Slow Cooked Chicken - Amazingly tender Fall off the bone Slow Cooked Chicken with a delicious blend of seasoning!!
Whole Chicken in the Crockpot
Have you ever cooked a whole chicken in your slow cooker? No? then you really need to try it. I won't cook my chicken any other way now.
I know, I know, I can hear you say "but what about the crispy skin?" - well if you want to avoid the temptation of eating all the skin, then this is just the perfect way to cook a whole chicken.
The meat is incredibly tender when cooked this way and literally falls off the bone as you lift it out of the slow cooker.
If however, you have other family members that just can't resist the skin. Once the chicken is cooked, add it to a pan and place under the broil/grill for a few mins to crisp up that skin.
Seasoning Blend for Slow Cooker Chicken
I like to keep the seasoning pretty simple and my favourite blend is just Paprika (not smoked varieties), salt and Thyme (fresh is best but dry is perfectly okay too.)
Just mix together the seasoning in the bowl and rub it all into the chicken until it is well coated. Nice and simple and easy.
If you want some more flavour, don't be scared to experiment with different spice mixes. There really is no right and wrong. The only really important ingredient is, of course, that sea salt.
How do you cook a Whole Chicken in the Slow Cooker
That's actually a pretty valued question. You have added your seasoning mix, and now you are ready to cook it.
But which way round should you add the chicken to the slow cooker?
Whole chickens should always go into the slow cooker breast side down. Why? Simple - as it cooks all the juices go to the bottom of the slow cooker and keep the chicken breasts moist. Perfect!!
Which Slow Cooker is Best?
Pretty much any slow cooker will do the perfect job of cooking your whole chicken. Although some older models tended to be more circular in shape and may have difficulty fitting a whole chicken.
The newer oval-shaped slow cookers are the best. However if you own one of the all bells and whistles Electric Pressure Cookers like the Instant Pot, those come with a slow cooker function too. So you really don't need both.
However if you are looking for a new slow cooker - I recommend picking one that has a removable bowl that is safe to use on the stove, as it is perfect for searing ingredients beforehand and saves you have to wash up separate pans. This Andrew James Slow Cooker has a stove safe removable bowl. There are lots of other brands though too, so do your research and check reviews.
When the slow cooker does that little beep to let you know it is done, your house will be filled with an aroma of deliciousness and as you lift it out of the slow cooker, the meat literally falls off the bone.
Gravy
No roast chicken-style meat is complete without a delicious gravy to drizzle all over it and this Gravy is my families favorite.
It has the perfect flavours and is great for doubling or tripling up ingredients into a larger batch for freezing. You can guarantee I will always have a tub of this on hand in my freezer if I am putting a whole chicken in the slow cooker and if I don't, a batch of the gravy just has to be put on the go.
Perfect Sides for Slow Cooker Whole Chicken
Need some side suggestions to accompany your slow cooker chicken? Check out these:
- Yorkshire Puddings
- Roast Potatoes
- Maple Glazed Carrots
- Quinoa Stuffing
- Roasted Parsnips, Carrots and Onion
- Sauted Shredded Garlic Brussel Sprouts
or head on over to my Full Recipe Index with over 850 delicious Slimming Eats and Weight Watchers recipes all fully searchable by meal type, ingredients, value and smart points etc
The leftovers of the chicken are great for adding in salads, pasta, sandwiches etc. Don't go buying those little processed packets of cooked dried out chicken, this is the bomb, seriously!
If you save the carcass once you shred off all the meat, you can make my delicious Chicken Noodle Soup - my kids favorite soup of all time.
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Recipe Card
Slow Cooked Chicken (Crockpot)
Slow Cooked Chicken - Amazingly tender Fall off the bone Slow Cooked Chicken with a delicious blend of seasoning!!
Ingredients
- 1 whole chicken (approx 4lb/1.8kg)
- 2 teaspoons of fine sea salt
- 1 tbs of fresh thyme or 2 teaspoon of dried
- 2 teaspoons of paprika
- ½ teaspoon of black pepper
- 3 cloves of garlic, crushed
- juice of a lemon
Instructions
- In a bowl mix together paprika, crushed garlic, salt, black pepper and thyme
- Remove giblets if there are any and pat chicken dry.
- Place on a board and rub the seasoning mix all over the chicken (top and bottom)
- Place the chicken in the slow cooker breast side down (this is important, as it keeps the chicken breasts nice and tender)
- Squeeze the juice of a lemon all over the top.
