By Veterans Day and Sean had the day off, which is unusual—construction sites observe some holidays and not others depending on whether the GC is federal—and we had a full Monday morning together, which happens rarely enough that we didn't know what to do with it at first. We ended up walking to the L Street Diner and eating breakfast in a booth with Liam between us on the bench, Liam with a cup of dry Cheerios and complete authority over the situation. He distributed the Cheerios onto the table with the systematic method of a small urban planner and then ate them from the table rather than the cup, which seemed to satisfy some organizational requirement.
Meghan is showing now. I saw her at my mother's on Sunday and she's at fourteen weeks and glowing in the specific way that she did with both her other pregnancies, which is one of those things you notice when you've been watching someone since you were both in secondary school. She held Liam for an hour and he reached for her face with both hands. He's comfortable with women who smell like family. He knows the difference somehow, which I find remarkable and don't have a clinical explanation for.
I've been making soup every Sunday that Meghan can take a container of, because she gets food aversions in the first trimester and soup is safe when everything else isn't. This week: a very plain chicken noodle, nothing complicated, the kind your grandmother makes. She texted: "this is the only thing I've eaten today thank you." I texted back a pot emoji. That's the whole conversation. That's what soup is for.
The plain chicken noodle I made for Meghan that week was close to this—just chicken, broth, something soft to fill it out. Chicken and dumplings felt like the next natural step: the same spirit, a little more substance, still gentle enough to eat on a day when nothing else sounds appealing. I’ve since moved to making this version in the slow cooker on Sundays because it asks almost nothing of you while it works, which matters when you’re also chasing a toddler who is reorganizing your Cheerios. It’s the recipe I keep in rotation for anyone who needs a container left on their doorstep without a lot of explanation.
Slow-Cooker Chicken and Dumplings
Prep Time: 15 minutes | Cook Time: 6 hours 30 minutes | Total Time: 6 hours 45 minutes | Servings: 6
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breasts
- 1 can (10.5 oz) condensed cream of chicken soup
- 1 can (10.5 oz) condensed cream of celery soup
- 3 cups low-sodium chicken broth
- 1 cup frozen peas and carrots
- 1 medium onion, finely diced
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1/2 tsp dried thyme
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 can (16.3 oz) refrigerated biscuit dough (8 biscuits), each torn into thirds
Instructions
- Layer the base. Place the chicken breasts in an even layer in the bottom of a 6-quart slow cooker. Add the onion and garlic over the chicken.
- Add the broth. Spoon both cans of condensed soup directly into the slow cooker, then pour in the chicken broth. Stir gently to combine. Add thyme, pepper, and salt.
- Cook low and slow. Cover and cook on LOW for 6 hours or on HIGH for 3 to 3 1/2 hours, until the chicken is cooked through and very tender.
- Shred the chicken. Remove the chicken breasts and shred them with two forks on a cutting board. Return the shredded chicken to the slow cooker. Stir in the frozen peas and carrots.
- Add the dumplings. Place the torn biscuit pieces in a single layer over the top of the soup. Do not stir them in—they need to rest on the surface to steam properly. Cover and cook on HIGH for an additional 25 to 30 minutes, until the dumplings are cooked through and no longer doughy in the center.
- Serve. Ladle into bowls, making sure each serving gets a generous portion of dumplings, shredded chicken, and broth. Serve immediately, or let cool before transferring to containers for sharing.
Nutrition (per serving)
Calories: 380 | Protein: 30g | Fat: 12g | Carbs: 38g | Fiber: 2g | Sodium: 980mg