Easy Chicken and Dumplings can be thrown together in minutes and can cook in either the Instant Pot or Crockpot. Using Cream of Chicken soups and biscuit dough, this meal is no-prep! Perfect for a busy weeknight dinner.
Easy Chicken and Dumplings are the best dump and start meal!
Chicken and dumplings as a meal that I’ve been making for a long time. This is one of the meals that I always make when we invite someone over for dinner.
Everyone always raves about how delicious it is… But do you want to know a secret? It is honestly the easiest dinner that I could’ve made.
I love that this meal is fancy enough for Sunday dinner, yet fast enough for a night full of running kids to every corner of the earth!
There is absolutely no prep, just dump and go!
I have always made this meal in the crockpot. Generally, I would start it before we went to church that way dinner would be done and ready to scarf down when we got home.
I have had my Instant Pot for almost a year now, so I figured it was about time to convert the recipe.
Boy, was I glad that I did! I will definitely be cooking this meal in my Instant Pot from now on.
Just in case you haven’t hopped on the Instant Pot bandwagon yet, I’ll write the crockpot method out for you too.
P.S. I think you should hop on that Instant Pot bandwagon!! ?
What you’ll need for Easy Chicken and Dumplings with Canned Biscuits
(Printable recipe below)
Easy Chicken and Dumplings can be thrown together in minutes and can cook in either the Instant Pot or Crockpot. Using Cream of Chicken soups and biscuit dough, this meal is no-prep! Perfect for a busy weeknight dinner.
Ingredients
- 2 cups chicken broth
- 1 lb chicken breast cut into 1 inch chunks
- 2 tbsp dried minced onion or 1/2 cup fresh minced onion
- 1 tbsp dried parsley
- 2 cans cream of chicken soup
- 1 7.5 oz can refrigerated biscuits
Substitutions and Variations for Easy Chicken and Dumplings
This is a really great base recipe that can be made again and again with different tweaks and changes so it feels like a brand new meal every time. Consider adding vegetables such as carrots, potatoes, celery, or corn to the stew for added flavor and nutrition.
Try using different herbs and spices to add depth of flavor to the broth. Rosemary, thyme, and sage are all great options. Or you could add some heat to the dish by using hot sauce, chili powder, or cayenne pepper.
How to make this Chicken and Dumplings Instant Pot Recipe
To make chicken and dumplings in the Instant Pot, first cut chicken breasts into 1 inch chunks.
Pour chicken broth into the liner of the Instant Pot. Place the chicken chunks into the broth and then sprinkle with minced dried onion and dried parsley.
Scoop two cans of cream of chicken soup on the top of the chicken chunks. Do not stir.
It is very important to layer food when cooking in the Instant Pot. In order for the Instant Pot to work properly there needs to be a thin liquid on the bottom of the pot.
In this dish, the thin liquid is the chicken broth. The cream of chicken soup is very thick and would burn to the bottom of the liner if the chicken broth was not underneath it.
Now, take canned biscuit dough and cut each biscuit into eight pieces.
Sprinkle the biscuit pieces Into the Instant Pot.
Secure the lid, turn the knob to sealing and cook on Manual HIGH for two minutes. Allow for three minute NPR before quick releasing the pressure manually.
When you open up the lid you will see that all of the biscuit dough has expanded and cooked.
Give the Instant Pot a good stir to mix up the dumplings, chicken and sauce.
Dinner is now ready to be served! Can you believe how easy that was?
How to make Easy Chicken and Dumplings with Biscuits in the Crockpot
To make the chicken and dumplings in a crockpot, pour broth, cream of chicken soup, chicken chunks, parsley and minced onion into the crockpot.
Cook on HIGH for 3-4 hours, or until the chicken is cooked through.
Once the chicken is cooked through, add in the cut up biscuit dough and cook for an additional 30 minutes on HIGH.
Stir and serve.
Easy Chicken and Dumplings with Biscuits Storage
Always store your leftovers in an air tight container in the fridge. It will keep in the fridge for 2-3 days. The dumplings will soak up a bit of the soup so you may need to add a splash of milk when reheating it.
Can you freeze this recipe?
If you want to store your leftover soup for longer, you can freeze it. I suggest letting the soup thaw completely in the fridge before reheating the soup.
How to reheat Chicken and Dumplings
The soup is best reheated on the stovetop over low heat. You may need to add a little extra chicken broth or milk to the pan while you reheat it because the dumplings like to soak up extra liquid while it is in the fridge.
Chicken and Dumplings with Biscuits FAQs
Biscuit dough and dumpling dough are similar in that they are both made with flour, but there are some key differences between the two.
