Quick and Easy Chicken and Dumplings (2023)

By Lynda · Dec 2, 2021 · This post may contain affiliate links.

Chicken and Dumplings is the ultimate comfort food. Period. The fluffy dumplings combined with flavorful chicken soup make this meal irresistible! In just minutes from now, you’ll be enjoying an amazingly creamy and delicious dinner that tastes like it’s made from scratch!

The easiest and fastest way to make chicken with dumplings is to use a can of biscuits. It’s true, canned biscuit dough makes excellent dumplings in this classic Southern comfort food dish the whole family will love!

The first time I ever had any was on a trip to visit my husband’s parents (when we were dating). Beingoriginally from the North, it was not something that we ate at home. Little did I know what treat was in store for me. Since my husband seemed to enjoy them, I know they had to be good. After trying them, I could see why.

A tip for cooking them: smaller dumplings cook better. The dough will expand once it is placed in the warm broth.

Some people may find that the canned biscuits work better if you coat the biscuit dough in a small amount of flour. (Flour will help to keep the biscuits from completely dissolving in the broth. Once you get used to making them, you will learn how to tell that the dumplings are done and won’t need to flour them.)

You can use regular chicken broth or chicken bone broth. Bone broth will impart a richer, darker color to the dumplings.

How to easily make Chicken and Dumplings

There are only a few items that you need to make this super delicious one-pot dish:

• Chicken – be sure it is already cooked.
• Chicken broth – you can also use chicken bone broth. Bone broth will impart a richer flavor and darker color.
• Cream of chicken soup – this helps to make it nice and creamy, naturally.
• Canned biscuits – use either two cans of regular biscuits or one large of Pillsbury Grands.
• Pepper – good old black pepper is all you need.

It doesn’t take special equipment to make these quick and easy chicken and dumplings – a nice large pot will do the trick.

1. Heat chicken broth in a pot on medium-high heat and cook until it starts to gently boil.
2. Add cream of chicken soup and stir.
3. Add chicken. You’ll want to use chicken that has already been cooked. (You can cook chicken ahead of time and shred it. You can also purchase a cooked rotisserie chicken and pull the meat off of the bones and use it. If you are really in a pinch, you could purchase pre-cooked chicken chunks in the meat section of your grocery store and use it.)
4. Cut biscuits into small pieces and place in chicken broth mixture. Stir well.
5. Put a small layer of pepper over dumplings.
6. Stir well, reduce the heat, and let the chicken and dumplings simmer for 5-10 minutes.

Got Chicken? I’ve got recipes!

• Easy Baked Chicken Taquitos –Creamy and cheesy, these Mexican favs are crispy and will be a hit for Taco Tuesday! (You say Taco, I say Taquito.)
• Chicken Fiesta Casserole– Chicken and shredded potatoes are combined in one dish to make an easy weeknight delicious dinner.
• Spicy Basil Chicken Stir-Fry – The dish is full of veggies and can be prepared in one skillet. Serve with some rice and it’s a great Thai dinner for 4-6 hungry folks.
• Sesame Chicken – Crispy, tender, sesame seed battered chicken nuggets made at home.
• Chicken Noodle Casserole – Chicken breasts, egg noodles, and veggies are baked in a homemade cream sauce and topped with buttery Ritz Crackers. Yum!
• Chicken Pot Pie – Creamy chicken filling is surrounded by a buttery crust and it all just melts in your mouth.

If you prefer dark meat, then check out the recipe that Martha Stewart makes. Prefer to use your Crock Pot? Sweet T Makes Three has you covered.

Quick and Easy versus Old-Fashioned Chicken and Dumplings

From the recipe above, you can see how easy this recipe is to make. Let’s take a quick look at Old Fashioned method.

First, you need either chicken stock or chicken broth. You can get it either by boiling a whole chicken in a large Dutch oven preferably with some aromatics (herbs and spices) over medium-high heat. The results are tender chicken and homemade broth. This is a good time to turn the burner off momentarily.

Next, you have to transfer chicken, chicken pieces, and other flavoring ingredients from the broth and skim any undesirable floating materials like chicken fat. The chicken meat needs to be taken off the bones. Return the shredded chicken meat to the broth.

Now it’s time to look at making dumpling dough. For this, you need a mixing bowl, all-purpose flour, baking powder, salt, thyme, whole milk, and butter. Combine flour and the dry ingredients, melt butter, and then add the butter and milk to the dry ingredients. Mix it all well with a wooden spoon or a spatula. You can then either roll out the dumpling dough and cut it into strips or simply scoop it into the flavorful broth. Turn the burner on and adjust to medium heat. Let the dumplings cook for about 15 minutes.

To me, using canned biscuits is the clear winner when it comes to convenience. It’s the perfect recipe for saving time in the kitchen. Truth be told, making everything scratch is a winner when it comes to eating cleaner. Unfortunately, we don’t always have enough time and just need an easy recipe to follow.

I hope you enjoy this family favorite. It’s a great recipe with simple ingredients that you can pick up at the grocery store. It’s perfect all year round, but especially on a cold night.

If you are new to Southern Kissed, stay a while and check out some of our other recipes or travel posts. Reader favorites include Ooey Gooey Butter Cake, Zucchini Tots, and Dining in Panama City Beach.