CrockPot Chicken & Dumplings

I started making chicken & dumplings in the crockpot several years ago.  The first time I made it my husband loved it!  Now every time we are talking about things we can have for dinners for the next week he ALWAYS says, "You know, we could have chicken & dumplings.  I'm just sayin'."

I don't make it every week, like he would like, but when I do make it he still gets very excited! 

We have been very excited about the fall shows coming back on tv, so I decided to make one of my hubby's favorite meals.  Now we can watch our shows and have a yummy dinner! 

It's really SO simple! 

Here's how you do it.

Throw 6 chicken thighs in the crockpot.  (I used frozen)

It might be scary to use frozen at first, but I do it all the time.  It's a huge time saver, since I usually forget to get the chicken out to thaw.  Using frozen will produce a little more liquid, but that's usually a good thing!

 Add one box of chicken broth.

Add one can cream of chicken soup.

Add one can cream of potato soup.  

You can really use any cream of soups that you want.  I usually use cream of chicken with herb, but didn't have any of that in my pantry, so I decided to change it up and use the potato soup.  We really liked it! 

Next add the spices.  I use 1 Tbsp garlic powder, 1 Tbsp onion powder, 1 Tbsp ground nutmeg, 1 Tbsp ground thyme, and a sprinkle of cumin.

 You can use any kinds if spices you like.

Now I stir it a little and try to sink the chicken as much as I can.  Since they are frozen they don't move very much, so I just try to make sure all the spices are in the liquid.

 If you want, you can put all the soups and spices in a bowl and mix well before putting them on top of the chicken, but I think that's just getting another bowl dirty...no sense in doing that! 

Turn the crockpot on high for 6 hours.  

This is after it has been cooking for 5 hours.

 Shred the chicken.  To do this you should just be able to squeeze it with tongs and it will fall apart.  If not, then shred with a fork.

Now for the dumplings!  (The best part!)

Get a can of jumbo biscuits...

Get an extra long piece of wax paper and a rolling pin.

 One at a time, put the biscuit on the wax paper.

Fold the wax paper over onto the biscuit and smoosh it down a little with your palm.

Now roll the biscuit out until it is VERY thin.  I usually roll them until they are about 5 or 6 inches in diameter.

Peel the wax paper off the top.

With a pizza cutter, cut small squares in the biscuit.  

**They do not have to be perfect and they do not have to be pretty!  Mine are usually very caddywompus!  As soon as they fall into the liquid, you can't tell!

**Make sure you cut them pretty small.  You want to get at least 6 cuts in each direction.  They will swell in the liquid and if you cut them big, they will probably be HUGE!  They also are pretty dough-y, and I'm not sure how the big ones would cook.

Hold the wax paper over the crockpot and peel the biscuit pieces off.  Let them fall into the soup. Stir after each biscuit.

Repeat until all biscuits are cut.  

**I usually roll and cut 4 biscuits with the wax paper that way, then I will turn it around and put the part that was on top onto the bottom.  After rolling and cutting so much it gets very flimsy and can tear and stick to the biscuits.  No one wants wax paper in their dumplings!

Give the dumplings a good stir.  Put the lid back on and cook for another hour. 

 **I usually stir them once during the hour just to make sure the dumplings aren't sticking together, but immediately put the lid back on!

And here you go...chicken & dumplings!

They were SO yummy!!  Hubby and I decided these were even better than usual!  I guess it must be the potato soup!

My 20 month old loved it too!

 He wanted to eat all of Daddy's!

If you make these Chicken & Dumplings, let me know!  I want to hear how you liked them!