I’ve tried a ridiculous amount of crock pot recipes, and this is by far the best (and easiest) way to slow cook a whole chicken until it is falling-off-the bone delicious. And if you have a well-stocked spice cabinet you’ll hardly have to buy anything to make this
dish. Once the chicken is done it is flavorful enough to eat by itself, or you can incorporate it into another dish like pasta, chicken salad, or a casserole. We use a very basic crock pot that can purchased on Amazon for about $25.
Another great trick (that I learned from a friend!) is that after you pick off the good chicken meat you can leave the bones in the crock pot to make some stock. I usually start the chicken stock after dinner by filling it to the top with water, and then adding whatever I have on hand…bay leaf, carrot, celery, onion, parsley and/or thyme. Even if I am missing parsley or celery I still make it anyway, and it always turns out just fine. I keep it on low all night, and then in the morning I strain it into 1 or 2 cup Tupperware containers to store in the freezer. It works great and couldn’t be easier!
- 2 teaspoons paprika
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon thyme
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ¼ teaspoon cayenne (red) pepper
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- 1 onion
- 1 large chicken
- Combine the dried spices in a small bowl.
- Loosely chop the onion and place it in the bottom of the slow cooker.
- Remove any giblets from the chicken and then rub the spice mixture all over. You can even put some of the spices inside the cavity and under the skin covering the breasts.
- Put prepared chicken on top of the onions in the slow cooker, cover it, and turn it on to high. There is no need to add any liquid.
- Cook for 4 – 5 hours on high (for a 3 or 4 pound chicken) or until the chicken is falling off the bone. Don’t forget to make your homemade stock with the leftover bones!
Can I use any size of crockpot?
Hi Jolene. Yes, as long as it will fit your chicken. Jill
Can I cook this on low all day?
Hi LouAnn. You could try it. I’m not sure what you mean by all day, but, I would probably increase the cooking time if doing it on low by about 2 hours, maybe 3. Jill
Hi, I just found this recipe a few days ago and tried it yesterday…delicious! To answer about the ‘all day’ thing…I left it on low for about 8-8.5 hours and it turned out great! My chicken was a little over 6 lbs. I’m simmering the rest of the juices and bones with water today to make the stock.
[...] Yes – I have had 2 full days to get organized and back into my routine. I’m just about there. House is fairly clean and freshened up – what a stuffy smell to a house when you come back home from being gone for awhile. I made a whole chicken recipe in the Crock Pot last night that my sister in law tried last week. She loved it and commented on how wonderful it smelled – then one of my daughters tried it and said the same thing – I thought what a way to get the stuffy smell out of the house besides having windows open. I bought a chicken when I went grocery shopping and it was cooking all day and smelled terrific! Yummy too! Here is a photo of it just about done – I threw some carrots in the pot when it was almost done to cook also. A link to the recipe here. [...]
Is this cooked from raw or frozen state? My chickens are frozen, do i need to thaw first? Also, would you suggest about 8 hours on low setting? I’d like to cook it during the day while I’m at work-thank you!
Hi Candice. You should defrost the chicken first. I would add probably about 2-3 hours to the cooking time if you plan to do it on low, but, that’s just a guess as I’ve not done it on low before. Jill
can i add some potatos in with the chiken and when should i put them in and would i need to add anymore water to the chiken do to the potatos
Hi Todd. I have not tried that, but, I don’t see why you couldn’t. I might add them during the last 2 hours, but, that’s just a guess. Jill
I’m not sure if this is helpful or not, but I’ve cooked whole chickens before with potatoes. I prepped the potatotes as if for a baked potato, wrapped them in foil, placed them in the cooker and set the chicken on top.
[...] made this twice (just to be sure!) and have not changed the recipe found at 100daysofrealfood.com one bit. The flavor is excellent and it really does not get easier than this. The only thing I [...]
[...] Chicken In A Crock Pot. . [...]
My husband doesn’t really like chicken. Do you think this can be done with a small turkey or turkey breast?
