Instant Pot Chicken and Dumplings
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This Instant Pot Chicken and Dumplings can be on your dinner table in under 30 minutes! Savor this classic, hearty, comforting, and satisfying soup with chicken and biscuit dumplings.
Chicken and dumplings is a classic soup I grew up with. My mom would make us a dish similar to this quite often and it was one of my favorite soups. It still is. Of course the dumplings were my favorite thing about the soup. I would eat all the soup and the veggies and leave the dumplings for last so I could savour them.
Instant Pot Chicken and Dumplings
I love this version of Instant Pot Chicken and Dumplings because I get to use my Instant Pot. The Instant Pot is probably my most used appliance in the house right now and I just love it. It’s quick, easy to clean and I can make pretty much anything in it.
This chicken and dumplings can be ready in about 30 minutes from start to finish. I think this is great!
What Is Chicken and Dumplings
If you’re not familiar with chicken and dumplings, make sure you try this recipe. It is a classic. It’s a dish that consists of a chicken and vegetable soup base, loaded with biscuit dumplings. I’ll go as far as saying that probably everyone has their own version of chicken and dumplings.
You can either make the dumplings yourself from scratch or use ready made biscuit dough. Because this is such a thick soup, some would call this a stew. Up to you.
Which Dumplings Are Better
Do you use homemade dumplings or ready made canned biscuits. The answer really depends on your preference. Personally, I do like both. If you pressure cook homemade dumplings, they will not be as fluffy and light as when simmered. However, they will have a greater texture, so again it depends on your preference.
Using canned biscuits is both convenient and quick but they still taste delicious. Perhaps it comes down to how much time you have.
Homemade Dumplings Recipe
If you prefer to make your own dumplings use this recipe for the perfect chives and buttermilk dumplings:
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 egg beaten
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 2 tbsp chives chopped
- 1/2 cup buttermilk
In a bowl whisk together all the dumpling ingredients, making sure not to over mix. If you over mix the dumplings will turn out too dense. Add them at the same time you would add the biscuit dumplings (in step 6) by dropping heaping teaspoonfulls into the broth. Do not make them too large as they tend to expand quite a bit while cooking.
How to Make Instant Pot Chicken and Dumplings
To make this soup is quite simple. The base is close to a regular chicken and noodle soup. You start by cooking the veggies in a little bit of oil until they are softened. I like to add a little bit of flour to mine to thicken it up a bit.
Next add your herbs, chicken broth/water and chicken. Add in your dumplings, whether you’re using homemade or canned biscuits. Close the lid of your instant pot and set this for 7 minutes on soup mode.
All that’s left to do is shred the chicken, add it back in along with some frozen peas. Continue cooking for a couple more minutes or until the peas are cooked to your liking. Taste for seasoning and serve.
Looking for More Soup Recipes? Try These:
- Chicken and Dumplings
- Red Lentil and Chicken Soup
- Lasagna Soup
- Broccoli Cheese Soup
- Italian Wedding Soup
- Minestrone Soup
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Instant Pot Chicken and Dumplings
Ingredients
- 8 refrigerated biscuits (I used Pillsbury)
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 large onion (chopped)
- 1 large carrot (peeled and chopped)
- 2 stalks celery (chopped)
- ½ teaspoon salt (or to taste)
- ½ teaspoon pepper (or to taste)
- ⅓ cup all-purpose flour
- 5 cups chicken broth
- ½ teaspoon thyme (dried)
- 1 cube chicken bouillon (or 1 tsp poultry seasoning, I used 1 tsp vegeta)
- 2 bay leaves
- 2 cups water
- 1 pound chicken breast (boneless and skinless (about 2))
- ½ cup peas (frozen)
- 2 tablespoon parsley (fresh, for garnish)
Before You Begin! If you make this, please leave a review and rating letting us know how you liked this recipe! This helps our business thrive & continue providing free recipes.
Instructions
- Open the can of biscuits and flatten out each biscuit with your fingers. Alternatively you could use a rolling pin. Cut each biscuit in 4 strips, or feel free to cut them as large or as small as you like. Set aside.
- Turn your Instant Pot to the saute setting. (See your manufacturer’s guide for detailed instructions on how to use your instant pot.)
- Add the olive oil and cook until oil is hot. Add the onion, carrots and celery and saute for 3 minutes until the onion softens and becomes translucent. Season with salt and pepper.
- Whisk in the flour and cook for 1 minute. Add 1 cup of the chicken broth and whisk until the all the flour has absorbed all the liquid.
- Stir in the thyme, chicken bouillon or poultry seasoning, and add the bay leaves. Add the remaining chicken broth, water and stir. If you prefer, you could use all chicken broth or all water. If using only water, you might need to add a bit more poultry seasoning.
- Add the chicken to the pot then add the biscuit pieces, breaking them apart if needed. Mine stuck to each other a bit, so I had to separate them before adding them to the pot.
- Close the lid (follow the manufacturer’s guide for instructions on how to close the instant pot lid). Set the Instant Pot to the Soup setting and set the timer to 7 minutes.
- Once the Instant Pot cycle is complete, wait until the natural release cycle is complete, should take about 10 minutes. Follow the manufacturer’s guide for quick release, if in a rush. Carefully unlock and remove the lid from the instant pot.
