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.
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!
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The Best Whole Chicken in a Crock Pot
Ingredients
- 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
Directions
- 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 (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!
Oh the possibilities with this recipe! Stock for soup or rice, leftover chicken for tacos, yum! Question, though… Could I also do this on the low setting for 8 -10 hours or would that completely wreck the chicken? Some crockpot recipes can go either way, some only one way or the other. Thanks!
Yes, Edee….I have made this twice and both times cooked it all day while at work…about 11 hours total, on low. I was worried it would be dry but it was awesome both times! My young kids loved it and my opinionated husband raved about it and there was plenty left over so he used it for sandwiches for a couple days. Very very tender and tasty and super easy! I smooshed a 4-5 lb chicken in my 4qt crock and it did well….just make sure the lid is on good. I do not put the onion in since hubby will not eat them, but that’s the only thing I changed…I imagine it would be even more flavorful with onion. I may have been out of one of the spices so I added more of the others I think. Took about 6 mins to prepare before I went to work. It’s also good if you put the rub on the chicken the night before, put the chicken in a huge ziploc bag (unfortunately did not fit into the gallon bags…found out the hard way, so I saran-wrapped the heck out of the bird instead
) so all you have to do in the morning is drop it into your crock. I bet it makes great stock, though I’m too much of a novice to have tried yet. Awesome recipe….so easy, so idiot-proof (I’m a terrible cook). I am now incorporating it into our meals weekly. Especially since the cost per pound for a whole chicken is so much less than buying boneless. Good luck!
Thanks for sharing that with us! Also, you could put the rub on the chicken in the crock pot the night before…store the whole crock pot container (minus the electrical part) with the chicken inside it in your fridge then all you have to do is start it before work. Couldn’t be easier!
I have not tried it on low for longer, but I bet it would work!
[...] small red potatoes, approx 12 2T EVOO 1 large leek, chopped 2 cups chicken broth (check out this recipe for homemade broth) 3T flour (preferably unbleached white whole wheat) 2 cups skim milk 1/2 cup [...]
trying to find/see the recipe for homemade broth as I made the chicken recipe tonight and would like to make the broth. Don’t see it anywhere??
It is in the notes at the top (prior to the chicken recipe).
[...] I also added about 1/4 cup of white wine to the bottom of the crockpot with cut up onion chunks. Here is the full recipe with rub etc….. this is the where the chicken came from on [...]
do any adjustments need to be made if the chicken is pasture raised and therefore leaner?
No….that’s what we use with this recipe.
I don’t have an onion this time around, do you think covering the bottom of the crock pot with carrots will be ok?
Yes, that would be fine. They will be too mushy to eat by the end though.
Hi all!!! I tried this recipe but I switched out some of the spices because I didnt have them – here’s my additions
1 TSP Italian Herb
1 TSP Steak Spice
1 TSP Canvender’s Greek Seasonings
And I still used the Garlic, Cayenne, Salt & Pepper
The chicken was so moist and delicious! My husband is not a chicken fan & he loved this – in fact he wants me to use this recipe on a weekly basis! We have a family of 5, so the healthy eating can get extremely expensive – I found my chicken at the local market 4.5 lbs & it was only $3.11!!! Thank you so much for all of your great ideas!!!
[...] One of which is “The Best Whole Chicken in a Crock pot”: [...]
[...] got the idea and recipe from 100 Days of Real Food. This is actually a continuation from my previous post, where I discussed more about this great [...]
Great idea on the stock!
Sorry – my husband did this to my chicken this morning. My house has stunk all day long and the chicken continues to stink while having nothing more than mere bland flavor to it . . .
This is a great idea, and chicken looks delicious, but I don’t have a crockpot, any ideas for an alternative form of baking it?
You could roast it in the oven.
I usually buy about 2 pound chicken, give or take a quarter of a pound, depending on what the store has that day. Will cooking for the amount of time listed in the recipe cause a smaller bird like this to be more tender or dry out?
Thanks for your great site!
Amber
I would cook it for less time if you are using a smaller chicken (maybe 3 or 4 hours on high)…check it after 3 hours.
