Slow Cooker Whole Chicken with Gravy

By Ghuman

Introduction

Slow cooker whole chicken with gravy is a delicious and easy meal that can be prepared in a slow cooker. This dish is perfect for busy weeknights or lazy weekends. The slow cooker does all the work, so you can spend more time with your family or doing other things. The chicken is cooked in a flavorful gravy that is made with simple ingredients like butter, onion, garlic, and herbs. The result is a tender and juicy chicken that is full of flavor. Serve this dish with mashed potatoes, rice, or your favorite side dish for a complete meal.

Slow Cooker Whole Chicken with Gravy

Slow cooker whole chicken with gravy is a delicious and easy meal that can be prepared in a matter of minutes. This dish is perfect for busy weeknights or lazy weekends. The slow cooker does all the work, so you can sit back and relax while the chicken cooks to perfection. The gravy is a simple combination of chicken broth, butter, and flour, and it adds a rich flavor to the dish. Serve this slow cooker whole chicken with mashed potatoes, rice, or your favorite side dish.

Ingredients

  • 1 whole chicken (3-4 pounds)
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon black pepper
  • 1 teaspoon garlic powder
  • 1 teaspoon onion powder
  • 1/2 cup chicken broth
  • 2 tablespoons butter
  • 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

Instructions

  1. Season the chicken with salt, pepper, garlic powder, and onion powder.
  2. Place the chicken in the slow cooker and pour the chicken broth over it.
  3. Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours, or until the chicken is cooked through.
  4. Remove the chicken from the slow cooker and set aside.
  5. In a small saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the flour and whisk until combined.
  6. Slowly add the chicken broth from the slow cooker, whisking constantly until the gravy is thick and smooth.
  7. Pour the gravy over the chicken and serve.

This gradual cooker complete rooster recipe makes a straightforward weeknight meal multi functional pot. The enclosed steamy surroundings cooks up juicy meat and tender root greens for a whole dinner. Plus, I’ve a fast and flavorful gravy you may drizzle on high.

If you happen to’re , I even have recipes for cooking a complete rooster within the oven and within the Instantaneous Pot.

whole chicken served on a platter with carrots and potatoes
Desk of Contents
  1. Make a vegetable nest
  2. Rooster choice
  3. Season the cavity
  4. Brush on a flavorful paste
  5. Add liquid to the pot
  6. Cooking period
  7. Relaxation, then slice
  8. Take away the greens
  9. Make a gravy
  10. Put together this meal upfront
  11. Would you like crispy pores and skin?
  12. What to serve this with
  13. Gradual Cooker Complete Rooster Recipe

Are you in search of a straightforward dinner consisting of protein and veggies? This gradual cooker complete rooster delivers an entire meal utilizing your trusty Crock-Pot. I add contemporary herbs and seasonings on the floor and contained in the chook’s cavity for optimum taste, much like making a roasted rooster. The recent and steamy surroundings ensures every bit is fork-tender and juicy.

No must make an additional aspect dish! Hearty root greens like potatoes, carrots, and onions cook dinner together with the rooster, and, over time, they soak up the flavorful juices. You should utilize the drippings on the underside of the pot to create a scrumptious gravy. This recipe yields rotisserie-style rooster outcomes, however with out the oven.

bed of vegetables inside a slow cooker

Make a vegetable nest

For an entire dinner, add chopped greens to the underside of the gradual cooker. I desire waxy forms of potatoes like crimson or Yukon gold as they maintain their form over a protracted cooking interval. I additionally embrace items of crimson onion, celery, and carrots. Sprinkle in massive chunks of garlic, contemporary rosemary, and thyme so as to add pleasant aromas. Because the rooster cooks, the drippings will infuse into the greens.

Rooster choice

I like to recommend a complete rooster about 4 to five kilos in dimension. Any larger, and will probably be tough to suit inside a 6-quart gradual cooker. In case you have a smaller Crock-Pot, selected a lighter weight chook and examine for doneness earlier. The rooster is prepared when it reaches 160 to 165ºF (71 to 74ºC) within the breast’s thickest half, and the thighs attain about 170ºF (77ºC).

Season the cavity

Inserting salt and pepper contained in the cavity makes the meat extra savory all through and never simply on the floor. Because the salt dissolves, it should migrate to different areas for seasoning. I additionally add aromatics like contemporary thyme, rosemary, complete garlic cloves, and lemon wedges. I then tie the legs with twine to make sure the meat doesn’t cook dinner too shortly or dry out. As you chew into every bit, you’ll discover hints of zest citrus, and herbs.

