Lisa Leake’s Slow Cooker Chicken Recipe from the
100 Days of Real Food Cookbook
As my regular readers know, I strive to cook natural, nutritious foods for my family. The vast majority of my recipes are “from scratch” with ingredients my great grandmother would recognize (not sure if she was familiar with Middle Eastern za’atar, but that’s a subject for another blog…). I’m blessed that I am able to spend a great deal of time in the kitchen, but not everybody has that luxury. For the average American family cutting out processed foods can be quite difficult, especially with the time restraints of a 40-hour work week, school and extra curricular commitments, etc. My friend Lisa Leake, the powerhouse blogger behind the site 100 Days of Real Food, challenged herself to live unprocessed for… you guessed it… 100 days! Her new cookbook,100 Days of Real Food: How We Did It, What We Learned and 100 Easy, Wholesome Recipes Your Family Will Love, is the result of her journey. The book is perfect for anyone hoping to leave processed foods behind. Between tips on how to get your family involved, how to shop at farmer’s markets, meal plans, and how to determine what unprocessed really means, Lisa covers it all.
I enjoyed Lisa’s book and learned a lot from it. I especially love her tips for eating out, how to avoid ordering unhealthy foods when dining out, travel snacks, etc. Her simple recipe for cooking a whole chicken in the slow cooker was a revelation. My family loves chicken and slow cooker recipes are always welcome– I love the ease of “set it and forget it.” This recipe is almost completely hands off. Just spice rub the chicken, place it over a bed of onions in the slow cooker, and by the time dinner rolls around your main course is already taken care of. I changed things up from the original recipe ever so slightly, adding some smoked paprika and stuffing the chicken with garlic cloves, lemon wedges and some fresh rosemary I had on hand. I also added a couple of bay leaves to the slow cooker. It’s a really flexible method, you can add fresh herbs and your favorite spices to enhance the flavor of the chicken. The key is not adding liquid to the cooker– as the chicken cooks the fat renders, creating its own cooking liquid. I served this chicken with my Spicy Roasted Sweet Potatoes for a truly warm and comforting meal, perfect for serving on a cold fall night. This cooking method is definitely going into our regular rotation. Enjoy!
And don’t forget to check out the 100 Days of Real Food cookbook. It makes a terrific holiday gift for families who want to start the path to an unprocessed life.
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Slow Cooker Whole Chicken
Ingredients
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1 whole onion peeled and cut into large pieces
- 2 sprigs fresh rosemary
- 2 lemon wedges
- 4 cloves garlic
- l large whole chicken about 4 pounds
NOTES
Instructions
- In a small bowl, combine the paprika, smoked paprika, salt, onion powder, dried thyme, garlic powder, cayenne and black pepper. Set aside.
- Place the onion pieces in the bottom of your slow cooker.
- Remove any giblets from the chicken and stuff it with rosemary, garlic and lemon wedges (or whatever herbs and aromatics you like).
- Rub the outside of the chicken with the spice mixture. If you like you can also rub some of the spices on the inside of the cavity and beneath the skin covering the breasts.
- Place the spice rubbed chicken, breast side down, on top of the onion pieces and cover the slow cooker. You won't need to add any extra liquid.
- Cook on high for 4 hours or on low for 7 hours, or until the chicken is tender and falling off the bone.
- Remove from the slow cooker and serve.
Angie says
Delicious fall off the bone and melt in your mouth roast chicken. The house smelled so good as this was cooking. This is my new favorite recipe. Thank you, Tori!
jayne williams says
Does it crisp up or not
Tori Avey says
No Jayne, this recipe does not give you crispy skin.
Jack says
I’ve read that you can put it under the boiler in the oven for a few minutes and that will crips up the skin 🙂
ela dem says
Can i cook this in the oven instead of a slow cooker as i dont own a slow cooker? :/
Ashley at ToriAvey.com says
Hi Ela, Tori’s assistant Ashley here. I’m not sure how to successfully adapt this recipe for the oven, but if you’re interested in an oven roasted chicken recipe, I recommend one of these:
https://toriavey.com/toris-kitchen/honey-herb-roasted-chicken/
https://toriavey.com/toris-kitchen/farahs-roast-chicken/
Zimmerman says
is this spicy at all? I see alot of hot spices I would love but I’m deciding if I wanna try this, but my 3 little girls don’t do spicy well! just wanna double check thanks
Ashley at ToriAvey.com says
Hi, Tori’s assistant Ashley here. This recipe is slightly spicy, but one great thing about is that you can really use whatever spices you like. This recipe is very adaptable.
