This chicken and dumplings recipe combines a rich, creamy chicken stew with light, fluffy from-scratch drop dumplings for the ultimate comfort-food dinner. It’s straightforward enough for a weeknight (especially if you use rotisserie chicken) but cozy enough for Sunday dinner.

Pot of chicken and dumplings with a metal spoon tucked underneath a dumpling.

A Speedy Look at the Recipe

🕒 Ready In: 1 hour
👪 Serves: 8 people
🐔 Main Ingredients: Chicken, carrots, celery, onion, from-scratch drop dumplings
⭐ Why You’ll Love It: Rich, creamy comfort food with light, fluffy dumplings that are surprisingly straightforward to mix.
🥣 Best For: Cozy weeknight dinners, Sunday dinner, meal prep
❄️ Freezer Friendly: Yes, it freezes beautifully for up to 3 months

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What stands out

Reliable leftovers. The flavors get even better the next day, making it ideal for meal prep.
Ultra-creamy broth. A simple roux and a splash of heavy cream create a rich, velvety base that’s full of flavor.
Light, fluffy dumplings. These from-scratch drop dumplings steam right on top of the soup and turn out tender every time.
Weeknight-friendly. Use rotisserie chicken to get dinner on the table even faster.

Drop vs. Noodle Dumplings

There are two classic styles of chicken and dumplings:

Noodle dumplings are rolled out and cut into strips (similar to Cracker Barrel’s version).

Drop dumplings are soft, fluffy, biscuit-like dumplings that steam on top of the soup.

This recipe uses drop dumplings, which are our favorite because they’re light, tender, and reliable for soaking up the rich broth.

Ingredient Notes

This recipe is twofold – the rich, creamy chicken soup and the fluffy from-scratch dumplings. You will use many pantry staples for both; below are a few notes on ingredient substitutions and tips:

Heavy Cream - This imparts a wonderful richness to the soup; for a lighter meal, you can substitute half-and-half or whole milk.
Thyme - The recipe calls for dried thyme; if you'd like to substitute fresh thyme, use 1½ teaspoons of chopped fresh thyme.
Chicken - For a speedy dinner, use a cooked rotisserie chicken from the grocery store. If cooking the chicken from scratch, we like to use chicken thighs because they are more flavorful and are less prone to drying out, but you can use skinless chicken breasts as well. Prepare any way you’d like – saute in a pan, poach, or roast in the oven, then chop. We typically use about 2 pounds of boneless, skinless chicken thighs for this recipe.
Milk - This is used in the dumpling batter; whole milk is preferred, but 2% will work, as well. We do not recommend using 1% or skim milk.

Ingredients for the soup base of chicken and dumplings prepped and labeled.

How to Make Chicken and Dumplings

1. Make the Soup

The soup starts with a classic mirepoix (onion, carrots, and celery), followed by garlic and a simple roux that creates a rich, creamy broth. Once the broth is simmering, it’s time to make the dumplings.

2. Mix the Dumplings

No one wants to bite into a dense, soggy dumpling. So, we set out to reliable a method for making straightforward, rich dumplings that are light and fluffy to complement this rich soup.

After whisking together the dry ingredients, melted butter and milk are stirred in to create the dough.

Very important: don’t overmix the dough! If you do, the dumplings will be tough and dense. Just a speedy stir to get the dough to come together is all you need.

The batter will be thick and a little shaggy-that’s exactly what you want. Resist the urge to keep stirring.

3. Steam the Dumplings

Stir the chicken, peas, and parsley into the soup, then drop spoonfuls of dumpling dough over the surface. Cover the pot and resist the urge to peek-the trapped steam is what makes the dumplings light and fluffy.

Drop the dough onto the surface of the soup; don’t stir it in. We like using a medium cookie scoop (about 1½ tablespoons) so all of the dumplings cook evenly.
Cover the pot and don’t lift the lid while they steam.
Test one dumpling after 15 minutes. If needed, gently flip and cook 2-3 minutes longer.

Once the dumplings are cooked, this dish is ready to serve!

What to Serve with Chicken and Dumplings

A few ideas to round out your meal (but honestly, this can totally stand on its own as a complete meal!):

🥖 Dinner Rolls
🥗 Simple Tossed Salad
🥦 Roasted Broccoli or Green Beans
🍎 Apple Crisp

Alternative Cooking Methods

While the stovetop is the traditional way to make chicken and dumplings, you can also use a slow cooker or pressure cooker following these instructions:

Crockpot Chicken and Dumplings

To make slow cooker chicken and dumplings, prepare the recipe through step #2 as directed on the stovetop, then transfer to a 6-quart slow cooker. Cook on low for 4 to 6 hours. When almost ready to serve, proceed with step #3.