- Set the slow cooker to low for 6 hours
- Once chicken is cooked, allow to cool slightly and then carefully remove from the slow cooker. Be careful as the meat is so moist, it literally falls apart.
- Then you can remove any skin and visible fat and shred the remaining chicken meat onto a large plate.
- If the rest of your family want to eat the skin, place on a tray and place the whole chicken (with skin) under the broil/grill for until crisp.
- Serve with choice of sides and enjoy!!
Notes
Please see below for full nutritional info and additional details about recipe:
- Calories - scroll down to nutritional info box
- WW Points and other Slimming or Weight Loss programs - due to plans regularly changing and updating, we recommend calculating with the official tools you get as a member to those plans to ensure accuracy of values.
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TOMORAL Measuring Cups and Spoons -
Alessi 1110308X2 La Bella Tavola Large Porcelain Serving or Antipasti Platter, 36 cm, Off-White, Set of 2 | Dishwasher Safe | For Domestic & Commercial Use -
Andrew James Slow Cooker Sizzle to Simmer | Sear and Stew 3.5L Digital Slow Cooker | Digital Display & Timer | Tempered Glass Lid & Removable Bowl | Silver
Nutrition Information
Serving Size 1Amount Per Serving Calories 272Total Fat 6.6gSaturated Fat 1.6gCholesterol 155mgSodium 954.9mgCarbohydrates 2gFiber 0.5.gSugar 0.3gProtein 48.8g
Martha McKinnon says
This looks so easy and tasty. I've bookmarked it to try soon. I've challenged myself to use my crockpot for an entire year to make Weight Watchers friendly recipes like this. Thanks so much for the inspiration!
Tracey Jackson says
No water required?
Shevy (Slimming Eats) says
Hi Tracy,
No you don't add any water. Meat releases its own juices when cooking. So recipe is as instructed 🙂
Caz says
I made this chicken per recipe . It's so easy and very tasty !
Kathy says
Do you remove the skin? I do SW and they recommend that you remove before cooking it as a lot of the fat is just under the skin.
Thank you. It looks lovely. Thank you for your wonderful recipes. I have made so many of them.
Shevy (Slimming Eats) says
Hi Kathy, once cooked you can remove the skin and it will be free, the same as if buying a cooked chicken 🙂 - so happy to hear you are enjoying the recipes. Good luck
Nadine says
Love the easiness of this recipe, literally bung it in, turn it on and let it do it's thing. Hate it when you cook chicken and it comes out dry, this is most definitely NOT like that. This method of cooking keeps the bird moist. And it has a lot of flavour. I remove the skin before eating because I am on slimming world and can't eat it. When Siobhan says be careful it falls apart, she isn't kidding the bird literally just collapses, just have to have a bit of patience with getting all the meat. I served it with all the things i'd usually have with my roast dinner, I have also served it with chips and salad - very versatile you could use the leftover meat (if you have any) for lots of other things!
Shevy (Slimming Eats) says
Hi Nadine, it's the only way I cook a whole chicken now, okay you may not get the crispy skin of a roast chicken, but then it stops all temptation to want to eat that part anyway, so it's a win win. Thank you so much for taking the time to come back and comment. Really appreciated
Deb says
Do u cook on high or low setting
Shevy (Slimming Eats) says
Hi there it tells you in the recipe box. It's cooked on low for 6 hours, but could be done on high too.
MarleneRevie says
I cooked my chicken in the slow-cooker again today, it is truly the most gorgeous way ever to cook a whole chicken. Wow, it is gorgeous hot or cold, shredded or not. Once skin is removed I treat is like any other chicken so hot for a sort of roast dinner, shredded for various stir-fry/salads. I even pop the juices into the fridge so the fat sets and I am left with a fabulous chicken stock for another recipe,
Louisa says
Hi Siobhan,
Thank you so much for this recipe - made it yesterday for the first time (along with your Best Ever Syn Free Roast Potatoes, your 1 Syn Yorkshire Puddings, Best Syn Free Gravy and piles of fresh veg) DELISH. Thank you so much. I've saved the carcass from the chicken to do your recommended chicken noodle soup today, in a separate pot I also saved the juices from the slow cooker. Could I add these or as some of it is fat from the chicken, presumably this would mean the noodle soup was no longer syn free in SW terms? Thanks so much for your help and for all of your recipes - your website is a firm favourite in our house!
Siobhan (Slimming Eats) says
you can use the juices from the chicken, just make sure you either use a fat separator jug to remove the fat, or you can chill so the fat sets on top and the scoop it off.