This hearty, old-fashioned chicken and dumplings recipe is always a family-pleasing meal and is ready quickly (in about 30 minutes!) which makes it a great weeknight dinner option!
This Instant Pot Chicken and Dumplings is the perfect comfort food! Recipes like my Instant Pot Beef Barbacoa and Instant Pot Sausage Tortellini Soup are great for when you want an ultra-comforting family meal that’s ready incredibly fast. This is one of my Pressure Cooker recipes you’ll definitely want in your recipe box!
There’s not much more comforting than a big bowl of creamy chicken and dumplings. That rich and creamy soup base that tastes like the soup version of chicken pot pie, combined with the delicate fluffiness off the dumplings… it’s enough to make anyone want seconds, that’s for sure!
Of course you can cook chicken and dumplings on the stovetop, but I love to use my pressure cooker. It may take a similar amount of time, but once that lid is locked on, I can walk away. Leaving me free to prepare other dishes for the meal, unwind after work, help my kid with their homework, or just plop down on the couch for a few.
I think you’ll really love this classic recipe that I’ve tweaked a bit to be pressure cooker friendly. It’s so homey, and will truly make your house smell amazing and your mouth water!
HOW TO MAKE CHICKEN AND DUMPLINGS
- Make the dumplings. Add flour and chilled butter to a mixing bowl and cut in the butter. Add buttermilk and stir until a dough forms. Set aside.
- Saute the veggies. Use the “saute” mode of the Instant Pot and cook the veggies. Season with spices, then cook another couple minutes.
- Deglaze the pot. Pour in half the chicken broth and scrape the bottom using a wooden spoon.
- Add chicken. Add remaining chicken broth, chicken breasts and potatoes.
- Add dumplings. Drop dumpling dough in 1 Tbsp scoops.
- Pressure cook. Secure lid and pressure cook for 8 minutes.
- Add peas. Add peas and gently stir. Let sit 2-3 minutes.
ADDITIONAL COOKING TIPS
Using fresh chicken – I chose to use frozen chicken breasts for this recipe since I know a lot of us forget to thaw out the chicken from time to time. There’s nothing worse than coming home from a long day at work to find out you only have frozen chicken. Thankfully, the Instant Pot can safely cook frozen chicken! If you have fresh, thawed chicken, decrease the pressure cook time by 1 to 2 minutes.
Making the biscuits/dumplings – if you’ve never made biscuits before, this step can look a little daunting. I promise, it’s much easier than you think! I usually use a pastry cutter, but if you don’t have one, you can use two forks.
- Make sure the butter is COLD. I actually put mine in the freezer while I chop my vegetables.
- Make sure the butter is cut up SMALL. I take my knife and cut each Tbsp of butter into 4 pieces.
- When cutting the butter into the flour mixture, if you’re using a pastry cutter, I like to use a downward/twisting motion. If you’re using two forks, you’ll want to use a criss-cross motion, like you’re making an “x” with both forks.
- There will be small chunks of butter after you’ve cut it in, and that’s okay! You’re looking for those chunks of flour covered butter to be about pea-size.
VARIATIONS OF THIS RECIPE
- Store-Bought Dumplings – if you have some biscuit mix laying around, you can certainly use that to make your dumplings.
- Flavored Dumplings – for an extra flavor-boost, try adding some garlic powder and dried parsley to the mix. I would do about 1 tsp of each.
- Cheddar Dumplings – you could also add some finely shredded cheddar cheese to the dumpling mix.
- Dried Herbs – if you don’t have any fresh herbs, no worries, you can make this with dried herbs as well! Just remember that dried herbs are more potent than fresh, so you’ll want to use less. Use about 1/2 tsp each of dried sage and dried rosemary.
MAKING CHICKEN AND DUMPLINGS AHEAD OF TIME
I find the texture of the soup and dumplings are best when made before serving. Since this meal is ready in about 30 minutes, there’s hardly any time to wait.
However, you can certainly have vegetables chopped and dry ingredients measured out ahead of time to cut down on prep time.
STORAGE
Leftovers, if you have any, should last 3-4 days if kept covered and refrigerated.
SPECIAL EQUIPMENT FOR THIS RECIPE
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- Instant Pot – I recently upgraded to this model and I love it!
