Crockpot Whole Chicken — 🍗🙌🏻😋 The EASIEST way to cook a whole chicken because your slow cooker does all the work for you! The chicken is lightly flavored with lemon, garlic and herbs, and turns out so moist, juicy, and tender! Potatoes cook alongside the chicken to create an effortless built-in side dish. Planned leftover chicken is always great to have on hand and if a recipe calls for shredded rotisserie chicken, use this instead!
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Easy Whole Chicken in a Crockpot Recipe
This Crockpot roast chicken recipe is such an easy and effortless way to prepare a juicy, tender, and flavorful roast chicken. You’ll wonder why you haven’t always been making chicken this way!
This slow cooking method ensures the chicken remains moist while gently infusing it with herbs and spices.
Because I also add potatoes to the slow cooker, you’ve got a totally ready-made dinner complete with protein + side, all thanks to your slow cooker. With no additional work for you!
Best of all, this Crockpot whole chicken recipe requires extremely minimal prep and your slow cooker does all the work for you. The hardest part will be smelling the luscious aromas of lemon, garlic, onions, and rosemary wafting through your house as you’re waiting for it to be ready.
If you’re short on time but like the sound of making a whole chicken, check out my Sheet Pan Whole Roasted Chicken and Potatoes recipe which is ready in 1 hour.
And if you want to try your hand at a slow cooker turkey recipe for Thanksgiving and the holiday season, my Slow Cooker Turkey Breast is a fan favorite and frees up valuable oven space!
Ingredients for Crockpot Whole Chicken
- Whole chicken
- Olive oil
- Salt
- Black pepper
- Paprika
- Garlic powder
- Onion powder
- Dried basil
- Dried rosemary
- Onions – white onion or yellow onion
- Lemons
- Garlic cloves
- Fresh rosemary sprigs
- Potatoes – I recommend baby red potatoes or baby Yukon gold potatoes which are both waxy potatoes which will keep their shape during a very long cooking process (as opposed to more starchy Russet potatoes or ‘baking potatoes’ which will be more prone to disintegrating)
- Chicken broth
Note: Scroll down to the recipe card section of the post for the ingredients with amounts included and for more complete directions.
How To Cook a Whole Chicken in a Crockpot
This is an overview of this simple recipe with just about 10 minutes of prep time. Consult the recipe card for more details.
- Pat your chicken dry (remove any giblets or anything that was in the cavity) and then coat it with olive oil.
- Dry Rub for Exterior: In a small bowl mix together salt, pepper, paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, dried basil, dried rosemary, stir, and coat the entire exterior of the chicken with this dry rub mixture.
- Cavity: To the cavity of the chicken, add half of each of the quartered onion, lemons, smashed garlic cloves, and rosemary.
- Bottom of Slow Cooker: Add the remaining amounts of onions, lemons, garlic, and rosemary. Plus add all the potatoes and evenly pour the broth over. These ingredients create a nice base on which to rest the chicken.
- Add the chicken, cover, and cook on high OR low heat (see the FAQs for more info).
- Crispy Skin (optional): If you want crispy, rotisserie chicken style chicken, you can easily crisp it up in just 3-5 minutes under your oven’s broiler. (See the FAQs about using extreme caution and keeping a watchful eye so it doesn’t burn!)
- Rest the chicken for at least 10 minutes before slicing and serving your slow cooker whole chicken.
What to Serve With Crockpot Chicken
Storage
In the Refrigerator: This recipe will keep airtight in the fridge for up to 5 days.
In the Freezer: This recipe will keep airtight in the freezer for up to 3 months.
To Reheat: I use my microwave for quickness and ease and reheat my leftovers for about 30 seconds on high, or as needed.
Ways to Use Leftover Roast Chicken
The possibilities are endless with how you want to use your leftover whole chicken! In soups, chili, on sandwiches, sliders, or on top of a chicken salad are always great calls because it’s fall off the bone tender.
Recipe FAQs
It will depend on the chicken and your slow cooker’s heat output as they can vary tremendously in their potency, but in general, cook time is 3-4 hours on high; OR 6-7 hours on low heat.
From a food safety perspective, if you do plan to cook on low heat (overall), you should cook on high for 1 hour (and then you can switch over to low) so that the chicken isn’t held for too long/too raw in your slow cooker. That 1 hour blast of high heat cooking is what’s necessary to combat against potential issues.
Always make sure that the chicken is cooked through to 160-165F as measured by a digital food thermometer. You must then rest the chicken for at least 10 minutes especially if you cooked it to only 160 degrees F.
I have a lengthy discussion in my Sheet Pan Whole Roasted Chicken post about internal cooking temps, how the temperature rises even out of the oven or slow cooker, so it’s ok to pull it a bit early BUT you then must give a bit a time for the temp to rise during the resting period.
Yes, this is obligatory! Not only does this ensure that the internal temp rises a bit to 165F (if you pulled it out about in the ~160F internal temperature range), but resting allows the natural juices in the chicken to redistribute so it stays moist and juicy. Cutting into the chicken too early will cause the natural juices to run out on your cutting board (translation: dry, not as juicy chicken, undesirable!)
Most whole chickens are about 4-5 pounds each and will fit nicely in a 6-quart slow cooker. You can also use a 7-quart, and it’s not necessary to use anything larger. However, I do NOT recommend using 4-5 quart slow cookers which tend to be the round ones because they’re too cramped for the chicken to cook through properly.