[...] Breakfast-Green smoothies Lunch-Talapia and salad Dinner-Whole chicken cooked in a crock pot,mashed sweet potatoes and green [...]
Just did this tonight to make chicken tacos. It was so good and put my dust collecting crock pot to use, and I had every thing on hand before I stumbled on your page. I threw it in before class, and it was ready to make dinner tonight. I’ll have to check out the rest of your blog.
Whoops put my link in wrong.. there it is.
Just tried the crock pot chicken recipe above today. I cooked for 8 hours on low and felt like my chicken was a little dry. I put carrots, celery and onion in the bottom and added 1 C water but still wasn’t falling off bone and a bit dry. Did I have too much stuff in bottom of crock? Any ideas/advice?
What size was your chicken?
This exact recipe is in my crock-pot now! Can’t wait to try it and report back. Thanks!
I followed this recipe last weekend with the following exceptions: I minced some garlic cloves, and cut back on the onion and garlic powder since I had fresh onion and garlic.
I, too, doubled the recipe for my 4lb chicken. In fact, after pulling the chicken, I strained the little bit of stock the chicken made, put the pulled chicken and stock back in the crock pot, and added a third dose of those spices (most of the flavor was in the skin, which we do not eat). This was the perfect amount of flavor for me, and my wife and toddler who can’t do too many spices. I used this chicken for soft tacos with cilantro lime rice and guacamole, and the paprika-based chicken complemented the Mexican dish very well (I was afraid the tastes would clash).
I then took all the bone, fat, skin, etc. and added water to brew a nice stock for later
.
I am repeating my variation of this recipe today, except I’m substituting ground cumin for the paprika. I’m curious to see how this compares to the paprika based recipe.
Thank you very much for sharing this amazing recipe!
Hi, I have made this recipe twice now. I love it! It is super easy, the house smells amazing, and the husband and kids love it. Thank you so much for sharing. So many wonderful ideas.
I have made this several times now exactly as written. It is so simple and so delicious! I always make stock out of the carcass which also tastes fantastic. Thanks for this great recipe!
Made this for the first time on Monday and then made the stock (first time making a whole chicken and first time making stock). I cooked it on low for 8 hours. The chicken fell off the bone. The whole family gobbled it up. I haven’t tried the stock yet, will be making a Spinach, Chicken, and Lentil soup tomorrow night with it. Can’t wait to see how it turned out! Thanks for continuing to provide us with easy, family friendly meals. I get 99% of my recipes from your site!
Love this recipe! So cheap and always good! It gumbo season here on Louisiana, which can be a long process but not if I use this recipe! I get all the chicken I need and stock with almost no effort! Thanks so much for sharing!
[...] Recipe modified from: http://www.100daysofrealfood.com/2011/02/25/recipe-the-best-whole-chicken-in-a-crock-pot/ [...]
Valuable information. Lucky me I found your web site accidentally, and I am stunned why this accident didn’t came about earlier! I bookmarked it.
just how long on low for my 6lbs chicken? I am in 3.5Qt crockery cooker. I guess we could call this an older crockpot !!! I do need to get bigger ones, crockpot that is
I would say at least 7-8 hours, just a guess. I’ve cooked a 5 lb chicken in a 4 qt crock for 11 hours and it never dried out; very tender. But I’m not sure when it reached proper temp. If you will be home while its cooking, I would check the temp at 7 hours. Otherwise, if you’ll be gone all day, it should definitely be done at the 9-10 hour mark.
Probably close to 8 hours, but you could check it sooner than that to be sure.
This recipe is amazing!! Made it for the first time last night with 3 large chicken legs. The meat was falling off the bones and so moist and good! My husband and I loved it! Will be making again soon!
7 hours may have been bit long!! it started falling off bone as I s trying to get it out of the pot. Required absolutely no effort taking the meat off the bone.
If I put two 3 lb. chickens in my large crock pot, how long should I allow (I won’t be at home to watch them)?