- Cookie Scoop – the easiest way to get dumplings that are uniform in size.
- Pastry Cutter – this has been my tool for years and has served me well!
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Ingredients
SOUP
- 2 Tbsp unsalted butter
- 1 small yellow onion diced
- 1 cup carrots finely chopped
- 1 cup celery finely chopped
- 3-4 cloves garlic minced
- 2 tsp fresh rosemary chopped
- 1-2 tsp fresh sage chopped
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- 1/2 - 1 tsp black pepper
- 1/4 tsp paprika
- 1/4 tsp poultry seasoning
- 3 cups chicken broth reduced sodium is preferred
- 1 1/2 cups baby red or gold potatoes chopped (about 5-6 potatoes)
- 1 lb. frozen chicken breasts
- 1 cup frozen peas
DUMPLINGS
- 1 1/2 cups + 2 Tbsp all purpose flour
- 2 1/4 tsp baking powder
- 3/4 tsp kosher salt
- 3 Tbsp cold butter cubed
- 3/4 cup buttermilk
Instructions
MAKE THE DUMPLINGS
- Add flour to a medium mixing bowl. Add cubed and chilled butter to the flour. Use a pastry cutter (or two forks) to cut the butter into the flour. When pea-sized pieces appear, add in the butter milk and mix with a spatula until a loose dough forms. Set aside.
MAKE SOUP
- Add butter to Instant Pot and select "Saute". Once butter is melted, add onion, carrot and celery and cook, stirring occasionally, for 2-3 minutes.
- Add garlic, salt, pepper, paprika, poultry seasoning, sage and rosemary and cook another 2-3 minutes.
- Pour in half the chicken broth and use a wooden spoon to scrape up any browned bits at the bottom of the pot. Browned bits on the bottom can result in a BURN notice from the Instant Pot.
- Add remaining chicken broth, potatoes and chicken and gently stir.
- Add the dumplings by dropping 1 Tbsp of the dough into the pot at a time. I like to use a small cookie scoop for this, but a spoon works as well.
- Turn off "Saute". Close Instant Pot lid securely and make sure the valve is set to "sealing". Select "Manual" or "Pressure Cook" and adjust the +/- button until it reads 9 minutes.
- When finished cooking, let the pressure release on it's own for about 5 minutes. Then carefully turn the valve to "venting" to remove any remaining pressure. When the steam has all escaped, and the pin has dropped, remove the lid.
- Add the frozen peas and stir gently. Cover with lid, not securing it, just covering it gently, and let sit about 2-3 minutes.
- Serve hot and enjoy!
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Chef Tips
- Whole milk can be used in place of buttermilk.
- If using thawed raw chicken, decrease pressure cooking time by 1 minute.
Nutrition Disclaimer
The Chunky Chef is not a dietician or nutritionist, and any nutritional information shared is an estimate. If calorie count and other nutritional values are important to you, we recommend running the ingredients through whichever online nutritional calculator you prefer. Calories can vary quite a bit depending on which brands were used.
Anne says
Best recipe I’ve tried for chicken and dumplings
Tammy says
This is wonderful on a cold day. I didn’t want to leave the house, so used frozen chicken thighs and substituted can mixed vegetables for the carrots and celery. I was skeptical of pressure cooking the dumpling but they where excellent!
MSD says
Luv the idea and simplicity of the dumpling recipe. Is this something that could be made in a Crockpot (I gave my instant pot to my son when he moved out)??
The Chunky Chef says
I haven’t tested this recipe using a crockpot, so while I’m sure it could be made in one, I can’t say for certain if any changes would need to be made or what the cooking time would be. If you do some experimenting, I’d love to know how it turns out 🙂
Tess says
Are you putting in whole chicken breasts and then shredding afterwards? There is no instruction on whether to cut the chicken first or…what?
The Chunky Chef says
There’s no instructions for cutting the chicken first because they go in whole. The pressure cooking will make them fall apart and shred very easily when serving and eating 🙂
Donna says
Would love to have more of your recipes .
The Chunky Chef says
Glad you’re enjoying them! I have over 600 recipes here on the site you can browse through, with at least 2 more added every week. If you’d like to be notified when I do share new recipes, feel free to sign up for my newsletter (and you’ll get a free e-book of my most popular recipes) 🙂