This recipe for Instant Pot Chicken and Dumplings hits a home run! Tender chicken and fluffy dumplings are enveloped in a rich broth studded with carrots and potatoes. It is a comforting and hearty soup, that is quick enough to prepare for a weeknight dinner.
Looking for more Instant Pot Soup Recipes? You will love Instant Pot Stuffed Pepper Soup, Instant Pot Minestrone Soup, and Instant Pot French Onion Soup.
My Papa was known for many dishes. His baked beans, his pot roast, chicken pot pie, and chicken and dumplings.
His Chicken and Dumplings were a lot like his chicken pot pie, just in soup form. It was stick to your ribs comfort food that is absolutely delicious.
The broth is creamy and flavorful and the vegetables and chicken are tender. And the homemade dumplings--oh my! They are so easy to make and cook up to fluffy carb goodness. I could eat a bowl of just the dumplings!
I took his recipe for Chicken and Dumplings and adapted it for the Instant Pot. By using a few short-cuts and the Instant Pot, this soup is ready in just over 30 minutes. And that is still with HOMEMADE DUMPLINGS! It is the perfect way to enjoy comfort food, even on busy weeknights.
Key Tips for Success
The key to flavorful Chicken and Dumplings a short amount of time is taking a few short-cuts. My Papa would simmer a whole chicken and then make stock AND then make the soup. And while I often prepare a whole chicken in the instant pot and Instant Pot Chicken Stock, to get this dinner on the table quickly, I take a few short-cuts and use either store-bought stock or homemade chicken stock that I have stashed in the freezer. I also use boneless, skinless breasts or thighs chicken cut into cubes. If you have leftover chicken shredded chicken, you can certainly use that in place of the raw chicken.
Another tip is to flavor the soup well! I add in dry white wine, garlic, fresh thyme, and seasoned salt which all work to develop a delicious, rich flavorful broth. Of course, you can tailor these ingredients to suit your needs. If you don't drink wine, use additional stock. If you don't have fresh thyme, use a few dried thyme leaves, if you hate garlic, omit it--you get the idea.
How to Make Chicken and Dumplings in the Instant Pot
To make chicken and dumplings in the Instant Pot, start by sauteing the onions, celery, and chicken. To saute in your instant pot, simply hit the button labeled saute and let warm up for a couple of minutes. Some models of the Instant Pot will read HOT once heated.
You want to saute the onions, celery, and chicken just until the onions and have softened and the chicken has begun to turn white on all sides. Then add in the minced garlic and saute for just a few seconds more. Any longer will cause the garlic to burn, and you would need to start the recipe over--burnt garlic can ruin a dish quickly.
The next step is to deglaze the inner pot. I do this with dry white wine, but you can use chicken stock if you don't drink wine. You just want to pour in the wine/stock and let cook for 1 minute, while scraping up any dried bits on the inner pot. Then hit cancel to turn the saute function off.
Proceed with the recipe by adding in stock, potatoes, carrots, thyme, bay leaves, and salt and pepper.
Then it is time to add in the dumplings. You can use my recipe for homemade dumplings (SO GOOD and SO EASY) or you can take another shortcut and use canned biscuits. Drop by tablespoon measurements into the broth until all the batter is gone. If using canned biscuits, cut 5 biscuits into 8 chunks. Gently push down the biscuits so that they are all touching the broth.
Next, place the lid on the Instant Pot and be sure your vent knob is sealed. Hit manual or pressure cook and be sure pressure is set to high. Then using the +/- buttons, adjust the time to read 5. It will take 10-15 minutes to come to pressure and then cook time will begin.
Once cook time has elapsed, let the pressure release naturally for at least 15 minutes. That means DO NOTHING! If you try to release pressure before the 15-minute mark, you will have hot liquid spew out of your vent knob and your dumplings will seize up and not be tender.
Once your Instant Pot reads L00:15, which means 15 minutes has passed since cook time completed, you can do a quick release of any remaining pressure by hitting your vent knob from sealing to venting (or hitting the release pressure button depending on your model.) Be sure to stand away from the vent knob as pressure is released to protect yourself from burns.
Open the Instant Pot and turn back to saute (hit cancel and then hit saute.) Add in the cream and peas and stir until the peas are just warmed through. Use cream for a really rich broth, or whole milk for a less rich finish. I have even used skim milk in a bind. Pro-Tip: while stirring in the peas, look for the thyme sprigs and bay leaves to remove from the chicken and dumplings.
Homemade Dumplings
I promise I won't judge you if you take a short-cut and use canned refrigerated biscuits, but let me tell you that these biscuits come together just as quickly as you can open one of those tubes! And they taste SO much better!
