This is an easy crockpot recipe making a whole chicken and vegetables at the same time for a simple dinner that’s waiting for you. You’ll want to use a whole chicken, anywhere between 4 and 6 pounds, and a variety of vegetables. I’ll also provide the times for both HIGH and LOW as I know sometimes you want a chicken fast, while other times you’d like to throw it in the morning and come back in the afternoon. I really hope you like this slow cooker whole chicken recipe as much as we do, we make it once or twice a month during Fall and Winter. If the chicken is on sale, it’s a pretty budget friendly meal and can easily provide us 2 meals (the next day is chicken sandwiches!). Looking for more slow cooker chicken recipes? Try my Crockpot Chicken and Broccoli, Homemade Crockpot Chicken Broth and Crockpot Chicken With Cream of Mushroom Soup too!
How long to cook a whole chicken in a slow cooker?
A whole chicken takes on average 4 hours in the slow cooker on high, or 7 hours on low. At the end of the cooking time use a meat thermometer to make sure the internal temperature of the chicken is 165 degrees.
How to Make a Juicy Chicken
The key to making a juicy chicken in the slow cooker is both cooking it with some broth, but also making a kind of “shelf” for the chicken to sit on so it doesn’t sit on the bottom of the slow cooker. Some people make a shelf out of aluminum foil, but I prefer to use vegetables to make this into a complete meal. The chicken sits on top of the vegetables while it cooks which prevents it from drying out. As you can see the result is tender juicy chicken!
What vegetables can I add in?
To make this into a complete chicken meal, you can add 4 cups of vegetables (or even a little more if your slow cooker is larger) of your choice. Some ideas of chopped veggies to add in are:
potatoes (peeled or unpeeled – it’s up to you) carrots celery onions mushrooms green beans butternut squash
How To Make a Whole Chicken in the Slow Cooker
Add in the vegetables to the bottom of the slow cooker. I recommend 4 cups of vegetables, but you can use more if you want to, just remember you have to fit in a chicken and close the lid. Pour chicken broth on top. Rub the chicken with salt, paprika, onion powder, garlic powder and pepper and place on top of the vegetables in slow cooker. Add 2 slices of butter on top of the chicken, this is going to melt as time goes on in the slow cooker and really make the skin juicy! Cook and then remove from slow cooker, cutting apart the chicken to serve it. The meat is so tender it should just fall off the bone! Serve alongside vegetables, or make some additional mashed potatoes. Enjoy!
More Easy Crockpot Chicken Recipes
Crockpot Barbecue ChickenCrockpot Chicken With Cream of Mushroom SoupSlow Cooker Italian Chicken SoupSlow Cooker Chicken and DumplingsCrock Pot Chicken Pot PieSlow Cooker Butter Chicken Pin for later:
