This is my healthier take on an old classic comfort food. I think the very first time that I had chicken and dumplings was at my grandmother’s house with my dad when I was pretty young… elementary school still, I’m sure.
She cooked the soup up on the stove for a few hours and then tossed the raw dough into the pot. I thought she was crazy at the time, but after my first bite… I was in love.
Years later when I first started cooking, I dabbled with the infamous chicken and dumplings in the crock pot using canned condensed soups and biscuit dough. I’ll be the first to admit that it was delicious, but a huuuge guilty pleasure! Full of preservatives and nothing good for you. Bleh!
These days, it’s pretty hard come come across a chicken and dumplings recipe for the crock pot that doesn’t use ‘cream of such-and-such’. Seriously. It’s nearly impossible.
To clean this recipe up… I ditched the cans, first thing. I chose to leave the soup as more of a broth than a thick creamy mess. Avoiding any ‘cream’ dropped the calories drastically. I also whipped up my own easy and cheesy whole wheat biscuit dough and filled that crock put up to the rim with comforting vegetables and chicken.
This was amazingly satisfying on a cold icy day and absolutely hit the spot.
Don’t be scared of the raw dough going into the crock pot, I promise.. if done right the dough does cook. It may look wet when it’s done, but it’ll be nice and fluffy on the inside.
Mine took about 45 minutes to an hour to cook through, but that’s because I was fiddling around with taking pictures and moving the crock pot base back and forth across the kitchen to do so. Keep the lid over the soup as long as you can, toss the dough in and cover quickly to maintain the heat inside as much as possible!
Healthified Crock Pot Chicken & Dumplings
TheSkinnyFork.com
The Skinny:
Servings: 6 • Size: About 1 1/2 Cups • Calories: 288.1 • Fat: 5.5 g • Carb: 34.7 g • Fiber: 6.8 g • Protein: 26.7 g • Sugar: 0.9 g • Sodium: 701.5 mg
Ingredients:
Soup:
4-6 C. Reduced Sodium Chicken Broth
1 1/2 Lbs. Boneless Skinless Chicken Breast
2 C. Peas & Carrots, Frozen
1 Onion, Chopped
2 Celery Stalks, Chopped
2 Garlic Cloves, Minced
1 Tsp. Basil
1 Tsp. Thyme
Salt & Pepper to Taste
Dumplings:
1 1/2 C. Whole Wheat White Flour
1 1/2 Tsp. Baking Powder
1 1/2 Tsp. Parsley
1/2 Tsp. Garlic Powder
1/8 Tsp. Onion Powder
Salt & Pepper to Taste
1/4 C. Light Butter (Room Temperature), Cubed
1/3 C. Fat Free Cheddar, Shredded
2/3 C. Fat Free Milk
Directions:
Toss everything for the soup into the crock pot.
Cover and set to cook for 6-8 hours on high or 8-10 hours on low.
Once nearly done, remove the chicken and shred.
You can use two forks or shred in your stand mixer. It doesn’t really matter!
Add the chicken back to the crock pot and cover.
Set the crock pot to high now if you’ve been cooking this on low.
Combine the flour, baking powder, parsley, garlic powder, onion powder, salt and pepper for the dumplings together in a medium bowl.
Cut in the butter using two forks or your hands until it begins to form a grainy mixture (resembling corn starch.)
Add in the cheddar and milk.
Mix just until a thick dough forms and all lumps are out.
Drop the dough by rounded spoonfuls into the crock pot.
Try to do this quickly as to not let much heat escape from the crock pot.
Cover and cook on high for 30-60 minutes.
Once done, the dough will still look a little wet on top, but will be soft, fluffy, and cooked through on the inside.
For this Creamy Chocolate Frosting, use whatever cake or brownie recipe gets your zizzwheel a goin’ and then the icing is a cinch.