To make homemade dumplings, you simply need to whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl. Add in milk and melted butter and stir with a wooden spoon until the mixture just comes together. Easy-peasy!
To portion out biscuits, I love to use a mini cookie scoop to dollop the dumpling batter into the soup. My papa always just used 2 soup spoons. Scoop the batter with one, and then use the second to slide the batter off the spoon into the soup.
More Instant Pot Soup Recipes
- Instant Pot Chicken Noodle Soup
- Instant Pot Butternut Squash Soup
- Instant Pot Lentil Soup
- Instant Pot Potato Soup
- Instant Pot Beef and Barley Soup
I hope you enjoy a bowl or two of this Instant Pot Chicken and Dumplings and be sure to leave a comment or review below.
Instant Pot Chicken and Dumplings
Ingredients
- ½ tablespoon olive oil
- 1 small onion minced
- 2 stalks celery finely chopped
- 1 pound boneless skinless chicken breasts, or thighs, cut into 1 inch cubes
- 1 teaspoon minced garlic
- ⅓ cup dry white wine optional
- 6 cups low sodium chicken stock
- 3 large carrots peeled and cut into slices
- 3 russet potatoes peeled and cut into 1 inch cubes (about 3 loosely packed cups)
- 1 bay leaf
- 2 sprigs fresh thyme
- 1 teaspoon seasoned salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- 1 cup frozen peas
- ½ cup heavy cream or whole milk
Homemade Dumplings
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 3 tablespoons butter melted
- ¾ cup milk
Instructions
Chicken Soup
- Press the SAUTE button. Add oil. When the front of the Instant Pot says "Hot" then add onions, celery, and chicken and saute the onions or 5 minutes.
- After the onions have cooked for about 5 minutes, or until they are softened, add the garlic and saute for just 30 seconds or so.
- Add in the wine and let saute for 1 minute or so. Turn the instant pot OFF.
- Add in chicken stock and scrape up any browned bits on bottom of inner pot to prevent a burn warning.
- Add carrots, potatoes, bay leaf, thyme leaves, seasoned salt, and pepper. Give it all a good stir.
- Drop the homemade dumpling dough into the soup by about 1 tablespoon portion. Once all the dumplings have been portioned out into the soup, gently submerge the dumplings into the liquid and then place the lid on the instant pot.
- Press "Pressure Cook" or Manual, and cook on High Pressure for 5 minutes.
- Once cook time has elapsed, let the pressure release naturally for at least 15 minutes. Then carefully release any remaining pressure and open the lid of the instant pot.
- Hit “Cancel” and then “Saute.” Add in the heavy cream and peas and stir. While stirring, look for the bay leaf and thyme springs and remove from soup.
- Let the soup simmer for 3-5 minutes or until warmed through and slightly thickened.
- Serve immediately.
Homemade Dumplings
- In a medium bowl mix together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Make a well in the middle of the mixture and pour in the milk and melted butter. Stir with a wooden spoon until mixture just comes together.
Equipment Needed
Notes
- Use a dry chardonnay, pinot grigio, or riesling for the wine if using.
- Instead of using homemade dumplings, you can use 5 refrigerated canned biscuits, each cut into 8 pieces.
- Be sure to let pressure release naturally for at least 15 minutes or you will have a mess of hot liquid spewing out your vent knob AND your dumplings will become tough.
- It will take about 10 minutes to come to pressure and then 15 minutes to release pressure. So plan for 30 minutes once you set cook time.
Leah
These were so good.... made tonight and omitted the oil, celery and potatoes but doubled the veggies and used an entire can of biscuits. Crowd was pleased and produced empty bowls twice.
Kristen Chidsey
Thanks for sharing Leah! I love hearing you enjoyed this comfort food 🙂
Carol
Delicious! Consistency of the sauce was great, similar to that of a chicken pot pie. The dumplings did turn out more firm than fluffy, but they were tasty nonetheless. The veggies were the perfect level of doneness, still bright in color, with carrots tender and potatoes just beginning to break down a bit to thicken the sauce. Thank you!
Sasha Carter
New to the Instant Pot and your recipes I have tried so far are easy to follow. I first cooked a whole chicken in the Instant Pot. Then made broth with the bones and veggie scraps. Then used the chicken and broth to make the chicken and dumplings. So yummy! I used sweet potato and potato, and no peas. The dumplings did turn brown because my broth was dark, but still awesome.
Kristen Chidsey
Hi Sasha! I am so glad you have found my recipes easy to follow and tasty--that is exactly what my goal was in creating them!