There are a few things in life my husband is passionate about: woodworking, Christ, not touching the computer screen with your finger, and Chicken ‘n Dumplings.
I knew when we got married that he was crazy about them…and that kept me from making them. I was afraid I would bomb it royally and he’d wonder, “why did I marry this sorry excuse for a woman who can’t make dumplings?”
See, my Mama didn’t teach me to make this dish. She doesn’t like it, so she never made it.
I didn’t even eat them for the first time until after Barry and I were married. I’ll be honest – they’re not my favorite.
I’d rather have a hamburger. But, in order to make my man happy, I decided I would learn how to make his favorite dish.
I kept seeing recipes on Pinterest for Crock Pot Chicken and Dumplings.
Every time I looked at them, they included cream of chicken soup and canned biscuits – two things I don’t buy any more. Not to mention, I’m hard core into whole wheat flour…because fiber and me, we’re tight. So, I decided to make my own version.
Below you’ll find a “healthy” Chicken and Dumplings recipe. I used whole wheat flour and organic chicken.
The initial result you’ll get is something like a Dumpling Soup, which I know that some people prefer. If you want to make your dish thicker, then I give the option for that too. I went with thicker because that’s how Barry likes it.
He wants me to make a note for you guys to let you know that these dumplings are light and airy…not thick and dense like some you might have.
We are very pleased with how this recipe turned out – in fact, Barry made me promise I’d make them again…and for a Dumpling lover, that’s high praise.
I’m really weird about chicken. I buy organic. Since watching Food, Inc. I can’t not buy it. It gives me the heebie jeebies. *Shudder*
Anyway, you’ll need about 1 ½ to 2 pounds of chicken for this recipe. I used boneless-skinless thighs because I love how tender and delicious thighs cook up in the crock pot. Yum! But, any cut of chicken will work…thighs will rock your crock though.
In your crock (I used a 5-quart), lay your chicken. Pour 4 cups chicken broth over it. You’ll want to make sure your broth is salted. I’m not a fan of unsalted chicken. Blech.
Sprinkle ¼ teaspoon of pepper over top of it all. Cover and cook on low for 8 hours.
Smell it cooking all day and have a snack every hour because it’s driving you bananas. Eat peanut butter with your banana.
When the 8 hours are up, remove the chicken from your crock and shred it.
It will shred sooo easily. You’ll basically just have to look at it and it will shred itself. No lie. Okay, so maybe that was a lie…but still, it’s easy. Leave it on your cutting board and start working on the dumplings.
This is basically a variation of my Garlic Cheese Biscuits except without the cheese or garlic…so, nothing like them at all.
In your bowl, combine some whole wheat pastry flour, baking powder, salt, and onion powder. Cut in two tablespoons of butter until it’s evenly distributed. Add ½ cup kefir or buttermilk and stir until combined.
I used my smallest cookie scoop to dole out dumplings. Drop them down into your broth.
Cover the crock and turn it to high…cook for about 30 more minutes or until dumplings are done. Stir the chicken back in and you’re ready to go!
Wait…if you want it thicker, then you need this step. In a small bowl, whisk together 3 tablespoons flour and 3 tablespoons of water. Stir into crock and cover, heating until thickened.
Now you’re good to go! Your husband will love you and kiss you and let you park on the carport. It’s that good…and it’s good for you. And it’s got fiber in it. Did I mention I love fiber?
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Crock Pot Chicken and Whole Wheat Dumplin’s
- 1 ½ – 2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs
- 4 cups salted chicken broth
- ¼ teaspoon pepper
- 1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon onion powder
- 2 tablespoons cold butter
- ½ cup kefir or buttermilk
- Lay the chicken in the crock. Pour broth over it. Sprinkle with pepper.
- Cover and cook on low for 8 hours.
- Remove chicken and shred with two forks. Set aside.
- In a small bowl, combine flour, baking powder, salt, and onion powder.
- Cut in butter until mixture resembles little pebbles.
- Stir in buttermilk until combined.
- Drop dough by tablespoons into broth mixture.
- Cover and cook on high for 30 minutes or until dumplings are done.
- Stir in chicken.
- Serve.
If you desire a thicker consistency, combine 3 tablespoons of flour and 3 tablespoons of water in a small bowl. Stir into crock. Cover and cook on low until thickened.
Yield – 5 to 6 servings
Thanks for this chicken and dumpling recipe with whole wheat flour and no canned soup! You are quite hilarious and amusing! Will let you know how it comes out.
