Slow Cooker Ranch Chicken (Printer View)

Tender chicken slowly cooked with ranch herbs, vegetables, and fluffy biscuit topping for a cozy meal.

# What you'll need:

→ Chicken & Stew

01 - 2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts or thighs
02 - 1 medium yellow onion, diced
03 - 3 medium carrots, peeled and sliced
04 - 2 celery stalks, sliced
05 - 3 cups low-sodium chicken broth
06 - 1 can (10.5 ounces) condensed cream of chicken soup
07 - 1 packet (1 ounce) ranch seasoning mix
08 - 1 teaspoon garlic powder
09 - 1 teaspoon dried parsley
10 - 0.5 teaspoon black pepper
11 - 1 cup frozen peas
12 - 0.5 cup heavy cream or half-and-half
13 - 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, cubed

→ Dumplings

14 - 2 cups all-purpose flour
15 - 1 tablespoon baking powder
16 - 1 teaspoon sugar
17 - 0.5 teaspoon salt
18 - 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
19 - 1 cup whole milk
20 - 1 can (16 ounces) refrigerated biscuit dough, quartered (optional substitute)

# Method:

01 - In the slow cooker, combine chicken, onion, carrots, celery, chicken broth, cream of chicken soup, ranch seasoning, garlic powder, parsley, and black pepper. Stir thoroughly to combine all ingredients.
02 - Cover and cook on low heat for 5 hours, or until the chicken is tender and easily shredded with a fork.
03 - Remove chicken from the slow cooker, shred using two forks, and return the shredded chicken to the slow cooker.
04 - Stir in frozen peas, heavy cream, and cubed butter until fully combined.
05 - In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt. Stir in melted butter and milk until just combined, being careful not to overmix the dough.
06 - Drop spoonfuls of dumpling dough onto the surface of the stew, spacing them apart, or place quartered biscuit dough pieces evenly on top.
07 - Cover and cook on high heat for 30 to 45 minutes until dumplings are puffed and cooked through.
08 - Ladle into bowls and serve hot. Garnish with fresh parsley if desired.

# Expert Advice:

01 -
  • The slow cooker does almost all the work while you live your day, and somehow that makes the meal taste even better.
  • Those dumplings are impossibly fluffy without requiring any baking skills whatsoever.
  • It feeds a crowd without making you feel like you've spent hours in the kitchen.
02 -
  • Don't mix the dumpling dough like you're making cake batter; lumps are your friend and a smooth dough means tough, dense dumplings that no amount of cooking will fix.
  • Adding the cream and peas at the very end keeps the peas from turning into little gray bullets and prevents the cream from breaking apart if cooked too long.
03 -
  • Use a spoon or small ice cream scoop to drop dumpling dough in uniform sizes so they cook evenly and look uniform in the bowl.
  • If you have a slow cooker with a warm setting, switch to it once the dumplings are cooked so everything stays hot without the broth reducing further.
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