This easy chicken and dumplings recipe is a comforting and hearty meal that is ready in just 30 minutes! With tender dumplings, flavorful rotisserie chicken, and a rich, creamy broth, it’s the perfect dish for busy weeknights. This easy version of the classic Southern favorite brings all the cozy flavors of a home-cooked meal without the long cooking time.
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Test Kitchen Review
See what our test kitchen had to say!
Brittany
This is my husband’s new *favorite* meal, we have seriously made it once a week for the last few months! I add a little cajun seasoning and crushed red pepper flakes to ours because we like a little spice, but I followed the recipe exactly otherwise!
Why I Love This Creamy & Comforting Soup
Chicken and dumplings have always been my favorite dinner from childhood. Growing up, it was the ultimate comfort food that my mom would make on chilly evenings. If I have the time, I usually make my homemade chicken and dumplings from scratch. However, this is my go-to version when I have a craving, but am short on time. Here’s why I think you are going to love it too:
- Quick and Easy: This easy chicken and dumplings recipe is perfect for beginning and seasoned cooks alike. Follow the simple steps and in just 30 minutes, you will have a bowl full of comfort!
- One-Pot: This easy version uses canned biscuits for the dumplings and canned cream of chicken as the gravy base. Made all in one pot, cleanup couldn’t be any easier!
- Hearty: With lots of chicken, root vegetables, and fluffy dumplings, this is absolutely a complete meal all on its own.
- Crowd Favorite: Loved by both kids and adults, it’s an easy go-to family dinner! Double the recipe and you can easily feed a crowd!
Key Ingredients
With a 30 minute goal in mind, plan on using a few readily available shortcuts. Below you will find helpful notes for key ingredients used to make this easy chicken and dumplings recipe with biscuits. Scroll down to the recipe card below for the full ingredient list and exact amounts!
- Chicken: You need 3 cups of chopped or shredded, cooked chicken. Use rotisserie, canned, frozen precooked, or leftover chicken. You can easily make your own shredded chicken using chicken thighs, boneless skinless chicken breasts or a whole chicken.
- Evaporated Milk: Canned evaporated milk is the secret weapon in this dish. Thick, rich and lower in fat than heavy cream, this inexpensive, shelf stable ingredient makes the creamiest chicken and dumplings.
- Cream of Chicken Soup: You can use any flavor of canned condensed “cream of” style soup. I like the flavor best from cream of chicken soup, but cream of onion or celery are good substitutes.
- Canned Biscuits: Choose refrigerated biscuit dough, cut into fourths and then tossed in flour to prevent them from sticking. Canned biscuits are a quick and easy swap for time consuming handmade dumplings from scratch.
How to Make Chicken and Dumplings with Biscuits
I recommend having all your ingredients out, prepped, and ready to go before starting. This easy chicken and dumplings recipe moves quickly once we get going! Below is a quick recipe overview, but please scroll to the recipe card at the bottom of this post for full instructions and to watch the step-by-step video.
- Sauté: In a large pot, melt the butter. Add the vegetables and garlic and sauté until tender.
- Simmer: Add chicken, broth, milk, and soup to vegetable mixture. Bring to a simmer. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
- Add Biscuits: Cut each of the canned biscuits into 4 pieces and toss in flour to coat. Add to the chicken soup mixture and cook until dough is cooked through. Press the dumplings below the broth and break them apart as needed, as they cook.
- Enjoy: Once the dumplings are cooked through, serve immediately!
Chef’s Tips and Variations
- Dumplings: Buy plain, large (16.3 ounces) southern buttermilk style biscuits. “Homestyle” biscuits also work well, but do not buy the flaky biscuits. If you can only find the smaller sized biscuits, cut them in half, not fourths, so they don’t disappear.
- Make Ahead: If interrupted, wait to add the biscuits. Prep the gravy base and turn down the heat to a very low simmer. 10 minutes before serving, turn up the heat until gravy is bubbly. Add broth to loosen if needed and add cut biscuits at the end of cook time.
- Flour: Don’t skip tossing the cut biscuits in all-purpose flour as this prevents sticking. It also thickens the gravy base too.
- Time: Add the dumplings and adhere to the cook time before serving. The dumplings will disappear if left to simmer too long.
