Country Christmas Chicken and Dumplings—a fast and easy recipe of leftover chicken or turkey, creamy sauce, vegetables and biscuit dumplings.
Country Christmas Chicken and Dumplings
This Christmas time of year gets busy! But homemade dinners are still a priority. This version of chicken and dumplings has ALL the flavor but it takes major shortcuts so that prepping is super fast and easy. You’ll use leftover rotisserie chicken or turkey and then you’ll use refrigerated biscuit dough for the dumplings. There is no chopping except some onion (and you can easily use frozen chopped onions). With only a 3 minute pressure cooking time this dinner is ready to eat in no time.
To make this recipe super easy I used a can of biscuits for the dumplings. I simply cut each of the biscuits into four using handy dandy kitchen shears*. The dumplings thicken the sauce without any need for flour or cornstarch. If you prefer, you can make homemade dumplings. Here is one homemade recipe that I have used in the past to make chicken and dumplings casserole.
Homemade Dumplings Option
- 1 ½ cups flour
- ¾ tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp salt
- ¼ cup vegetable or canola oil
- ½ cup water
- 1 egg, beaten
In a mixing bowl add the flour, baking powder and salt. Whisk. Add the oil and stir to coat the flour. Add the water and egg and stir just enough to combine. Knead with clean hands until evenly mixed. Turn the dough onto a floured counter. Divide the dough in half. Take the first portion and roll it into a thin rectangle. Slice the dough lengthwise into ½ inch wide strips, then cut cross-wise into pieces about 2 inches long. Repeat with the remaining dough.
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Country Christmas Chicken and Dumplings
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 3 minutes (plus 10 minute NPR)
- Total Time: 18 minutes
- Yield: 6 servings 1x
Description
A fast and easy recipe of leftover chicken (or turkey), creamy sauce, vegetables and biscuit dumplings.
Ingredients
- 2 Tbsp butter
- 1 cup diced onion
- 3 cups chicken broth
- 3–4 cups chopped leftover chicken or turkey
- 1 (12 oz) bag frozen mixed veggies
- 1 tsp onion powder
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp black pepper
- 1 tsp dried parsley
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 (12 oz) can of biscuits
- 1 (12 oz) can evaporated milk or 1 1/2 cups half and half
Instructions
Instant Pot Instructions:
- Turn Instant Pot to sauté setting. When the display says HOT add in the butter and let melt. Add in the onions and sauté for 3-4 minutes. Turn off Instant Pot.
- Add in the broth. Scrape the bottom of the pot so that nothing is sticking.
- Add in the chicken or turkey. Dump in the veggies. Add in the onion powder, garlic powder, pepper, parsley and salt.
- Open the can of biscuits and use kitchen shears to cut each biscuit into 4 pieces. Place the biscuit pieces on top of the frozen veggies.
- Cover Instant Pot and secure the lid. Make sure valve is set to sealing. Set the manual/pressure cook button 3 minutes. When the time is up let the pot sit for 10 minutes. Then move the valve to venting and remove the lid.
- Turn Instant Pot to sauté. Stir in the evaporated milk. The biscuit pieces will cause the sauce to thicken in just 3-4 minutes. Turn off Instant Pot.
- Salt and pepper to taste. Ladle into bowls and enjoy.
Slow Cooker Instructions:
- Heat a pan over medium high heat. Add in the butter and let melt. Add in the onions and sauté for 3-4 minutes. Add to the slow cooker.
- Add in the broth, chicken or turkey, veggies, onion powder, garlic powder, pepper, parsley and salt.
- Open the can of biscuits and use kitchen shears to cut each biscuit into 4 pieces. Stir the biscuits pieces into the slow cooker.
- Cover and cook on low for 4-6 hours or on high for 2-3 hours.
- Stir in the evaporated milk.
- Salt and pepper to taste. Ladle into bowls and enjoy.
- Category: Chicken or Turkey
- Method: Instant Pot or Slow Cooker
*Karen Petersen is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com.
So EZ. So delicious. So thankful for you & your wonderful recipes. Merry Christmas!!
thank you so much! I’m so glad you loved it. Merry Christmas to you and yours! 🎄
Absolutely loved this! Easiest and best chicken & dumplings recipe I’ve ever made. Will be making this again and often.
This makes me so happy to hear! Thanks for taking the time to leave a comment!
Will this freeze well?
The chicken, broth, veggies, and seasonings freeze beautifully, but the biscuit dumplings can turn mushy and the evaporated milk (or half and half) can separate after thawing.
