Creamy Chicken and Dumplings (Best Easy Soup Recipe) + Video
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My Chicken & Dumpling Recipe, made with tender chicken, colorful vegetables, and a creamy chicken broth base, is full of flavor and makes a delicious meal. This savory stew recipe is not only comforting, but also so simple! Watch the helpful video in this post to see how easily this one pot meal comes together.
Chicken & Dumpling Recipe
Chicken and dumplings is the ultimate comfort food, made with easy dumplings from scratch!
Every bite of this hearty stew oozes with thick, creamy goodness, and the added veggies take it to the next level.
If this is your first time making this dumpling soup recipe, get ready for the whole family to be hooked. It’s a southern staple in my house!
This stove top chicken & dumpling recipe is the perfect one pot meal for family dinner on a busy weeknight.
It’s literally the perfect comfort food that is easy peasy. You’ll love the creamy texture.
You’ll be amazed by how easy it is to prepare – ready in just 30 minutes! Perfect for a comforting meal on a chilly day.
For more delicious quick chicken meals, try my copycat Olive Garden Chicken and Gnocchi Soup or my easy Air Fryer Chicken Tenders.
Chicken and Dumplings Ingredient Notes and Substitutions
- Boneless Skinless Chicken Breast – If you prefer dark meat, boneless skinless chicken thighs are a great alternative.
This recipe also works well with turkey cutlets, or with rotisserie chicken if you’re in a hurry. Leftover shredded rotisserie chicken works great. - Chicken Broth – Chicken stock will work just fine too for this chicken & dumpling recipe.
- Milk – This will give your dish its creamy consistency. I recommend whole milk, but you can also use low-fat milk.
- Seasoning – Simple dried seasonings will bring the flavor out in this dish. This recipe uses salt, pepper, garlic, onion, basil, and parsley.
But you can certainly use fresh herbs, or add dried rosemary and sage if you have those on hand! - Vegetables – Feel free to add your favorite vegetables. I use frozen peas and carrots here, but spinach and celery would also make excellent additions.
- Dumpling Dough – Make easy homemade dumplings from scratch with just 5 ingredients — flour, softened butter, milk, baking powder, and salt.
If you don’t have time to make homemade dumplings for this easy recipe, you can use storebought biscuit dough as well.
Tips and Tricks for 30 Minute Chicken and Dumplings
- Create a Slurry. Combine flour and milk in a sealable container like a Mason Jar, and shake it up.
You’ll get a smooth flour mixture called a slurry, which will help to thicken your sauce.
This turns this recipe into more a a creamy chicken dumpling soup, loaded with flavor. - Don’t Overwork or Overcook Dumplings. Be careful not to overmix your dumpling dough or to cook it for too long in the pot, otherwise you might end up with dumplings that are too hard.
Perfectly cooked dumplings turn out light, fluffy, and tender. - Test with a Toothpick. When your stew is close to ready, poke a dumpling with a toothpick. Your dumplings will be ready once the toothpick comes out clean.
If there’s some residue on the toothpick, give them a few more minutes to finish cooking. - Try the Instant Pot. If you love this quick chicken and dumplings recipe, try my instant pot version next.
It’s just as tasty as the stove top version, but uses buttermilk biscuits for the dumplings instead! Either way, it will be a family favorite! - Add fresh seasonings. If you want to add a bit of fresh thyme to this dumplings recipe, it’s a great way to add more flavor.
Minced garlic is also a great choice, and even a few bay leaves can help bump up the taste.
Storing and Reheating Leftovers
This quick chicken and dumplings recipe is freezer-friendly and easy to store if you have leftovers!
Allow leftovers to cool before transferring to an airtight container. They will keep in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
If you want to keep them longer, place a layer of plastic wrap over the dish, under the lid, before popping the container into the freezer.
This will help prevent freezer burn. You can store your leftovers for about 3-4 months in the freezer.
When you’re ready to enjoy this meal, allow it to defrost in the refrigerator and then reheat on the stovetop on low heat.
You may need to add milk or cream to help loosen it up.
Kitchen Tools You Will Need
- Dutch Oven – I love this set and use it all the time. It is perfect for roasts, and I especially love it for my one-pot meals.
- 1 Tablespoon Scoop – Use this to drop dumplings right into the pot!
