Easy Crock Pot Chicken and Dumplings (With Noodles): A Hug from Home

Last week, I craved chicken and dumplings. Mom would make a big pot with Bisquick dumplings when I was a kid and I loved the juxtaposition of the warm broth and just beyond doughy dumpling. Our days felt a bit dreary last week with the rain and cold following hints of spring, so soup seemed like a good remedy for the “blahs.”

I faced on significant problem: I didn’t have many of the ingredients called for in the recipes and I planned too late to make a trip to the store. Searching through recipes online, I finally hit upon a few ideas that encouraged me to just experiment and create my own recipe. What did I have to lose, really? My family is at the picky eating stage and I never know what will delight their taste buds.

A search of my pantry, freezer, and fridge revealed that I had an interesting modge podge of ingredients to work with, but using them just might work. I also decided to use the crock pot, since Thursday is ballet lessons day and we don’t get home until close to dinner time. My pantry also lacked Bisquick, but I did have buttermilk, so I put together a simple buttermilk dumpling recipe. Lastly, while chicken and dumplings doesn’t need noodles, I’m really the only person in my family who love dumplings. I added a few in to make the soup heartier sans dumplings.

Chicken Soup with Noodles

16 ounce bag frozen carrots	1 32 ounce container of chicken broth	Pinch of salt
1 can cream of celery	2 cans 12.5 ounce canned chicken chunks	Pinch of pepper
1 can cream of onion soup	½ 16 ounce packet dried ranch seasoning	I cup cooked egg noodles (optional)

1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour	Pinch of salt	½ cup buttermilk
1 teaspoon baking soda	Pinch of ground pepper
½ teaspoon salt	3 tablespoons cold, unsalted butter, cut into tablespoons

These after-thought phone pictures don’t really do this meal justice, but it turned out rich, savory, and delicious. My 6 year-old daughter loved it and asked if she could brings some in her school lunch the next day. My husband liked it. My toddler was ambivalent. My 4 year-old would not try it, but he is anti-dinner foods.

I put this as my Facebook Status and went on to eat leftovers for the next couple of days.


Eating homemade chicken and dumplings is like getting a hug from my mom.

The leftovers are delicious, by the way, because they soak up the broth and it becomes an almost different meal of flavored noodles, carrots, and dumplings.

This recipe can easily be adapted using different flavors of soup (although I would add onions if you go with a cream of chicken or mushroom), making your own cream of chicken base, putting in a variety of vegetables, or adding chicken you have on hand. My goal was quick and easy using ingredients I could find and I’ll definitely be making this recipe again!