Slow Cooker Whole Chicken Recipe
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Slow cooker chicken recipes are always wonderful to have on hand for those busy weeknights, especially this slow cooker roast chicken. An ideal one pot chicken dinner that’s versatile, quick and easy are cooking whole chickens in the slow cooker. What you’re not able to finish in one meal, you’ll have plenty of leftover chicken for chicken sandwiches and chicken salads for lunch the next day. It’s another one of the dishes that keeps on feeding.
Slow cooker whole chicken recipe
Have you ever thought about cooking a whole chicken in the slow cooker? It’s such a great way to get juicy and moist chicken while you’re away at work. Let the slow cooker or crock pot do all the work for you. Best of all, there’s lots of leftover juices at the bottom of the slow cooker. Use the juices to make a soup, stock or better yet… homemade gravy.
How to Get Crisp Skin Chicken?
A classic oven roast whole chicken will give you a delicious crispy skin, but cooking a whole chicken in the crock pot ( or slow cooker) doesn’t mean you have the compromise a crisp skin. After a few hours in the slow cooker, broil the whole chicken in the oven for a few minutes to crisp up the skin. Not only will you have the moistness from slow cooking a whole chicken, but a quick oven finish will give you a crispy skin.
Add More Flavor to Crock Pot Chicken (Slow Cooker Chicken)
This technique can give you the best of both worlds. Though there are many basic slow cooker chicken recipes, this particular recipe is very versatile.
- You can use fresh herbs or dry herbs. Don’t skimp out on using herbs because it makes the chicken so much more flavorful.
- What are some of your favorite spice rubs? Any type of spice or rubs are another fantastic way to flavor the chicken. Even popular steak rubs are amazing for the chicken.
- Add your choice of vegetables. Firm vegetables that hold up to slow cooking is best. Potatoes, carrots, turnips and onions are fantastic. Other root vegetables like butternut squash and thick slices of pumpkin are great.
- And though this recipe uses olive oil to rub on the outside of the chicken, you can use soft or melted butter. What ever you decide to use, this chicken recipe is sure to be a standard favorite.
Video : How to cook a Whole Chicken in a Slow Cooker
Tips on Slow Cooking Whole Chicken
- If you bought a frozen whole chicken, make sure to thaw it completely. If it’s slightly frozen in the center, it might not cook all the way through during slow cooking.
- Make an herb butter if you want to rub over the chicken. The butter adds a nice rich flavor.
- Add a bright citrus flavor by squeezing some fresh lemon juice on top.
- Remember to remove the giblets from the center of the chicken.
- All you need is some gravy and it’s a wonderful dinner for everyone to enjoy. Make sure to add some extra vegetables in there when you roast it so that it becomes a complete meal! Best of all, the house will be warm and delicious smelling which is super welcoming on cold winter days.
- All slow cooker chicken recipe details are in the recipe box below.
Our Favorite Cookers & Goodies for Entertaining:
Whether you prefer a slow cooker, pressure cooker, or a multi-cooker, these kitchen counter appliances help make dinner a little easier for the busy household, plus with an added bonus of some of our favorite finds for entertaining:
The original slow cooker. On this on the lid locks down which is great for transporting to potlucks and such. Simple, inexpensive and reliable.
It has cult-like following for a reason. It’s a pressure cooker and so much more. Pressure Cooker, Slow Cooker, Rice Cooker, Steamer, Sauté, & Yogurt Maker. It’s awesome! If you want a pressure cooker that has a few more bells and whistles (like hands free steam release), this Breville Pressure Cooker is also great.
If pressure cooking is a not your thing but want a bit more than just a slow cooker, this multi-cooker is perfect for you. It can Sauté, Steam, and Slow Cook. Perfect to create those one pot meals.
Use Leftover bones for easy chicken stock
Video: Make sure to save to bones to make a chicken stock. Delicious and makes great use of the leftover chicken bones!
Easy Slow Cooker Whole Roast Chicken
Ingredients
- 4 pound (1.8 kg) Whole Chicken , rinsed and patted dry (make sure to remove giblets if it has them still)
- Olive Oil , to coat chicken
- Kosher Salt , to taste
- fresh cracked Black Pepper , to taste
- 1 Onion , peeled & quartered
- 2-3 Carrots , cut into large pieces
- 3-4 sprigs Italian Parsley
- 2-3 sprigs fresh Thyme
Equipment
Instructions
- Rub olive oil over whole chicken, then season liberally with salt and pepper.
- Place vegetables and herbs in the bottom of a 4-6qt. slow cooker. Place the chicken on top of the vegetables.
- Place the lid on, and cook the chicken for about 4-6 hours on high or 6-8 hours on low. To determine if the chicken is fully cooked, check that the meat is 165°F in the meat’s thickest part and the juices should run clean when you poke into the chicken.
- After the chicken is cooked, the skin will not be crispy yet. To crisp the skin, heat your oven's broiler to 550°F and place the rack on the second to lowest placement. Put the cooked whole chicken in a baking dish and place it under the oven's broiler for about 5 minutes, or until the skin is crispy.
- Carve and use the chicken as desired. Save the bones to make a chicken stock.
Video
Nutrition Information per Serving
Serving ideas with juicy slow cooker chicken
When you cook a whole chicken, the possibilities are endless when it comes to serving ideas. The best part about this is that you can have meals for a whole week with leftovers.
- Chicken salads are always great for work and lunch. Corn chicken salad and chicken avocado salad are a few of our favorites.
- Pasta salads with chicken are perfect for potlucks or lunch: Try our chicken pesto pasta salad or chicken blue cheese pasta salad
- Creamy chicken or turkey vegetable soup and healthy chicken soup with kale are some simple yet delicious soup recipes that uses leftover chicken
Freezing leftover chicken
If you have any leftovers, just store them in airtight containers or bags. Then you can freeze the leftover chicken meat for up to 3 months in the freezer. Don’t wait too long after that because you might get freezer burn on the chicken and it’ll dry out. Try to eat the chicken sooner than later. The sooner you eat it, the fresher the chicken will taste.
Other must make Slow Cooker Recipes
- Miracle Creamy Garlic Chicken in Slow Cooker
- Favorite Slow Cooker Chicken Vegetable Soup
- Chicken for taco salads
- Slow Cooker Honey Mustard Chicken, Moist & Delicious!
- Teriyaki Chicken in Slow Cooker
- Slow Cooker Tomato Sriracha Chicken Recipe
- This recipe was originally published in 2013 and updated with updated new video and photos. Here’s more Whole Roast Chicken Recipes and Slow Cooker Chicken Recipes .
6 Comments on “Slow Cooker Whole Chicken Recipe”
It’s really cool that we have a roast chicken recipe that can be done in the slow cooker. Thanks for the recipe.
I love being able to let the slow-cooker pretty much do all the work. Thanks for the recipe.
I love that you used the slow cooker to cook the chicken! It came out perfectly cooked!
I wonder if that would work with a small turkey breast I pick up a 5 pound breast today for less than five bucks..
We haven’t tried it, but it should work.
I love this idea of making a chicken in the slow cooker! Sometimes I’ll get a rotisserie chicken to use in other recipes when I’m short on time – but this seems to be just as easy and probably a lot healthier!