My oh my, what a tasty bird this was! I had a frozen chicken that I thawed for a few days in the fridge and plopped it whole into the crockpot. I did make a whole chicken earlier in the year, that was delicious, but this guy had an awesome moist, lemony garlic flavor that made my knees go a bit weak.
And it was so easy!
The Ingredients.
--one thawed and skinned whole chicken. It wasn't as gross for me this time! yay! But I'm not pregnant, so if you are and are prone to pukeage, be forewarned...
--head of garlic
--2 lemons (yeah, those are lemons. I tried to find yellow ones, and even went outside at 3:30am (I had insomnia) with a flashlight to find riper ones, and nearly scared the neighbors cat bald, but could only find green guys. They still tasted okay.)
--salt and pepper
--a bunch of fresh rosemary (this is from my mom's garden. hi, mom! thanks for the rosemary!)
The Directions.
After you skin the chicken and keep from puking, rub it inside and out with a bunch of salt and pepper.
Plop it into the crockpot.
Peel your garlic and shove a bunch of the whole cloves into the bird cavity and throw some more on top and around the chicken.
Slice the lemon and put slices on top, around, and inside the bird
Wash the rosemary and do the same. If you are using dried rosemary, use a good amount---probably 2-3T of dried herbs.
Your chicken should look a bit like this:
Do not add water.cook on low for 8-10 hours. I put this on at 4am, and had it for lunch at noon. Then I took a 2hr nap!
The Verdict:
This is a moist, delicious chicken that is company-worthy. It will fall apart when you take it out of the crock if you cook it as long as I did. If you would like a fancier presentation, keep an eye on it and check the doneness after 6 or 7 hours, then carefully remove with large tongs.
Keep the garlic to serve alongside with some rice or potatoes and some fresh vegetables.
38 comments:
MMMMM! That sounds wonderful, I will have to try that very soon!
Oh, this sounds wonderful and easy. Thanks. Many of my neighbors have lemon trees, so I can easily get some....they're even yellow here:)
Looks delicious! Have a great weekend!
Does it have to be a whole chicken - could it be chicken breasts? Would that work?
Mmm, so excited for this one. It is a dressed up (but just as easy) version of a lemon pepper one I served most Sundays...Thank you also for the Indian Chicken a few days back. I bought garam masala forever ago and I don't even remember why, but now, I think it will get used up quick! It looks delicious and even fits my Hubby's South Beach rules on brown rice.
Thanks for ratting me out, hee hee. =)
This looks so yummy and I love anything with lemon and garlic. But are you saying you just go to your backyard to pick your lemons? My envy is making me seen green.
thanks, guys!
Laurel, the flavors would taste great on chicken breasts, but it would be dry without any liquid. the whole chicken has the bones and a bunch of juice.
I'd do breasts with about 1/2 cup of chicken broth with it, just so you don't get dried and/or burnt offerings.
xoxo
steph
LOL @ "hi, mom! thanks for the rosemary!" - that made me laugh out loud and scare the cat, haha!
The recipe looks easy and yummy - I can't wait to try it :)
You just keep on keeping on. I have yet to see a recipe on this blog that I wouldn't try. Where do you get all the ideas??????? You rock.
Wait a minute... you put this on at 4am? What on earth were you doing up at that hour? Up with a babe, perchance?
This sounds really good. I'll have to try it.
that's dinner Friday night!!!! thanks very much..another tasty recipe from Steph :-)
I love the recipe but my slowcooker (crockpot) instructions say I should never use it without adding liquid.
Hi there,
of course do whatever feels right to you---but I have done a whole chicken without a drop of liquid a few times, and the chicken "makes" it's own liquid. If you are going to use chicken pieces, throw in a 1/2 cup of broth.
-steph
I made this for dinner, and it turned out great! And it was SO easy to take the meat off the bones - lots easier than when I buy a rotisserie chicken. Now I need to gather all of my recipes that start off with "meat from 1 roasted chicken..."
I made this for dinner with boneless/skinless breasts before reading the comments so I failed to put in extra liquid. Also I only had an orange, no lemons. It came out ok, a bit dry, but my kids ate it with ketchup (of all things) and it was done in 4 hours.
Thanks!!
We just had this for dinner tonight and even my husband ate it and asked for more (who is a big, picky kid himself!) I made some mashed potatoes to go along with it, adding some of the garlic from the chicken. It really complemented the chicken without being too garlicky. I will definately be making this again. Thanks! :)
We just had the lemon chicken for dinner, with French Fries and butter beans. It was the most wonderful chicken - moist, tender, cooked through (I gave it just over 10 hours). My husband checked the slowe cooker constantly throughout the day, expecting it to explode without any liquid added. By the time it was done, there was lots of lemony chicken stock.
Thanks again, Steph.
x
Pat
yay, pat!
and yay for pat's hubby for standing guard! ;-)
It was full of flavour, despite the fact that I forgot the rosemary. We dug out the old bush last autumn and I haven't planted its replacement yet. I didn't want to use dried rosemary. Maybe next time.
