Our recipe for a slow cooker whole chicken is guaranteed to make succulent and tasty chicken with minimal fuss. Dress it up with all the trimmings for your Sunday lunch, or serve with a simple salad for an easy mid-week dinner.
We know, you’re probably thinking the same as us. Can we really call this a slow cooker roast chicken if it’s cooked in the slow cooker and not roasted in the oven?
Truthfully no, but if you’ve read any of our other posts you’ll realise we’re not shy about claiming the Brits are the undisputed world masters of roast dinners. And because we specialise in slow cooking, we’ll extend that to the crockpot too by using it to cook a whole chicken.
Table of Contents
Ingredients
The ingredients list for this recipe is pretty simple, and the steps are short so it’s an easy recipe to put together!
How To Make It
Start by chopping the vegetables and arranging them in the bottom of the pot to form a rack for the chicken to sit on. This will ensure even cooking by making sure that the chicken isn’t touching the bottom of the slow cooker, and that the base of the chicken is also infused with lots of flavour.
Mix together the herbs and spices for the rub, and smother over the chicken with a little oil. Rubbing spices directly onto the chicken will ensure that every mouthful is packed with loads of flavour!
Add the chicken to the slow cooker pot, then pour the stock down the side of the slow cooker, taking care not to wash off the spice mix from the top of the chicken. The liquid should reach the top of the wing of the chicken.
Then turn on the slow cooker, and wait!
Once cooked transfer the whole chicken to a pan, and grill for about five minutes to create a delicious and crispy skin. Let’s be honest, soggy chicken skin is not enjoyable to eat or attractive to look at!
Rest under foil for 10 minutes before carving and serving.
Pro Tips
Whether you’re cooking your chicken in the oven or the slow cooker, the key to cooking it well (and avoiding dry tasteless meat!) is in the preparation.
Preparation for this recipe means three things:
- Seasoning. Chicken to a chef is like a blank canvas to an artist – you need to do a bit of work to add some depth of flavour. This recipe has all the ingredients for creating a simple rub which infuses a delicious flavour over the chicken.
- Liquid. Always a talking point when slow cooking. Many recipes tell you to cook big chunks of meat (like a whole chicken) with minimal liquid. We have actually experienced better results by adding a little stock to the pot. The steam generated really adds to that juicy and tender texture when it’s cooked – which is half the point of slow cooking! Ensure that the liquid reaches the top of the chicken wing for extra moist meat.
- Cooking time. We have a number of different slow cookers and there are variances in how hot they cook. Take the listed cooking time as a guide and adjusting accordingly. Use a meat thermometer for the most accurate cooking.
Get all of these aspects right and you are on to a winner!
FAQs
How do I test the chicken is cooked?
The usual methods to check that your slow cooker chicken is cooked through are:
- If the juices run clear from both the leg and breast.
- The breast meat is white, the leg and wing meat is a white/grey colour when cooked.
- Or, the most accurate way is to use a meat thermometer – a great investment if you regularly cook joints of meat. Insert the probe into the section between the leg and the breast, ensuring you’re not touching bone. The temperature should be 75C (165F) when the chicken is cooked through.
What To Serve It With
If you’re after a traditional roast chicken dinner then it’s all the usual vegetables are the perfect accompaniment. Carrots, broccoli, cauliflower, swede, sprouts if Christmas is approaching!
No roast dinner is complete without some sort of potatoes; either roasted or dauphinoise. Also, traditionalists say that Yorkshire puddings should only be servied with beef, but, well…they’re wrong. Yorkshire puddings absolutely are required too!
As an alternative, if you want to turn it into an American style feast then serve with slow cooker mac and cheese and chunky chips!
Can I keep leftovers?
Absolutely! Strip the chicken of the meat and use it for a tasty sandwich or risotto.
You can even put the carcass back into the slow cooker and make some flavourful slow cooker chicken stock for future soups and sauces.
Recipe
For more information, please see more information about Chicken roast slow cooker recipe
Detail: 🔗
