Tender, homemade dumplings, fall apart pieces of chicken, fresh carrots and celery, all surrounded by a thick and hearty stew infused with garlic, onion, and fresh herbs.
Prep Time20 minutesmins
Cook Time4 hourshrs
Total Time4 hourshrs15 minutesmins
Course: Main Course, Main Dish
Cuisine: American
Keyword: Slow Cooker Chicken and Dumplings from Scratch
3poundsboneless, skinless chicken thighs cubed to 1 inch
3tablespoonsflour
1teaspoonkosher salt
1/2teaspoonblack pepper
1tablespoonolive oil
1tablespoonbutter
3carrots peeled and cut into 1/2 inch pieces
3ribs celery including celery leaves thinly sliced
1large onion diced
1/2cupflat leaf parsley roughly chopped
2teaspoon1dried thymeor 1 tablespoon fresh thyme
1teaspoonkosher salt
2clovesgarlic minced
2bay leaves
48 ounceschicken stock
Homemade Dumplings
1 3/4cupflour
1/2teaspoonbaking powder
1/2teapoonsalt
1/2cupbutter
1/2cupmilk or buttermilk
Instructions
Cut chicken thighs into 1 inch cubes and dust with flour, salt, and pepper.
Heat dutch oven to medium high heat. Add oil and butter. When butter foams, add half of the chicken pieces.
Stir occasionally until chicken pieces are browned on all sides, about 5-7 minutes. Place browned chicken in crockpot.
Brown second half of chicken pieces and then add to crockpot.
Using the chicken drippings remaining in the pot, saute the chopped and diced carrots, celery, onion, parsley, thyme and 1 teaspoon of salt for 5 minutes until softened and starting to brown.
Add the minced garlic and continue to saute for 1-2 minutes until fragrant.
Add the chicken stock and bay leaves and scrape the browned bits from the bottom of the pot. Pour everthing into the Slow Cooker / Crockpot.
Cook on high for 3-4 hours or on low for 7-8 hours.
Homemade Dumplings
Stir together the dry ingredients until well combined. Cut the butter into the dry ingredients until the mixture resembles course crumbs.
Add the milk and stir until combined. Use an additional tablespoon of milk if needed, but do not make the batter overly sticky.
Roll the batter out to a 1/4 inch thickness on a floured surface and cut into consistently sized squares or rectangles, about and inch wide.
Drop the dumplings one at a time into the boiling soup. Try to not clump them together and keep stirring to a minimum to avoid breaking up the dumplings.
Cook for an additional 30 minutes on high or 60 minutes on low until the stew has thickened, the dumplings have firmed up, and they no longer have a doughy taste or texture.
Taste if additional salt and pepper is desired.
Garnish with parsley is desired.
Notes
If your Chicken and Dumplings is thicker then desired, especially when reheating, additional chicken stock may be added.