- Remove the chicken breasts from the pot and shred with two forks. Set the Instant Pot to the saute setting again. Add the shredded chicken back to the pot and add the peas. Stir everything together. Taste for seasoning and adjust as necessary. Cook for 2 more minutes until the peas are cooked.
- Turn off the Instant Pot, by pressing the cancel button. Garnish with chopped parsley and serve warm.
Equipment
Video
Notes
- What is an Instant Pot: An IP is a multi-cooker, it’s like seven different appliances all in one! It does the job of a slow cooker, pressure cooker, rice cooker, steamer, yogurt maker, etc.
- I don’t have an Instant Pot, can I still make this soup: Absolutely, try my classic Chicken and Dumplings recipe here.
- Can I use chicken breast with skin and bones? Absolutely, it will actually result in a deeper more delicious broth.
- Can I use chicken drumsticks or thighs: Yes, you can. Any part of the chicken can be used, as long as you have enough chicken meat to add to the soup after you shred it.
- Can I use frozen chicken: Yes, you can. The time can vary depending on how big your chicken pieces are but I would start with 10 to 12 minutes and go from there.
- Why use chicken broth, can I just use water instead: Yes, you can absolutely replace the chicken broth with water, or if you prefer use only chicken broth.
- Nutrition: Please keep in mind that nutritional information is a rough estimate and can vary greatly based on products used.
Nutrition Information
Notice: Nutrition is auto-calculated for your convenience. Where relevant, we recommend using your own nutrition calculations.
Don’t laugh but are the chicken breasts supposed to be raw when you put them into the IP? How long if you already have cooked chicken?
Yes, the chicken is supposed to be raw. 🙂 I would still do the whole 7 minutes.
The recipe does not start with how much water or broth I have to start with to cook the chicken , I am new with this pressure cooker , never used one in my life ….
You must not be looking at the recipe card, scroll down to see the recipe card or click on jump to recipe at top of page. All the ingredients and amounts are there. Hope this helps.
Love this recipe. I see the approximate calories, but what is a serving size; 1 cup = 332 calories. I have used canned biscuits and have made homemade spaetzle too.
I’m recording every bite I eat on a jet healthy journey and it’s hard to estimate some recipes.
The nutritional information assumes 6 servings, we don’t actually calculate how much in a serving, but if I were to guesstimate it’s about 1 1/2 cups.
I added roasted garlic powder and dried rosemary. Delicious! Would definitely make again.
I love your whole website – so well done and beautiful. You also have very beautiful hands! I haven’t made this dish yet – but I will. Thinking of replacing the dumplings with pasta…. should work well. Can you let me know the brand of the Instant Cooker that you are using? I need to get one and couldn’t make up my mind which one to select. The only thing that I didn’t like is the Vegeta – simply because it contains MSG. Wish there’s a healthier alternative. Thank you for all your recipes!!! 🙂
Thank you, Virginia! Much appreciated. Some egg noodles will be great in this recipe. We use a 6qt Instant Pot. You can always use a bouillon brand that is MSG free!
Made this tonight and it fed two adults and two toddlers and I have a ton left. Used 5 cups of broth and 2 cups of water because I was confused about that part of the instructions but it turned out great and full of flavor. The biscuits were a little mushy and I will probably make homemade biscuit dough next time. I used two large breasts and one thigh and it was great. Jo also has a wonderful chicken noodle soup recipe not too different from this one that is also great so I wanted to try this one too. My husband absolutely loved this.
I made the homemade dumplings (highly recommended) and only used water and 3 chicken bullion cubes. I wanted mine to be thicker so at the end I mixed 1/2 cup flour with the finished soup broth but that might’ve been a little too much because it ended up being really thick but damn was it delicious! Flavors were perfect! Thank you!!
Would love to try this recipe! I am new to IP and I have the 8qt Duo Crisp. My IP does not have a “soup” button. Which setting would you suggest I use instead?
You can use manual high pressure! That’ll work just fine.
This is BY FAR the best recipe I have had. I’ve had my IP now for 2 years
Can you freeze this soup with the dumplings or will they fall apart?
Yes you can! They’re nice and sturdy.
Would it mke any difference if I just cubed the chicken before cooking? Not a fan of the texture of shredded chicken if I’m being honest.
No it wouldn’t, go ahead and cube it.
We made this with skin on, bone in thighs and then removed the skin and bones when we shredded the chicken. It added a lot of depth to the flavor for sure! We also didn’t add the extra water since we like thicker soup and used the homemade dumplings. After adding some of our preferred seasonings, this soup was PHENOMENAL! It’s probably the second best instant pot recipe we’ve tried after our favorite mushroom wild rice soup. It’s absolutely worth the to make the homemade dumplings because they pushed this soup over the edge. This was quick and delicious! We will definitely make it again. Thanks for the recipe!
Thank you so much for this review, Sarah! We’re so glad you love both the soups. They’re a favorite around here as well.
Everything was so tasty, next time I would eliminate the store bought biscuits. Might try to make my own dumplings.
Made this with frozen chicken breasts. Was surprisingly delicious and so easy. I did have to make my own dumplings but they turned out just like my mom used to make.
I haven’;t made this yet, but I would like to try. I am not a fan of canned biscuits though, so if I stir up my own, how long would I cook them in the IP. Thanks for your great site!
The time here will work for homemade biscuits as well!