Set It and Forget It Crock Pot Chicken

Every now and then I come across something so life changing that I wonder how I never knew about it and I want to share it with everyone I know. Slow cooking a whole chicken in the crock pot is one of those things.

From a cost, effort, and taste perspective, there is no reason not slow cook a chicken with regularity. Have 4 - 5 lbs of high quality protein readily available to add to any dish is just one more reason to follow this recipe. I made my first whole chicken on Christmas, and have made two more since. I’m just loving this.

It was just the two of us for Christmas this year, so a whole Turkey seemed like too much food. We also didn’t have all the necessary equipment to cook a turkey. Plus by the time we committed to cooking, we had run out of time to defrost a turkey (which apparently takes 3 days in the fridge). So we bought a 5 lb chicken instead and cooked it in the crock pot.

The best part? Once the chicken is setup, it’s completely mindless. And clean up is just one tray. The recipe does require a crock pot (which you can buy here for less than $40).

Buy a whole frying chicken. Unwrap it and remove the bag containing the gizzards (if it has one). The first chicken I bought didn’t have one but the second did, and I failed to remove it (yikes!).

In a small bowl mix the following seasonings:

• 1 tsp of salt

• 1 tsp chili powder

• 1 tsp onion powder

• 1 tsp garlic powder

• 1 tsp of herbs de Provence

• 1 tsp cayenne pepper

• 1 tsp thyme

• 1 tsp of cracked black pepper

Cut an onion into quarters and separate the layers and then lay the slices evenly along the bottom of the crock pot. There is no need to add water or anything else to the crock pot.

Mix all the spices and then rub down the chicken. Make sure to get inside the wings, thighs and drumsticks.

Place the chicken in the crock pot. We cooked a 5 lb chicken and set the heat to high and cooked it for 6.5 hours.

Once finished, pull the meat from the bone. The meat should slide off with ease. Throw out the bones and carcass. Add the meat to any dish for a delicious treat of protein!