Make things easy on yourself! Roast a whole chicken in the slow cooker for tender, delicious cooked chicken.
Cooking a whole chicken in the crockpot—as opposed to cooking pieces—can be a great way to stretch your grocery dollar. Not only do you get an abundance of cooked chicken plus a carcass to make homemade chicken stock, but you also benefit from lower prices and more tender meat. (Bone-in chicken tends not to dry out like boneless can.)
It’s also a great way to bulk cook and provide for many meals in one fell swoop. You won’t get the crispy skin that you do when you roast a whole chicken, but you’ll have great tasting chicken meat.
Slow Cooker Whole Chicken
Cooking a whole chicken in a slow cooker is one of the easiest and tastiest ways to prepare a whole bird. It’s not hard. The meat is tender and juicy. And it saves you a ton of time in the kitchen.
Ready to learn? Here we go.
Do you have to cook chicken before putting it into the slow cooker?
Nope! That’s what makes it one of the easiest ways to prepare a whole chicken.
And the whole chicken in a crockpot will cook on a low setting in about 4 hours.
How do you cook a whole chicken in the slow cooker?
1. Thaw the chicken completely.
Typically whole birds are stored pretty cold, so even the ones I buy from the store are often partially frozen when I bring them home. Store it in the fridge in a dish to catch drips while it thaws.
2. Remove the giblets.
Remove the neck and giblets from inside the bird. Sometimes they are packed in a bag, sometimes not. You can use these for cooking, like in homemade stock, or discard. Your choice. (I ditch them usually, unless I’m making this recipe.) Pat the bird dry.
3. Season the chicken.
Place the chicken on a tray. I like to season my chicken with butter and seasoned salt. Rather than mess with softening the butter and getting my hands all greasy, I like to season the butter pats and slide them under the skin of the chicken. In this way, the melting butter and seasoning baste the chicken breast and keep it moist and flavorful.
If you’re not using butter, you can rub on some olive oil and then season it. You can use any spice blend you like as well as plain old salt and pepper. Sometimes I give it a heavy sprinkling of dried onion flakes as well as salt, pepper, and garlic powder. Consider thyme, herbes de provence, rosemary, oregano, basil, or sage to add to your seasoning.
You can even just give it a good dousing in Homemade Seasoned Salt, Herbed Seasoning Mix, or Taco Seasoning Mix.
Buying herbs and spices in bulk and mixing my own spice mixes allows me a world of flavors for just pennies a teaspoon!
4. Position the chicken in the slow cooker.
The cooking chicken will accumulate quite a lot of drippings which is great for homemade gravy. However, it’s nicer for removing the chicken and for carving it, if the chicken cooks atop a rack. You can use a collapsible steamer basket or a thick coil of aluminum foil to keep the chicken out of the juices.
I prefer a steamer basket whose handle is removable. Makes it a lot easier for positioning the chicken.
5. Cover and cook.
Once the chicken is settled in the slow cooker, cover it and cook on HIGH for 4 to 5 hours or LOW for 6 to 8 hours. You do not need to add any liquid. Chickens today typically have some solution added, so they rarely need added liquid. At the end of the cooking time, the meat will be tender, practically falling off the bone.
This is why it’s so helpful to have the steamer basket for moving the chicken from crock to cutting board. The chicken is so tender, it’s liable to fall apart and send bits of chicken all over your kitchen.
Ask me how I know. 😉
6. Carve the chicken and serve.
Then go ahead and carve the whole chicken. Depending on the size of your household, you can serve sliced chicken and chicken pieces one night and then have enough leftover for soup or chicken pot pie the next night.
Be sure to use the bones and drippings to make chicken stock as soon as you’ve finished carving the chicken. You don’t even have to wash the slow cooker!
Do you need special tools to cook a chicken in the slow cooker?
Here’s the kitchen equipment I find most useful when cooking a slow cooker whole chicken:
- a 7-quart oval slow cooker
- steamer rack – ideally, one that collapses and has a removable handle
- instant read thermometer
- plastic cutting boards
- Ergo Chef chef’s knife
If you prepare this recipe, be sure to share a picture on social media and hashtag it #GOODCHEAPEATS. I can't wait to see what you cook up!
How To Cook Chicken In The Slow Cooker
Ingredients
- 1 roasting chicken 3 to 4 pounds, giblets removed
- 4 tbsp butter olive oil can also be used.
- 2 tsp Homemade Seasoned Salt or other favorite seasoning blend
Instructions
- Pat the chicken dry and place it on a tray. Remove the giblets, if any. Discard them or save them for another use.
- Slice the butter into several pats. Season them generously with the seasoned salt or other spices.
- Separating the chicken skin from the meat with your hand, slide the pats of seasoned butter into these spaces, distributing evenly. Season the chicken with any remaining spices.
- Place a steamer rack or a coil of aluminum foil in the bottom of the slow cooker to keep the chicken off the juices that will accumulate.
- Place the chicken on the rack. Cover and cook on HIGH for 4 hours or on LOW for 6-8 hours.
- Once the chicken is cooked, to an internal temperature of at least 165 degrees, remove the chicken to a cutting board. Carve and serve chicken or chop or shred it for use in another chicken recipe.
- The drippings can be strained and used to make gravy. Alternatively, use the bones and drippings to make homemade chicken stock in the slow cooker.
Notes
Nutrition
Originally published January 17, 2012, this post has been updated for content and clarity.
