Easy Whole Chicken in a Crock Pot
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Years ago – I made a whole chicken in a crock pot and that recipe is still my go-to for the easiest and most delicious whole chicken recipe you can find! I make it all the time and then use the shredded chicken for tons of recipes!
You also can’t get any simpler than this whole chicken in a slow cooker recipe – it’s literally chicken and spices and that’s it!
What spices should you use when roasting a chicken?
I think you can use whatever spices you like for this whole chicken in a crock pot recipe. But the spices I use are salt, paprika, cayenne, onion powder, thyme, white pepper, garlic powder and black pepper. If there’s a spice you love – throw it in! If there’s a spice in the mix you hate – take it out! It’s flexible.
You’re not going to eat the skin on this recipe – it’s just a coating to add flavor – but trust me – these spices seep in! With the cayenne – it had a tiny kick to it! Yum!
Can you cook a whole chicken in a crock pot?
Well yeah! It’s so easy! You just clean up your chicken, rub it with spices and throw it in the crock pot. I have a tiny crock pot because I hate when you have food to eat for a month! And this big ol’ bird just BARELY fit! That’s why I took the onion and stuffed it inside the bird!
How long do you cook a whole chicken in a crock pot?
Think of Frozen and LET IT GO! LET IT GO! It needs a minimum four hours but can go up to 6-8 hours on low. If you’ve only got 4 hours, I would cook it on high.
The one thing I will say – don’t expect to remove this chicken in one piece from the crock pot. It will and does FALL APART the second you touch it! So what I do is grab a bowl and just pull it apart right there in the pot. I have a bag for the bones/skin to discard and a bag or bowl for the meat.
What can you make with roasted chicken?
There’s so many things you can make!!!! I love having this in the fridge because I can just grab a chunk and go – I grabbed some alfredo sauce out of the fridge, heated up the sauce and chicken and served it over pasta for a ten minute meal!
You can also make my favorite chicken casserole – it takes a couple cups of this chicken. Throw some in this zero point white chicken chili for a delicious soup! Or throw some in a tortilla and make burritos in the air fryer!
Whole Chicken In A Crock Pot
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 tsp coarse sea salt
- 2 tsp paprika
- 1 tsp cayenne pepper
- 1 tsp onion powder
- 1 tsp thyme
- 1 tsp white pepper
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 1 roasting chicken
- 1 cup onion roughly chopped into large chunks
Instructions
- In a small bowl, combine the spices.2 tsp coarse sea salt, 2 tsp paprika, 1 tsp cayenne pepper, 1 tsp onion powder, 1 tsp thyme, 1 tsp white pepper, 1/2 tsp garlic powder, 1/2 tsp black pepper
- Remove any giblets from chicken and clean chicken.1 roasting chicken
- Rub spice mixture onto the chicken.
- Stuff onion in the chicken.1 cup onion
- Put chicken in crock pot. No liquid is needed, the chicken will make its own juices.
- Cook on low 4-8 hours.
WOW your chicken turned out perfect! I want to try that mac-n-cheese!! I still have chicken in the freezer from the chicken I made in the crockpot. I buy canned chicken a lot to keep on hand as something quick for casseroles and things like that. After making this chicken I realized how stupid that is, and how much more money I am paying for canned chicken. This is so simple that it's an easy way to keep chicken on hand all the time. I am so excited you tried this recipe and liked it.
I would love to try these chicken pot recipes. Thanks for sharing the article.
Awesome recipe !! However there is a way to remove from crockpot in one piece . Line crockpot with heavy duty aluminum foil with enough at both ends to use as handles . Fold ends down so lid will fit . Then unfold to lift out of pot . I also use a small rack underneath foil . Spray foil with cooking spray and punch holes in foil so drippings will seep through . Thanks so much for recipe . A KEEPER !!!
Thanks for the Tip!
What size are you referring to when you say a tiny crockpot? And what size of chicken are you cooking? I find that lots of slow cooker recipes are for a 5 quart or larger and mine is smaller than that. Thanks for your help.
I think mine is a 4 qt and i would say it was about a 5-6 lb chicken