Super duper good! I used skinless, boneless thighs and added about 1/2 cup of broth, which in a way was maybe a little too much, only I scooped the broth out 25 minutes before dinnertime to make rice, so it worked out perfectly. (The rice on the bottom of the cooker did burn, though, I suppose because of the fat in the broth, so I'll make it on the stovetop next time.) I also added a splash of olive oil at the beginning of the cooking time for a little extra Greek flavor. I don't eat chicken (although I'm okay with broth) so instead of the meat I sprinkled chevre on my serving of rice (I would have used feta if we'd had it), and it was like something you'd have at a little sidewalk cafe in Greece.
Thank you for this recipe, which I shall be trying out, pronto!
Hi, by the way, from a lurker. K xx
I forgot to post and tell you how wonderful this recipe is!! It is delicious, and the chicken tastes juicy and soft. I will deffo be doing this again - this Tuesday even! Mr T is away for a couple of days until Tuesday and this will mean I don't have to worry about cooking when he arrives home - it'll all be done. Well done with this recipe, and Thank You. xx
I thought you'd like to know that this has become the husband's favourite chicken dish. I leave the skin on the chicken and slip the lemon slices, along with the garlic and rosemary, underneath the breast skin, down into the thighs and into the cavity.
My sister-in-law in Bavaria has impressed various dinner guests using skinless breast pieces and adding a cup of white wine.
It works just as well in a conventional gas oven on the slow cook setting.
I made this last night. My husband complained that the lemon made the chicken taste bitter (like the lemon peel). Would it be better if I peeled the lemons?
I tried and LOVED IT!! Best of all my husband liked and ate it, and he's a picky eatter. Thanks for the recipe!!
I cooked this today & the smell was wonderful. However, I think I used too much lemons as it was a bit bitter but still tasted well enough for my family to pounce on it like wild animals. This I will make again for sure.
I made this recipe a couple years ago with slices of garlic and sprigs of rosemary tucked under the skin of the chicken. I put lemon and onion in the cavity and rosemary around the top of the chicken. It was so delicious! I did one the other night with garlic and sage that didn't turn out as well. The sage got a little bitter over the long cooking. A whole chicken in the crock pot is just so darn easy! :)
Thanks for the great blog!!
I made this on Sunday with some roasted potatoes and it was WONDERFUL! Thank you so much for sharing all of your great ideas.
I made this Sat night for a dinner party - it was really wonderful.
Thanks!
I used a mixture of sage, rosemary and thyme, and added some extra chicken thighs on top of the whole chicken (we were 6 grownups and 3 kids)
For this chicken, did you cook it breast side down like you did the other slow cook chicken, or did you just plop it in there sitting on its legs? Does it matter? I'm really excited to try this...I've been trying to find slow cooker recipes!
I just made this tonight and it was absolutely delish. Also ... this was THE first time I cooked something in a crock pot w/o adding any juice *shock*. WYB by the time it was done it had created juice enough to almost cover my 5 pound chicken! LOL Thanks!
I just made this today. I had a busy day (OK a busy week) and I knew no one in my family would be eating anything healthy unless I broke out the crock pot! This recipe was awesome. The chicken was so flavorful and it was so quick putting it together! I will definitely make this again...maybe even next week :) Thanks so much for a great recipe!!!
I just put the chicken in the crockpot and will be eating it tonight for dinner. Can't wait to try it. Thanks for the tips.
I made this today and wasn't happy with my results. I'm sure it's my bad and not a problem with the recipe. I definitely overcooked mine. I left in on low for 8 hours, then warm for another hour. I did skin it and didn't mind doing it one bit. However, like you said, if I were pregnant...no way. I couldn't deal with chicken at all during my pregnancy, let alone skinning a whole bird. I didn't eat chicken for a year after my kids were born (carrots, too, go figure...) and it's still not my favorite, even though my twins are 7 now. My husband loved this chicken but he loves all chicken. My daughter said it was too lemony, my son, well he's into pb&j these days. I am happy to have leftovers, cause I plan on making buffalo chicken wing soup. All our clients who came by today (we own a home-based business) commented on how wonderful it smelled. Next time, I will cook it for a shorter period of time!
It was nearly noon and someone called to remind me of the baby shower tonight. No gift, lots to do, I remembered your blog. I had everything needed to make this dish(I used frozen chicken breast). It was a huge success! Thanks again!
I put "whole chicken crock pot recipe" into google and your blog was like the 2nd thing that popped up. I just have to say you might be my new best friend. Just looking through all your recipes I am getting giddy about all the fabulous meals I am going to make. :)Starting with this one. Thanks!
Stephanie -- This is SOOOOOOO Wonderful! We've added it to our staple all the time recipes. I've got a huge rosemary plant in my garden and am happy to finally have a regular use for it. The house smells so heavenly when this is cooking. Thanks so much for sharing it.
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