Confession, this recipe is not my nanny’s chicken and dumplings (in the south, grandmas often answer to nanny). Nanny’s will always be my favorite and the closest I find comfort in is at Cracker Barrel. I can’t make hers to save my life; my cousin can but not me. Lucky for my family I like to play in the kitchen with recipes. Possibly unlucky since this final yumminess took about 5 trial dinners to get it right. It is right though. So flavorful, easy to make, and hits all my happy cravings.
I can’t remember my nanny or granny using a crockpot. But next to a cast iron skillet, it is my go to in the kitchen. I love my crockpot, actually crockpots because I have three. Yes I know there are instapots nowadays but my heart will always be friends with the crock. We grew up together, I can’t even count how many dinners I would build in the mornings then set it and forget it. Sitting at my desk at work wondering how good my house is smelling. Side note, my dog would lay in the kitchen floor under said crockpot. Not tall enough to reach it, but cute enough to dream about it.
I hope you like it as much as Rascal. Here are the ingredients to make my version:
1. Must have veggies. Finely dice 2 stalks of celery and half a white onion. Add to the crockpot with 2 tablespoons of minced garlic.
2. Building the cream sauce. Scrap out both cans of cream of celery soup in to the pot. Add that whole box of chicken stock, that’s 4 cups. Now add a cup of heavy cream along with salt & pepper. Whisk it all together. Turn the crockpot on high for 6 hours.
3. The chicken star of the show. Before I started the veggie chopping, I prepped the chicken. I trimmed the fat off 3 breasts and cut them in half. I completely covered the breasts in herbs de provence from Pampered Chef. This is some herby magic right here and it is so good with chicken. So good.
Embed the chicken in to the sauce, easy does it. Put the lid in place and walk away.
4. Back to that chicken. It’s been 6 hours and my house smells a-maz-ing! Pull the chicken out with tongs and plate it. It will be falling apart and lovely. Don’t worry if there are veggies clinging to it, the whole plate is going back in. Let it cool enough to handle while we make dumplings.
5. Buttermilk dumplings. Need I say more? I don’t know what it is about buttermilk, but it’s so good in dough like pancakes and biscuits I can’t resist. In a bowl, mix a cup of buttermilk with 2 cups of Bisquick. Yes, Bisquick. Sorry, not sorry. Once it’s all mixed together. Take a tablespoon and drop dumplings by the spoon in to the hot crockpot. Reset the crockpot to high for 2 hours. Lightly stir the dumplings in to the sauce.
6. Back to that chicken. Again. That chicken is cool enough to pull apart with your hands. Shred it and slide the plate, juice and all in to the crockpot. Gently stir it together and put the lid back on.
Guess what? It’s been 2 hours and the laundry is done. So is dinner! I am so happy right now and I have a bowl in my hand. I hope you enjoy this as much as I am about to. PS. Rascal had chicken while I was shredding wink wink.
Crockpot chicken and dumplings
Ingredients
- 3 chicken breasts
- Herbs de provence
- 2 stalks of celery
- 1/2 white onion
- 2 cans cream of celery soup
- 2 tbsps minced garlic
- Box of chicken stock
- Cup of heavy cream
- 2 cups of Bisquick
- cup of buttermilk
Instructions
- Prep the chicken by cutting off the fat, cutting the breasts in half and covering in herbs de provence
- Dice the celery, onion and garlic
- Mix the soup, broth, cream along with salt and pepper in the crockpot
- Embed the chicken in to the sauce
- Cook for 6 hours on high
- Take the chicken out and shred it
- Mix the buttermilk and Bisquick and drop the spoons in the pot
- Cook for 2 hours on low