Instant Pot Chicken and Dumplings

To make this recipe in a pressure cooker, follow these instructions:

Prepare the dumpling dough first and place in the refrigerator.
Use the saute function of the pressure cooker to complete steps #2 and #3 below.
Stir the chicken, peas, and parsley into the pot. Drop the dumpling mixture by large spoonfuls of dough over the surface of the chicken stew.
Close the pressure cooker lid and set it to pressure cook high for 7 minutes. When complete, do a natural release, then remove the lid per the manufacturer’s directions.

Keeping leftovers

Storage: The chicken and dumplings can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.
Freezing Instructions: You can freeze the chicken and dumplings in an airtight container in the freezer for up to 3 months.
Reheating: Allow these from-scratch chicken and dumplings to thaw from frozen in the fridge overnight. Then, reheat over low heat on the stove (or in the microwave), adding extra liquid as needed to loosen it up, until it's bubbling and warmed through evenly.

Watch How to Make Chicken and Dumplings

Photography by Ari Laing.

Yield: 8 servings
Prep: 30 minutes
Cook: 45 minutes
Total: 1 hour 15 minutes

Ingredients

½ cup ( 113 g ) unsalted butter
1 yellow onion, finely chopped
3 carrots, cut into ½-inch dice
2 ribs celery, finely chopped
3 cloves garlic, finely minced
½ cup ( 60 g ) all-purpose flour
5 cups ( 1200 ml ) chicken broth
⅓ cup ( 80 ml ) heavy cream
2 teaspoons kosher salt
½ teaspoon black pepper
½ teaspoon dried thyme
2 bay leaves
1 cup frozen peas
4 cups cooked chicken, diced small
3 tablespoons minced parsley

For the Dumplings:

2 cups ( 240 g ) all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1 cup ( 240 ml ) milk

Method

Place the chicken broth in a small saucepan and warm over low heat.
In a large pot or Dutch oven, melt the butter over medium-low heat. Add the onion, carrot, and celery and saute until the onion is translucent, 10 to 15 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for an additional 1 minute. Add the flour and cook for 2 minutes, stirring constantly.
Slowly add the hot chicken broth, stirring constantly, and simmer over low heat until thickened, about 1 minute. Stir in the heavy cream, salt, pepper, thyme and bay leaves. Adjust the heat to maintain a slow simmer while you prepare the dumplings.
Make the Dumplings : In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Add the melted butter and milk and stir with a rubber spatula until the dough just comes together.
Stir the chicken, peas, and parsley into the pot. Drop the dumpling mixture by large spoonfuls of dough over the surface of the chicken stew. Cover and cook for 15 minutes. Check the dumplings with a toothpick to see if they're done; if they are still doughy in the middle, flip them over, cover and simmer for an additional 5 minutes. Serve immediately.

Notes

Equipment: A medium (5.5-quart) or large (7.25-quart) Dutch oven are both reliable for making this recipe.

Onions: You can use yellow, white, or sweet, just not red.

Chicken Broth: Either from-scratch or store-bought will work just fine.

Heavy Cream: This imparts a wonderful richness to the soup; for a lighter meal, you can substitute half-and-half or whole milk.

Thyme: This recipe calls for dried thyme; if you’d like to substitute fresh thyme, use 1½ teaspoons chopped fresh.

Cooked Chicken – You can use chicken breasts or chicken thighs. The chicken can be cooked fresh, or you can utilize a rotisserie chicken or a speedy weeknight meal. If you are cooking it fresh for this meal, p repare any way you'd like – saute in a pan, poach, or roast in the oven, then chop. We typically use about 2 pounds of boneless, skinless chicken thighs for this recipe.

Milk – This is used in the dumpling batter; whole milk is preferred, but 2% will work, as well.

For uniform dumplings, we like to use a medium cookie scoop, which holds about 1½ tablespoons, for dropping the dough into the pot.

Slow cooker Chicken and Dumplings: See the instructions above for adapting this recipe to a slow cooker.

InstantPot Chicken and Dumplings: See the instructions above for adapting this recipe to a pressure cooker.

Storage: The chicken and dumplings can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. When reheating, you may want to add a splash of chicken stock to loosen it up a bit.

Freezing Instructions: You can freeze the chicken and dumplings in an airtight container in the freezer for up to 3 months. Thaw in the refrigerator overnight, then reheat over low heat on the stove (or in the microwave), adding extra liquid as needed.

Photography by Ari Laing.

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