Hearty, homemade Crockpot Chicken and Dumplings taste just like grandma used to make but without spending all day tied to the stove! Perfect for a cold day!
Course Main Course
Cuisine American
Keyword chicken and dumplings recipes, Crockpot Chicken Recipes, dumplings recipes
Prep Time 40 minutesminutes
Cook Time 4 hourshours
Total Time 4 hourshours40 minutesminutes
Servings 6-8 servings
Calories 710kcal
Author Kathleen
Ingredients
STEW:
3poundsbonelessskinless chicken thighs-trimmed
3tablespoonsvegetable oil~divided
1large onionchopped
1tablespoongarlicminced
2celery ribssliced 1/4 inch thick
1tablespoontomato paste
1/2teaspoondried thyme leaves
1/3cupall-purpose flour
1/4cupdry sherry
4 1/2cupschicken brothdivided
2teaspoonsbetter than bouillonchicken flavor
1/2teaspoonblack pepper
4carrotspeeled and sliced 1/4 inch thick
2bay leaves
1cupfrozen peasthawed and drained
3tablespoonsfresh parsleychopped
1/2cupheavy whipping cream
DUMPLINGS;
2cupsall-purpose flour
1tablespoonbaking powder
1teaspoonsalt
1/4teaspoonblack pepper
1cupwhole milk
3tablespoonsunsalted butter
2teaspoonsfresh thyme leaveschopped
Instructions
Make The Stew:
Heat up 2 tablespoons of the oil in a 12-inch skillet until it's almost smoking. Add the chicken in batches, making sure not to overcrowd it, and brown on both sides. Remove to a plate and set aside.
Add another 1 tablespoon of oil to the skillet and heat until it begins to shimmer, then add the onions, celery, garlic, tomato paste, and thyme cooking over medium heat until the veggies are soft. Whisk in flour and continue to cook for 1 minute. Slowly add sherry and stir, loosening any brown bits on the bottom of the skillet. Add 1 cup of chicken broth and whisk until the mixture is smooth. Carefully pour it into the slow cooker.
Add the remaining chicken broth, Better Than Bouillon, black pepper, carrots, and bay leaves to the crockpot. Add the browned chicken, with any accumulated juice, and nestle the pieces in. Cover and cook on low for 4-6 hours, or high for 2-3 hours, or until chicken is tender.
Remove the chicken and transfer to a cutting board. Cool until it can be handled then cut or shred it into bite-size pieces. Remove any fat that's floating on the top of the stew. Remove bay leaves.
Stir in cut chicken, peas, parsley, and heavy whipping cream. Replace cover and turn on High, bringing back to a simmer, while you make the dumplings.
Make the Dumplings:
In a mixing bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, salt, and black pepper.
Microwave butter and milk together until warm, about 1 minute. (Don't overheat). Stir to finish melting butter.
Mix milk mixture and fresh thyme into flour mixture until just incorporated.
Drop dough, about the size of a golf ball, onto the surface of the simmering stew, leaving about 1/4 inch between the dumplings. Cover and cook on High until the dumplings have about doubled and are cooked all the way through, 45-60 minutes.
Notes
Browning The Chicken: This is a really important step. I know you’re tempted to skip it, but here are a few reasons why you shouldn’t. It seals the exterior of the chicken and keeps it nice and juicy when it’s all cooked.
It leaves little brown bits, which the French call fond, in the bottom of the pan that adds crazy amounts of flavor to the stew. Some of the veggies are browned in the same pan after the chicken, then flour, sherry and some of the chicken broth are whisked in, to deglaze the pan. That’s when all the little brown bits are swooped up and added to the crockpot to create another layer of delicious flavor to the sauce.
Making the roux: Arouxis made by whisking together a fat, typically butter or oil, and flour. The key is to whisk like crazy. Once your mixture is smooth, it’s important to let it cook for a minute to break down the flour a bit. Then, GRADUALLY add in the liquid, once again whisking to keep it smooth.
Veggies – The carrots aren’t browned, they’re added directly to the crockpot at step 3 in the instructions. The peas are added to the stew last when the chicken has been cut and is added back.
Dumplings: The buttery dumplings are mixed from scratch and are flavored with fresh thyme. They’re so yummy and quick to put together, you’ll wonder why you ever bothered with the ones made with convenience ingredients. If you’d rather, you can use my easy Bisquick Dumplings.
Make sure the dumplings are cooked all the way through. The amount of time this takes can vary significantly from one crockpot to another. Please remember that the cooking time given in the recipe is an estimation.
The bottoms of the dumplings will obviously still be wet because they cook directly in the liquid of the stew. The centers of the dumplings, however, should no longer have any “rawness” to them.