to hear it was too salty. Hopefully, with those changes, it will turn out perfect for you!
Doug says
Very salty maybe the Safeway rotisserie Rosemary chicken .maybe the cream of chicken soup
Dana says
Delicious !!!
Sarah says
Really tasty but have made twice once with only one can of biscuits and the other time with two , the two was overwhelming. And tasted only biscuits . Also added mixed veggies . Delicious !
Gayle Davis says
I was wondering if I could use canned chicken. I don’t have the time to cook the chicken to obtain the broth and cooked chicken. Plus, I am moving, and most things are packed. I have been craving chicken and dumplings forever.
Lynda says
I don’t see why you couldn’t use canned chicken. I use chicken that has already been cooked, so it should be fine. That being said, it might not taste quite the same because of the “canned meat” taste.
Barbara says
Don’t make the mistake I did once.
I used the buttery Pillsbury biscuts. They dissolved when heated! I also think it is better to start with an uncooked chicken. Tried making it with boneless breast and it is not the same.
Nick Jr. says
So you substituted ingredients, got mediocre results, and then left a 4 star review? Wow.
Kary M says
Been hankering chicken & dumplings and so glad I found your recipe. Just a bit of prep & wowzers good eats right away! Those pepper layers are amazing.
Since I am the only one in the house that loves C&D, I made the full recipe
then into individual servings. Waiting until I’m going for leftovers to pop in those biscuit dumplings.
Love easy peasy yummy recipes.
Thank you for sharing Lynda
Lynda says
This comment makes my heart happy! Thank you so much for stopping by and leaving it. Hope 2022 is full of wonderful surprises for you!