Crock-pot Chicken~an easy and tasty way to get moist chicken!
Slow Cooker Days
This is probably the most useful recipe for the crock-pot that I have. I love finding a whole chicken that is on sale for about $0.79/lb. (my target price 3/12), and buying two and crock-potting them for a week of good recipes. **Update 1/31/13: I am now spending $2.50/lb. for organic chickens at Costco.
The first day we usually have chicken with barbeque sauce and a big salad, and then the second day there are an infinity of choices because chicken is SOOO versatile. I shred the chicken after that first meal so it is ready to go. This is SUCH a time saver. Last night I needed a quick meal and was able to prepare and bake something in less than a half hour (my taquitos only took 15 minutes to bake). Sometimes I’ll freeze meal-size portions of chicken and pull it out the morning or afternoon I need it to thaw.
The Recipe: Crock-Pot Chicken Recipe
The Ingredients:
- 1 whole chicken (giblets, excess fat removed), chicken breasts, or chicken tenders
- just enough water to cover the bottom of a crock pot (you actually can skip this, and you’ll still be amazed with how much water comes out of the chicken!!)
- optional, 1/4 cup olive oil
- optional, 2 T minced garlic
- optional dash Cayenne pepper
- optional, 2 T Italian seasonings, or seasonings of your choice
The Directions:
- Place your chicken in the slow cooker, legs up for the whole chicken. I never rinse mine, as the bacteria is killed upon cooking.
- Combine olive oil, garlic and seasoning in a small bowl.
- Rub or spoon on oil mixture.
- Cook on low 6-8 hours, or on high for 4-5 hours.
- Enjoy with a salad, and shred the rest of the chicken for chicken noodle soup, enchiladas, lasagna, chili, nachos, taquitos, or other yummy recipes.
- Strain and use dripping as a broth.
Here are frozen chicken breasts:
The first day I slow cook a chicken, I usually serve chicken and a salad. After that I have very flavorful chicken to add to a whole host of dishes like enchiladas, lasagna, chili, nachos, or other yummy recipes. Then I crock-pot the bones with my vegetable scraps to make chicken broth. It’s practically free, and it’s so, so easy!!
For what other recipes do you use chicken? We’d love to hear in a comment.
Want some major zip to your chicken. Have you tried…?
Go here for the complete list of recipes.
For more slow cooker inspiration, check out my Cookin’ with the Crock-pot Board on Pinterest.
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This looks great! I’m very new at all of this so I was hoping for a few more details – after you shred your chicken and add the bones/vegetables back to the crockpot to make the broth, how long do you cook it for? Do you just discard the vegetables afterward or do you use them for your next side dish? Thanks!
Hi Nikki. I’ll be honest now. I will let it cook for an entire week in my crock-pot. I used to do just a day, but I take out broth as I go and add more water and vegetable scraps. I have to throw away the vegetables at the end because they are disintegrated. Even the bones can go down the garbage disposal because they crumble. Think I’m crazy?
I love making roast chicken, but could never in the Crock Pot as mine was the old fashioned upright one. Now I have a new one and I can’t wait to try it! Thanks for sharing at Church Supper. Have a blessed week, Happy Valentine’s Day and come back soon!
Great post! I just read about this from someone else and did up a chicken the other day. I only did one, but could have put some more meat in with it as I have a 7 qt. crockpot. I did mine for 5 hours on low and it was a little too overdone for me though. I guess it depends on how hot your crockpot will get. I also didn’t put any liquid in and it worked out just fine too as the chicken had it’s own juices to cook in. Thanks for sharing this…it’s a great idea!
Hi Nancy, Yes, every crock-pot is different. Sometimes I omit the water, too, and it always amazes me how much water comes out of the chicken every time. It’s so frugal to make! Thanks for visiting!
I love crock pot chicken! I’ll make one on the weekends and then immediately throw the bones back in to make broth. We can end up getting 2 or 3 meals out of the meat if I stretch it right. So easy and delicious!
Hi Kailyn, Now typically when I crock-pot them, I do two chickens at a time (if my 7 qt. cr-pt is out, I can put two chickens in there, or I use my 6 qt. and 4.5 qt. each with their own chicken), and then have my broth going afterward like you (it delays needing to clean the crock-pot, too:). I try to really stretch the chicken, so once I got 9 meals out of the two chickens together by adding something like beans, rice, or potatoes plus lots of veggies to the mix. Thanks for sharing!!
Thank you soo much for this post. I’ve made a whole chicken in the crock pot for the past two weekends. The first time I left it in the crock pot too long due to a meeting we needed to attend. The chicken got too mushy. It’s still good in my pho soup, but my 15 year old didn’t care for it much. I only make one chicken because it’s just the two of us. I made the taquitos but fried them in canola oil and while they were good my whole (hot) kitchen retained the smell. The first night I served that overdone chicken with BBQ sauce. Do you warm it up or just serve out of the bottle? I’ve since made quesadillas using olive oil and a bit of butter. Mmm the chicken with melted cheese is my favorite.
Hi Bobi, I just serve our BBQ sauce out of the bottle. We LOVE the shredded crock-pot chicken because it’s so moist and versatile. Thanks for visiting!
love it! I am so going to make it next week!!!
I’d love to hear how it goes!