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.
Nutrition
With any whole chicken I’ve ever made, I separate the skin from the meat, season under the skin, and then slide in some pats of butter and sprigs of rosemary, as well. Sometimes compound butter if I’m not feeling lazy. Boy, when that butter melts, never a dry chicken. And the rosemary keeps the skin from making direct contact with the meat. It does work better in the oven as the skin gets like a potato chip, but it still works in a slow cooker.
I made it last night. I’ll rate it 3/10.
Definitely will not make it again
Sorry to hear you didn’t enjoy it Imee!
Can I cook a chicken like this without the skin? The skin grosses me out. I have a farm fresh chicken that I helped kill and process. We did our best to get the bird clean, but it still has what look like like black hairs all over it. The damn thing looks like it needs a shave. Because of the “hair” cooking it skin on then removing it is not an option. Just way outside of my comfort zone.
Thanks!
Hi Katie, I think you could– but it would lack the natural juiciness of the original (which derives from the slowly rendered fat), and you would need to add some liquid to the cooker like chicken broth or water. Keep an eye on liquid levels throughout cooking to make sure it stays moist.
The big advantage to this is in hot weather you can cook a whole chicken w/o a hot oven —
sounds great for tacos, etc.
I agree. I live in FL & hate turning on the oven in summer. Of course, in winter & fall roasting in oven is my fav- this is a close second.
I thought this was great! It’s certainly not roasted chicken (obviously), but it’s not fair to call it boiled chicken either. It has a much more tender texture than that and tastes more flavorful. I didn’t use all of the herbs and spices, but I did have most on hand. I cooked it on high for 4 hours. I set the chicken in the slowcooker on two onions cut in half. When I went to remove the chicken after 4 hours, it fell apart. I was fine with that since I wasn’t planning on crisping up the skin. If I were to do that in the future though, I’d have to experiment to find a time that left it in tact. I’ve been using the leftovers to add to soup, and it tastes fantastic in that. I imagine it would work great in any recipe where it’s a component, like in burritos, but not front and center. I’d definitely make this again. I used an organic chicken. That probably increased how much I liked this since I find organic chicken way tastier than conventional.
How would go about cooking potatoes and carrots for this. Is there you could suggest putting them in with the chicken?
Yes, and you need to keep an eye on the liquid level, as the potatoes soak it up. Add broth or water as needed.
Your lovely chicken recipe made an unusually cold April night warm and cozy for this family. In a moment of Doubt regarding the amount of juice it would yield I threw in a half cup of red wine and I think it added to the whole thing in a good way if I may say so. I served with basmati rice which is very fragrant and steamed broccoli and lemon. Thank you for sharing this little weeknight lifesaver.
I noticed there are some leaves in the pot in picture 6 – are they bay leaves?
There are no leaves in picture6, only onions. No bay leaves in this recipe, but they wouldn’t hurt if you want to add a couple. 🙂
This recipe is fabulous. When it was done in the crock pot, I simply put it into my
oven on broil for 10 mins (give or take depending on your oven), and it came out a
nice and brown and crispy. Delicious!!
Hello Would this work for 4 pounds of boneless chicken breasts?
I don’t recommend slow cooking for boneless skinless breasts, they will get too dry from the long slow cooking process.
Trying out your whole chicken slow cooker recipe right now cooking smells good!
Enjoy Carol!
I made this in an All Clad slow cooker on high for 4 hours and it fell apart. Any tips, bigger chicken, shorter cooking time? I used a 4 lb. chicken.
Hi Pat! If it got overly tender, you could try checking it after 2.5-3 hours instead. 4 pound is a good size, it has more to do with the cook time. Personally we like it very tender, so the whole falling apart thing doesn’t bother us. If cooking for a shorter period of time, just make sure it’s cooked through by checking internal temperature – it should each 165 degrees F.
Excellent. This recipe is a keeper. In my notes on the recipe I wrote; yummy, quick prep and healthy. What else could any one want? I only used regular paprika which was fine as it allowed the taste of the fresh rosemary come through even more.
This recipe is AMAZING and so easy to prep!!! I didn’t have fresh rosemary so I just poured a tablespoon of dried rosemary inside the chicken and it worked out just fine. The chicken was so juicy and delicious. I’m going to keep a whole chicken.
Can i use potatos under the chicken instead of onions?
Hi, Tori’s assistant Ashley here. Happy to hear you had success with this recipe, however I wouldn’t suggest replacing the onions with potatoes as I’m not sure if it the results would be the same.
I just made this recipe. Chicken is delicious. Thanks for sharing this recipe
Can you roast any vegetables in the slow cooker with the chicken? Or is it best to roast them separately?
Hi Monica, Tori’s assistant Ashley here. Personally I would roast the vegetables separately so that they don’t become too soft.
Can you add the vegetables bout halfway thru so they don’t get so soft ?
Perhaps, but I haven’t tested it so not sure they’ll fully cook… difficult to say without trying it myself.
What if your chicken is bigger than 4lbs? Mine is 6.5 lbs.
Hi Pam– it should be fine, no worries!
I so love how you have set the post out, so informative, especially the nutritional information. This would suit me and my hubby, love the spices. Thanks for the great post. Shelly
Do i add any liquid with the chicken
No, you won’t need it.
Hi just made this smells divine. What should I serve it with
Hi Clare, Tori’s assistant Ashley here. I have made this recipe myself many times and often serve it with roasted sweet potatoes and a nice salad. I think any of your favorite vegetable side dishes would work!