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Crockpot Whole Chicken

🍗🙌🏻😋 The EASIEST way to cook a whole chicken because your slow cooker does all the work for you! The chicken is lightly flavored with lemon, garlic and herbs, and turns out so moist, juicy, and tender! Potatoes cook alongside the chicken to create an effortless built-in side dish. Planned leftover chicken is always great to have on hand and if a recipe calls for shredded rotisserie chicken, use this instead!

Prep Time
10 mins
Cook Time
4 hrs
Servings: 8
Calories: 339 kcal
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: American , International

Ingredients

  • 1 whole chicken (4 to 5 pounds, remove anything from the cavity such as giblets, neck, etc.)
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 2 teaspoons salt
  • 1 teaspoon black pepper
  • 1 teaspoon paprika
  • 1 teaspoon garlic powder
  • 1 teaspoon onion powder
  • 1 teaspoon dried basil
  • 1 teaspoon dried rosemary
  • 1 large white or yellow onion quartered
  • 2 lemons quartered
  • 8 cloves garlic smashed
  • 4 sprigs fresh rosemary
  • 2 pounds of small red potatoes halved (baby Yukon gold or yellow potatoes may be substitued)
  • 1 cup chicken broth

Instructions

    Cup of Yum
  1. Pat the chicken dry (remove any giblets, neck, or anything that was in the cavity) and then coat the exterior of the chicken with olive oil.
  2. Dry Rub for Exterior: In a small bowl mix together salt, pepper, paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, dried basil, dried rosemary, stir, and coat the entire exterior of the chicken with this dry rub mixture. Tip - If you want to use poultry seasoning rather than making your own rub, it's fine. Use in a very generous quantity, such as 3+ tablespoons to ensure the chicken has great flavor; product linked in Notes.
  3. Cavity: To the cavity of the chicken, add half of each of the quartered onions, half of the quartered lemons, half of the smashed garlic cloves, and half of the rosemary sprigs.
  4. Bottom of Slow Cooker: Add the remaining amounts of the onions, lemons, garlic, and rosemary. Plus add all the potatoes and evenly pour the broth over. These ingredients create a nice base on which to rest the chicken.
  5. Place the chicken on top, place the lid on the slow cooker, and cook on high for 3-4 hours OR on low heat for 6-7 hours. Always make sure that the chicken is cooked through to 160-165F as measured by a thermometer. Important Note for Low Cooking - From a food safety perspective, if you do plan to cook on low heat (overall), you should cook on high for 1 hour (and then you can switch over to low) so that the chicken isn’t held for too long/too raw in your slow cooker. The 1 hour blast of high heat cooking is what’s necessary to combat against potential issues.
  6. Crispy Skin (optional, if not broiling ignore this and go to the next step): If you want crispy, rotisserie chicken style chicken, you can easily crisp it up in just 3-5 minutes under your oven’s broiler. Preheat to high broiler setting, place the chicken on a sheet pan, and broil for 3-5 minutes, or until the chicken skin is as golden browned and crisped as desired. Be Careful! - Use extreme caution by keeping a watchful eye so you don't burn the chicken. Broilers are very potent at over 500F degrees and things can go from 'fine' to burnt in less than 30 seconds so don't become distracted and burn your chicken.
  7. Resting: You must then rest the chicken for at least 10 minutes, especially if you cooked it to only 160 degrees F so that carryover cooking heat allows for the final temp to reach 165F. Want to make gravy from the pan drippings in your slow cooker? Read the FAQs in the post for how to do it.
  8. Serving and Storage - Slice the chicken and serve. Leftover chicken will keep airtight in the fridge for up to 5 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months. Tip - See blog post for recipes that use leftover chicken.

Notes

  • Poultry seasoning is a quick shortcut rather than making your own dry rub. 

Nutrition Information

Serving 1serving Calories 339kcal (17%) Carbohydrates 24g (8%) Protein 21g (42%) Fat 18g (28%) Saturated Fat 5g (25%) Polyunsaturated Fat 4g Monounsaturated Fat 9g Trans Fat 0.1g Cholesterol 72mg (24%) Sodium 780mg (33%) Potassium 793mg (23%) Fiber 3g (12%) Sugar 3g (6%) Vitamin A 289IU (6%) Vitamin C 28mg (31%) Calcium 46mg (5%) Iron 2mg (11%)

Nutrition Facts

Serving: 8Serving

Amount Per Serving

Calories 339

% Daily Value*

Serving 1serving
Calories 339kcal 17%
Carbohydrates 24g 8%
Protein 21g 42%
Fat 18g 28%
Saturated Fat 5g 25%
Polyunsaturated Fat 4g 24%
Monounsaturated Fat 9g 45%
Trans Fat 0.1g 5%
Cholesterol 72mg 24%
Sodium 780mg 33%
Potassium 793mg 17%
Fiber 3g 12%
Sugar 3g 6%
Vitamin A 289IU 6%
Vitamin C 28mg 31%
Calcium 46mg 5%
Iron 2mg 11%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet.