This incredible tender, delicious, and juicy slow cooker whole chicken is a game-changer for me. Every weekend in our house we make this whole chicken. A whole chicken cooked on a bunch of root vegetables gives you a juicy, succulent, tender chicken packed with flavorful vegetables with delicious gravy.
What Is The Right Size Chicken Suited For This Recipe?
A large organic chicken always gives me the best result every time. I have a family of six so a large-sized chicken is a perfect pick. If there are any leftovers we use them as a meal prep with other recipes for the coming week.
I generally follow basic guidelines while picking a chicken as shown below:
- Small Chicken: A chicken of 2.6lb is enough for a family for 3
- Medium Chicken: A chicken of 3.7lb can feed a family of 4
- Large Chicken: A chicken of 4.4lb can feed up to 6 people.
Why Cook In Slow Cooker?
- Cooking chicken in a slow cooker is mostly hands-off, you can leave your chicken in the slow cooker to cook while you do other things.
- While your chicken getting slow-cooked, you can also cook your potatoes and carrots at the same time. The slow cooker is a magic pot that allows you to multitask.
- Use the juice which comes out from the chicken through slow cooking to make a delicious gravy. The juice is flavorful since it has absorbed all the flavor from the vegetables.
- The chicken is tender filled with healthy herbs & spices to create a rotisserie-style chicken that melts in your mouth. If you are weight conscious you can remove the skin and use the gravy for the drippings.
How To Get Crispy or Brownish Skin?
You will not get crispy skin in the slow cooker. To get the desired golden skin color you need to Place your chicken on a roasting tray and broil it for 5 minutes. Make sure you keep an eye on the timer, otherwise you will burn the skin.
Let’s Make The Slow Cooker Roast Chicken
Chicken prep: If you already have a chicken in the fridge, then take it out and set it aside for 30 minutes before cooking. A cold chicken will extend the cooking process but not a big issue in a slow cooker though.
Washing tip: Always use separate gloves and containers while washing raw chicken because it usually contains campylobacter bacteria. Usually, this bacteria can be killed easily when the chicken’s internal temperature reaches 75C /165F.
Chicken seasoning: Keep the chicken dry. Cut large chunks of fats and remove giblets. Brush the chicken with paprika, mustard powder, garlic powder & sweetener. Season with salt and pepper. Place rosemary sprig and half lemon in the cavity.
Chop onions, celery, carrots, and small potatoes to create a trivet line in a 6.5L slow cooker. The chopped vegetables create a sort of trivet for the chicken.
Add the chicken to the crockpot, cover, and cook on high for 4 to 5 hours ( time depends on the size of your chicken ). If you are using the small chicken, then check after 2 hours. For best results, use a meat thermometer.
Add the chicken, cover, and cook on HIGH for 4-5 hours (depending on how large your chicken is). If you are cooking a small chicken then check after 2 hours. For best results check with a meat thermometer.
Once cooked remove the chicken from the slow cooker, make sure you tip it forward for any juices to drip out in the cavity. Spray the roasting pan with cooking spray and place the chicken on the pan and broil the chicken until the skin turns crispy and brown. Set the chicken away for 20 minutes before slicing.
Use the gravy separator to separate the juice from the vegetables. Try to eliminate most of the fat before transferring the juice to the saucepan. Save the carrots and potatoes to serve with the roast.
Making the Gravy: Bring the juices to simmer. Add extra hot chicken stock if required. Thicken the gravy by adding 1 tablespoon of cornflour diluted in cold water. Cook, stir occasionally until the gravy turns thick. Taste and season with salt and pepper.
Slice the chicken and serve with potatoes, carrots, and gravy.
How To Check The Doneness Of Chicken
I prefer to cook my large chicken on a high setting in the slow cooker. I use a meat thermometer to check the doneness of the chicken. I make sure to cook the chicken until its internal temperature at the thickest part reaches 75C/165 F.
Easy Slow Cooker Whole Chicken & Gravy Recipe
A whole chicken cooked on a bunch of root vegetables gives you a juicy, succulent, tender chicken packed with flavorful vegetables with delicious gravy.
Ingredients
- 4.5 lb whole chicken without giblets
- 1 table spoon brown sugar or Sukrin Gold Sweetener
- 2 teaspoon mustard powder
- 2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 2 teaspoon paprika
- Salt and pepper
- 16 baby potatoes skin on, scrubbed clean
- 4 carrots cut into large pieces
- 3 onions halved
- 2 celery stalks sliced
- 1 whole garlic bulb cut in half
- 1 lemon cut in half
- 1 rosemary sprig
- Olive oil cooking spray
Instructions
- If you already have a chicken in the fridge, then take it out and set it aside for 30 minutes before cooking. A cold chicken will extend the cooking process but is not a big issue in a slow cooker though.
- Keep the chicken dry. Cut large chunks of fats and remove giblets. Brush the chicken with paprika, mustard powder, garlic powder & sweetener. Season with salt and pepper. Place rosemary sprig and half lemon in the cavity.
- Chop onions, celery, carrots, and small potatoes and put them in a slow cooker. The chopped vegetables create a sort of trivet for the chicken. If you don’t want to cook the vegetables in the crockpot then place the chicken on a silicone rack for a makeshift rack. This allows for any fat to drip away from the chicken.
- Add the chicken to the crockpot, cover, and cook on high for 4 to 5 hours ( time depends on the size of your chicken ). If you are using a small chicken, then check after 2 hours. For best results, use a meat thermometer.
- Remove the chicken from the slow cooker, and make sure you tip it forward for any juices to drip out in the cavity. Spray the roasting pan with cooking spray and place the chicken on the pan and broil the chicken until the skin turns crispy and brown. Set the chicken away for 20 minutes before slicing.
- Keep the potatoes and carrots separately and warm to serve with the roast.
Making gravy:
- Bring the juices to a simmer. Add extra hot chicken stock if required.
- Thicken the gravy by adding 1 tablespoon of cornflour diluted in cold water. Cook, and stir occasionally until the gravy turns thick.
- Taste and season with salt and pepper.
- Slice the chicken and serve with potatoes, carrots, and gravy.
Notes
How To Check The Doneness Of Chicken:
I prefer to cook my large chicken on a high setting in the slow cooker. I use a meat thermometer to check the doneness of the chicken. I make sure to cook the chicken until its internal temperature at the thickest part is 75C/165 F.
Nutrition Information:
Serving Size: 6Amount Per Serving: Calories: 544kcalTotal Fat: 25gSaturated Fat: 7gCholesterol: 121mgSodium: 194mgCarbohydrates: 44gFiber: 7gSugar: 5gProtein: 35g