Brush on a flavorful paste

So as to add shade and additional taste to the rooster floor, brush on a flavorful paste. Mix melted butter or olive oil with a beneficiant quantity of paprika, salt, pepper, and freshly chopped thyme. This combine creates a daring seasoning with a crimson hue. Brush it on the underside of the poultry first, then flip over and evenly coat the breast-side. The nice and cozy butter added to the cool rooster creates a hardened crust that sticks to the pores and skin.

Add liquid to the pot

Including liquid into the Crock-Pot just isn’t required to cook dinner a complete rooster as a result of the fats and juices launch and generate steam. Plus, the greens additionally launch moisture from their cell partitions as they soften. Nevertheless, after a number of assessments, including only a small quantity of rooster inventory higher tenderizes the basis greens.

As soon as sizzling, the liquid creates additional steam within the enclosed vessel, which extra quickly cooks the substances. You too can use white wine as a substitute or add half of the liquid quantity for additional taste. The drippings will probably be used to make a scrumptious gravy.

Cooking period

Utilizing the excessive setting, it takes about 4 to five hours to cook dinner the greens and a 5-pound rooster. The low setting takes about 7 to eight hours as a result of it cycles on and off extra steadily, extending the cooking time. Though irrespective of the setting, the vessel’s inner temperature will probably be between 175 to 215°F (79 to 102ºC).

The seasoned and trussed rooster is positioned breast-side up on high of the vegetable nest. There is no such thing as a want for flipping. The chook sits elevated on the greens, permitting the steam to flow into, and it prevents the meat from simmering in its personal drippings.

whole chicken cooking in a slow cooker

Relaxation, then slice

Permit the rooster to relaxation for a minimum of quarter-hour earlier than slicing. The additional time completes any carryover cooking and permits the juices to redistribute into the meat. The result- juicy items. Take a look at my information on find out how to carve a turkey for step-by-step slicing directions -poultry may be very related, simply totally different in dimension.

Take away the greens

The potatoes and carrots must be simply pierced with a fork when prepared. The greens will probably be sitting within the great rooster juices, making them very flavorful. Drain the liquid, and maintain the veggies coated till able to serve. Though, you may as well broil them with the rooster so as to add extra taste and texture.

chopped vegetables cooked inside a slow cooker

Make a gravy

Relying in your rooster (contemporary, frozen, brined) there’s usually 1 to 2 cups of liquid on the backside of the gradual cooker. These taste drippings are stuffed with seasonings and fats, good for making a scrumptious home made gravy.

I prefer to thicken the sauce utilizing 2 tablespoons of butter and flour for each 1 cup of liquid. It’s straightforward to skinny it out with extra rooster inventory as desired. Because the starches within the flour begin to settle down, the gravy consistency will thicken.

Put together this meal upfront

You possibly can add the greens, aromatics, and seasoned rooster contained in the gradual cooker insert and place it within the fridge in a single day. I typically prefer to meal prep the night time earlier than and simply pop the insert into the heating component to cook dinner through the day.

Simply be sure to attend so as to add the rooster inventory till proper earlier than cooking in order that it doesn’t take so lengthy to heat up. A chilly insert may barely lengthen cook dinner time to account for it needing extra time to warmth up. Verify for doneness and add extra time as wanted.

Would you like crispy pores and skin?

The one draw back to cooking rooster within the gradual cooker is that pores and skin doesn’t get crispy. If you wish to go the additional mile, you may brush the floor with olive oil after cooking, then broil till crisp. The method takes about 10 minutes, relying in your oven and the way crunchy you just like the pores and skin with out charring the paprika crust.

What to serve this with

pieces of chicken and vegetables on a plate

The gradual cooker creates fall-off the bone outcomes

Complete chickens include lean chicken, darkish meat, and the carcass. Cooking in a steamy, moist surroundings for a number of hours permits loads of time for any powerful items to interrupt down and soften utterly. Held at 210ºF (99ºC) for a minimum of an hour, the collagen within the bones and connective tissue rework into wealthy gelatin and tender items. The gelatin and bones add lots of physique and taste into the liquid, which is why the gravy tastes so good.