- Herbs: Add a large pinch of dried poultry seasoning to the gravy, if you have it. The mixture of thyme, sage, rosemary and nutmeg provide an easy way to amp up the flavor a little. You can also throw in a bay leaf or thyme.
- Crockpot: Let the slow cooker do the work with this crock pot chicken and dumplings (with homemade dumplings) or easy slow cooker chicken and dumplings (with canned biscuits). You also may enjoy my instant pot chicken and dumplings!
Yield: 6 servings
Easy Chicken and Dumplings with Biscuits
⭐️Test Kitchen Approved!⭐️Need Chicken and Dumplings fast? This deliciously creamy and easy Chicken And Dumplings recipe is made with canned biscuits in just 30 minutes! With tender chicken and fluffy dumplings, in a rich and creamy broth, it's a comforting meal the whole family will love.
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 1 large yellow onion, diced
- 3 stalks celery, sliced
- ½ cup matchstick carrots
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 3 cups cooked and shredded chicken, use a rotisserie chicken for ease
- 8 oz evaporated milk, or half and half
- 1 (10.5 oz) can cream of chicken soup
- 40 oz chicken broth
- salt and freshly cracked black pepper, to taste
- 1 (16.3 oz) can buttermilk biscuits, if you like a lot of biscuits, add an extra 5 oz can of biscuits
- ¼ cup all-purpose flour
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Instructions
- In a large heavy bottomed pot, melt butter over medium-high heat. Add vegetables – onion, celery, carrots and garlic. Cook, stirring often until tender, about 6 to 8 minutes.
- Add the shredded cooked chicken, chicken broth, evaporated milk, and can of cream of chicken and bring to a simmer. Season soup to taste with salt and pepper.
- Cut the biscuits into quarters (each biscuit will be sliced into 4 equal pieces) and lightly toss them in flour.
- Add the floured biscuits to the soup and lightly press them under the broth with a spoon or spatula. Place the lid on the pot and cook the dumplings for about 8 to 10 minutes. I like to break apart the dumplings, and press them back under the broth, if they get stuck together.
- Test one of the biscuits to ensure they have cooked through and are not raw in the middle. Once the biscuits are cooked through, serve immediately!
Video
Notes
Leftovers Storage: While best served fresh, you can save the leftovers! Cool to room temperature and store chicken and dumplings in an airtight container for up to 3 days. For best results, I recommend removing dumplings and storing them separately from the soup as they tend to soak up all the broth. When reheating, add a little more broth to loosen it up again, if desired.
Nutrition
Serving: 1serving, Calories: 566kcal, Carbohydrates: 52g, Protein: 28g, Fat: 27g, Saturated Fat: 8g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 7g, Monounsaturated Fat: 10g, Trans Fat: 0.2g, Cholesterol: 82mg, Sodium: 1.879mg, Potassium: 579mg, Fiber: 2g, Sugar: 9g, Vitamin A: 1.808IU, Vitamin C: 3mg, Calcium: 172mg, Iron: 4mg
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C & D are one of my favorite dishes. This is a delicious and easy recipe. Rotisserie chicken and canned biscuits are the way to go. I did flattened the biscuits to 1/4″ then cut into 1″ squares was the only thing I changed. Cooked fast and tasted great. Will absolutely use this again. Thanks for putting this recipe out there.
Besides being tasteless, my dumplings never got done, not even after 40 minutes. They weren’t fluffy but gluttonous blobs. Very disappointed.
Hi Connie, I’m sorry to hear that, what kind of canned biscuits did you use? No matter what kind, they should definitely have cooked in 40 minutes!
This is the easiest most delicious dinner I’ve ever made! My family loved it!!!
My dumplings don’t get done–even after 40 minutes!
Hmm, was your heat at a simmer (low boil)? If you quartered the dumplings (one dumpling cut into 4 pieces) – they really shouldn’t take more than 10 minutes to cook!
I had the heat on simmer. But it may not have been on a low boil. I’ll try again with the heat turned up a notch.
You can also place the lid on the pot if they aren’t cooking – this will help trap in the heat and cook them faster! Hopefully this helps for next time! 🙂
Thank you for this delicious recipe, I liked the idea of the veggies in here so I added mushrooms and peas. Made a double batch so I only used 3 cans of biscuits and it is tasty!