Chicken & Dumpling Recipe FAQ
You can thicken this dish by adding more flour, or even cornstarch. Create a slurry with either of these ingredients and milk or water, then stir into your broth base until you get your desired consistency.
Yes, you can use vegetable broth if you have that on hand. You’ll still get a ton of delicious flavor from the chicken itself, plus the variety of seasonings — including poultry seasoning!
Although this 30 minute chicken and dumplings recipe makes a hearty meal, you can easily pair this dish with a variety of other recipes to make your meal more complete!
Bake up some Olive Garden Breadsticks or my Sweet Southern Buttermilk Cornbread while everything simmers.
You’ll also love how this dish tastes with a side of Italian Green Beans or these tasty air fried Brussel Sprouts with Bacon.
This recipe makes the fluffiest dumplings, and I’m obsessed with the texture. You’ll notice right away that delicious dumplings are light, with a little bit of chew. When you make biscuit dumplings, they add a soft texture to the soup, which means there is no need for any added side of bread. (although, if you wanted to add bread to this recipe, I’m not going to stop you!)
These perfectly fluffy dumplings take on the flavor of the creamy soup really well, which helps round out the texture of this great recipe.
Enjoy!
With love, from our simple kitchen to yours.
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Other Amazing Soup Recipes
Creamy Chicken and Dumplings (Best Easy Soup Recipe) + Video
Ingredients
- 4 cups chicken broth
- 1 cup water
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 2 teaspoons poultry seasoning
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon dried parsley
- 1 teaspoon dried basil
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 pound boneless skinless chicken breast
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 3 cups milk
- 2 cups frozen peas and carrots
Dumplings
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 tablespoon butter, softened
- 1 cup milk
Instructions
- In a heavy bottomed Dutch oven or large wide pot, over medium heat, add chicken broth, water, butter and all seasonings (poultry seasoning, onion powder, garlic powder, salt, parsley, basil, and pepper). Cover and bring to a boil.
- Meanwhile, cut chicken breast into bite sized pieces. Add to the pot. Stir to combine and cover.
- In a sealable container (such as a large mason jar) combine flour and milk. Seal tightly and shake vigorously to combine well. You will create a smooth flour mixture for thickening your sauce called a slurry. Slowly pour the slurry into the pot, stirring constantly. Add frozen vegetables and cover.
- Meanwhile combine dumpling ingredients in a medium bowl. Mix well with a fork. Remove cover from the soup pot and stir well.
- Drop dumplings into the soup one tablespoon at a time, use a 1 tablespoon scoop to make it even easier. Reduce heat to simmer, cover and cook until soup is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon, about 10 minutes.
Video
Nutrition
All nutritional information is based on third party calculations and is only an estimate. Each recipe’s nutritional value will vary depending on the ingredients used, measuring methods, and portion sizes.
Originally published November 2012, updated December 2023
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I made this and this was SO GOOD! YUM! We added about half cup of fresh corn and peas to the recipe.
Corn and green beans are an awesome addition to this recipe. So happy you loved it.
Best,
Donna
How many does this serve?
Just made this recipe and it was delicious. Easy to make and the family love. This will be one of my go to meals. Thanks for sharing.
I did not have peas, but I did have beets & carrots. The dish was pink for a bit, then mellowed to a normal color-Lol. Very tasty, hearty winter dish. Thank you!
This was very good, made it last Sunday. Will definitely make it again, thanks for the recipe!
Made this last night for my family. It was a hit. Used mixed vegetables and also added parsley and thyme to the dumplings. Will be making again and have shared the recipe with friends and family.
The broccoli cheddar with chicken and rice soup looks delicious, but I will chop the broccoli into smaller pieces; personal preference. Thank you for this awesome recipe. You take such beautiful photos of your recipes.
This looks perfect, Donna!
I'm a southern girl who has made lots of chicken and dumplings. I have just never put vegetables into my dumplings. I guess its just where I am from.
I agree. That is a northern dish. You don't put vegetables or the seasoning they use. The dumplings are rolled out thin. This would probably be a good soup recipe
But not what I think of as dumplins.
I am an old southern girl and I always add carrots and celery to my dumplings.
I can't stand rolled dumplins!!! You roll biscuits and drop dumplins. But I'm not used yup the veggies or all those seasonings either. I'll try anything once, and this is OK, but after trying with the veggies, the whole family prefers it without!