Bettina Ezbidi
Thank you, What slow cooker do you use?
Be well, Bettina
Jessica Fisher
A 6-quart oval
Connie
Wonderful site and ideas.. thank you for taking the time to keep up with us!! Connie
Adelle F
I do whole chickens in my slow cooker regularly but the veggie steamer idea is GENIUS!
Jessica Fisher
Thanks! Glad it was a new idea!
sharon
Do you cook fryers or roasters in the slow cooker??
Jessica Fisher
Whatever will fit!
Alice E
Do you always cook chicken breast down in the slow cooker? I haven ‘t buy think I will try both that and the steamer. I have always added liquid, but will have to try this. It looks scrumptious!
Jessica Fisher
I do so not to have dried out chicken.
Sarah
Great information! I appreciate the tip for the steamer basket, too. Thanks, also, for being specific with some of the spice recommendations. I don’t have a good sense of what combos or types of spices are good in recipes, so it helps me when the recipe gives examples. I will try this soon!
Jessica Fisher
Any of these should work: https://goodcheapeats.com/category/seasoning-mix/
Carol in CT
It looks like you place the whole chicken on a metal steamer basket, but there is no mention of this in your post.
Jessica Fisher
I’ve added that as an optional step in the post. Sorry for that oversight. It’s not necessary, but it makes it easier to remove the chicken from the crock. It gets so tender sometimes it just falls apart.
Amber
I’ve never not added water & bullion. I’m going to put a bird in and hope it turns out well….
I enjoyed reading your post and all the comments.
Thank you, Amber
Jessica Fisher
And I’ve never added water. 😉 Unless you have an organic chicken, you shouldn’t have any issues. Mine is usually swimming in juices.
Paige Talley
I slow cooked (on low) a 5lb organic chicken for 7.5 hours and it came out dry! I’ve often slow cooked 3 lb chickens for about 5 hours and they are delicious and tender; any suggestions on what happened?? I rubbed it first with grass fed butter and then salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, basil & parsley; sat it on a sliced onion and fresh rosemary and even stuffed the cavity with rosemary and sliced apple.
Jessica Fisher
Do you always use organic chickens? Conventional chickens have a lot of solution added to them so that can produce different results from organic or kosher chickens.
Maureen
Elevate the organic chicken with a steamer, foil balls or canning rings and then add a bit of liquid to the bottom of the crockpot; water or even orange juice. You may also try replacing the apple wedges with lemon. I always use organic and never have an issue. The bird may have been cooked a wee bit too long. Chicken is a crazy one. Usually meat tenderizes with time, but poultry gets tougher.
Jessica Fisher
I have found that I don’t have to add liquid. There’s so much in the chicken already.
Christine
Just wondering about the liquid when you are done cooking the chicken. I usually use the leftover chicken, bones, etc. with veggies to make broth the next day. Do you ever use the first liquid you get from cooking the chicken as broth? It looks good – wondering if it would make good soup all on its own.
Jessica
@Christine, absolutely use the first liquid. I usually make gravy with it. If I don’t, I add it to the stock pot.
kim g
@Jessica,
I usually use the broth to make potato soup…it gives it such a rich flavor.
vb lum
What we do with the liquid is put it in a gravy separator and let it settle. Then we use the clear broth to create chicken gravy for a Sunday chicken dinner: chicken, gravy, mashed potatoes, broccoli…etc. If there is a great deal of fat, we let it solidify to use in Jewish recipes, etc. Just package and put in the freezer for use later. Nothing goes to waste! 🙂
Betty
I would like to try the chicken in the crock pot. What size crock pot would I need. Thank’s for your help.
Jessica
A small fryer fits well in a 6qt.
Jordan
Can you cook just a whole chicken breast this way and not the whole chicken? And if so, do you need to add broth?
Jessica
I often fill the crock with chicken breasts to cook them. It’s so easy and the meat stays super moist. I never add liquid. Unless you’re buying organic or kosher, you won’t need liquid. Conventional chicken has solutions added that make up for the liquid.
Judy
I like the recipe with the mason jartop in the bottom of the crock and the chicken placed on top. I think I’ll try that one. Got some good ideas from this site.
Bonnie G.
Instead of canning lids or carrots or aluminum foil, this time I am going to try using the old bones from a previous bird that I saved in the freezer for stock to put under the new one to prop it up from the bottom, so that I get a head start on the bone broth process, too! Thanks for all your ideas and suggestions!
Jada
Yes, and keep the broth going. I throw the bones back in with seasonings and vegetable peels, etc. Take out what you need; then, add more water. Another blogger calls this perpetual broth. Usually lasts for about a week. Then, I start the process over again.
Last night I made Chicken and Dumpings. Not sure what we’ll make tonight, but the house smells delicious with the broth simmering.
Deborah
Finally tried this yesterday. How simple! Much easier than roasting the chicken in the oven, simpler cleanup. Need to play around with the cooking time, as 7 hours on low was too long for this bird in my crockpot, but the chicken was nonetheless a hit at our house! Thanks!
Jessica
@Deborah, glad you enjoyed it!
Debbie
I cannot wait to try this! Thanks for a great idea. This sounds perfect for my big family!
Tracie
If it wasn’t for chicken my large family would have starved. We use to take chicken and bake it and then take left over pick off bones and make chicken salad sandwiches or chicken nachos you have to be creative we didn’t have the benefit of the Internet then