Did you enjoy the recipe?? Thanks for the comment!
Julie, Humorous Homemaking Team
It’s been a while since I last visited your site. Sorry that it’s taken me so long to you to tell you how the recipe turned out. In the humblest way I can say it…the whole wheat dumplings were a smash hit! People are still raving about them. Thanks again for sharing!!
Thank you for the update!!
Hi Stacy– I am cooking my way thru your 100 recipes meal plan. Everything has been exceptionally good so far. It is just me & my husband. He LOVES to eat out but I’m on the hook now because he is seeing how much cheaper it is to eat at home. Your recipes are yummy AND economical. Thank you!
Made this last night and added diced carrot, onion and celery to chicken while cooking. I also used whole white wheat flour! It was very good and my husband said ” add this to the keeper list” thanks for the recipe!
Good idea on the added veggies! I like it that way too, but the husband likes it the old fashioned way. 🙂
Do you think whole white wheat flour would work? I hate to but an ingredient for one dish ?
Yes, it should work fine. They might be a tad more dense, but they will still be tasty! 🙂
You can combine the last step into the dumpling step. If your broth is already hot, you can “toss” your dumplings in your flour so they are lightly coated. When you drop them in the broth the excess flour will cook into the broth to act as the thickener.
Can I use self-rising flour instead of pastry flour for the dumplings??
You could – but it includes baking powder and salt. So you would need to omit that part.
Can you keep this warm in the crock pot for a few hours after dumplins are finished or will they get all soggy?
I’m not sure – I have never done that. If you try it, make sure you cover the top with a cloth and then put the lid on (after it’s done). The cloth will catch any condensation that might form while it sits.
Just made this recipe and we loved it! It was so good. I used unbleached flour and whole milk for the dumplings and it turned out pretty well.
Thanks for sharing!
Fantastic! Thanks so much for the feedback!
Hey Stacy! I love your blog!! I tried this recipe today, and it didn’t work out in my favor 🙁 My dumplings disintegrated and the whole thing turned into a sort of chicken and flour soup. Admittedly, I’m not the best cook and am just starting to change the way our family eats…so I’m sure it was user error! Just wondered if you could guess at what I may have done wrong so that I can fix it next time 🙂 Thanks!
Were your biscuits nice and firm? How as the dough consistency?
I guess the closest thing I can compare them to is maybe like sugar cookie dough. So, kind of sticky…not really firm :/ I couldn’t find whole wheat pastry flour, so I just bought regular whole wheat flour. I looked up a conversion chart for diff types of wheat flour, and it said to convert one cup of wheat pastry flour, just use one cup minus a tbsp. Maybe I shouldn’t have taken their advice, haha!
I have never had good luck with using 100% whole wheat flour. 🙁 I’m so sorry.
No worries!! I’m just glad to hear it was probably the flour, not me 🙂 I’ll try again! I just strained the chicken and put it in the fridge for chicken stew another night this week!
Okay….now I’m paranoid and nervous. LOL
Haha don’t be! I used the chicken in a chicken pot pie recipe from keeper of the home, and it was delicious!! I’m sure my next try at this one will be a success…I’ll keep you posted ?
I had someone comment last night that they made it and it was good – so that gives me hope for your second time! 🙂
Hi! This recipe looks delicious and I’m excited to try it tonight!!
I was wondering if you could tell me what exactly your serving sizes are? I see that you stated it serves 5-6, and I was wondering if a serving is 1 cup, 1/2 cup…etc. Also, do you have any nutritional info on it? I logged all ingredients into MFP, and it is showing as roughly 225 calories per serving. (I’m on a tight calorie-restricted diet due to health problems, so I wanted to check just to be sure).
Thank you!!
Hi Grace – I don’t calculate nutrition information as a general rule…but My Fitness Pal is a great program! I have never measured it, but I would guess 3/4 – 1 cup is a serving.
Ok perfect, thank you!
Someone just shared this post with me. I think it’s an awesome idea! But I thought I’d let you know (even though this post was from a while ago) that the chicken you used isn’t organic I think. The packaged doesn’t say organic and also, 100% vegetarian fed is a dead giveaway that it isn’t what you’re looking for after watching Food, Inc. I’m new to this, but after watching that movie and doing lots of research, we buy organic, pasture raised chicken.
I could totally be wrong and maybe that brand is organic or something, but normally it would be marked on the package and they wouldn’t be able to say that it’s vegetarian fed because chickens who are raised humanely have access to eating bugs and whatever else is in the pasture.
