Put this 4-Ingredient Whole Chicken in the Slow Cooker before you go to church, and come home to the softest, most tender chicken ever. The sauce makes it extra delicious.
4-Ingredient Whole Chicken in the Slow Cooker: Ingredients
- Whole chicken with the giblets trimmed away and dried.
- Quantity: 1 whole chicken (3 1/2 to 4 1/2 pounds)
- Notes: Removing giblets prevents bitterness and ensures clean flavor. Drying the chicken helps seasoning stick and improves texture. A whole chicken slow-cooked becomes extremely tender and absorbs the seasoning juices for a rich taste.
- Kosher salt (or table salt)
- Quantity: 2 teaspoons kosher salt (or 1 1/2 teaspoons regular table salt)
- Notes: Salt enhances natural chicken flavor and helps the meat remain juicy and well-seasoned throughout cooking.
- Black pepper
- Quantity: 1 teaspoon
- Notes: Adds mild heat and depth of flavor without overpowering the dish.
- Garlic powder (or minced garlic)
- Quantity: 2 teaspoons garlic powder (or 3-4 cloves garlic, minced)
- Notes: Provides savory garlic aroma and taste that blends beautifully with the slow-cooked juices. Minced garlic gives a fresher, stronger flavor; powder distributes evenly.
Directions
Have it ready in advance before going to church and you come home to the sweetest chicken ever. The sauce is everything.
- Prepare the chicken: Take out the giblets in the cavity, in case they remain. You can run the chicken with cool water, but dry it very well using the paper towels, both inside and out. Even the slow cooker leaves a dry bird with more flavor.
- Generously season: Put the salt pepper, and garlic powder into a small bowl. rub this mixture pervaporation of the chicken–on the breast and legs and thighs, and as much of the inside of it as you can get at. Sprinkle some into the cavity also.
- Optional trussing: You can tie the legs together using kitchen twine and stuff the wing tips underneath the body if you like. This only assists in the cooking of the chicken being more even and in appearance a little neater but is not necessary.
- Prepare in slow cooker: Place the breast part of the chicken facing the slow cooker. There is no liquid required: the chicken will produce its juices of its own that will be released during cooking.
- Bake slowly: Put on Low, cover and cook 6-7 hours, or till the chicken is very tender and the juices run clear when pierced with thigh. You can cook on HIGH some 3 1/2-4 hours, if you choose. At least 165degF should be detected by the instant-read thermometer that was slipped into the thickest section of the thigh (without contact with bone).
- Rest the chicken: The chicken will be very tender and it will be very easy to remove it out of slow cooker and onto a cutting board or platter. Allow to rest approximately 10 minutes in order to separate juices before carving.
- Optional step of crisping: When you want the skin crisper, preheat your broiler when the chicken is resting. Bake the chicken on a baking sheet and run it under the broiler 3-5 minutes, paying close attention, until the skin turns brown and is lightly crisped.
- Serve: Cut the chicken in to breasts, thighs, drumsticks and wings. When you are serving the meat, spoon some of the cooking juices out of the slow cooker or keep the juices to make gravy or soup.
Variations & Tips
- In case you have been raised with a spice cabinet full to the brim, this recipe is a blank canvas to all those usual tastes.
- To add a more traditional Sunday-dinner flavor, add 1-2 teaspoons of dried herbs e.g. thyme, rosemary or a simple poultry seasoning mix to the salt, pepper and garlic.
- To make a farmhouse-style vegetable bed, place thick slices of carrots, onion pieces, and celery pieces in the bottom of the slow cooker, then place the chicken on top; it will absorb the drippings and form a beautiful side or a base of a rustic gravy.
- You want some light touch, stuff half a lemon or quartered onion in the cavity before cooking.
- The viewers of sodium can decrease the salt a little and lean towards more garlic and spices.
- Here is a gift: slice up the scrap of additional meat and use it on chicken sandwich, pot pie, or a huge pot of chicken and noodles and freeze the cooking juices to make a simple broth.
- It is the type of recipe that finds its place in your pantry and your memory and it will always have some variability, but will always be like home.
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