Quick and Easy Chicken and Dumplings Recipe
Nothing says love more than a homecooked meal. In the South, we all know that Chicken and Dumplings is the ultimate comfort food. Our version is quick and easy to make, thanks to the use of canned biscuits. Give it a try and you’ll see why it’s love at first bite.
Chicken and Dumplings are a staple in the deep South. 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.
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. Our family loves this quick and easy recipe, and we’re confident yours will too!
This recipe is an adaptation of my mother-in-law’s recipe in which she used canned biscuits to make the dumplings. Let’s take a look at just how easy it is to make this classic Southern chicken dinner.
Ingredients
There are only a few items that you need to make this super delicious one-pot dish:
- Chicken – you’ll want to use chicken that has been cooked and shredded.
- 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 can of Pillsbury Grands will do the trick.
- Pepper – good old black pepper is all you need.
How To Make Chicken and Dumplings Using Canned Biscuits
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. Remember – 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.
Tip
The dough will expand once it is placed in the warm broth so cut the dough into small pieces. Smaller dumplings cook better than larger dumplings.
Some people may find that canned biscuits work better if you coat the biscuit dough with 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 when 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 the bones and use it. If you are in a pinch, you could purchase pre-cooked chicken chunks in the meat section of your grocery store and use them.
Store any leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator.
Are chicken and dumplings supposed to be thick or soupy?
Chicken and dumplings should be thick, somewhat like a stew
Can you make chicken and dumplings in an Instant Pot? How about in a Crockpot?
Yes and yes. Check out my recipe for Instant Pot Chicken and Dumplings for making them in America’s favorite pressure cooker. Using a Crockpot, you can make them 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.
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.
Notes
Nutrition
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.
I told my boyfriend that is was the first time I’d ever made chicken & dumplins and the look on his face was like “oh no dinner is gonna be nasty”. But let me tell you he changed his facial expression after he ate to a look of “that was delicious, babe!”
I also thought I’d was delicious! thanks
We are so glad you both enjoyed it. Thanks for coming back to share your experience. 🙂
5 STARS!!! Delicious and my whole family loved it (husband and our 4 boys ages 10-17)! I doubled the recipe, but made it in two separate pots and I’m glad I did. I followed the recipe to the “T” in the first pot and it definitely makes a very thick chicken and dumplings with hardly any broth. Flavor was delicious and my husband prefers a heartier C&D so he loved it. For the second pot, I used about half (so 1 can) of biscuits. This made a little bit soupier C&D which I preferred. The only adjustments I will make in the future are using a bit less biscuits and adding a tiny bit of dry mustard to cut the sweetness of the biscuits a tad. Overall, this recipe is wonderful and SOOOOOO quick!!!!
I am so glad you and your family enjoyed it.
Made these tonight and I highly recommend!!! So easy and delicious!!! I do recommend coating your biscuit pieces once rolled out in flour. It helps then hold together better and not melt or fall apart once in the boiling broth. Also roll them out thin because they puff up quite a bit once in the liquid. I used one can of Cream of Chicken and one can of Cream of Celery because I love the flavor. I also added some poultry seasoning which really gave it a ton of flavor!! This will definitely be a new staple in our house! Thanks for sharing!!
Thanks for sharing your take on this family favorite recipe. We are glad you like it.
Hi! I just added a comment but I said I used 24 oz broth, it should be 48 oz. My family like it thick. Perfect!
Thanks for stopping by to share your experience. We are glad that your family enjoys the recipe.
This is one of our family’s fav recipe! I have to double it because it’s sooo good! This time, I only added 24oz of the broth, 2 cans of crm of chicken and 1 can of biscuits. Also 1 can of mixed vegetables and pepper plus cayenne pepper. Our family like it hot. Love this recipe! Fast and easy! Thanks!
This has been my go to recipe for awhile now. I like to add green chili to it to kick it up a notch.
I never would have thought of adding green chiles. Thanks for sharing.