Yes of course – you should customize the seasoning blend to your taste. For example, use different herbs like sage, oregano, fresh thyme, or other fresh herbs to stuff inside the cavity rather than rosemary. Or add a pinch of cayenne pepper for heat to the rub mixture.
Rather than using a mixture of salt, pepper, garlic and onion powders, and paprika which comprise the rub for the exterior of the chicken, you can use poultry seasoning. It’s often a mixture of the aforementioned ingredients and should work fine as long as you use it quite generously. At least 3-4+ teaspoons, if not more. Because my homemade dry rub uses 8 teaspoons of ingredients. You want to make sure to season properly for optimal flavor of the finished recipe!
Yes, you can add additional veggies like carrots, celery, butternut squash or another hearty squash, fennel, or rutabaga to the bottom of the slow cooker for more flavor and a built-in vegetable side dish. Tip – You want a hearty (hard) root vegetable that can stand up to hours and hours of cooking. This is not a dish for delicate asparagus or zucchini as they will turn to mush!
It’s optional, but for crispy skin you’ll need to transfer the cooked chicken to a baking sheet and place it under the broiler for 3-5 minutes, or until the skin is golden brown and crispy.
However, watch it VERY closely to prevent burning! Broilers are 500F+ degrees and even 30 seconds too long can cause you perfectly cooked chicken to burn. It would be an ultimate shame if that happened so make sure to watch it extremely carefully, stand in front of your oven without being distracted so you can remove it at the perfect second in time!
The liquid left in the slow cooker is full of flavor and can be used as a base for gravy (or as a flavorful broth for soups).
To make gravy from the pan drippings – or in this case slow cooker drippings, use my Foolproof Gravy recipe and I suggest halving it.
Gravy from Slow Cooker Juices and Drippings:
But to make things even simpler – add 2 tablespoons butter to a saucepan, melt it over medium heat, sprinkle with flour to create a roux, whisking for 1 minute. Pour in the cooking juices and drippings (strained if desired) from your slow cooker, whisk them with the roux, and add additional chicken broth (about 1 cup), or as desired for consistency. Simmer your gravy for another 5 minutes, whisking nearly constantly. Season with additional salt, pepper and other herbs and spices as desired.
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Crockpot Whole Chicken
Equipment
- 1 6-quart slow cooker OR
Ingredients
- 1 whole chicken, (4 to 5 pounds, remove anything from the cavity such as giblets, neck, etc.)
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon dried basil
- 1 teaspoon dried rosemary
- 1 large white or yellow onion, quartered
- 2 lemons, quartered
- 8 cloves garlic, smashed
- 4 sprigs fresh rosemary
- 2 pounds of small red potatoes, halved (baby Yukon gold or yellow potatoes may be substitued)
- 1 cup chicken broth
Instructions
- Pat the chicken dry (remove any giblets, neck, or anything that was in the cavity) and then coat the exterior of the chicken with olive oil.
- Dry Rub for Exterior: In a small bowl mix together salt, pepper, paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, dried basil, dried rosemary, stir, and coat the entire exterior of the chicken with this dry rub mixture. Tip – If you want to use poultry seasoning rather than making your own rub, it's fine. Use in a very generous quantity, such as 3+ tablespoons to ensure the chicken has great flavor; product linked in Notes.
- Cavity: To the cavity of the chicken, add half of each of the quartered onions, half of the quartered lemons, half of the smashed garlic cloves, and half of the rosemary sprigs.
- Bottom of Slow Cooker: Add the remaining amounts of the onions, lemons, garlic, and rosemary. Plus add all the potatoes and evenly pour the broth over. These ingredients create a nice base on which to rest the chicken.
- Place the chicken on top, place the lid on the slow cooker, and cook on high for 3-4 hours OR on low heat for 6-7 hours. Always make sure that the chicken is cooked through to 160-165F as measured by a thermometer. Important Note for Low Cooking – From a food safety perspective, if you do plan to cook on low heat (overall), you should cook on high for 1 hour (and then you can switch over to low) so that the chicken isn’t held for too long/too raw in your slow cooker. The 1 hour blast of high heat cooking is what’s necessary to combat against potential issues.
- Crispy Skin (optional, if not broiling ignore this and go to the next step): If you want crispy, rotisserie chicken style chicken, you can easily crisp it up in just 3-5 minutes under your oven’s broiler. Preheat to high broiler setting, place the chicken on a sheet pan, and broil for 3-5 minutes, or until the chicken skin is as golden browned and crisped as desired. Be Careful! – Use extreme caution by keeping a watchful eye so you don't burn the chicken. Broilers are very potent at over 500F degrees and things can go from 'fine' to burnt in less than 30 seconds so don't become distracted and burn your chicken.
- Resting: You must then rest the chicken for at least 10 minutes, especially if you cooked it to only 160 degrees F so that carryover cooking heat allows for the final temp to reach 165F. Want to make gravy from the pan drippings in your slow cooker? Read the FAQs in the post for how to do it.
- Serving and Storage – Slice the chicken and serve. Leftover chicken will keep airtight in the fridge for up to 5 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months. Tip – See blog post for recipes that use leftover chicken.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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