Another delicious recipe, Karen. Made this tonight with chicken breast and used the slow cooker option. One question. Do you think canned coconut milk would work well in place of the evaporated milk? Thanks for all your great recipes!
Canned coconut milk can work in place of the evaporated milk, but I recommend using full-fat coconut milk and stirring it in at the very end. It will add a subtle coconut flavor (not bad, just different) and won’t thicken quite the same way, but it should still be creamy and delicious. If you try it, I’d love to hear how it turns out!
My husband is a bird hunter, so I usually make this with pheasant and it is delicious. I’ve made it using canned biscuit dough, and I’ve also made the dumplings from scratch using your recipe and both ways were successful. I’m always in the market for new recipes I can use pheasant in, and this was a winner
Oh wow! I’ve never had pheasant! Glad to see that it worked well in the Instant Pot.
Could you please recheck the biscuit dough recipe? Mine was a big gooey mess that had to be thrown out. I wonder if the 1/2 cup of water should be maybe 1/4 cup or less. Thank you.
Comfort food! I didn’t change much. I made a bone-in turkey breast for Thanksgiving, had a couple meals of leftovers and used the rest in the soup. I made bone broth from the carcass so I used thaten instead of broth. I also had some rolls I made that I wasn’t crazy about so I cut them in quarters and tossed them in instead of biscuits. That worked great. Another good recipe, Karen.
So glad you could make this work with what you had on hand! That is a good feeling 🙂
Do you just add the dough and then just cook for 3 minutes? When I have made dumplings before I have added them to the top and then simmer for 20 more minutes. 10 minutes with the lid on and 10 min with the lid off. How are you cooking the dumplings here? just stirring them in and cook simmer for 3 minutes?
I am making this today and not sure how to do the dumplings. Thanks
Yep you just add them on top of the veg and they will cook. You can view the video for a picture of what this looks like.
This recipe provided an excellent way to use leftover Thanksgiving Day turkey! Creamy, hearty & delicious. I made it almost exactly as written using a 10.5 oz. can of biscuits, and it fit nicely in my 3 qt. IP Mini. Thanks for another righteous recipe, Karen!
Woohoo! So glad you liked it and thanks for the 5 stars.
Hi I realise that you are not UK what can I use biscuits not sure what they are. Are they dumplings? Many Thanks Mary
Canned biscuits are just dough…so yeah you can make your own dumplings from scratch if you want!
Is there anyway to tweak this recipe using raw Turkey??
not really but you could use this recipe to make a turkey and then use the turkey to make the turkey and dumplings: https://www.365daysofcrockpot.com/instant-pot-bone-in-turkey-breast-video/
I disagree. 3 mins on pressure with 10 mins release time plus ANOTHER 3-4 mins on saute is PLENTY of time to cook raw turkey tenderloin. Especially if you cut it into small pieces first. one 12oz tenderloin should yield about 3 to 4 cups cooked meat from what ive read. Worst case I just leave it on saute in the hot broth to finish cooking. I plan to try this with a full 24oz Jennie O Turkey Tenderloin and will report back.
I wasnt able to properly test because my pot didnt seal correctly so I had to redo it and not sure of the times. The biscuits didnt end up cooking which im sure was my fault, but this was great even without them. I added 2lbs chopped red potatoes so it was like a cream of chicken and potato soup. I also ended up using chicken tenders instead of turkey.
Glad it still ended up being a good dinner for you!
This came out very good. Definitely going in my rotation. I used turkey broth since that’s what I had. I also had a couple of boiled potatoes taking up room in my fridge, so I diced those and added them with the veggies. I liked the idea of adding poultry seasoning so added that. I made my own home made biscuits. My hubby loved it. Will have to remember to make it after Thanskgiving. Thanks for another great recipe !
Mmmm, sounds great especially with the homemade biscuits.
It was great. I added 1 tsp. poultry seasoning with the other spices, and made homemade biscuits since I didn’t have a can. Also used low sodium broth to lower the sodium.
I love the idea of poultry seasoning! Bumps everything up a notch.
I made this recipe….and wow! It was so good that I made it twice in two weeks. The first time, I had extra turkey (6 cups) to put in, so I added an extra bag of veggies and put in a tablespoon of all the other ingredients as well. It came out good, but was too peppery, which is my fault.
