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Instant Pot Chicken and Dumplings with chopped parsley sprinkled on top ready to be served.

Instant Pot Chicken and Dumplings

Our Instant Pot Chicken and Dumplings recipe is a one-pot wonder made with real food ingredients and turns out tender and mouthwatering every time.

Yield: 6 servings 1x
Prep: 20 minutesCook: 25 minutesTotal: 45 minutes
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Ingredients

Stew

  • 1 to 2 tablespoons butter
  • 1 medium yellow onion, diced (about 1 cup)
  • 2 celery stalks, sliced 1/4 inch thick
  • 4 carrots, sliced 1/4 inch thick (about 1 1/2 cups)
  • Salt and ground black pepper
  • 1 teaspoon poultry seasoning
  • 3 garlic cloves, minced
  • 1 1/2 to 2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs, trimmed
  • 5 cups low-sodium chicken broth (Note: If using an 8 qt, you may need 6 cups.)
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 1 cup frozen peas

Dumplings

  • 1 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour (You can sub white whole wheat flour, but we do not recommend subbing whole wheat flour.)
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 3/4 teaspoon sugar
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons dried parsley
  • 4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) butter
  • 3/4 cup milk (your choice)

*Note from 3/18/22: We updated the amount of broth from 4 cups to 5 cups.

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Instructions

NOTE: This recipe was tested in a 6-quart Instant Pot.

Make It Now:

  1. For the stew: Set the Instant Pot to “Saute”. Melt the butter in the pot. Add the onion, celery, and carrots and cook, stirring, until they just begin to soften, 4 to 5 minutes, seasoning lightly with salt and pepper and stirring in the poultry seasoning and garlic during the last 30 to 60 seconds of cooking. Press “Cancel”. (Freezing instructions begin here.)
  2. Lightly season both sides of the chicken with salt and pepper and place in the Instant Pot. Add the broth and bay leaves and stir to combine.
  3. Lock and seal the lid. Cook for 6 minutes at high pressure, then quick release the pressure. (The chicken is done when it registers 165°F internally.) Transfer the chicken to a cutting board and set aside. Remove and discard the bay leaves. 
  4. For the dumplings: In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, sugar, and parsley. In a small microwave-safe bowl, microwave the butter and milk together until warm, about 1 minute, then whisk to melt the butter and combine. Stir the wet mixture into the dry mixture until just combined (do not over-mix).
  5. Set the Instant Pot to “Saute” and bring to a boil. Using a soup spoon or tablespoon, scoop out heaping tablespoons of dumpling batter, and drop into the stew. (Wet your hands to prevent sticking and use them to help slide the batter off the spoon.) Try to spread the dumplings out so they cover the whole surface and aren’t on top of one another. Cover the IP loosely with the lid, leaving a crack. Cook for about 11-12 minutes or until the dumplings have doubled in size and a toothpick inserted into the center of a dumpling comes out clean. Press “Cancel”.
  6. Meanwhile, shred or chop the chicken into bite-size pieces and set aside.
  7. When the dumplings are done, gently stir the chicken and peas into the stew. Taste and season with salt and pepper as needed.

Freeze for Later:

Follow step 1. Let the veggies cool. Season both sides of the chicken lightly with salt and pepper and place the chicken in a gallon-size freezer bag or round container (do not stack the chicken but try to place side by side). Add the broth, bay leaves, and cooled veggies. Seal and freeze (if using a freezer bag, place in a round container that’s the shape of the Instant Pot until frozen). Combine the flour, baking powder, salt, sugar, and parsley in a quart-size freezer bag or container. Seal and freeze alongside the stew.

Prepare From Frozen:

Note: You will need to have butter, milk, and frozen peas on hand to complete this meal. Set the Instant Pot to “Saute”. Saute the frozen meal for 5 minutes to release some liquid. Press “Cancel”. Follow step 3, but cook at high pressure for 15-20 minutes. Follow Steps 4-7, using the bag of dry mix to make the dumplings in step 4.


Notes/Tips

Crock Pot Instructions: Try making this same meal using our Crock Pot Chicken and Dumplings recipe.

Can I Make This Gluten-Free? While I haven’t tested gluten-free flour for the dumplings, our readers have reported trying without much success. The dumplings seemed to fall apart for them and melt into the soup. Your best bet may be to make the stew, leaving off the dumplings, and make some gluten-free biscuits to serve on the side.

Where We Get Our Chicken: We get our chicken from ButcherBox. The chicken is organic and curated from trusted farms. We highly recommend this service to source healthy meat–like uncured bacon, grass-fed beef, and wild salmon–and have used it for years ourselves.

© Author: Rachel Tiemeyer
Cuisine: American Method: Instant Pot