This post may contain affiliate links. Please read our disclosure policy.
Do you have little time, but still want a nutritious, delicious and easy meal everyone in your family will enjoy? Chicken in a Crockpot only takes minutes to prepare and basically cooks itself.
Every Sunday at our local farmer’s market, I buy a whole chicken from the great folks at Healthy Family Farms (we also get our eggs from them). I like to make a Simple Roast Chicken every Sunday, but several weeks ago the farmer that sells the chickens asked if I had ever tried cooking a whole chicken in a slow cooker. I had not. I listened as she told me just how easy it was to prepare, but I was still in disbelief at how simple her description was. No oil? No butter? No broth? Just a few herbs, lemon and salt? Really?! I immediately went home that afternoon and with practically no effort, prepared a chicken that was about as good as any I had ever tasted. My whole family was wide-eyed as we took our first bites — the chicken was moist, tender and juicy and the consistency is almost like pulled pork because the meat literally falls off the bone.
Would you like to save this?
We'll email this post to you, so you can come back to it later!
This recipe is embarrassingly simple and incredibly healthy, but the best part is that it essentially cooks itself. There’s almost no work involved, and I love that I can cook a whole chicken and then keep the meat in the fridge to make Mac, Chicken and Cheese Bites, Chicken, Bean and Cheese Quesadillas or Chicken and Rice Burritos throughout the week!
Not only did Kenya, our friends, my hubby and I fall in love, but guess who ate more then her fair share of chicken? That’s right, baby Chloe. She was like a little chicken eatin’ machine, putting piece after piece into her mouth.
If cooking a whole chicken in the oven has always seemed daunting to you, try this crock pot version. It’s so simple, you’ll have a hard time finding reasons not to. Check out the video if you want to see how we did it!
Chicken in a Crock Pot
Ingredients
- 1 4-pound whole chicken
- 2-3 thyme sprigs
- 1 lemon, cut in half
- kosher salt
Instructions
- Stuff the chicken with the thyme and lemon halves and sprinkle the outside with salt.
- Cook on high for 3 hours (increase time to 4 hours for a 5 pound chicken).
- Using a meat thermometer, make sure the chicken is cooked to 160 degrees (the times on different slow cookers may vary).
- Allow the chicken to rest for 10 minutes before cutting it into pieces (this allows the juices to redistribute and the chicken to remain extremely juicy).
- Note: The skin on the chicken won’t be golden because this is more of a steaming method, but the meat will be outrageously moist, tender and juicy.
[…] dish literally takes about 10 minutes. If that. Serve with roasted beets and crock pot chicken? Hellz yeah. This entry was posted in Eat, Recipe, Side Dish, Vegetable. Bookmark the […]
[…] chicken in a slowcooker, from weelicious (here) – This really is as simple as she says. I stuff an onion (halved or quartered) in with the lemon […]
This may be a dumb question, but I have only tried cooking a whole chicken once… do you have to remove the inside pieces before putting in the crock pot? I think that was the worst part about cooking the whole chicken.
thank you!
Courtney–
the stock turned out fantastic! I made a chicken/wild rice soup with it (the March Southern Living recipe, very good). The next time I made the stock, I noticed that the flavor was slightly bitter (but just fine to use with a soup that has a hamhock or other flavor booster). I think the problem was that I let the chicken carcass go too long in the slow cooker… I am going to give it another go next week, and only cook it for an additional 3 hours and see how it turns out.
How did your attempt go??
I made this last night and it was seriously so easy! It was so tender and juicy that when I tried to take the chicken out of the crockpot to let it sit for 10 minutes, it just started falling apart, which was nice since I was a little nervous about cutting the chicken. There was a good amount left over so I am deciding what to make for dinner tonight with the leftovers. Quesadillas or chicken salad sandiwiches…hmmmm….
Sorry for the confusion! We had retested the recipe after we shot this and found that it took longer. I have added the change to the video as well. Thank you for your concern 🙂
Love this recipe, but I think that the timing is not correct on the video. You said 2 and a half hours for a 5lb chicken, but it definitely takes 4 (which is written in the recipe on the website). I only saw the video and didn’t check the recipe, so my chicken was a few hours late to dinner. Just an FYI! Thanks for all the great recipes 🙂
I am wondering about being gone all day too. Can I cook it on low with out somehow drying the bird out? What do you suggest?
[…] crockpot and a few hours later you have dinner. I was following her recipe, which you can find here, but then made a few minor […]
I like to put things in the crock pot while I’m at work but I’m gone 8+ hours do you think this would turn to mush if it was cooking on low for that long?
This is a great tip! I’ll be trying this with the leftover liquid tonight. Love this site and appreciate all of the feedback from everyone too 🙂
Hi Laurie. I’m trying your 2/16 stock recipe right now — how did yours turn out by the way? Courtney
I wish I would have seen this post! I just dumped all the goop out. Oh well…next time!
Jen-
The juice in the bottom of the slow cooker is LIQUID GOLD! I let it cool in the crock, then pour it through a strainer. Pop it in the fridge, and the next day you can easily skim the fat off of the top. What is left behind is like chicken jello, which apparently is the holy grail of chicken stock. You add about a quart of water (I “guesstimated”) and you have wonderful, home made chicken stock. I used it in a soup I made the next day.
I am making the chicken again today, and after I remove the chicken from the bones, I am adding the skinned carcass back into the crock with a couple of quarts of water, a stalk of celery and a couple of carrots, and cooking on low for 5 or 6 more hours. Should make a lot of delicious stock.
Just wanted to reply because I had the same question, and did major research to find out if my “chicken jello” was edible… such an awesome perk of making this great recipe!
I’ve made this several times, but was wondering if all the juice left in the bottom of the slow cooker is good for anything? Is it like stock?
I have done this a few times and the kids and my grandmother loved it. My twins who don’t eat meat couldn’t stop! I also added a little chicken stock and tossed in some veggies, dinner was done in 1 pot