The public has spoken–faux rotisserie chicken it is! Don’t worry, my little pretties, we’ll have Texas Sheet Cake soon.
Suffice it to say that me + a whole chicken = culinary disaster. I actually once had a real, true panic attack while skinning a whole raw chicken.
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Make 3 balls of aluminum foil and place them in the bottom of your slow cooker. These hold the chicken off the bottom so the hot air can circulate all around the chicken and so it’s not stewing in its own juices.
Rinse chicken, including the cavity, and pat dry with paper towels. Place the chicken on its back so the breast is facing up and the legs are on the plate. If you want (and I actually strongly recommend that you do UNLESS you’re looking for a neutral flavor), pull the skin up all around the chicken. This does involve sticking your hand between the skin and the breast. Oooh, sounds dirty. Slice a few garlic cloves in half lengthwise and stick them under the skin. You can also arrange a couple sprigs of fresh herbs like rosemary, thyme, and/or sage under the skin. This makes a very pretty chicken when it’s all cooked and adds a lot of flavor.
Rub salt-based seasoning VERY liberally onto the skin of the chicken. Place chicken breast-up on the foil in the slow cooker, cover, turn heat to low, and leave it alone for 7-8 hours.
(And by breast side up I mean, completely opposite of the pictures shown in this post. Hey, you try photographing every step of your dinner and see if you make it all the way through without an upside-down chicken every once and a while…!)
This poor guy has no idea what’s coming…
I actually didn’t take it out of the slow cooker for the last picture because it’s so tender that the legs and wings will literally fall off when you pull it out. But that makes for some yummy chicken! Try it with steak fries or Sara’s Stuffed Bleu Cheese Potatoes.
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Instructions:
Make 3 balls of aluminum foil and place them in the bottom of your slow cooker. These hold the chicken off the bottom so the hot air can circulate all around the chicken and so it’s not stewing in its own juices.
Rinse chicken, including the cavity, and pat dry with paper towels. Place the chicken on its back so the breast is facing up and the legs are on the plate. If you want (and I actually strongly recommend that you do UNLESS you’re looking for a neutral flavor), pull the skin up all around the chicken. This does involve sticking your hand between the skin and the breast. Slice a few garlic cloves in half lengthwise and stick them under the skin. You can also arrange a couple sprigs of fresh herbs like rosemary, thyme, and/or sage under the skin. This makes a very pretty chicken when it’s all cooked and adds a lot of flavor.
Rub salt-based seasoning VERY liberally onto the skin of the chicken. Place chicken breast-up on the foil in the slow cooker, cover, turn heat to low, and leave it alone for 7-8 hours. Try it with steak fries or Sara’s Stuffed Bleu Cheese Potatoes.
Questions & Reviews
OMG, how dumb am I? LOL. I have a meat thermometer and checked to make sure it was over 170 before pulling it out, but it never occurred to me that it might get overdone! Shaking my head at myself LOL.
We had this with your steak fries and your worlds best rolls (half of which I turned into cinnamon rolls this a.m.). You rock! My husband told me I'm not allowed to make the cinnamon rolls very often b/c they are "too good" and he can't control himself. Thanks for replying so quickly and for just being awesome!
Mary–It probably just cooked a little too long. Every bird and every crockpot is different, so I would probably just cook it for a little bit less time next time. You can also get meat thermometers pretty inexpensively and just insert it into the thickest part of the breast. When it reads 170, you're good.
Hope that helps!
So I made this tonight, and it came out dry. Any tips on what I did wrong? I made it per the recipe. It had a great flavor, just dry.
Wow I may actually have to try this. And Kate, it's so nice to know that I'm not the only one who has an aversion to meat on the bone in the shape it was when it was alive!
Thank you sooooo much! I'm going to take it out tonight, and stick it in the crock pot tomorrow morning/afternoon-ish. I'm so excited! What's your favorite seasoning to use on the chicken?
Ashlee–Not dumb at all!! You can totally do it frozen, just be sure to rinse it before you rub spices all over it. You also won't be able to loosen the skin, but that's totally okay. Just cook it for 1-2 hours longer and you'll be good. Hope that helps!
I have what might be a really dumb question…Can I put my chicken in frozen or do I need to thaw it out first? I can't wait to try this!!
You know I knew I had seen this recipe somewhere but couldn't remember where! I currently have chicken breast thawing but think I am going to have to head to the store to get a thawed chicken to make up this dish!
I know what you mean by dealing with whole chickens… My biggest issue is remembering all that we went through when butchering them! Ugh…. But it always tastes so delicious! However we have no chickens at the no house so I don't have to think about butchering for a LONGGGGg time!!
Thanks for the recipe!
Awesome! Love this simple Fauxtisserie Chicken! This will help me out a lot and gotta love the crock pot, especially with Fall. How wonderful the house will smell when you walk in from work or errends and find this all done.
Made this tonight- worked out great but it was dry. I cooked for 8 hours, will try closer to 6 next time. The chicken was beautiful when it was done and it smelled wonderful in here all day.
I love the idea of prepping for chicken recipes this way- will definitely keep trying till I get it right.