Pin this recipe to avoid wasting for later

Pin This

Rooster

  • 1 pound child crimson potatoes, quartered, about 1-inch items
  • 2 cups celery, reduce into 2-inch items
  • 2 cups carrots, peeled and reduce into 1-inch items
  • ½ crimson onion, peeled and reduce into 4 wedges
  • 4 garlic cloves, peeled and smashed, divided
  • 4 sprigs of rosemary, divided
  • 6 sprigs of thyme, divided
  • 5 pound complete rooster
  • 2 ½ teaspoons kosher salt, divided, plus extra for seasoning
  • ½ teaspoon black pepper, divided, plus extra for seasoning
  • 2 lemon wedges, plus extra for garnish
  • 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted or olive oil
  • 1 ½ teaspoons paprika, candy or smoked
  • 1 teaspoon chopped thyme, or ½ teaspoon dried
  • ½ cup unsalted rooster inventory, or broth

Rooster

  • In a 6-quart gradual cooker, prepare potatoes, celery, carrots, onion, 3 garlic cloves, 3 rosemary sprigs, and 4 thyme sprigs. Place many of the greens in the direction of the perimeters in order that the rooster will be positioned within the heart.

  • Take away the giblets and neck from the rooster. Dry the inside and outside surfaces with paper towels. Therapeutic massage the cavity with ½ teaspoon salt and ¼ teaspoon pepper. Add 1 sprig of rosemary, 2 sprigs of thyme, 1 garlic clove, and lemon wedges to the rooster’s cavity.

  • Tuck the wings again and tie the legs along with butcher’s twine.

  • In a small bowl, mix 2 tablespoons melted butter, 2 teaspoons salt, paprika, and ¼ teaspoon black pepper. Set the paste apart. If the butter hardens, microwave it in 5-seconds intervals to soften.

  • Place the rooster on a sheet pan breast-side down. Brush the seasoning paste over the underside. Flip over and brush the highest of the breast, wings, and thighs. Place the rooster breast-side up on the mattress of greens.

  • Add ½ cup rooster inventory to the pot. Cowl and cook dinner on the “Excessive” setting for about 4 to five hours, or “Low” setting for about 7 to eight hours, or till the breasts attain an inner temperature of 160 to 165ºF (71 to 74ºC), and thighs attain about 170ºF (77ºC). The potatoes must be fork-tender.

  • Place a big spoon within the rooster’s cavity, use it to tilt, and drain the juices into the pot. Switch the rooster to a slicing board and relaxation for quarter-hour earlier than carving. See notes for find out how to make a crispier pores and skin (non-compulsory).

  • Use a big spoon to scoop the greens right into a platter or bowl, cowl with foil to maintain heat.

Gravy

  • Switch rooster drippings to a measuring cup. Add extra rooster inventory till the amount reaches 2 cups.

  • Warmth a medium-sized pan over medium warmth. Soften the butter after which whisk in flour. Whisk and cook dinner till a pale yellow roux types, about 1 to 2 minutes.

  • Step by step whisk in 2 cups of rooster drippings. Flip the warmth as much as medium-high, constantly stir till thickened, about 1 to 2 minutes. Add extra rooster inventory if desired to skinny the sauce, it should thicken extra because it cools. Season gravy with salt and pepper.

To Serve

  • As soon as the rooster has rested, carve it into smaller items and slice the breast. Serve with greens, lemon slices, and gravy on the aspect.

  • For Crispy Pores and skin: Rigorously switch the rooster to a foil-lined baking tray with a wire rack on high. It helps to put a big spoon contained in the cavity to elevate it out of the pot. Brush the floor with olive oil and broil 10-inches away from the highest of the oven till the pores and skin browns, about 5 to 10 minutes.
  • To Brown the Greens: Place the greens on a foil-lined sheet tray. Broil 10-inches away from the highest of the oven till flippantly browned, about 8 to 10 minutes.
  • Make it Gluten-Free: For the gravy, substitute all-purpose flour with gluten-free flour or cassava flour. The liquid for the gravy will also be thickened with a cornstarch slurry. Mix 2 tablespoons of cornstarch with ¼ cup of chilly water. Carry the two cups of rooster liquid/inventory to a boil over medium-high warmth, then slowly whisk within the slurry till thickened, about 1 minute.

Wish to save this recipe?

Create an account simply save your favourite content material, so that you always remember a recipe once more.

Register now

Diet Info

Gradual Cooker Complete Rooster

Quantity Per Serving

Energy 677
Energy from Fats 405

% Each day Worth*

Fats 45g69%

Saturated Fats 14g70%

Ldl cholesterol 156mg52%

Sodium 1176mg49%

Potassium 1258mg36%

Carbohydrates 32g11%

Fiber 6g24%

Sugar 2g2%

Protein 43g86%

Vitamin A 754IU15%

Vitamin C 20mg24%

Calcium 681mg68%

Iron 19mg106%

* % Each day Values are based mostly on a 2000 calorie weight-reduction plan.

Tried this recipe?

Tag @jessica_gavin on Instagram. I might like to see the way it seems!

Tag @jessica_gavin