Hmmm…sounds like you have a big crock pot! I would probably check it after 6 or 7 hours, but I am not sure exactly how long two chickens would take together. Mine can only fit one.
I’m confused…there is no liquid to begin with when you put the chicken in the crockpot?
Yes, that is correct…no added liquid before cooking the chicken.
When you make the stock with the bones- do you use the drippings from the chicken that are already in the slow cooker, or do you start with a clean slow cooker?
Yes, I leave everything in the slow cooker including the juices before making the stock. The only thing I take out is the meat.
I love this recipe, but I never have good luck with it in the slow cooker. But, we LOVE the spice rub. So, I think I figured it out. Over the weekend I roasted a chicken without any salt or pepper. I made yummy stock with the bones and tonight we are going to have chicken tacos using the rub as the taco seasoning. I’m very excited! I already have the chicken “marinating” and I think I’m going to bake it for a few minutes or saute it. I can’t wait! I’ve been looking to get away from packet taco seasoning!
[...] while back, I came upon this recipe that tells how to cook a whole chicken in a crock pot. I thought it sounded good since I had heard that it was the cheapest way to buy chicken. And I [...]
I don’t know what I am doing wrong, but I’ve made the chicken twice and it’s come out a bit dry particularly the white meat. Any suggestions on how to avoid that again?
Did you follow the directions exactly (including the size chicken you used)?
Hi, I am enjoying this website since I found it and have been on trying new recipes pretty much daily! I was really excited to try this and bought a 3.75 lb Organic chicken from the grocery store. I left it on high for about 4.5 hours and it was falling off the bone. But it stayed in a little longer once because I was preparing the potatoes and salad. It came out pretty dry and mushy once we finally started eating it. Was that due to leaving it in too long and perhaps overcooking it? I can’t figure out what went wrong. I am using the leftovers for enchiladas for tomorrow anyway and making stock in the crockpot as we speak. Thanks for all the great recipes and ideas, by the way!
It sounds like it did get overcooked. Once the chicken is “done” I would turn the Crock Pot off. Hope it still worked for you in enchiladas!
Made this last night for dinner for the second time – delicious! This time, I left out the cayenne and cut a lemon in quarters and put inside chicken. Is the point of the onions on the bottom of the crock to keep the chicken up a bit out of the liquid it makes? I think I need more onion on the bottom next time
No, it’s okay if the chicken is in the liquid…but that’s personal preference if you want to keep it up higher.
[...] I have been making my own chicken broth for a while now. Ever since I discovered how easy it can be (originally from 100 Days of Real Food). [...]
Found you on a friend’s board on Pinterest. My favorite way to cook. Always ready for new recipes. Thanks!
How can I incorporate carrots into the crock pot and make sure they are not mushy?
I would add them towards the end…maybe when there’s only an hour or two left depending on how “done” you like them.
I want to cook 10 lbs of chicken leg quarters in my crockpot with rice to make a big pot of chicken and rice for the Superbowl tomorrow. Is this too much chicken to cook in the crockpot at one time? Please help. I am new to cooking things in my crockpot. Thanks!
It sounds like I am too late…I hope it worked out!
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[...] Recipe Thursday: Whole Crockpot Chicken, [...]
This doesn’t come out greasy?? I put pork ribs in the crock pot and covered with BBq sauce and they came out so greasy. I have that problem alot with thing in the crock pot
It’s a little bit greasy, but that’s just a natural part of cooking cuts of meat like that.
[...] Saturday: Crockpot Whole Chicken [...]
I’m not sure how I stumbled on your web site, but want to say this recipe was awesome. It’s like a whole new world opened up. I made the chicken, it was good for 2 meals, and then left the carcass in and made stock. The next day I put the veggies and barley in, and we had soup. Thank you so much!
Love, love, love this recipe! Found your site via Pinterest! Made this chicken this morning…cooked on low for 5 hours (my slow cooker gets really hot) and it fell off the bone as I was taking it out! Making broth now! Thank you for sharing!!
[...] the morning, I cook the chicken in my crock pot with the following recipe BUT I add 1 cup of water to the crockpot while the chicken is [...]
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