Chicken and Dumplings (Slow Cooker)

When I told Shane what I was making for dinner last night I got the rolling of the eyes that normally accompanies new recipe try-outs for him.  I don’t know if he’s never had chicken and dumplings before or if it just isn’t his thing, but he’s always said he doesn’t like dumplings.

Well…  I’ll take some credit now because he liked MY dumplings!  😉

This is a slow cooker recipe, although the timing isn’t great for a working person.  Only requiring 5-6 hours, it isn’t quite long enough to start in the morning and leave on all day (unless you have one of those fancy crock pots that will automatically switch itself to the ‘warm’ setting when it’s done.)  For me though, this is a great weekend dinner.  Start it around noon on a Sunday afternoon and you’re good-to-go.

And using the frozen chicken breasts is an added bonus!  I did some research, and the Crock-Pot website says (link here) you can use frozen meats in your slow cooker, but obviously make sure the meat is fully cooked before eating it.  (Duh?)  The below recipe was enough time for mine to cook, but please do double-check your meat with a thermometer.

So throw your chicken in, season to taste, add a pat of butter on top of each…

Like so…
And then add the rest of the ingredients (which I didn’t take a picture of because my camera ran out of battery, but I think you can handle it)

And voila!

Super easy and super tasty chicken and dumplings!
I took that pic when it was piping hot straight from the cooker, but it does thicken a bit upon standing.

Ingredients:

• 4 boneless, skinless frozen chicken breasts
• 2 tbsp butter
• 2 (10.75oz) cans cream of chicken soup
• Chicken broth
• 2 cans refrigerated biscuit dough (I used 2 of the small cans)
• Seasoning, to taste.

Directions:

1. Place the chicken in the slow cooker.  Season as desired (I just used salt, pepper, and a generous sprinkle of garlic powder)
2. Add 0.5 tbsp of butter over each piece and then pour the cream of chicken soup on top.
3. Dump in the entire container of chicken broth and then top with enough water to cover the top of the chicken.
4. Cover and cook on the high setting for 3 1/2 to 4 hours.
5. Remove the chicken breasts and cut each breast into 3-4 pieces.  Put the chicken pieces back in the slow cooker.
6. Tear your biscuits into little bite-size pieces.  It doesn’t need to be perfect.  Place the biscuits in the slow cooker and cook for an additional 1 1/2 hours.  Your biscuit dough should have a dumpling-like consistency and shouldn’t be raw in the center.
7. Enjoy!