Ruth Wales says
Perefect taste, wonderful gravy and so easy. I deducted a star because it looked pale and unappetising. However 15 mins in the oven at 210°C did the trick. Fantastic, thank you.
Olive says
Can I do half chickin in slow-cooker
Lacey says
I have not tried this recipe. i plan to use it tomorrow. i don’t have smoked paprika, springs of rosemary ( i do have died rosemary) or lemons. Any suggestions for substitutes?
Ashley at ToriAvey.com says
Hi Lacey, Tori’s assistant Ashley here. The great thing about this recipe is that it is very easy to adapt. Feel free to use any herbs and spices you like.
Jan Mulquiney says
Simply the best. I chose the 7 hours on low cooking option and finished the last 15 minutes in the oven. It was tender and amazing, served with cauliflower fried rice and steamed purple carrot, sweet potato and kale. I made gravy from the juices adding a teaspoon of organic arrowroot. I chopped up the onions that the chicken was resting on and added them to the cauliflower rice.
An absolute hit in our house and will definitely be cooked again and again! Thank you so much. ????
Glenda says
This was a delicious recipe my whole family loved, even the picky eaters! Thank you for sharing.
Ashley Watson says
I used a lot of the seasoning but had to substitute however it worked a treat. Only just recently getting a slow cooker, I wanted to experiment. Did a lamb stew first and thought I’d try this. The chicken ended up being melt off the bone, it was so juicy rather than having a Bird come out of the oven and being a bit dry. I used the juice both as a gravy but also as a stock for a risotto a few days after.
As my wife is travelling back tomorrow from a long time being away, this will be a nice welcoming warming dinner.
Veronica says
This recipe is so easy and turned out so well! Thank you very much for posting it. This is a new favourite in our house. I didn’t have smoked paprika, so I used chipotle chilli powder instead, and it turned out well. I chose the low for 7 hours option, and it was really tender.
Bruce Hoening says
Tried it and in less than 4 hours the chicken was way over done. It was pretty much more of a mush than meat by then. No texture. The smoked paprika was over powering in the flavor mix. Not a slow cooker fan and this confirmed my conviction. One star at the most.
Cora says
Do you think I could try to re-use the bones after this is finished and try to make bone broth?
Tori Avey says
I think that would be great Cora!
Karen says
I was wondering if I could cook a whole chicken like this, but with the skin removed. I know, sounds silly, but I just have trouble with all of the grease. I have some homemade chicken broth in the freezer I could add for moisture, if that would help. Thank you in advance for any help, Karen.
Tori Avey says
Karen I would worry that it might turn out dry if you do this. Better to cook it with skin then remove skin before serving/eating. That’s how I would do it, anyway. 🙂
Jazmin says
Hello just wanting to no if you have to do veggies with this?? I just want to cook the chicken without veggies would that work?? or could I do carrot broccoli cauliflower under it?? Do I add any water to this at all?? In one of the photos it looks like there is abit of water in it??
honda4fun says
I have put chunks of carrots under spareribs with sauerkraut and they came out excellent. Many chicken recipes don’t call for veggies, so you can do it without. I believe the point of the onions is to have a bed to lay the chicken on so it’s not sitting in it’s own grease. To remedy this, make foil balls and sit the chicken on them. BTW, I haven’t rated this yet as I’m trying it for the first time tomorrow!
Alicia says
Four hours on high for a 4.5 pound chicken worked beautifully. Thanks for this recipe with spice blend!
Carrie Copley Manzo says
Can i use potatos under the chicken instead of onions?
Sgyuris says
I don’t think that it’ll work out. Potatoes will be too mushy because of the chicken weight on top plus the time in the slow cooker.
Kellie Smith says
Make sure you put something under the chicken so the bottom doesn’t stick to the slow cooker and burn. I used balled up aluminum foil (4 balls) to keep this from happening. At first I tried onions, didn’t work very well. My friend used thick potato’s, they burned, so she and I both tried foil and it worked much better.
Mari says
I only have smoked paprika. Will the smoky taste overpower the chicken if I use 2 tsp of smoked paprika?
Tori Avey says
Mari, I think it would be lovely but I would suggest using 1 tsp instead of 2.
Mari says
Just went in the crockpot! Thanks!!
Tori Avey says
Enjoy! 🙂
Lauren says
So excited to taste this!!
Makes cooking for my partner so much easier!!
Always used a slow cooker to cook my whole chicken. Must easier and less time consuming!
Yesmin says
I always cook chicken or beef on a slow cooker but I always add some water to it. But is it safe to roast a chicken without water?
Just wondering
Tori Avey says
The recipe works great as written, Yesmin. 🙂 Give it a try!
Barbara says
All these comments are really helpful information. Thank you all.