All you need is a slow-cooker to make this perfectly cooked, delicious chicken.
Pull your Crock-Pot out immediately, go buy a whole chicken, and make this recipe.
Right. Now! This is good.
I really hate dealing with raw chicken, so I try to do it as little as possible. But the other day, the grocery store had whole organic chickens on sale for 79¢ a pound! Steal!
I got my 5 lb. chicken for $4!
Whole chickens can be a little intimidating... What do you do with it? How do you cook it? Is it going to take all day? Will I under-cook it/overcook it/mess it up?
These are all questions that used to run through my head every time I saw a whole chicken.
There are also some unappealing qualities in a whole chicken that make me dread buying them which include but are not limited to: cutting open the wrapper on the chicken and getting that red chicken juice everywhere, a lot of raw meat, those weird giblets & livers & gooey things inside the chicken cavity, the fact that something might attack me when I stick my hand into the cavity of a chicken, etc.
I've previously faced my fears of whole chicken by roasting it, and I've poached it.
Both resulted in big messes.
When I tried to roast it, I over-cooked it, and the drippings from the chicken splashed out of the roasting pan. [Update: I finally wrote about perfecting my roasting of a whole chicken]
Poaching it was easy enough, I guess, but it was kind of a disaster when I tried to make the chicken stock. And the chicken was pretty flavorless.
Moral of the story is: I'm dramatic. You should cook your whole chicken in a slow cooker and call it a day. More like call it a meal + leftovers + amazing homemade chicken broth and even gravy.
I basically followed this recipe from 100 Days of Real Food. I cooked mine on Low because I was not paying attention when I set the Crock-Pot. And I added a couple of extra spices, which I thought helped make it taste even better.
Like I said before, you really do need to make this chicken. It's so easy. Really, it is so easy. I even made a little video for you on Vine:
And it's quite possibly the best chicken I've ever made.
Chicken in a Crock-Pot
Ingredients
- 2 tsp paprika
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp onion flakes or onion powder
- 1 tsp dried thyme
- 3/4 tsp garlic powder
- 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
- 1/2 tsp lemon pepper
- 1 onion chopped
- 1 large chicken about 4-6 lbs.
Instructions
- In a small bowl, stir together all the spices {paprika through lemon pepper}.
- Put the onion in the bottom of the Crock-Pot.
- Take out the giblets & anything else inside the cavity of the chicken. Rub the spice mixture over the entire chicken and under the skin.
- Place the chicken in the Crock-Pot on top of the onion. Put the lid on the Crock-Pot and cook on High for 4-5 hours or on low for 8-9 hours. You want the chicken to be falling off the bone. Be careful when you take the chicken out because the bones are really brittle and can easily break.
Notes
Tomorrow I'll have a recipe for you to use the leftover chicken bones to make homemade chicken broth!
Meme
Nicole, RD says
This is something I've wanted to try -- glad to see it works well AND that I can let it go for 9 hours in the crock pot!
memeinge says
I'm so glad I finally made it. It's perfect! The skin isn't very appetizing but that's good for me because then I won't want to eat it 🙂
Michelle says
I love my crock pot and am always looking for new ways to use it. I have yet to make a whole chicken but this scrumptious so I'll be getting it out soon. Thanks for sharing.
Michelle
memeinge says
This is a great way to use your crock-pot! My only regret is not trying it sooner 🙂
Dinachka says
Do you add water to the crockpot with the chicken in it? I'm not sure if I missed something. How much water do I put in (do I need to cover the whole chicken?) in order to get that delicious stock you were talking about?
Thank you so much in advance
Meme says
Great question! You don't add water while you cook the chicken. The chicken releases all of it's juices, so when it's done the crock-pot will be full of liquid & chicken. I use a slotted spoon to get the chicken out. Then I take the meat off the chicken, and add the bones back to the crock-pot. To make the stock, I just fill the crock pot {with the bones, etc.} with water to cover everything. Then I cover the crock pot and cook it for a few hours, strain, and enjoy!
Doris Maynard says
I tried cooking a whole chicken in the crock pot and it came out very good wasn't dry all . I will be doing this again.... Love it
Meme says
YAY!! Isn't is so easy and delicious?! I'm so glad you enjoyed it 🙂