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.
Great recipe! I found this recipe after I did cook the chicken in a dutch oven in the oven for most of the cook time but switched gears. Putting in the crock pot with the instructions allowed me to walk away to do other things and allowed the meat to fall off the bones with a-lot of flavor and moisture.
Best crock pot chicken ever!! The combination of spices really made it! I did not use as much salt, and I did use twice the amount of brown sugar called for. Towards the end of the cooking time, I basted the top of the chicken with the juices in the bottom of the pot … It was delicious!
dad here. i made this and turned out delicious. left mine on high for 6 hrs didn’t bother with putting in oven. meat fell out the bones. it made a lot of broth. saved extra broth.
17 yr old daughter loved it. served with white rice. not much leftovers since we both had 2 servings. the little leftover we heated tortillas and had chicken tacos with pico de gallo.
wonder if you have a lemon pepper version, that’s what daughter likes she didn’t want this recipe but the aroma got to her and asked for a taste.
Thank You very much
I’ve made this several times and love it. I have a rather large chicken and I’m wondering if I could stuff it before it goes in the slow cooker
I think it could work but you’d need to cook it longer!
Can I cook on low in the crockpot
It’s a safety risk to cook it on low, as the temperature of the chicken may not come to the safe zone quickly enough.
Did you know that if you can hold the temp for an extended period you don’t need to hit 165!!!
The lowest safe temperature to cook chicken is **136°F (57.8°C)** if you can hold it at that temperature for a sufficient amount of time to ensure pasteurization.
The USDA recommends cooking chicken to an internal temperature of **165°F (74°C)** for immediate safety, but lower temperatures can also be safe if held for longer times. The relationship between time and temperature is what allows for pasteurization, which kills harmful bacteria like Salmonella.
Here’s a guideline for safe cooking temperatures and times:
– **136°F (57.8°C)** → Hold for at least **68.4 minutes**
– **140°F (60°C)** → Hold for at least **27.5 minutes**
– **145°F (62.8°C)** → Hold for at least **9.2 minutes**
– **150°F (65.6°C)** → Hold for at least **2.8 minutes**
If you are using a sous vide or other precise cooking method to maintain the temperature accurately, these lower temperatures are safe. However, it’s crucial to ensure that the entire chicken stays at or above the target temperature for the full time.
This is some great info! I always recommend cooking the chicken to 165 as quickly as possible as it’s the safest way to go without constantly monitoring the temperature of the bird.
Say bye bye to grocery store rotisserie chicken, this chicken 10x better. Used a Ninja Possiblecooker for first time on this recipe. Added ~tbs olive oil and tbs warm butter and couple pinches fresh thyme to the dry rub. Put carrot, onion, celery, head of garlic halved under the rack w/ tiny bit of oil and couple tbs of stock. Topped chicken with a few rips of parsley and. I live on gravy so I cook the chicken thinking about how the gravy will result from the ingredients.
I used a fresh 4 lb chicken, it stays very light in color when fully cooked so I cooked it for 3.5 hrs patiently b4 opening to check the temp and it was 200 ish…. Thankfully meat was fantastic. If you’ve ever had an aged steak b4, they can be ‘oily’ compared to fresh beef. That’s how I would describe this chicken. Soft, tender, fatty juicy, full of chicken flavor. I peeled off all the skin, separated the meat. Used slow cooker base/drippings, skin, bones for base of gravy.
I used regular paprika (thankfully) and would use less brown sugar next time. I believe this covered slow cooker method allows the veg under the bird to perfume, esp the onion and garlic. May try the bird breast down next time, seems logical.
Excellent method; the chicken was tender, juicy & falling off the bone. I learned I don’t prefer the smokiness imparted by the smoked paprika, so my preference next time would be to use regular paprika or a completely different seasoning blend. This was a super easy, mostly hands off way to cook a whole bird.
Can I cook 2 – 3lb chickens in the crockpot?
If they fit…how long should I cook them Love?
– Thank you!
You’d need to use a larger pot, like an 8 quart oval. If the chickens are crammed in there without room to circulate it would take significantly longer to cook. For two chickens in a large crockpot where there’s room for the heat to distribute evenly, add one hour.
Could I cook it low for 8 hours…work hours?
Unfortunately that won’t work as the chicken will not come to a safe temperature quickly enough and it could be a food safety issue.
Hello. I want to try this tomorrow I just had a question, do I Just put foil on the bottom of the slow cooker? Please advise
You roll it up into a ring so the chicken can sit on the ring. There’s a demonstration in the video right above the recipe card!
I followed your recipe, almost exactly as written. Before rubbing the spices on the chicken, I did pat my chicken dry with paper towels. I used paprika but not smoked paprika. I also placed my chicken on top of potatoes as suggested, and then finished it off by broiling it for five minutes. The chicken was perfect and tasted great! Thank you for a very easy and tasty recipe!
Hi! I want to try this recipe tomorrow, I know this may be a silly question, but I have a 6 lbs chicken, would you recommend just adding an hour to the cook time? I have little ones so we really need to eat by a certain time so I want to make sure I plan accordingly. Thanks so much!
I think that should work fine!
Great recipe. So easy and clean up was so much easier vs using my roasting pan in the oven.
great looking recipe. I like t cook without using the oven. I will certainly try this. Thanks.
Do you have to put any liquid in the bottom?
It does not need liquid!
This is my go to recipe, its so good. Turns out great every time, and I love the rub. I use cut up potatoes to put the chicken on instead of foil. I put flour in the drippings and it makes a tasty gravy.
Instead of foil, one can use carrots and/or onion slices for the rack.
Yes that’s fine!
This is so easy and so great. Browning under the broiler adds such a nice color and crisp skin. I recommend using Penzey’s Tandoori spice mix for this – such a fantastic combination of flavors.
I have a 2 lb whole chicken and want to cook in crockpot on high. How long do I need to cook it. I am excited to try your crock pot recipe with all the great reviews.
I’d do 2 hours!
I was craving roast chicken without having to turn on the oven (it’s so hot here).
This turned out really well. I had a 3.67 lb chicken, slow cooked on High for about 2.5 hours. It turned out perfectly. I didn’t bother with the oven broiling at the end. It wasn’t dark golden, but it still had a nice light golden color with the dusting of paprika.
I will experiment next time with different seasoning blends – maybe salt, pepper, rosemary and thyme. I feel like adding a little butter would be really yummy too. Thanks so much for a great recipe! Everything I’ve tried on your site so far has been a winner.
Delicious, easy, no fuss! I highly recommend😊