This slow cooker whole chicken is a rotisserie style seasoned chicken made with the help of the crock pot. It’s a super easy dinner option and the leftover chicken can be used in countless other dishes!
I love rotisserie chicken, but it can be pricey and is often filled with sodium and sometimes even preservatives and other questionable ingredients. This slow cooker roasted chicken has just a few minutes of prep time, you can set it in the morning and come home to have dinner waiting for you! You simply can’t go wrong with slow cooker comfort food classics like slow cooker brisket, slow cooker beef bourguignon and a whole chicken. This is an all time favorite recipe in my house, along with my famous baked chicken wings.
For the longest time, every time I went to Costco I’d pick up one of their rotisserie chickens for a cheap and easy meal. Then one day I read the ingredient list, and there are some additives in those chickens that I’d rather not feed my family. This slow cooker whole chicken is SO easy to make, and you can have a fresh cooked rotisserie style chicken any time you want with more natural ingredients!
Can you cook a whole chicken in a slow cooker?
Yes you can! The first step is to choose your chicken, I like to use organic whenever possible. You want to make sure that your chicken will fit inside your crock pot, I use my larger oval crock pot for this task which is big enough to accommodate almost any sized chicken. If you’re using a smaller round slow cooker, opt for a smaller bird.
The chicken gets coated in a simple spice blend, then placed in the slow cooker atop a ring of foil. The foil acts as a rack to keep the chicken from steaming in its own juices as it cooks.
Is it safe to cook a whole chicken in a slow cooker?
It is safe to cook a whole chicken in a slow cooker, but it’s typically recommended that you cook the chicken on high heat for at least one hour for food safety purposes. This recipe calls for cooking the chicken on high heat for the entire cook time.
How long will it take to cook a chicken in a slow cooker?
It typically takes 3-4 hours to cook a chicken on high heat in the slow cooker, and 8 hours to cook on low heat. As mentioned above, if you plan to cook your chicken on the lower heat setting, be sure to let it cook at high for one hour before you switch to low to make sure the chicken is at the correct temperature for food safety purposes.
At the end of your cook time, you’ll have a juicy and flavorful bird!
At this point, your slow cooker chicken is just missing one thing: that golden brown skin normally associated with rotisserie chicken. I transfer my chicken to a baking pan and broil it for about 5 minutes to get that beautiful golden brown skin that everybody loves.
When I cook a 5 pound chicken for my family, we typically end up with plenty of leftovers which I use to create dinner for the next night.
Once you try this slow cooker whole chicken, you’ll never want to go back to store bought rotisserie chicken again!
Ideas for your leftover chicken
- Chicken Taco Soup
- Chicken Ranch Tacos
- Chicken and Wild Rice Soup
- Buffalo Ranch Chicken Dip
- Chicken Taquitos
Slow cooker whole chicken video
Slow Cooker Whole Chicken
Ingredients
- 5 lb whole chicken neck and giblets removed
- cooking spray
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 1 teaspoon pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 tablespoon smoked paprika
Instructions
- In a small bowl, mix together the brown sugar, salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder and smoked paprika.
- Coat a large slow cooker with cooking spray. Roll a piece heavy duty aluminum foil into a ring shape to fit into the slow cooker as a rack.
- Place the chicken on top of the foil ring. Rub the spice mixture all over the chicken.
- Cover and cook on HIGH for 3-4 hours or until thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the thigh registers at 165 degrees or higher.
- Transfer the chicken to a sheet pan or baking dish and broil in the oven for 4-5 minutes or until chicken skin is brown and crispy. Serve.
Notes
- Nutritional facts assume calorie and fat counts for skin. If you're looking to cut calories, remove the skin before eating.
Do you have recommendations for how to make this in an Instantpot?
Here’s my Instant Pot whole chicken: https://www.dinneratthezoo.com/instant-pot-whole-chicken/
Delicious. Threw the chicken in the slow cooker, 2kg, rubbed spices all over, didn’t use oil, and was so tender. Very nice chicken rub and recipe.
Can I use McCormick rotisserie chicken seasoning instead ??
That should be fine!
This is the best chicken ever and ohhh so easy. Made it as written last month and making again this coming Sunday. Absolutely wonderful and melt in your mouth. Drippings made an excellent gravy. Highly recommend.
