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Instant Pot Chicken and Dumplings is a comforting, delicious homestyle meal that you can make in about an hour. I think you will enjoy this pressure cooker chicken and dumplings recipe. I have included instructions for both biscuit and homemade dumplings!
Originally published on 1/25/18
Instant Pot Chicken and Dumplings
Growing up at my house, one of the best things we ate was our mom’s Chicken and Dumplings. She made hers in a cast iron dutch oven. And sometimes I do, too.
Instant Pot Chicken and Dumplings are so much faster to make, and taste so good! This recipe makes a fantastic one-pot meal.
This is a recipe that has been in my family forever. I did bump up the flavors a little though. I’m sure that most cultures have a version of this that someone’s mom, nana, or even a dad or grandpa made for them.
Meals like this bring back warm and happy memories of spending time with those we care about, even when they are not right here with us. Food can do that.
Start with getting all of your ingredients gathered together and prepared. Or as the French say. “Mise en place” (everything in place).
Decide which style of dumplings you want to use, and prepare them, too. I was asked which are my favorite. I like the homemade fluffy dumplings. My husband likes the flattened biscuits (he thinks they are more like noodles).
Whichever style you choose will be easy to make, and will taste great!
Now that I’m a Nana I will hopefully be remembered for my pressure cooker chicken and dumplings recipe, among other things!
Instant Pot Chicken and Dumplings is a pretty quick meal, considering how delicious and hearty it comes out. Much faster than my mom’s. Thanks to my Instant Pot. Love you Mom!
Instant Pot Taco Soup
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Instant Pot Simple Potato Soup
Instant Pot Creamy Chicken Gnocchi Soup
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Instant Pot Chicken and Dumplings
Ingredients
- 2 teaspoons Olive Oil
- 1 Tablespoon Butter
- 1 small Onion, diced
- 1 Bay Leaf
- 1 cup Carrots, chopped (about 2 or 3 carrots)
- 1 cup Celery, chopped (2 stalks)
- 3 large Garlic Cloves, pressed or minced (about 1 Tbsp)
- 1 teaspoon Salt (more to taste)
- ½ teaspoon Black Pepper
- ¼ teaspoon Poultry Seasoning
- ½ teaspoon Sage, dried
- 4 sprigs Fresh Thyme, 2 tsp leaves (or ½ tsp dried)
- 1 4" sprig Fresh Rosemary, 2 tsp leaves, minced (or 1 tsp dried & crushed)
- 4 cups Chicken Broth, low sodium
- 1 large Potato, chopped
- 1 ½ lbs Chicken Thighs, and/or Breasts, cubed
To Finish
- 1 cup Frozen Peas (or mixed vegetables)
- ½ cup Heavy Cream
Quick Dumplings
- 6 jumbo Canned Buttermilk Refrigerator Biscuits* (16 oz pkg contains 8)
Homemade Dumplings
- 1 ½ cups Flour
- ¾ tsp Salt
- 2 teaspoons Baking Powder
- 3 Tablespoons Shortening (such as Crisco®) or Cold Butter
- ¾ cup Whole Milk (or buttermilk)
- ¼ cup Chives, finely chopped (fresh or dried) - Optional
Instructions
Choose the Type of Dumplings You Want to Make, and Prepare Them
Prepare Canned Dumplings
- For the canned biscuits, roll each one flat and cut into 6 equal slices. Do this to all 6 and set aside in a bowl. You can also just cut them and not roll them flat.6 jumbo Canned Buttermilk Refrigerator Biscuits*
Prepare Homemade Dumplings
- Put all ingredients except milk and chives in a bowl and use a pastry cutter or a fork to mix well and incorporate the shortening into the dry ingredients.1 ½ cups Flour, ¾ tsp Salt, 2 teaspoons Baking Powder, 3 Tablespoons Shortening
- Stir the milk (and chives, if using) in and combine, until just moistened. Set aside.¾ cup Whole Milk, ¼ cup Chives,
Prepare the Chicken and Sauce
- Turn the pressure cooker on to the Sauté setting. When the pot is hot, add the olive oil and the butter. Then add the onion and bay leaf. Stir.2 teaspoons Olive Oil, 1 Tablespoon Butter, 1 small Onion,, 1 Bay Leaf
- Add the carrot, celery, and garlic. Cook for a few minutes, scraping the bottom of the pot to get up any brown bits (deglaze).1 cup Carrots,, 1 cup Celery,, 3 large Garlic Cloves,
- Add the salt, pepper, poultry seasoning, sage, thyme, and rosemary. Cook for a few seconds to let the herbs & spices become fragrant.1 teaspoon Salt, ½ teaspoon Black Pepper, ¼ teaspoon Poultry Seasoning, ½ teaspoon Sage,, 4 sprigs Fresh Thyme,, 1 4" sprig Fresh Rosemary,
- Add the chicken broth. Put a glass lid on the pot and let the contents warm up to barely a simmer.4 cups Chicken Broth,
- Add the potato and chicken and stir.1 large Potato,, 1 ½ lbs Chicken Thighs, and/or Breasts,
- Add the dumplings.Homemade: Drop heaping teaspoonfulls into the broth (not too large as they need to cook through, and they expand).Biscuits: Add the sliced biscuits into the broth and gently stir to distribute them.