Yeah. We never used vegetables either but have had it that way and it was good. Cannot make mine like my momma though. We use a biscuit recipe.
Does anyone have problems printing off the recipe. I even post to Pinterest and even then I can't print the recipe. Help
copy & paste to your word document, then print.
I open the page in Safari then press the print button.
Prints wirelessly no problem.
you can also put the cursor on the recipe click on it and move it down it will hi-light it, then right click and choose copy then go to your desk top or your place of choice, then right click on the mouse again and choose paste
I just screenshot all my recipes…tht way I have Them in my photos..:)
can we make it in a slow cooker ?
Try going on the picture of the recie
pe you want and it should pop up then click print…I jus did it and it worked good luck.
To Helen If I cant get it to print, I cut and copy it to word and then print it
Is the chicken pre-cooked before adding to the recipe?
I was wondering the same thing!
No, it cooks in the broth. =)
I would suggest cooking the chicken before putting it into the broth. I always boil mine; you dont want the chicken to be under cooked.
I would cook the chicken in some broth first then add to the recipe in the
pot !
You can use already cooked rotisserie chicken that you can buy out of your grocery store deli
Is the chicken supposed to be cooked first????
It cooks in the broth. =)
How long does it cook?
how many calories per serving?
According to my recipe nutrition calculator, per 1 cup (8 oz) serving there are 329 calories per serving and 33 grams of carbs
I made it today and I really liked it, but to my husband it seemed that the dumplings and the chicken were a bit raw. To me they were OK. How do I know everything is cooked?
I did notice that the chicken was extremely tender, maybe because of the milk, and I guessed the dumplings were OK because they were floating like the Italian gnocchi.
I would suggest using precooked chicken. I wouldn't trust it to get cooked good enough in the broth. I always used precooked.
can you make the recipe ahead of time and add the dumplings say a day later/
Can the dumplings be "rolled out and cut"? I've never had success with "drop dumplings". They're always soggy. Thanks!
I have not tried this recipe with those kind of dumplings. If you add more flour they would be rollable. Give it a try and let us know how it goes. Enjoy!
Making as we "speak " my Dutch oven is a tad too small I think….the dumplings are WAAYYY Big!! I took some sauce out..and am continuing to cook
Just like my southern family has always made, except we don't add veggies. These are real dumplings. So many recipes call for rolled dumplings, which I consider noodles, or add an egg, which makes them heavy, in my experience. These are perfect.
Thanks so much!
My family loved it. My daughter said it tasted like a chicken dinner. I used frozen carrots, peas, corn, and greenbeans. I called it chicken pot pie soup…lol. Very good!
We are happy to hear that! So glad you enjoyed it!
It is really fast, very good recipe!
MY DUMPLINGS ALWAYS TURN OUT DOUGHY WITH NO REAL FLAVOR .I USE POULTRY SEASONING ,SALT PEPPER S/P AND LITTLE BIT OF EXTRA BAKING POWDER I ALWAYS PUT TEASPOON OF DUMPLING MIX AND THEY DONT SEEM TO WANT TO PLUMP UP EVEN AFTER 15-20 MIN HELP..!!!!!
Try not to add salt directly to the dumplings. You could be killing the yeast
There is no yeast in this recipe! How old is your baking powder?
Cover the pot and don't peak. Give the the heat and time they need alone
My granny would let the water boil
Grrrr. My dumplings were really, really chewy…. what did I do wrong??
Haven't made this recipe, but I always use Grand's biscuits in my chicken & dumplings. I tear each biscuit into about 10 or more pieces. My mom always made her own drop dumplings and I never liked them — too large and not done inside.
that's what I figured they would be inside because of there size everything else liiks good though think I will stick to my original dumplings though
made it as described! it was super yummy! Thank you for such a well written and easy to follow recipe that tastes as good as it looks!
Thanks so much! We are happy you enjoyed it!
Is there anyway to make this thicker????
add 2 tablespoons corn starch and 2 tablespoon water mix and pour in for thicker soup
Thank you for your easy to read recipe. The preparation time was fast. The result was wonderfully delicious!
I didn't care for this. I added two tbsp of chicken bouillon because I thought it was very bland. I also put my dumplings in the over by the spoonful and baked them for 5 minutes so that they wouldn't be mushy. And while I didn't care for this recipe, my son said it was just "ok."