Slow Cooker Lemon Chicken – Tender, Juicy, and Savory.
The weather is being weird lately. We’ve had lots of heat. Serious heat. Like 90’s sort of heat. Then, out of nowhere, we’ll have a cloudy or cooler day that feels like heaven. It’s the sort of day that makes me want to curl up with my fuzzy blanket and watch Sense and Sensibility over and over again (Come ON, Marianne! CAN’T YOU SEE HOW GREAT COLONEL BRANDON IS, WOMAN!!?!!) Of course, no cloudy day is really complete unless the house is full of cozy smells.
Sure, my default is cookies or soup, but there’s something wonderful about a roasted chicken that makes you feel like the best cook in the world. Of course, I’m not the best cook in the world. And whole chickens scare me a little bit. The slow cooker takes all the guess work out of when it’s done. You put it in, forget about it, and come back when it’s falling off the bone.
Lemon and rosemary are perfect together, thought this would be divine with thyme or basil if that’s what you prefer. Also, don’t worry. It’s not so strong that you can’t fold the leftovers into your favorite soup or chicken salad, but it’s also flavorful and savory enough that you can taste it.
Paired with some roasted sweet potatoes and a salad or fruit, this chicken makes a perfect dinner. Especially if you watch it curled up on the couch with Sense and Sensibility. Just saying.
Crock Pot Lemon Chicken (gf, df, paleo, whole30)
- Yield: 6-8 1x
Ingredients
- 1 (3-4lb) chicken
- 1 onion, quartered
- 3 lemons, quartered
- 1 Tablespoon minced fresh rosemary, plus a few sprigs
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp onion powder
- 1 tsp paprika
- 1 tsp salt
- olive oil
Instructions
- Place half of the onion in the bottom of the slow cooker. Place the other half of the onion and one lemon in the cavity of the chicken. Scatter the rest of the lemon quarters and a few sprigs of rosemary around the chicken.
- In a small bowl, whisk together minced rosemary, garlic powder, onion powder, paprika, and salt. Drizzle a little bit of olive oil over the top of the chicken (just a little bit) and sprinkle spice blend over the top of the chicken.
- Turn the slow cooker on high and cook 3-4 hours, or until meat is fall-off-the-bone tender.
Yum! We make something very similar and love it! The Rosemary and lemon are wonderful!
And I may or may not have just watched Sense and Sensibility, and lets be honest, Pride and Prejudice too, in the last week and a half 🙂 Wish it was with you!
I can a l m o s t smell this through the magic of the interweb. Yum! Thank you for posting this!
Yum! Now I have an idea for that chicken in my deep freeze 🙂
I am soooo glad I stumbled upon your blog. Love it! I have celiac and have been GF for about 10 years, and also try to eat relatively clean while still making stuff my family loves. Love how you have everything labeled/organized and cannot wait to try some of your recipes next week!
I made this and threw it in the slow cooker on low before I went to work. You were right, the house smelled amazing when I came home. I wanted to take a lovely after picture, but the chicken fell apart in the slow cooker! My sister came over to try it and we both loved it! You can really taste the rosemary without it being overpowering. I am definitely making this again!
★★★★★
I’m so glad you loved it! Yay! Thanks for letting me know!
Think you could just put chicken breasts in the crockpot instead of a whole chicken. Also, do you cook the onion first or just throw it in the crockpot as it, cut up?
Kelly – I think chicken breast will work. Bone-in chicken breasts will work better in a slow cooker. If you use boneless skinless chicken, you’ll need to reduce the cook time since they’ll run the risk of drying out. Also the onion should go in raw. It’ll cook and sweeten as the chicken cooks. Hope that helps!
Hellooo! This sounds amazing and easy… I’ve never bought a whole chicken before that wasn’t already cooked. Am I supposed to take anything out of the cavity? Is there anything in the cavity? I may try this for some dinner guests we are having in a week. Thank you!
Marissa – It depends on the chicken you buy. Often, the cavity is empty. Occasionally, there will be a small pouch with the gizzard, neck, etc. In it. You’ll want to remove the pouch if there is one before cooking it. You can use those pieces to make a gravy, if you like. I’m not a huge fan of this type of gravy, so I usually discard the contents of the pouch if there is one. Hope that helps!
said in falsetto. “SAVE THE LIVER” a la Dan Ackroyd on SNL
HA HA HA!!! You have me cracking up!!!
I’m wondering how this would work for the Weight Watchers program? It sounds wonderful.
Noreane – I’m not well-versed in the points system for Weight Watchers, but if you remove the skin before eating, it’s a very healthy, lean protein with lots of flavor and minimal fat. Best of luck!
Can we cook it on low for 6-7hours?
Yes, you can! It may dry out a little bit, but you can!
I have mixed feelings about my experience with this… The minced rosemary made the spice mix clump together, so I couldn’t really sprinkle it over the chicken. I just kinda glommed blobs onto it and mashed ’em around with a spoon. I did not get a very good spread. And then I cooked it on low for 8 hours, because I wanted it out of my way for longer while I did other things. The chicken turned out ridiculously tender. The whole thing just fell apart. But the lemon was SO STRONG. And I love lemon. I had to discard the onions and the liquid, which made me very sad. Some of the chicken was borderline icky due to how overpoweringly lemony it was. Based on your description, I’m wondering if that’s because I cooked it so long. I think I’ll give this another try, but on high as the directions dictate. Also, a tip for anyone as derpy with cooking as myself, cut the root off the onion before putting it in the crock. I had to break it down and spread it around in the bottom for the chicken to fit. I agonized over that decision for a while… lol Thanks for the recipe, and I’ll keep you posted on Take 2!
★★★★
Sherwood – Sounds like you have a great plan for next time! Thanks so much for the feedback 🙂
Cooked my second chicken on high for 3 hours to much better effect! I actually had an intact carcass instead of a pile of bones, and I got to experience the joy of carving a chicken for the first time due to it not just disintegrating. While the juices were still too lemony to salvage, I’ve been using the sweet, tender onion on sandwiches. I think I would still reduce the number of lemons used if I made this again. Also, I mixed the rosemary in with the rest of the spices at the last second so it didn’t have a chance to clump up, and I was able to actually sprinkle the bird. Thanks again for the recipe!
★★★★★
Thank you SO much for reporting back Sherwood! I’ve been thinking about this recipe since your last comment! I think I need to make it again myself soon to see about the lemon issue!
My pleasure! Happy to help any way I can in return for the wonderful recipes you lovely bloggers provide me.