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.
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.
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
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 , and sometimes I buy a rotisserie chicken already cooked. Go with your mood on this, just get your chicken cooked, then set it aside.
Pour your broth into a pot.
Add cream of chicken soup.
Stir and let it come to a very gentle boil while you prepare the dumplings.
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.
Take all of your biscuits out of the can and set them on a plate.
Now, we’re going to take each canned biscuit and tear it into three layers like this.
Dip each layer into your flour mixture…
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!
Now, take each layer and tear it into three pieces.
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.
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.
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.
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 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 in , , or .
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
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
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Iknow you stated before the recipe for anyone who has never had chicken and dumplings….that just broke my heart because I can’t IMAGINE living in a world where I had never had chicken ‘n dumplings! There truly is nothing better and I can’t wait to try your recipe!!
dumplins are better if you use chicking thighs , cheaper also
Hi! Have you made this in the crockpot?
Hi Christy, Here is our crock pot recipe: https://southernplatecom.bigscoots-staging.com/slow-cooker-chicken-and-dumplings/
I was surprised to see someone else using the biscuit shortcut. I thought that was my own little secret. I think dumplings made this way are better than from scratch. I have found, over years of experimenting, that the best dumplings come from the cheapest biscuits with no butter chunks in them…you know, those small skinny tubes for like a dollar each.
I flour a surface and smash and stretch by hand and then cut into strips. All of the detailed cooking instructions in this recipe are right on the money and very important.
I’m not a cook at all but I did anxiously try these. The chicken and soup was delicious! But my dumplings were super doughy and tasted like pure uncooked dough…still stretchy and gooey. I like my dumplings a little fluffy and even a bit bready in the middle, but small (not like the big drop ones). Are these supposed to be that doughy or what could I have done wrong? I followed everything. I even let the “leftovers” cook longer in the pot to see if they were under cooked and nothing changed with the texture. Just curious if these are meant to be doughy (cause some like that) or if I messed up. Thanks!
Thank you so much for the tip about dipping biscuits in flour now my dumplings will not dissolve in the juice.
No problem, glad it was helpful!
Do you have a problem with your dumplings or cream of chicken soup sticking to the bottom of the pot? If so , what is your solution? If not what do you think the issue is? We like our dumplings done not doughy so I do have to cook them longer.
You could try a couple things, one is making sure you aren’t overloading the pot with the number of dumplings in there and make sure there is enough cream of chicken soup so they can remain immersed and float to the top after you gently push them down as described in the step by step instructions. You may have to cook them in batches or use a bigger pot. The other thing you may want to try is coating the dumplings in a little oil before putting them in the pot. I haven’t tried this but I have seen others online saying they have done that with the oil. Hoping that helps!