Easy Crockpot Meal – Whole “Roast” Chicken

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I love my Crockpot.  To be able to put fresh ingredients into a slow cooker first thing in the morning, and come home at the end of the day to a delicious, home -cooked  meal that cooked itself…priceless.

One of the many budget and kid-friendly meals at my house is a whole Roast Chicken.  It’s versatile, easy and with a little extra effort provides chicken stock for another day.  But as easy as roast chicken is to prepare, it does take time, and many days I simply don’t have the extra hour at the end of the day it requires to put a roast chicken on my family’s dinner table.

This Crockpot Whole Chicken recipe, gives us all the flavor and versatility of a roast chicken, with the ease of a crockpot meal.  We can also use up the leftovers to make a Crockpot Chicken Stock — with only one slow cooker, one chicken and a few veggies, we can make at least two meals without even 2 minutes standing over a stove.

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Crockpot Whole “Roast” Chicken 

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cook Time: 6 hours on high or 8-10 hours on low

Special Equipment: Crockpot (Slow Cooker)

Ingredients:

  • 1 tsp fennel seed, crushed (or seasoning of choice)
  • 1 Tbsp Kosher salt
  • 2 lemons
  • 1 garlic clove, minced
  • 1 whole chicken (preferable organic, free-range)
  • 1 onion, cut into wedges
  • 15-20 baby potatoes, whole
  • 3-4 medium carrots, roughly chopped
Directions:
  • Rinse chicken and pat very dry.
  • Zest lemons, to provide 1 Tbsp. lemon zest.
  • Mix together lemon zest, crushed fennel seed, Kosher salt and minced garlic.
  • Rub the lemon zest mixture all over the chicken, including under the skin by gently lifting skin from breast.
  • Cut one zested lemon in half and place both halves inside the cavity of the chicken.
  • Slice remaining (zested) lemon into thick slices and place slices on bottom of crockpot.
  • Lay onion wedges on bottom of crockpot.
  • Place whole chicken on top of lemon slices and onion wedges in the crockpot.
  • Scatter chopped carrots and whole potatoes around chicken.
  • Place lid on crockpot and set to cook 6 hours on high or 8-10 on low.
  • Optional: When chicken is done, heat oven broiler and place the ceramic crockpot liner (if applicable) under the broiler to brown the top of the chicken.  If your crockpot does not have a removable ceramic liner, this step is optional.
  • Serve
  • Drain juices and reserve chicken bones and leftover meat for Crockpot Chicken Stock (if desired)

**Note – A few of our readers have expressed a dislike for the flavor of fennel.  The beauty of this dish is it’s versatility and ease for weeknight cooking.  Feel free to alter the seasoning to fit your families tastes or skip it altogether.

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Want to turn this easy crockpot meal into several meals?  Try making our Crockpot Chicken Stock with the leftover meat and bones for soup the next day or to freeze for another meal down the road.  Until next time…

 

This Post Has 10 Comments

  1. moi

    Chicken in crock pot recipe

  2. Cailey

    Thank you for sharing this recipe! I made it today and substituted fresh rosemary for the fennel. It turned out great – very moist and flavorful!

    1. kimgerber

      Thanks for sharing your comment!

  3. Tamara H

    I have not used fennel before. Doesn’t it have a “licorice” type flavor to it?

    Also, are all those juices just from cooking the chicken and veggies together, or did you add some broth or water to the crock @ the start.

    This looks like a great meal and I can change up the spice pallet to meet my family’s taste buds. Thanks for sharing!

    1. kimgerber

      Hi Tamara – Yes, fresh fennel does have that flavor, though I don’t find it as prevalent in the dried fennel seed. That being said, feel free to skip the fennel and choose whichever flavors your family likes! I did not add ANY liquid – it all comes directly from the chicken and veggies. Enjoy!

  4. William

    I wish I would have read the 1 review before I chose to do this recipe. I too didn’t like the Fennel taste and neither did my family. I don’t recommend this recipe unless you love the taste of fennel, because it is very strong. I appreciate someone posting a new recipe, but this one just didn’t go together well at all. Take out the fennel, add more garlic, and you have a good dish.

    1. kimgerber

      I’m so glad to have the feedback. My family loves the taste of fennel so it worked for us. The beauty of this dish is that you can use anything your family likes to season it…it’s a simple and easy weeknight dish!

  5. Sara

    I tried this today. I was really excited about it. I didn’t like how the potatoes/carrots turned out with the fennel/lemon flavor – I’d suggest cooking separate if you think you might not like them infused with that flavor. Also, the breast on my chicken got pretty dry…not sure why. I might try it again but with different flavors and cooking the vegetables separately.

    1. kimgerber

      Thank you for the comment! If you liked the lemon flavor, maybe try placing some lemon slices on top of the breast to keep it moist? Let us know what you try next time and how it works out!

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