I cooked this today. I was wondering about doing a turkey too. I think it would work as long as it fits in the crock pot.
Hi Ashley. Yes, my guess is it would. You will also have to adjust the cooking times if you do one that is larger. Jill
Hi Chris. I don’t see why not. Jill
Just cooked this for the first time today. It was delicious. Thanks!
I cook whole chicken like this all the time with several variations.
#1 I stuff the chicken with 3-4 slices of lemon, 1/3 sliced onion and 3-4 cloves of garlic, 2-3 carrots under the chicken- roast all day on low-blend juices and veggies in a blender with some flour for gravy or with out flour for broth to freeze.
#2 Add lemon garlic and onion as above and pour 8 oz of salsa on top of chicken. I use the leftover juice for pasta and ground beef recipes
#3 Add lemon, garlic and onion as above and pour combination of hoisen sauce, teriyaki sauce and maple syrup ( 1/4 cup each) over chicken. I use left over juice as a gravy for stir fry over rice.
I usually freeze my broth and label for usage.
[...] bison, etc) 1 grated yam 1 diced onion 1 handful of kale, chopped 2-4 T homemade ranch seasoning “Best Whole Chicken with a Crock Pot” (and the i can make chicken stock!) with baked carrots Asparagus, Broccoli and Bacon Soup (uses [...]
Found your site. All good questions for the whole chicken. What are the answeres?
[...] ridiculously simple The Best Whole Chicken in a Crock Pot courtesy of Lisa Leake at 100 Days of Real Food saves the day. No carving since the meat [...]
http://www.cooksillustrated.com/tastetests/overview.asp?docid=38414
Look at the link about chickens in the store being water cooled for the most part and what that means about contents of your meat. It matters a great deal which bird you start with-how its’ fed, etc, for many reasons and some of them result in how it tasted when cooked.
[...] passed this recipe on to me and although it’s pretty straight forward I have to post it because it came out SO [...]
[...] I have actually gotten a few really great recipes from, called 100 Days of Real Food. The recipe is here, if you want to try it or just check out the [...]
Terrific!! Tried a 5 1/2 pound grill pack chicken cooked for 6 hours (2 on high, 4 on low). The only problem is that the aroma is so heavenly it’s hard to wait that long. Will use this recipe again.
[...] made a great chicken recipe last night. It is crock pot chicken from 100 Days of Real Food. http://www.100daysofrealfood.com/2011/02/25/recipe-the-best-whole-chicken-in-a-crock-pot/ I have made several crock pot chicken recipes, but I think this was the best one so far. I then [...]
Right now I cooking split chicken breast instead of the whole chicken I let you all know how it turns out.
Once i want to remove the chicken, how do I drain it?
Hi Frannie. I just pull the whole chicken out and the liquid remains in the crock pot. Then I let it rest a little bit on the cutting board before I cut it. Hope you enjoy it. Jill
Wondering whether or not to use ground thyme or dried thyme leaves??
Hi Angela. I would probably say something closer to a ground thyme. I usually just cut mine to a fairly fine consistency and that seems to work great. Jill
I am making this now, it looks and smells fantastic! I am just wondering how to serve it. I am going to try to lift it out of the crock pot and put it on a platter, I just hope it doesn’t fall apart! How do you serve yours?
Hi Rebecca. Yes, I just put a serving fork in the cavity and pull it out onto the cutting board. Hope you enjoyed it. Jill
I just made this on the weekend. It turned out really good. It didn’t fall apart and there was juice that I turned into gravy. Kids loved this chicken. I will definitely will be making it again. I’m going to try the chicken stock in the slow cooker next.
[...] Here is a visual of what is cooking in my crock-pot at this very minute, courtesy of 100 Days of Real Food: [...]
I would like to try this whole chicken thingy but, where could a guy find an oval grill to put in the bottom so the bird isn’t bathing in the shmalts(fat), I’ve found a round one but my crockpot is oval.
Hi L.D. I’m not sure where you might be able to get that. Maybe you can do an internet search for one, or maybe Amazon might have one. Good luck. Jill