Biscuit dough is a flaky, tender dough made with flour, fat (usually butter), and a liquid (such as milk or buttermilk). Dumpling dough, on the other hand, is a soft and tender dough made with flour, water or milk, and a leavening agent (such as baking powder).
So while both biscuit dough and dumpling dough can be used to make similar dishes, they are not the same thing and the end result will be different. Biscuits are typically flakier and richer in flavor, while dumplings are soft and tender and used primarily to thicken stews and soups.
The key to good homemade dumplings is to not overwork the dough. We don’t need to worry about it with this recipe though because we are using canned biscuits as a shortcut so they will be light and flakey every time.
If your chicken and dumpling soup needs to be a bit thicker, you can thicken with a cornstarch slurry.
This depends on the particular recipe that you are using. This recipe is meant tot be thick.
Take a peek at some of my most popular recipes!
Instant Pot Creamy Ziti
Cheesecake Fruit Dip
Classic Cinnamon Rolls
I love seeing my recipes come to life in YOUR kitchen! If you make one of my recipes, take some photos and post them onto my facebook page!
Easy Chicken and Dumplings with Biscuits
Ingredients
- 2 cups chicken broth
- 1 lb chicken breast cut into 1 inch chunks
- 2 tbsp dried minced onion or 1/2 cup fresh minced onion
- 1 tbsp dried parsley
- 2 10.5 oz cans cream of chicken soup
- 1 7.5 oz can refrigerated biscuits
Instructions
- For the Instant Pot: place the chicken broth into the liner.
- Add in the chicken breast chunks, minced onion and dried parsley.
- Scoop the cream of chicken soup out of the can and gently put it into the Instant Pot on top of the chicken chunks. DO NOT STIR. (see post above for exactly why.)
- Cut each biscuit into 8 pieces. Sprinkle the biscuit pieces into the Instant Pot.
- Close the lid, turn the knob to sealing and cook on Manual HIGH for 2 minutes allowing for a 3 minute NPR before manually releasing the pressure.
- Stir the pot and then serve!
- For the Crockpot: place the chicken broth, chicken chunks, onion, parsley and cream of chicken soup into the crockpot.
- Cook on high for 3-4 hours, or until the chicken is cooked through.
- Cut each biscuit into 8 pieces.
- Stir the contents of the Crockpot then sprinkle the biscuit pieces into the Crockpot.
- Cook for an additional 30 minutes and then serve.
Karli Bitner says
❤️❤️
Kristy Kozak says
Thank f I double the recipe would I need to double the time in the instant pot?
Jim Balentine says
quick and easy taste great
Cooking with Karli says
No you do not need to double the time
Liz says
This was so easy and delicious!
Sandy_scout says
The recipe is good for the Instant pot except the recipe doesn’t expressly state that it calls for already cooked chicken. I finally got the idea that it did when it mentioned raw tenders and what to do if using the crock pot. I used 1.5 lbs of chicken thighs and cooked them with the biscuits in the instant pot for 8 minutes. One thing I did that wasn’t needed was to add more broth since I had more chicken. I finished with too much “gravy” which could have been corrected by adding cornstarch and sauteing, but I think the 2 cups, maybe 2.5 cups would have worked better than 3 cups of broth did. Cooking for 8 minutes with that amount of liquid took a while to get up to pressure but it was tasty. Not at all sure my raw chicken, even though it was in small pieces, would have been done with only 2 minutes of cooking. it was very tender. Sandy_scout
Liz says
Tasted go added some pepper at end. I do get burn notice as well. I followed the recipe . Had to turn off and add more Brit 2 cups isn’t enough I used my 6 qt duo.
Gary Hoffman says
My wife loves chicken and dumplings, and this is so fast I can make it for her anytime! Thank you!
E. Bacon says
Great recipe! We do not precook the chicken and never have a problem with it not being finished in the time allotted. I take “fresh” in this instance to mean fresh vs frozen? I don’t know, but if you look at the picture it shows raw chicken going in. Again, everything has always turned out cooked amazingly for us at the two/three minute mark.
Debbie says
Amazing taste and so simple and quick to make. My family and I love it! Thanks for the recipe ~
Gary says
I cooked chicken in the instant pot first, and then I followed the recipe but added 1/4 cup of heavy cream over the biscuits. It turned out fantastic and very creamy!
Thanks
Barbara says
I made this and everyone enjoyed it. I used croissants instead of biscuits, since I didn’t have them. Turned out great but next time I’m going to double the recipe.
Charlie says
This has become my family’s go to quick comfort food. We add thawed frozen peas and carrots to it after its cooked when serving. They are added to individual bowls since noy everyone likes them added. Corn also works nicely.