Okay seriously, this is FREAKING AMAZING. I usually make whole chickens in the oven, but I saw this recipe HERE and decided to give it a try... SO GLAD I DID!!! So easy and so good!
Of course, I had to change the recipe a little, but nowhere near what I usually do.
So here you go:
In a large crockpot:
#1- Roughly chop 1 large white onion and place on the bottom of crockpot.
#2- Take a 3-4 pound whole chicken... remove all the yucky crap from inside (giblets, neck, liver, etc)... rinse it, pat it dry with a paper towel...
#3- Rub the seasoning mix (below) all over it... inside and out, on top of the skin and under the skin.
#4- Place chicken on top of the onion.
#5- Cook in slow cooker... 5 hours on high, or 8 hours on low.
#6- Eat.
#7- Reserve all bones, skins, etc... leave them in the crockpot until after dinner.
The spice/rub mixture is pretty straight forward... I kind of "heaped" all the measurements cause I like flavor. :)
2 tsp paprika
1 tsp salt
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp thyme
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp majoram
1 tsp rosemary
1/2 tsp sage
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1/4 tsp black pepper
The ingredients are pretty flexible... whatever spices you have on hand, or that you know you like. I added a few things that I LOVE with chicken, but that she didn't have listed. But it's a good basic starting point. And SERIOUSLY, you don't need to add any liquid at all. I got nervous about 3 hours in and added some water, and I totally didn't need to!!!
I don't have any pictures of nicely sliced chicken because it can't be sliced. It just falls right off the bone. I do, however, have one picture of the left over chicken in tupperware, which I only barely remembered to take. I was too hungry to remember to take any pretty "on plate" pictures.
And after you're done eating your fabulous and MOIST chicken dinner... it's SUPER EASY to make THE BEST CHICKEN BROTH you've ever had. Seriously, the chicken was good, but the broth is TO DIE FOR.
So you have all the bones and skin and fat and junk in the crockpot. Now just fill it with water, and leave it cooking on "low" all night.
That's it. You can add a couple carrots or some celery if you want. And I got too busy the next day and just left it on all day again, until I needed it to make dinner (chicken soup with the extra chicken from the day before).... just strain it through a very fine strainer to get out all the bones and crap.
But it was AMAZING. It definitely needed some salt, but it was dark and rich and so freaking yummy.
You can't find broth like this in the store. It looks more like beef broth, and it is so amazing!
That's it. You can add a couple carrots or some celery if you want. And I got too busy the next day and just left it on all day again, until I needed it to make dinner (chicken soup with the extra chicken from the day before).... just strain it through a very fine strainer to get out all the bones and crap.
But it was AMAZING. It definitely needed some salt, but it was dark and rich and so freaking yummy.
You can't find broth like this in the store. It looks more like beef broth, and it is so amazing!
It made so much broth that I was able to make a GIANT pot of chicken soup (which is already gone, thank you) and still had almost 2 cups of broth left over, which I froze for later use. I usually get about 4 quarts of broth every time I do this, but I think that is just because of the size of my crockpot. I'm sure it varies with the size of your crockpot.
It needs some serious amounts of salt added to it, but you can just do that to taste.
It needs some serious amounts of salt added to it, but you can just do that to taste.
My whole chicken came in a 2-pack, and I was going to freeze the other bird... and now I can't wait to make it again... so we'll be having this dinner again this week!
Hope you enjoy it as much as I did!!! :)
