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4.9 from 225 votes

Lemon Garlic Slow Cooker Roast Chicken

Recipe video above. This is a quick and easy yet amazing way to cook a whole chicken in the slow cooker - it's a slow cooker "roast chicken"! It's so moist and juicy inside, like it’s been brined or marinated. VERY forgiving recipe!

Prep Time
10 mins
Cook Time
5 hrs
Total Time
5 hrs 10 mins
Servings: 5 - 6 people
Calories: 478 kcal
Course: Main Course , Dinner
Cuisine: American

Ingredients

  • 2 kg / 4 lb whole chicken , patted dry (Note 1)
Rub (Note 2):
  • 1 tsp dried thyme
  • 1/2 tsp dried parsley
  • 1/2 tsp dried oregano
  • 3/4 tsp salt
  • 1/2 tsp black pepper
  • 2.5 tbsp olive oil (or melted butter), plus extra for drizzling
  • 3 garlic cloves , minced
  • 1 large lemon , all zest + all juice
Lemon Sauce:
  • 1 tbsp cornflour/cornstarch mixed with 1 tbsp water
  • 1 extra lemon , just in case

Instructions

    Cup of Yum
  1. Rub – Mix Rub ingredients. should be fairly thick and sludgy. Adjust with extra oil if too thick.
  2. Loosen Skin: Use upside spoon to loosen skin of chicken (see video). Spoon most of the Rub under the skin, leaving about 1 tbsp mostly oil for the skin. Use hands or spoon on skin to spread the paste - doesn't need to be perfect.
  3. Stuff used lemon inside the chicken. 
  4. Put rack inside slow cooker (Note 3), place chicken on top. Spread with remaining sludge, sprinkle with a pinch of salt and pepper.
  5. Slow cook 5 hours on low or 3 hours on high, or until juices run clear or internal temperature is 75C / 165F using a meat thermometer. (Note 4 for other cook methods)
  6. Brown skin: Remove chicken from slow cooker, drizzle with a bit of extra oil. Grill/broil on medium high for 5 to 10 minutes to brown the skin (~25cm /10" from heat source). Or oven 240C/450F for 10 min.
  7. Spoon over pan juices, then serve with Lemon Sauce! (No need to rest chicken)
Lemon Sauce:
  1. Pour all slow cooker liquid into a saucepan, add cornflour / water mixture. Mix.
  2. Bring to simmer over medium high and cook until liquid thickens to thin syrup (depends how much liquid you have, usually 3 min or so). Adjust salt and pepper to taste, add more lemon if desired (the extra lemon). Pour into jug.

Notes

  • Chicken - Remove giblets or anything else inside. If frozen, thaw completely. See below for cook times for different weights.
  • Herbs - can sub with other dried herbs of choice OR use finely chopped fresh but double quantity. Can also stuff a bunch of herbs inside!
  • Alternative to rack - use big sheet foil, scrunch into “rope” then form ring. Or 4 balls of foil. Aim is to elevate chicken out of liquids that it produces while cooking.
  • Other Cook Methods:Pressure cook - Add ½ cup water and pressure cook for 24 minutes on high (depressure naturally 10 min before releasing valve).Oven - Follow directions in this juicy Roast Chicken recipe.
  • Slow Cooker Cook Times: 1-1.5kg / 2-3 lb - 4.5 hrs on low 1.75-2.25kg / 3.5-4.5 lb - 5 hrs on low2.5kg / 5lb - 6 hrs on lowFor almost "all apart" meat, add 1 to 2 hours onto the cook times. Flesh is still juicy!
  • Pressure Cooker: 6 minutes per 500g/1lb of chicken.
  • Prep Ahead / Storage: Prepare chicken with rub under and on skin. Refrigerate up to 48 hours then slow cook per recipe. Cooked chicken keeps for 3 to 4 days in the fridge.
  • Nutrition per serving assumes all sauce is consumed.

Nutrition Information

Serving 263g Calories 478cal (24%) Protein 35g (70%) Fat 35g (54%) Saturated Fat 9g (45%) Cholesterol 144mg (48%) Sodium 484mg (20%) Potassium 370mg (11%) Vitamin A 270IU (5%) Vitamin C 3.6mg (4%) Calcium 28mg (3%) Iron 2mg (11%)

Nutrition Facts

Serving: 5- 6 people

Amount Per Serving

Calories 478

% Daily Value*

Serving 263g
Calories 478cal 24%
Protein 35g 70%
Fat 35g 54%
Saturated Fat 9g 45%
Cholesterol 144mg 48%
Sodium 484mg 20%
Potassium 370mg 8%
Vitamin A 270IU 5%
Vitamin C 3.6mg 4%
Calcium 28mg 3%
Iron 2mg 11%

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