Pressure Cooker Chicken and Dumplings
- Total Time
- 1 hour 30 minutes, plus 20 minutes marinating
- Rating
- Notes
- Read community notes
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Ingredients
Yield:4 servings
- 3½pounds bone-in chicken pieces, preferably dark meat
- 1½teaspoons kosher salt, plus more as needed
- ½teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 4tablespoons (½ stick) unsalted butter
- 2carrots, diced
- 2celery stalks, diced
- 1Spanish onion, diced
- 1turnip, peeled and diced
- 4garlic cloves, smashed
- ¼cup all-purpose flour
- 1quart chicken stock, preferably homemade
- Chopped fresh parsley or celery leaves, for serving
- 1½cups all-purpose flour
- ½cup fine cornmeal
- ¼cup minced fresh chive (optional)
- 2teaspoons baking powder
- ¾teaspoon kosher salt
- ¼teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 2tablespoons butter, melted
- ¾cup whole milk
For the Chicken
For the Dumplings
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (4 servings)
610 calories; 24 grams fat; 13 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 7 grams monounsaturated fat; 2 grams polyunsaturated fat; 78 grams carbohydrates; 5 grams dietary fiber; 11 grams sugars; 21 grams protein; 1217 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
Powered byPreparation
- Step 1
In a large bowl, toss the chicken pieces with the salt and pepper. Let them sit for 20 minutes.
- Step 2
Using the sauté function, melt 2 tablespoons of the butter in the pressure cooker. Add the chicken pieces, in batches, and brown them on all sides until deep golden brown, about 5 minutes per side. Transfer the chicken to a plate.
- Step 3
Add the remaining 2 tablespoons butter to the pressure cooker and stir in the carrots, celery, onion, turnip, and garlic cloves. Cook until softened, about 10 minutes. Then stir in the flour and cook until the mixture starts to turn golden, about another 3 minutes. Stir in the chicken stock, scraping up the browned bits from the bottom of the pot, and nestle the browned chicken into the vegetables. Cover and cook on high pressure for 13 minutes, and then release the pressure manually. Transfer the chicken pieces to a plate, reserving the broth in the pot. When the chicken is cool enough to handle, remove the bones and skin if you like, and tear the meat into chunks.
- Step 4
Meanwhile, make the dumplings: In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cornmeal, chives if using, baking powder, salt, and pepper. Pour the melted butter and the milk into the flour mixture, and stir gently with a spoon or spatula until just combined. Drop spoonfuls of the batter into the broth in the pot, spacing them evenly across the surface. Cover and cook on high pressure for 10 minutes.
- Step 5
Test the dumplings by cutting into one and making sure it’s cooked all the way through. If not, turn the sauté function on and simmer the dumplings until they are done.
- Step 6
Stir the chicken back into the pot to warm it up, and serve it topped with parsley leaves.
Tip
- If you’d rather use a slow cooker, add the stock plus ½ cup water, bring to a simmer, and cook on high until the chicken is tender, 3 to 4 hours. Transfer the chicken to a plate. Drop spoonfuls of the dumpling batter into the slow cooker, cover, and cook on high until cooked through, 1½ to 2 hours, depending upon their size.
Private Notes
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Cooking Notes
Jeff B
No one said this particular recipe was necessarily "dinner in an instant". That is just the title of the book, which was drawn from the name of the device (The Instant Pot). Get over yourselves, literalists.
Bri
Dinner in an instant???? This recipe takes 45' of cooking time (10' to brown, 10' to soften veggies, 13' to pressure cook the chicken and then another 10' under pressure for the dumplings)??? You can cook this on the stovetop in that amount of time, with far less hassle, by starting with skinless chicken thighs and adding the dumplings to the last 10' of chicken cooking time.
Jen
This was tasty and I do think using the pressure cooker cut down on cooking time and made for a more relaxed experience. I did not do the dumplings under pressure - I just dropped the dough into broth simmering on the "brown" setting and loosely put the lid on until they were done - maybe 5 minutes.
mzhungry
I had the same thought after preparing this recipe. It was in true Melissa Clark fashion, delicious, but it was 2 hours. It is not an "instant" 13 minutes to cook chicken: pot has to build up right amount of pressure before timer countdown begins. Then it takes a minute or 2 to manually release steam. Which cools down gadget. Which then needs more time to reheat & build up right amount of pressure. I enjoy my instant pot but using it for this recipe felt gimmicky & unnecessary.
Melissa
Dumplings should first be cooked with lid off 10 minutes and lid on for another 10 minutes. I will take vegetables out prior to dumplings next time as it's too much cooking as written in recipe.
Adrienne
Remove vegetables along with chicken so they don't turn to mush. Even after the initial 13 minutes, diced vegetables are soggy; large chunks would hold up better. As others have helpfully said, this is not a quick recipe, nor does it look like the photo (the broth looks more like gravy), but it is delicious. To use a whole cut-up chicken, leave the white meat large (2 halves breast with wing attached) while separating leg into drum and thigh, and use stated cooking time.
s4shon
This recipe took a very busy 2 hours start to finish, and I even used a separate pan and browned both batches of chicken at the same time. Turnip was key. I added chopped kale with the dumplings. Had the Instant Pot on sauté while dropping the dumplings in. The dumplings expand quite a bit while cooking. Aim for a small quenelle. This dish was tasty, but not sure it’s worth the effort - I’m exhausted!
Alana Roberts
I used this recipe for the dumplings, combining them with a different chicken recipe. I subbed masa for cornmeal, powdered the salt and pepper w/ mortar and pestle, and subbed .25 cup buttermilk for an equal portion of milk. I cooked them for 7 minutes on Saute, with the lid cocked over the pot but not sealed, after removing the chicken. My flour is fine unbleached bread flour. The dumplings turned out addictively good. I liked the faint corn flavor, and they were consistently fluffy inside.
shkilleb
This is the first Instant Pot recipe I've followed that caused a small explosion. When I manually released the pressure as part of step 3, the soup started spraying like a fountain from the release valve. I was apprehensive about it happening again during the dumpling phase, so I used the saute setting and left the lid off. I'm happy to report the end product was still delicious, but I'm scared to try this again. The mess alone makes me hesitant.
Mark B
I didn't have any problem with the time it took to make this dish. The pressure cooker to me made this more efficient. The saute setting on my pressure cooker isn't all that good so I browned the chicken and veggies in a separate pan before dumping them into the cooker and adding the flour. The dumplings were dense and gummy, even after sauteing them after pressure cooking them. I think I'll stick to Sean Brock's mom's recipe for chicken and dumplings though.
Charles
I wonder if it means Dinner in an "Instant", i.e., an Instant Pot but implying it's quick (or fuss free).
Catherine Roy
Unbelievably comforting and delicious. Worth it. Recipe as written: Used bone in chicken thighs and organic broth. A splash of white wine.
sara
Definitely still a weekend meal - somewhat labor intensive for all of the steps. I might try browning the chicken on the stovetop while sautéing veggies in the Instapot (will get a better brown and cut down on time)
Bob
It’s a soggy viscous mess. Triggered the burn shutdown when I cooked it.
Diane
My quick-and-dirty version: Skinless bone-in thighs, no marinating. Sear thighs while chopping veg (no turnip). Remove meat, add veg, stir till fragrant, add thyme and white pepper. Add 4c water, seal, manual for 15 min, QR. Stir in Better than Bouillon to taste. Serve with rolls. Next time will bake biscuits; if dumplings, will do on Saute, not pressure. Check out Instant Kid's C&D on youtube. Not true to recipe, but good and done in an hour total.
Kate
Can't you just cook the dumplings and chicken at the same time? There's a 3 minute difference of cooking time (under pressure). Reading some of the comments, it seems like this might be easier just doing it in a casserole in the oven, chopping the veg while searing the chicken and then getting it started cooking while you make the dumplings and then just put them on top and finish it all together, no? Either in the oven or stove top or under pressure at that point?
Graham
Veggies were super mushy despite cutting them chunkier as suggested by others. Ended up throwing them away and sautéing up a new batch to add back.
Danny
This was the chickeniest thing I have ever tasted and I don't really mean that as a compliment. To add stock to a roux and then pressure cook bone-in chicken is going to make a super-concentrated, really thick, gravy-like soup. It took a while to make, but the steps were nicely sequential and not that hard. Just don't expect a fresh, summery soup like what you see in the picture. This is a meal to make before going cross-country skiing in Northern Poland or something.
L. Allen
Honestly, there are much fast and equally as good IP recipes for chicken soup. It took me over two hours and I can’t say it was worth it. It had good, rich flavors and the dough balls were OK, but eggs noodles are better. If you do cook this, absolute take the advice from the comments and remove the veggies before you pressure cook the dumplings. The ones I left in, vanished.
stella
This recipe was really crazy. There’s no reason to make this in an instant pot. It took just as long and was more work than just making a stove top version. It was delicious! But two hours very hands on work…vs a stove top version that would have taken as long but maybe only requires 30 min active work. Anyway it was good but just skip the instant pot. Don’t skip the turnip.
Maddy
Followed as written and it’s excellent. I wasn’t expecting it to be as good as it was! It does take some time but you could make ahead up to the dumpling stage and either freeze it or finish the next day.
Zaza C
This was delicious. I didn’t have fine corn meal but I used some semolina instead. Full fat buttermilk instead of whole milk. Dill was the garnish. Fabulous as usual for Ms Clark’s recipes.
Diana
I have made this, and it is delicious! Having read the comments before making, I noticed several people saying their broth needed flour because it was dark-colored. Not true. My broth is clear, because I made homemade bone broth, with fresh chicken bones from the market (rotisserie chicken bones do not work). I put the veggies and a few herbs in large chunks with the bones, skim the fat and reserve as schmaltz, and strain it 3 times so only liquid remains. My broth is always clear.
RJH
This was good. If I make it again I’ll add peas, thyme, a bit more salt, and maybe a bit of lemon juice. It was a little bland, but still a comforting dish on a rainy Sunday evening.
Sharo
This turned out tasty, though the broth was definitely more like a gravy, even with only half the flour added (2 tablespoons). If I cook it again, I'd follow some of the recommendations to omit the flour added to the stock. Also, I'd put double the veggies in next time.
jessica
I followed the recipe, except that I didn’t have chicken broth, so I added 1quart of water and 4 tblsp of salted butter instead. I also used more veggies—a potato, carrots, onion, rutabaga, and mushrooms, and fresh herbs. Unfortunately, the liquid was too thick and I got a burn message on the instant pot before it got to pressure. I’m wondering if all extra vegetables was the reason why it burned. I wound up cooking it on the stove instead. It was pretty good, though the veggies were mushy.
OceanBeachSF
Really nice flavors but the dumplings completely disintegrated once I pressure cooked them. When I opened the pot I found a thick, creamy soup instead. Still tasty, but I am not sure what happened there.
RDCollins
I had half a box of Cremini mushrooms left over from another dish. Quartered them and added with the veggies. Nice!
RDCollins
While I agree with others that this dish takes about 3 hours to prepare, it's actually pretty simple — most of that time is spent waiting. Well worth the effort if you have the time. BTW, I made it in a traditional stove-top pressure cooker, which worked very well.
Dcp
Excellent! Followed recipe exactly. It was my first Instant Pot try. Chicken is very tender, flavorful and dumplings were done in time noted.
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