Christie C. When it gets cold, I cannot wait to break out my slow cooker and put it to use. It is one of my favorite cooking appliances for putting together delicious stews with minimum effort. This slow cooker chicken and dumplings is one of my favorite hearty stews for frigid evenings where you get to snuggle on your couch. My mother used to make this stew with large, chunky dumplings, and I would eat the leftovers for days.
WHY YOU’LL LOVE THIS RECIPE
- Easy to prepare
- Simple, wholesome ingredients
- Hearty, flavorful classic
- Perfect for chilly day
- Ingredients are easily interchangeable
- Soft, fluffy dumplings
Like my Slow Cooker Chicken Noodle Soup recipe, this stew also has ingredients that are easily interchangeable. You can make this soup as fancy or as practical as you would like, and substitute vegetables as you see fit. You may want to add potatoes, or you may want to use fresh fennel. The choice is yours!
Sometimes, I even run out of flour. In my pictures shown here, I have made dumplings using half whole wheat and half unbleached flour. I added an additional 1/2 cup of water to keep the dough malleable.
When I have the ingredients on hand, I will make this stew completely from scratch with Homemade Chicken Stock or Homemade Vegetable Broth, fresh herbs, and fresh bread. If time is of the essence, any of these can be obtained from your local market.
Fresh bay leaves add underlining notes of sweetness and savory to the stew.
In my variation of the chicken and dumplings, I typically use leeks instead of celery as a flavor preference. However, celery works just fine. You can also substitute any of the onions with shallots, extra garlic, scallions, or chives.
I typically make chicken and dumplings with chicken breasts because I prefer the leaner, healthier meats, but chicken on the bone is more economical and often more flavorful.
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MORE RECIPES LIKE THIS
Slow Cooker Chicken Noodle Soup
TOOLS
6 Quart Slow Cooker
Soup Ladle
Slow Cooker Chicken and Dumplings
Ingredients
For the stew
- 1 lbs chicken breasts, thighs, or drumsticks.
- 8 cups (2000ml) chicken stock, or bone broth
- 6 tbsp fresh Italian seasoning or 1 bunch each of fresh thyme, rosemary, and parsley, or 4 tbsp dried Italian seasoning
- 2 bay leaves fresh or dried and torn
- 1/2 sweet onion chopped
- 8 garlic cloves chopped
- 2 carrots sliced
- 1 leek sliced (or 2 celery stalks, sliced)
- 1 tbsp white wine vinegar
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 cup 225g English peas
- 3 cups 225g egg noodles
- salt and pepper to taste
- 4 tbsp cornstarch
For the dumplings
- 1 1/2 cups (200g) all-purpose flour
- 5 tsp baking powder
- 1 bunch thyme or 1 tbsp dried thyme or Italian seasoning
- 1 cup (200ml) water
- 6 tbsp (90g) butter melted
- 1/4 tsp sea salt
Instructions
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Cook the stew
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In a large mixing bowl, stir together the stock and cornstarch until fully combined.
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Place the chicken at the bottom of a 6 quart slow cooker.
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Add the herbs, onion, garlic, carrots, leek, and chicken broth.
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Add the white wine vinegar and olive oil.
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Season liberally with salt and pepper.
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Cover the slow cooker and cook the soup on the "High" setting for 4 to 5 hours.
Make the dumplings
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15 minutes before the stew is finished, mix together all of the dumpling ingredients in a large mixing bowl.
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Add the peas to the stew and stir. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
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Using a tablespoon, drop dollops of dumpling dough onto the top of the stew. Do not stir the dumplings into the stew.
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Place the lid back onto the slow cooker and cook the stew for another hour.
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Turn off the heat and allow the soup to cool for at least 15 minutes before serving.
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