Easy Chicken and Dumplings With Biscuits

When you think of Southern comfort food, I bet chicken and dumplings rank up there with the best. This recipe is simple, scrumptious, and packed full of flavor.

How To Make Quick Chicken and Dumplings

A Southern favorite, easy chicken and dumplings is basically a thick and creamy chicken stew paired with pillow-like dumplings. The dish, like most Southern comfort food, evolved out of necessity and practicality. Back in the day, chicken was a treat and not something offered or even available on a regular basis. Whenever it was, the chicken was more often than not on the scrawny side.

Thankfully, today chicken is a staple in many people’s diets. So for your next chicken dinner, why not try this homemade chicken dumpling recipe with biscuits? A family favorite, this recipe may be simple, but it’s also scrumptious and the perfect creamy dish for a cozy winter dinner (or as cozy as it gets around here).

If you’re in a dumpling mood, make sure you check out these other delectable dumplings from scratch recipes too: sweet potato dumplings and apple dumplings.

Chicken and Dumplings ingredients

Recipe Ingredients

  • Chicken
  • One can of Pillsbury flaky layers biscuits
  • Flour (self-rising or plain, doesn’t matter)
  • Chicken broth
  • Cream of chicken soup –  here is a homemade recipe for cream of chicken soup if you prefer.

 How to Make Chicken and Dumplings

Poaching chicken breasts

Now, I usually stew a whole chicken but today I had boneless skinless chicken breast and no chicken so this is what we got. Feel free to drop a few chicken bouillon cubes into your water in place of the broth.

Sometimes I make crockpot chicken ahead of time in water, sometimes I cook it in the broth, sometimes I use chicken thigh, and sometimes I buy a rotisserie chicken already cooked. Go with your mood on this, just get your chicken cooked, then set it aside.

Pouring broth into large pot.

Pour your broth into a pot.

Adding cream of chicken soup to broth in pot.

Add cream of chicken soup.

Boiling broth and cream of chicken soup.

Stir and let it come to a very gentle boil while you prepare the dumplings.

Flour and salt and pepper in mixing bowl.

To prepare the dumplings, put a little bit of flour (about a cup) in a large bowl. Add some salt and pepper – about 1/2 a teaspoon each or whatever you prefer.  Stir that up a bit.

Biscuits on plate.

Take all of your biscuits out of the can and set them on a plate.

Tearing biscuit into three layers.

Now, we’re going to take each canned biscuit and tear it into three layers like this.

Dipping biscuit layers into flour mix.

Dip each layer into your flour mixture…

Biscuit layers in flour mix.

Make sure you coat both sides until they look like this.

Now, make sure you don’t skip this step. If you do, your dumplings will completely dissolve in the broth. That is exactly what I did the very first time I ever made a chicken and dumplings recipe. I ended up with a delicious dumpling-flavored soup!

How To Make Quick Chicken and Dumplings

Now, take each layer and tear it into three pieces.

Dumplings in pot.

Reduce heat so that your chicken stock is just barely barely barely boiling and drop dumpling pieces in one at a time.

It is important that you DO NOT STIR. We are not going to stir these as we don’t want our dumplings cooking up. If you do stir, you will basically cause your dumplings to dissolve.

Dumplings in pot.

Instead of stirring, what we are going to do is just gently push the dumplings down into the chicken stock as they cook.

This is going to take ten minutes or so. Your dumplings will take shape and stop looking doughy as they firm up a bit. 

Continue simmering your dumplings while you shred the cooked chicken. If you want to know an easy way to shred meat you can find that here.

Pouring shredded chicken into pot with dumplings.

Drop your shredded chicken into the dumplings and very gently stir that up. I really just push it down a bit as I did with the dumplings. Just be gentle.

Quick Chicken and Dumplings

And there you go y’all!  You just make an old-fashioned chicken and dumpling recipe your family will LOVE!

Storage

  • Store your chicken and dumplings in an airtight container in the fridge for up to five days. They’re even better the next day as the dumplings continue to soak up the broth. You can reheat the dish either on the stove or in the microwave.
  • You can also freeze leftovers in an airtight container for up to five months.