Ok to use regular paprika if you don’t have smoked paprika in hand?
Yes that’s fine!
Yes. It will probably be better with regular paprika. Personally, I use Old Bay for rotisserie style chicken.
Turn out great
Does the chicken need to be thawed
Yes it should be thawed!
I do put frozen chickens in the show cooker. Again about 2kg, but I’d leave it on low for 6 to 8 hours.
How thick should the tinfoil ring be? How far should the chicken be separated from the bottom of the cooker?
It just needs to be about 1/2-1 inch off the bottom.
This just made the most flavorful and delicious whole chicken I’ve ever made! The gravy from the juices is so good!! Excellent recipe! Highly recommend!!
I have never used a slow cooker. Is there one you would recommend?
I recommend either Hamilton Beach or Crock Pot brand, you want at least a 4 quart size, possibly a 6 quart depending on the size of your family.
I made three chickens for friendsgiving (in three different crockpots lol)! I wanted something easy but tasty and this really fit the bill. I did not end up broiling it because I had too much going on in the oven, so I just sorta pieced it off/shredded it because it just fell right off the bone – soooo tender and tasty!! You can also make your own gravy with the juices and the tinfoil rack makes it easier 🙂
Glad you mention organic and going for healthy ingredients but the aluminum has been associated with dementia / Alzheimer’s so I precise to place carrots or potato or such on the bottom first and that works great. Thanks for the info here – I needed to know how long to cook and so helpful!
You can also just use stalks of celery and cross cross like a rack if you don’t want to use potatoes
Thank you for sharing this info! So many people are not aware how bad aluminum is for them. I like to cut thick onion on the bottom of mine 🙂
Thank you for this!!!! I was scrolling through the comments trying to figure out a way to do this without the aluminum. 🙂
Me too & also could potatoes & carrots be added.
If you have an IP seems like you could use the rack that comes with that in the slow cooker for elevation. Haven’t tried it yet to see if it fits but I’m making a mental note to try it myself since I just thought of it. 🙂
Making mine now and the trivet from my instapot worked perfectly to sit the chicken on!
This recipe was so easy and it was absolutely delicious!! The rub really enhanced the natural chicken flavors and browned up nicely under the broiler! I used the foil ring (great idea!) and also put 2 carrots, 2 celery ribs and an onion on the bottom – I discarded these at the end and made gravy with the dripping and juice. Loved it! Thank you, Sara!
I don’t understand how to do the foil…..can someone help!
There is a video above the recipe card that shows how to make the foil ring. If you have an ad blocker, you’ll need to turn it off to view the video.
Shld I put in any water broth? So it doesn’t dry out I will be cooking it while I’m at work that’s why I ask
The chicken will release liquid as it cooks so you don’t need to add water.
I can’t picture how you’re rolling this aluminum foil into a ring I wish you had a picture of that
It shows how to do it in the video above the recipe card!
Would adding white wine to the bottom of the crock pot negatively alter the final outcome?
That should be fine!
Is it too spicy with the amount of pepper and paprika? I’m no use to using that much…
It is not spicy at all!
I have been using this recipe for about a year or so now, and my family loves this so much! Actually my family pretty much loves all of your recipes lol. So thank you for sharing with the rest of us. I really do appreciate it! This page is bookmarked. ☺️
What an amazing a easy recipe! I have never cooked a whole chicken in the crock pot and it turned out better than in the oven. Next time, I do need to pay more attention to the temperature of the chicken. I actually think I may have cooked it a bit too long, but it was still delicious and moist! The seasonings were perfect. I did add a bit of butter under the breast skin. This is such a better and easy idea to have fresh chicken in the refrigerator ready for lunches. I can’t wait to try your other recipes!
Would it work to cook this one day, refrigerate it overnight, then place under broiler the next day before serving? I would like to take this to my elderly (90s!) parents, who live 2-3 hours away, for a lunchtime meal. I would not have enough time to cook it in the crock pot at their home.
Yes that’s fine!
Hi! I had never cooked a whole chicken in the slow cooker and this came out beautifully. I was worried it would just fall apart but it really didn’t, and placing it under the broiler gave it a nice finish. BOTH my kids loved it which ice a big deal around here. Thanks!