Slow Cooker Chicken and Dumplings (without Cream of Chicken Soup)

This Slow Cooker Chicken and Dumplings recipe is a hearty and slightly creamy stew made completely from scratch without canned cream of chicken soup! 

What Are American Dumplings?

Dumplings are found in many cultures: Chinese and Japanese, German, Polish, and more! And in each case, “dumpling” means something a bit different. Different shapes, different sizes. Some a stuffed with a filling, others are simply dough. Some are bread-y, others are like noodles, and still others go the potato route.

So many different dishes under one name!

There’s nowhere that exemplifies the fact that “dumpling” can have so may different meanings than when you talk about Chicken and Dumplings.

In the United States, “dumplings” refer to a type of dough that is boiled in a broth. But there is a HUGE debate over that those dumplings are.

Are you in the rolled dumpling or dropped dumpling camp? 

What Are Rolled Dumplings?

Rolled dumplings are made from a pastry, kind of like a pie crust, that is rolled thin and then cut into wide, noodle-like shapes. These rolled dumplings are more commonly found in the Southern States.

To make a Southern Chicken and Dumplings, the noodles are boiled in the chicken broth (like you would pasta), after the chicken has been cooked with a few aromatic vegetables and removed from the broth to shred. Once the dumplings are cooked, the shredded chicken is added back to the pot for serving.

What Are Dropped Dumplings?

Dropped dumplings, on the other hand, are more common in the Northern states.

These dumplings are made from a biscuit-like dough that is dropped over top of your simmering stew which (in the case of Northern Chicken and Dumplings) includes chicken and lots of veggies.

Chicken And Dumplings In The Crock Pot

Having family from New England, I grew up on the Northern version of chicken and dumplings.

Aka: the biscuit topped version.

Nothing beats chicken and biscuit dumplings when it comes to some serious winter comfort food.

But there’s one problem.

In my opinion, a GOOD version of chicken and dumplings has to simmer until the chicken is so tender it falls apart. This makes for a deliciously comforting dish and an amazing smelling house.

But, most of the time, we just don’t have the time to watch a simmering pot of chicken for 2-3 hours.

Enter the beloved slow cooker.

Not only does making chicken and dumplings in the slow cooker make the prep work super easy. (Just dump and go!) But, the low and slow cooking, while you do your thing, means you will get that tender, slow cooked chicken goodness.

Dumplings In A Crock Pot?

Why yes!

Once your slow cooker is simmering away nicely, it only takes 30 minutes for the dropped dumplings to steam when popped on top of your bubbling stew.

It’s practically magic.

A Chicken and Dumplings Recipe Without Canned Soup

When we first went in search of a crock pot chicken and dumplings recipe, we were sad to find that most of them used canned ‘cream of something’ soups, which we like to avoid.

Those that omitted the canned soup looked purely brothy; more soup-esque than we wanted for our chicken and dumpling stew.

So, we took matters into our own hands.

Our Slow Cooker Chicken And Dumplings Stew Recipe

Our version of slow cooker  chicken and dumplings stew has a base that is still more brothy than creamy, but the flour that we add to the crock pot helps to thicken the stew as it cooks and adds a creaminess that brings it a step above the clear broth you would find in a chicken noodle soup.

The dumplings we make are your true Northern dumplings, more similar to a biscuit but a bit more dense because they’re steamed and boiled. They absorb some of the broth as they cook, thickening the stew even further and creating fluffy pillows, with a moist exterior.

The idea when cooking these dumplings is to steam them. So, it is very important that the stew be hot and simmering slightly around the edges before you drop your dough in.

Then, quickly back on with the cover of the slow cooker, and they’re puff up to Northern dumpling perfection.

More cultural chicken soup recipes

If you love chicken soup, you’ll want to check our our recipe for Bolivian Chicken Noodle Soup as well as Greek Avgolemono, lemon rice chicken soup. Enjoy!

 

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This is one of the recipes from the early days of Curious Cuisiniere. We’ve updated our pictures since we first shared it, but we’ve left some originals here, in case you’ve found us in the past and are looking for that old, familiar image.

 

 

 

 

 

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