Recipe Notes

  • If you want to add some vegetables to this Southern chicken dumplings recipe, you can add a can of carrot and peas to the broth when you add the chicken. Another option is to add some sauteed onion.
  • If you prefer to make homemade dumplings with homemade biscuit dough, check out my recipes here and here.
  • If you’d like to add some seasoning, cook the chicken in fresh thyme, fresh parsley, or poultry seasoning.

Recipe FAQs

What do you serve with chicken and dumplings?

Pair this Southern main dish with other great Southern side dishes, like cornbread, fresh green beans, and fried okra. You could also just serve it with a simple side salad or some roasted brussels sprouts.

You might also enjoy these other chicken recipes:

Slow Cooker Chicken and Dumplings

Cheesy Chicken and Rice

Fuss Free Fried Chicken

Sticky Chicken

Easy Chicken and Dumplings

This easy chicken and dumplings recipe, like most Southern comfort food, may have evolved out of necessity but they stuck around because they are delicious!
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 1 hour 15 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour 45 minutes
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: American
Keyword: chicken
Servings: 4
Calories: 464kcal

Ingredients

  • 3 or 4 chicken breasts
  • 32 oz chicken broth feel free to use water with bouillon cubes added
  • 1 can cream of chicken soup
  • 1 can Pilsbury layers biscuits 10 individual
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • flour

Instructions

  • Cook chicken breasts in approx. 4 c. of water until fork-tender, about 45 minutes.
    3 or 4 chicken breasts
  • Place broth in a medium to large-sized pot. Stir cream of chicken soup into gently boiling broth. Add salt and pepper to taste.
    32 oz chicken broth, 1 can cream of chicken soup, salt and pepper to taste
  • Pull biscuits apart into three layers. Dip each layer into the flour and then tear each layer into three pieces and drop into gently boiling broth mixture.
    1 can Pilsbury layers biscuits, flour
  • Do not stir biscuits a lot or they will cook up. Only gently push dumplings down into broth as they float to the top. Cook for about ten minutes after the last dumplings are added.
  • Tear up the chicken and add it to the broth mixture. Turn to low until ready to serve.

Video

Nutrition

Calories: 464kcal
Tried this recipe?Mention @southernplate or tag #southernplate!

 

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506 Comments

  1. Thank you soooo much!! I am right in the middle of trying to make this dish from a recipe on another sight and got frustrated. Thank you for making this so easy to follow 🙂

      1. Wooooooooooo girrrrrrrrl yes I did it my son says he feel in love with it. It taste just like my moms. Now I can’t wait to take her a bowl ova ther to see what she thinks . I’m shall.

    1. When I decided to try to make chicken and dumplings for the first time a few years ago I ‘googled’ it and there were several recipes to try. I decided to go with yours. It was step by step, very easy to understand and you provided pictures of each step. They turned out delicious and my family absolutely loves them. Chicken & Dumplings for dinner tonight!
      Thank you!

  2. Dumplings are rounded, dropped in the broth, and end up cooked like fresh bread on the inside and sosrt of gooey on the outside, Noodles and others are flat. Love my mothers home made drop dumplings.

  3. This is funny, Less than an hour ago I put some chicken quarters on to make Chicken n Dumplings with,. I fix mine basically the same way as above but I use plain CHEAP biscuits, you know the kind that come 4 tubes together, not layered. I just press them out in the flour and pull long and pinch about biscuit balls and drop in.

    I too had to learn NOT TO STIR…. just gently push them down… Can’t wait to eat them tonight for supper. 🙂

  4. Had some chicken breasts thawing in the fridge and wanted something different for supper. Saw your receipe and thought I would give it a try. It was simply amazing! Thank you so much for sharing this with us. Would love to see what other ideas you have. Thanks again!

  5. Christy, I just want to say thank you so very much for this recipe, before I saw this the only time I had “good chicken and Dumplings(or pastry depending on which Grandma was cooking them) was when years ago my grandma’s fixed it occasionally or out to eat. But I saw this recipe this year and made them at home, not my first attempt at home making this dish but the first attempt that was fantastic! My children loved them also, I am making it again tonight one of the simplest recipes for something so down home good! hardest thing about it, is tearing up the biscuits, and that’s not to hard I even let my girls help me tonight! Thanks again for making something so good, so simple!

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