The second time, which I made last night, I put in the same amount of turkey and veggies, but added in homemade turkey broth, put in a teaspoon of all the other ingredients…except the pepper and it came out just as good. So when serving it out, I put out both black and white pepper, along with tabasco and Frank’s Red Hot, to let people decide. YUMMMMMM!!!!
For my money, go with the Frank’s….but only after you finish the whole recipe. Still…a great recipe, and a great meal that will stick to the ribs and wonderful to service on a nice cold December day, which hopefully will snow soon, to enjoy leftovers!
Thanks! Will try Frank’s next time 😊
Hats off to you for this one! And shame on me for being doubtful. The recipe sounded odd to me, but was so compelling. I had to see what would happen to biscuit dough, in my Instant Pot. Everything you wrote was on the money. That final simmering after adding the half and half did thicken the dish from the starch of the dumplings. It was one of the most comforting and delicious dinner ever! This is now a forever addition to my “makeagainable” list. I am toying with the idea of making my own biscuit dough next time, or a Southern “pastry” dough, which is essentially a noodle dough with baking powder, rolled out and cut into squares. But the canned biscuits were wonderful. Thank you Karen, so much.
Oh I want you to try it with a noodle dough and see what happens! I’m so glad you liked it!!
Delish!!! I used rotisserie chicken because I didn’t have leftovers. Will definitely make this one again!!! Sorry that it won’t be in the new cookbook, but will make sure that I save it!!!! Thanks for all that you do!!!
You’re welcome Meredith! Glad you liked it!
My family loved this recipe! I had just enough leftover turkey, and decided to make this a few nights ago. Otherwise, I knew the turkey would probably go to waste. What a lovely, comforting meal this was! The only thing I did differently was I mixed up my usual go-to buttermilk biscuit recipe and dropped spoonfuls of the dough over the top. Really, you can’t go wrong with this. It thickened up into a wonderful consistency and was absolutely delicious! Your recipes are a huge timesaver. Karen, thank you so much for sharing with us!
So glad you were able to use the leftover turkey and glad you liked it!
Made this with left over turkey, dark meat that is usually not eaten. Follow recipe as written. I have to say I was pleasantly surprised the rich flavor of this meal given the few ingredients and short time it took to assemble and make in the Instant Pot. Delicious! Will use again with left over chicken. This will be a regular winter meal. Thank you!!!
Oh, so nice to hear this Deb. Thank you.
very good. made my own bisquits. five stars.
Good on you Ann!!! Did you use your own recipe?
yes, i use white wheat and herbs.
Very good recipe. It came out perfect
My husband loved it. I used organic chicken broth and unsalted butter in both the biscuits and the sauté. I also used white pepper. Next time I’ll add more broth and veggies.
Thank you!
So glad it turned out well for you Annette! White pepper is something I haven’t ever tried. I need to.
Can I make my dumplings with bisquick instead of using the canned ones?
Yes. I did.
Yes!
Do the biscuits really all rise to make good dumplings? From the pics, I can’t really tell. My family & I love dumplings, but I’ve given up making them because so many turn out still like raw dough in the center & are inedible, no matter how long I cook them. If your dumplings really work, my entire family will rejoice!
I’ve never tried dumplings from biscuits before.
Thanks Karen. Your tasty recipes y wonderful!!!
I would cut them up in small pieces if you’re worried about rawness. Mine were soft but not doughy
I cooked a turkey breast for thanksgiving that turned out drier than I expected, and I was looking for a way to salvage the leftovers. This recipe was perfect! Easy, fast and delicious. You honestly can’t even tell that my turkey was so dry. Thanks so much for this recipe!
By the way, I thought I would mention that I used low sodium chicken broth and it turned out perfect. I would imagine that it might be too salty if you use regular broth.
Nice! I love to hear this!
Is this going to be in your new cookbook??
Which I can’t wait for!! 😉
Nope! But it will be in volume 2!
If I make dumplings, do I add them to the pot at the same time as I would add biscuits?
Yep!
Oh how I wish someone would invent Gluten Free biscuits you could open a can for!!!
Yes, I know I can make gf drop biscuits. That’s not the point! Lol.
Oh that would be amazing for you. I wish they had that.
At what point do you add the turkey?
Just corrected it! It’s at the beginning of step 3
So when do you put the turkey in??
I had that question too. It is not mentioned in the written instructions. But if you look at the individual photos it shows putting the Turkey in after you use the broth and scrape the pot. Then add the veggies and continue.
Sorry that was a mistake. I added it in at the beginning of step 3.