Also, when it says “no hormones” well that’s wonderful, but the USDA doesn’t allow chickens to have hormones/steroids anymore so it doesn’t make it any better than other products in that sense.
I just wanted to share this in case anyone thinks that product is organic if they see it at the store. (Like I said, I could be wrong, but just in case I’m right I wanted to share). Thanks for your posts, I’m going to be trying out your recipes!!
I was going to say the same thing. 🙂 I have purchased that exact same brand of chicken before and it is not organic. It is “all natural.” I was tricked because of the packaging and because it was placed next to the organic chicken. Harvest farms does have some organic products, but that chicken isn’t one of them. Also, the FDA doesn’t have any regulations on “all natural” claims so it doesn’t mean anything. Not trying to call you out or anything, I just thought you may be tricked like I was.
Thanks for the comments. I appreciate them. 🙂
Make this a complete meal by adding in celery and carrots. This is one of our very favorites and is on the menu for this weekend. We haven’t use whole wheat previously but will give it a try.
If you are not doing wheat, do you think you could use rice flour instead?
I’m not sure. Rice flour has a different consistency and I would wonder if it would get mushy. If you happen to try it, post on here to let us know if it works!
No veggies?
This sounds so, so yummy! I have a bunch of whole wheat flour that I haven’t used. It’s usually pretty dense. Do you think this would work for the dumplings?
They would probably end up very dense (since the flour is), but I’d bet it would work. Let us know, if you try it.
If I wanted to just use regular flour, could I? Or do I need to use pastry flour?
Thanks!
It should work – I’ve never tried it though. Pastry flour is very light and some regular flours can be heavy. I’d try it though!
Can I just tell you how insanely jealous I am that you got all that organic chicken for such a wonderful price?? The end.
Sometimes I luck up – I’m always checking when I go to the grocery!
Hi! Do you have any suggestions for dairy free? Would love to make this recipe but butter and milk give me awful headaches. Thanks!
I would use cold coconut oil (or palm shortening) and almond milk. 🙂
This is a keeper recipe. I did change one thing, since I didn’t have any kefir or buttermilk I used whole milk and the dumplings turned out great. I cooked my chicken in the crockpot but right before eating took the 4 cups broth out and put it in a saucepan, covered and cooked the dumplings for 15 minutes. The mixture was just the right thickness so I didn’t have to add any flour to thicken. I used white whole wheat flour and it was delicious. Thanks for the recipe.
Hurray!!! 🙂
I haven’t made the switch yet so could you use regular white flour?
Yep! 🙂
I love chicken and dumplings, but I haven’t been able to get away from using that biscuit baking mix in my recipe. I’ll definitely have to give this a try!
I kissed Bisquick good-bye! 🙂 Sometimes I miss it though…like when I want to make my Mom that Impossible Coconut Pie. She loves that.
I quit usint Bisqcuick as well until I learned about the healthy benefits of Palm Shortening. Now I make my own bisquick using the Palm Shortening and it works great. Here is a link to info about Palm Shortening to see if you would want to try it. http://www.tropicaltraditions.com/organic_palm_shortening.htm
🙂 I love palm shortening!! (http://www.stacymakescents.com/healthy-fats) I like it to fry doughnuts in. 😉 I’ve been using recipes that call for Bisquick but just using regular flour and baking powder…works great!
Just in time since I am making my grocery list! The one question I have is where should I find the whole wheat pastry flour? Could I use regular whole wheat flour or would the dumplings be too dense? My husband and I were both talking about chicken and dumplings the other day because we both love if but I have also never made them! Thanks for the easy recipe!!
Katie, I think you’d be fine using WHITE wheat flour…but I think 100% whole wheat would be terribly dense. Does your store carry King Arthur flour? They make a GREAT white wheat flour that I like using.
I have some white wheat flour at home! YAY! I love it too…I throw it in everything but I just wasn’t sure if it would be ok for these! Thanks for the input and I am super excited to try this!
Sure! I throw it in everything. 🙂
The company i work for stores and ships out King Arthur Flour products. You can order it online and it will ship straight to your house.
I have those same Currier & Ives dishes ~ love them! Recipe sounds good too ~ will have to give it a try.
I love them too! I only have two bowls…found them at a yard sale. 🙂
Thanks for sharing this recipe, Stacy…I was in the same situation, except it’s my son who REALLY loves this meal. Now I know how to make it the right way! Both he and my hubby will enjoy it 🙂
I hope it makes him as happy as Barry!