This Crockpot Whole Chicken has 10 minutes of hands on time, and your whole dinner is done in the slow cooker for an easy weeknight meal!
This Slow Cooker Whole Chicken is tender, juicy, easy to make and looks like you spent hours making dinner! It simmers all day in the Crock Pot, along with tender veggies, making your house smell scrumptious. The best part is, it only takes about 20 minutes to prep and then the slow cooker does all the work! It’s genius.
This Slow Cooker Whole Chicken recipe is an older recipe getting a facelift. It comes to you from my friend, Samantha Skaggs, amazing blogger over at Five Heart Home. She wrote a gorgeous cookbook called Real Food Slow Cooker Suppers.
Years ago, when she wrote this, I was offered to test some of her recipes for her while she was writing it, including this savory slow cooker whole chicken. All of the recipes in this book are amazing, and her cookbook is a treasure.
Oh man, this is THE BEST chicken recipe I’ve ever tasted. Just crazy good. Thank you so much for sharing.
Crockpot Whole Chicken Ingredients
There’s a lot to love about this recipe, but one of them is the simple ingredient list.
- Thawed Whole Chicken
- Red Potatoes
- Carrots
- Yellow Onion
- Garlic
- Butter
- Garlic Powder
- Onion Powder
- Salt & Pepper
How to Make a Whole Chicken in the Slow Cooker
This is a brief overview of how easy this recipe is to make. For the full recipe, see the recipe card at the bottom of the post.
- Start by add vegetables to the base of your slow cooker and sprinkling them with seasoning.
- Mix the remainder of your seasonings with softened butter.
- Spread the butter under the chicken’s skin.
- Cook on low for 4 to 6 hours.
- If desired, brown the chicken under a broiler for a few minutes.
Tips for Cooking a Whole Chicken in the Crockpot
- Choose the right sized chicken: A four to five pound whole chicken is perfect because it will fit into most standard crockpots and cook in four to six hours.
- Remove the bag and giblets before prepping: I cannot tell you how many times friends of mine (who shall remain nameless) have left in the giblet bag in their Thanksgiving turkeys. So just a friendly reminder to get that stuff out of there before you go any further.
- Give the chicken a butter rub: Mix some softened butter with seasonings and rub it underneath the skin. This gives the chicken so much flavor, moisture and will help give it gorgeous color.
- Use simple seasonings: I love this chicken recipe because it calls for everyday pantry ingredients like garlic powder, onion powder, salt and pepper. This allows the flavor of the chicken to really shine, and not be covered up by too many spices.
- Add veggies: This is a one pot meal! Add carrots, red potatoes, onion and garlic to cook right alongside the chicken. All the flavors simmer together and when all is said and done, you have a complete dinner on the table with minimal effort!
- Broil to a golden brown: To give your chicken that beautiful roasted color, pop it under the broiler in the oven for about five to ten minutes. Make sure to watch it closely, as it will brown up quickly.
- Let it rest: Tent the whole chicken under aluminum foil and let it rest for about ten minutes before slicing and serving. This allows the juices to redistribute throughout the meat after cooking.
Other Great Slow Cooker Dinners
Our slow cooker gets a work out in the winter. If you are looking for more great crockpot dinners to lean on, here are some of our favorites.
If you make this Slow Cooker Whole Chicken or any of my other recipes, please leave me a comment and let me know what you think!
Recommended Tools
Slow Cooker Whole Chicken
Ingredients
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 2 teaspoons garlic powder
- 1 teaspoons onion powder
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper
- 1 pound about 5 medium red potatoes cut into one inch pieces
- 1 1/2 cups baby carrots
- 1 medium yellow onion cut into one inch pieces
- 6 cloves of garlic divided
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter room temperature
- 4 to 5 pound roasting chicken bag and giblets removed
Instructions
- Mix together the salt, garlic powder, onion powder, and pepper in a small bowl.
- Spray your slow cooker with cooking spray. Combine the veggies in the base of your slow cooker and sprinkle with 1/2 a TBSP of the mixed spices. Add 3 of the garlic cloves, minced.
- In a small bowl, combine the room temperature butter, the remainder of the spices, and the remaining 3 cloves of minced garlic.
- Spread the butter mixture underneath the chicken’s skin.
- Place the prepared chicken over the vegetables and sprinkle with freshly ground black pepper. Cover and cook on low for 4 to 6 hours or until an insta read thermometer registers 165 degrees and the juices don’t run pink.
- Prepare a baking sheet with tin foil, and turn your broiler on low. Put the chicken on the baking sheet and broil until the skin browns, watching carefully, about 5 to 10 minutes. Remove the chicken, tent it with tin foil, and allow to rest for 10 minutes before slicing and serving.
- If your chicken is done closer to four hours, the vegetables might not be done yet. When you remove the chicken from the slow cooker, turn it up to high, cover it and continue cooking the veggies until the chicken is done broiling and resting.
Karen @ The Food Charlatan says
What no a tree??!!?!! For real?? Ugh! I’m so sorry Lisa! I’m glad no one was hurt but man. that’s the worst.
I am such a wuss about whole birds. I freak out every year when I have to do a turkey. But this looks super easy! (do you think a turkey would fit in my slow cooker too?? :)
Samantha @ Five Heart Home says
So sorry to hear about the tree incident, Lisa…eeek! But I’m thrilled that this dinner was a big hit! :) You have been such a gem, helping me test cookbook recipes and now sharing a recipe from my new cookbook…I can’t tell you how much I appreciate it! And I’m with you on that Chicken Cordon Bleu Soup…one of my favorites! ;)
Kate Pigula says
Do the potatoes and carrots get overcooked? Being in slow cooker 4 to 6 hrs? I hate mushy veggies. Thank You.
No! In my experience they’ve never been overcooked.
Chris Anderson says
I use a rack with handles to elevate the chicken and veggies a 1/3 inch above the bottom. Less mushy but still tender. The juice can be used for gravy.
Gretchen says
I love lemon pepper chicken. Do you think zest and the juice of one lemon would overpower?
It might be a little bit much, I’d have to try it. You could try first with half that amount, I definitely don’t think that would overpower.
Chelle Thompson says
Enjoy and tasty. I love the chicken dishes. Yumyum.. I made this according to your recipe yesterday. It’s great and delicious. Thanks for the helpful articlle.
Martha Rowell says
Love love love your recipes. Please keep it up. Thanks Martha
You are very welcome!
Judy says
What about stuffing? Could you put stuffing in this chicken?
I really never recommend stuffing turkeys or chickens when cooking (regardless of method) because the lack of circulation can cause problems with the meat cooking properly.
Debbie A. says
How do you remove the cooked chicken from the crock pot without it falling apart?
The cooking length for the recipe shouldn’t leave it falling off the bone. So I typically use a rubber hot pad and tongs to remove it from the crockpot.
Deloris Hickman says
What do you mean “putting under the chicken skin”? Thank you!
The skin of the chicken covers the meat. You can pull it back it a little and then put the butter mixture between the skin and the meat.