- Cancel the Sauté function.
- Place the lid on the pot and lock in place. Turn the steam release knob to the sealing position.
- Press the Pressure Cook/Manual button (or dial) and then the + or - button (or dial) to select 7 minutes.
- When the cooking cycle has finished, do a Controlled Quick Release of the steam/pressure. Start by using a wooden spoon or other long handled utensil to turn the steam release knob towards Venting, and start letting the steam out gradually.Do this several times, and back off if any of the sauce starts to spew out with the steam. Then open it all the way when you feel certain only steam will be coming out. It will take a couple of minutes to fully vent.
- When the pin in the lid drops down, open the lid carefully, and stir in the frozen peas or mixed vegetables. You may need to push the dumplings aside if you made the fluffy kind.1 cup Frozen Peas
- Stir in the heavy cream (if using) and put the glass lid on to let it sit and heat through for 3-5 minutes.½ cup Heavy Cream
- Taste and adjust salt, if needed.
- Serve.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Resources to Make Instant Pot Chicken and Dumplings Recipe
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Delicious and savory with the herbs. I used bonecutter in chicken thighs and increased the cooking time to 10 minutes. I cut the rosemary amount to 1/2 tsp. dried and the sat to 1/2 tsp. since I wasn’t using low-sodium broth. I finished it with 1/4 cup half and half and 1/4 cup low fat milk.
This is the best chicken and dumpling recipe I ever had. My family who is not a big fan loved this recipe. Will make again. The recipe is very easy and the directions are easy to follow.
This was AMAZING and now will be in my rotation of meals. my parents loved it as well and put in an order for there freezer. I’m hoping it freezes and reheats well.
I give this a 5 star rating, but the stars wouldn’t let me click them. This was delicious. I only tweaked it a little because of allergies. I left out the rosemary – don’t like it- and didn’t have sage so I used more poultry seasoning. Instead of mixed veggies, I used just corn. Hubby of 65 years said this was a keeper.
Talk about comfort food!! This recipe was delicious! I followed the recipe for the base but baked my homemade biscuits instead as we prefer those over dumplings. I used two large bone in chicken breasts because that’s what I had on hand. It
took the same amount of cooking time and then I shredded the chicken and added it back in at the end. Also, at the end I added a mixture of corn starch and water to thicken it up a little. Soooo good!!
Haven’t had chicken and dumplings since my childhood. Made it tonight for dinner and it was a big hit! Everyone loved it. Made it in 6 quart but next time will make more in 8 quart. I searched so many recipes and this one just looked perfect – and it is. Thanks for posting it.
My favorite instant pot meal by far. Comes out fantastic every time. Canned biscuits come out wonderfully and are a real timesaver. Even my most discriminating critic of a 9 year old loves this. Thank you!
Loved the recipe! It came out really tasty. But my dumplings sort of “disappeared”. There are a few left intact but the others either separated or disappeared altogether. Any ideas for me?
Which dumplings did you make? It sounds like maybe you did the canned biscuit option? Cut the pieces larger/thicker, and that should take care of the dissolving. If you did the homemade fluffy version, also make them a bit larger, and be gentle when stirring.
Hi I’m a new subscriber to the newsletter! I have a question, how important is it to add the celery? We are not fans of celery and never have it in the house! Is it truly necessary to the taste of this recipe? Any substitute ideas? Eagerly anticipating cooking this in my IP!
Hi Rayso, just omit the celery. It will be delicious!
Hi! Just made this and the flavor is delicious. However, I halved the recipe since I have the mini pot and the canned dumplings came out very strange. Maybe over cooked? They are very gelatinous and sort of harder in the middle and falling apart on the outside. I haven’t had chicken and dumplings in forever but don’t recall the dumplings having this texture. What do you think caused this to happen?
Hi Jill, that’s weird! Possibly rolling them out too flat/compressed. Or if you didn’t roll them out, maybe they were too close together? Did you use the Southern style and not the flaky style?