Creamy Chicken and Dumplings (crock pot friendly) made from scratch is a healthy 30 minute dinner and perfect fall and winter soup recipe for the family.
I will now tell you how to make the BEST quick, creamy chicken and dumplings. My favorite thing about this meal is that it’s a one pot dinner, followed closely by it only takes 30 minutes. HUGE PLUS.
I cook the chicken and onion first in a large soup pot, to seal in that delicious chicken flavor. I find that if you add the chicken to the broth later, it just doesn’t taste the same and some of the flavor gets boiled out of the meat. Next, I add all of the spices and veggies. I make sure it’s all simmering before I add the milk and flour to make the chicken stew creamy.
Don’t add the milk and flour separately! Mix them together first, then add to the stew. Otherwise you get lots of flour clumpies. 😬
After letting the stew thicken, I mix the dumplings together. I bring the stew to a FULL boil before I scoop the dumplings directly into the stew with a tablespoon or cookie scoop, and cover with a lid to cook.
You guys, they come out amazing every time I make them, which is a lot. It’s one of the mancubs favorite meals.
How to get fluffy dumplings every time:
- Don’t overmix the dumpling dough. It makes it tough and can make the dumplings rubbery after they cook.
- Bring the stew to a BOIL and give it a good stir before you begin putting dumpling dough in! If the stew isn’t at least simmering the dough sometimes drops to the bottom and becomes hard little dough lumpies. Ew.
- Cover with a lid when you cook the dumplings. And don’t be tempted to peek before at least 5-6 minutes is up. Otherwise, the dumplings can deflate because of lost heat during the cooking process.
If you’re into family friendly, delicious, crock pot friendly, healthy dinners, try my recipe for Tuscan White Bean Soup! The pictures aren’t from my new camera, but the soup is amazing. Trust me.
Creamy Chicken and Dumplings
Ingredients
For the stew:
- 2 Tablespoons butter
- 2 raw chicken breasts (about 3 cups chopped)
- 1/2 onion, diced
- 2 cups chicken broth
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon dried parsley
- 1 teaspoon dried basil
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon ground pepper
- 2 teaspoons chicken bouillon
- 4 cups frozen mixed vegetables (I use peas, corn, carrots, and green beans)
For the thickening mixture:
- 2-1/2 cups milk
- 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
For the dumplings:
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 Tablespoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup milk
Instructions
For the stew:
- In a large cooking pot, melt butter and add chicken and onion. Saute over medium heat for 5-7 minutes, until chicken is cooked through and onions are soft, stirring occasionally.
- Add chicken broth, garlic powder, parsley, basil, salt, pepper, chicken bouillon and vegetables. Simmer for about 5 minutes.
For the thickening mixture:
- Meanwhile, in a separate medium mixing bowl whisk together milk and flour. Slowly pour into simmering stew, stirring constantly. Let simmer for 5 minutes.
For the Dumplings:
- In the medium mixing bowl used for the thickening mixture (less dishes) combine flour, baking powder and salt. Stir in the milk and mix until just combined. Don’t overmix.
- Turn heat on stove to medium/high and give the stew a good stir. Wait until the stew is at a medium boil. Using a Tablespoon as a measure (I use a cookie scoop), spoon dumpling dough into the boiling stew until the surface of the stew is covered in balls of dough.
- Cover stew and dumplings with lid and cook for 5-7 minutes. Remove lid and test a dumpling with a fork. If it is still doughy, cover and cook for another 1-2 minutes
Hi, when you are boiling the dumplings at the end for 5-7 minutes, do you ever have any trouble with the milk scorching on the bottom of your pot? I love your blogs! I just stumbled across your recipes! I’m a registered nurse too 🙂
Hey Elizabeth, it’s happened a couple of times when I left the heat on a little too long and when I was slower getting the dumplings in. I’m glad you mentioned it because I’ve made this recipe so long sometimes I forget that timing is different when you make it for the first few times! I like to make the dumplings into balls as the stew is cooking so they’re all ready to go in quickly so the bottom doesn’t cook too long at a high heat. You can also try to give the stew a good stir riiiight before you spoon the dumplings on top and cover to cook. Pots with thinner bottoms ( I use a thick cast iron pot) could scorch easier so it might help the be at a gentle boil before covering instead of a rapid boil.
And nice! This is a CRAZY time to be a nurse. I bet you have some great stories!