How to make chicken and dumplings in your slow cooker

Chicken and dumplings is a classic comfort food. The savory meal is simply the best on a cold winter’s night, but making it at home can seem time-intensive and laborious … unless you have a slow cooker and a handful of simple ingredients!

Using a few shortcuts like canned cream of chicken soup and canned biscuits cuts down considerably on prep time, but if you’re feeling up to it, you can also make everything from scratch. This recipe for slow cooker chicken and dumplings from Passionate Penny Pincher is also easy on your wallet. Tasty, easy and inexpensive? Count me in!

If you don’t like the idea of using canned ingredients, this recipe from Show Me the Yummy contains no canned soup but is still super-easy to make in the slow cooker. It’s packed with plenty of veggies, including celery, carrots and peas, but since the stars of the show are the tender chicken, flaky biscuits and rich sauce, the veggie-avoidant eaters in your house (aka the kids) won’t even notice they’re getting their vitamins and minerals. Be sure to use fresh or thawed chicken for the best flavor and to avoid any food safety issues.

Another take on the chicken and dumplings recipe from Fox Valley Foodie uses canned ingredients mixed with fresh herbs in your slow cooker — which gets the maximum flavor out of this super-simple meal. Fresh thyme, rosemary, sage, pepper, parsley as well as a whole onion will ensure that this “set it and forget it” meal will taste like you spent the whole day hard at work in the kitchen. We won’t tell!

Yum! Are you inspired to cook up some chicken and dumplings in your slow cooker tonight?