This was a great recipe. I cut it down for one person and it has turned out great. Will save this recipe for future use
NOT a 30 minute meal but delicious. I only used half the amount of biscuits and it took almost an hour for this to cook. I would suggest rolling out biscuits so they are super thin. I had rolled them a bit but they still took FOREVER to cook all the way through. Also pay attention to your evaporated milk can. Mine was 12oz which I didn’t notice until I poured it in. I ended up having to add a cornstarch slurry to thicken up the gravy. It was actually super delicious once those darn biscuits finally cooked through!
Delicious! Very easy to make!
how many people does this feed
Hi Jayden! It serves 6 people, or 4 super hungry people if you want extra large servings. The yield amounts are always listed right above the recipe name in the recipe card. Hope this helps!
Absolutely love this recipe my mother is from Pennsylvania and makes this the traditional way and honestly Im not a fan (everyone thinks I’m nuts) but yours is yum.
What I did: I opened my biscuit up and rolled each half flat and then cut them into strips. I also added a couple of bay leaves and some sage to the veggie sauté and cooked everything longer then suggested (20 mins) biscuits were cooked perfectly.
Thanks for this recipe.
This recipe was so easy & delicious.Leftover chicken & canned biscuits no problem anymore.Thank you for such a easy recipe.
Great recipe, I am a NC gal, southern for sure. Momma never put the veggies in hers so I am not used to that, didn’t put them in and only used 1 can of biscuits and about 32 oz of chicken broth. They came out delicious, family loved them so I will make again.
I loved my Mom’s Chicken and dumplings so much. I just can’t perfect her Bisquick. I believe this recipe seems simple and delicious. I will certainly give it a try
This was absolutely delicious!! I did need to make some changes with what I had on hand. I only had 32 oz of chicken broth so I added the whole 12 oz can of evaporated milk. Didn’t have cream of mushroom soup but had some leftover kale pesto with white cheddar pasta sauce ( Sonoma brand. ) I made a rue with cornstarch and some of the sauce. Used a deep 12″ skillet which fit the biscuits perfectly but only 1 can of Grands.
Thanks for posting this quick recipe! I’m happy to have a choice of a quick dinner with canned biscuits when running short on time, and then your other made from scratch version with fluffy biscuits when I have the time. I’m excited to try both!
We had half of a rotisserie chicken leftover. I turned it into the creamiest chicken and dumplings my family ever ate. I didn’t change anything except added a few more spices. I love the texture of the broth.
Hey there,
I just want to preface this comment with I LOVE THIS RECIPE! It is absolutely delicious and has made plenty anytime I’ve made it for family or friends.
I will agree with Kyrsten above though, that the recipe calorie count needs to be adjusted. I did a few simple calculations just from the ingredients I had and found that one batch consists of over 2,200 calories (and I only put in one can of biscuits, instead of 2).
Please know, I’m not trying to be ugly and will continue to follow you for more delicious meals. But please updated the calorie count for those who are trying to watch their calorie intake.
Hi Hattie! Thank you for letting me know, I will work on trying to calculate it myself and update it. But just a heads up, I do not personally calculate the nutrition for each recipe. I pay for a program to automatically calculate it to give an idea of the nutrition for each recipe since I know it is helpful to readers. The program is the best one on the market and it uses the most popular brands for recipe ingredients, but it’s never 100%. I wish it was!
Hi. I live to make a few meals ahead of time and heat up. Not sure if this will work, but trying tonight. Any additional suggestions if I want to do it this way?
This soup will thicken as it cools and then is refrigerated after cooking because the dumplings will continue to soak up the broth. It really is best fresh. One way I know some people make/prep ahead is to make the soup portion and then refrigerate it or freeze it. When ready, bring it back up to a simmer on the stove and add the dumplings. That way it is mostly all done ahead, but everything taste great and fresh!
I made this but it wasn’t very creamy. Is there something that can add to it to thicken it up?
The evaporated milk should make it plenty creamy, but if it is not creamy enough for you, swap it out for heavy cream!
This has become my favorite chicken and dumpling recipe. I did add frozen peas.
I made this for someone who was under the weather. They loved it so much they said I should market it and sell it! I lost my original recipe and this one is even better. I questioned the melted butter in the dumplings but they came out outstanding and a lot easier than cutting the butter in!