Instant Pot Chicken and Dumplings are a delicious homemade comfort food classic that can be made so much quicker in the pressure cooker. This stew has big flavor with chicken thighs, and drop dumplings make this easier.
Season the chicken on both sides with salt and pepper to taste. Preheat the Instant Pot on saute. Add butter and oil or either for sauteeing. Add the chicken, and brown both sides. Repeat until all chicken is done.
Add the prepared onions, carrots, and celery to the pot. Add additional cooking oil or butter if needed for sauteeing. Cook for a few minutes or until the onion has softened.
Add in the mushrooms, and cook for two minutes. Then add a small bit of chicken broth to deglaze the pan. Turn off saute.
Add chicken to the pot, and the remaining broth. Add in the pepper, and ground thyme.
Seal lid and cook on high pressure for 15-minutes and follow with a 10-minute natural pressure release.
Remove the chicken thighs only from the pot. Allow to cool for a few minutes. Remove skin, debone, and shred chicken to desired size.
Add heavy whipping cream, and lemon juice to stew. Add the other half of the pepper and ground thyme. Add the chicken back to the pot. Stir.
Dumplings
Combine 2 cups of flour, baking powder, and salt to a medium bowl then stir together.
Melt three tablespoons of butter in one cup of milk in the microwave. Add to flour mixture and combine well.
Drop by tablespoons onto top of stew, cover, and cook covered on LOW saute for 9-minutes.
Turn off saute once the dumplings are done. Dumplings will puff and float when done. Allow to rest 10-minutes to finish cooking the dumplings.
Serve, and store leftovers in an airtight container for up to one week. Can be frozen for up to three to four months. Thaw in refrigerator and reheat in microwave.
Notes
Cut down the prep time by either pre-cut vegetables from the store, or cutting them ahead of time. You can also use a store bought biscuit mix if you are short on time.This can be prepared in advance up to the point you pressure cook the chicken and debone. You can prepare on a weekend, and reheat on a weekday. Finish the stew by picking up at the point where we add lemon juice for a quick weeknight dinner.Dumplings will naturally be submerged as you add more and more of them to the pot. You can gently push them down, but never stir them.You can reduce the additional pepper and thyme added at the end by one half if desired.