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
What is the reason for the salt-based rub? Want to try it but low, low sodium restriction makes this difficult. Would Mrs. Dash-like seasoning work for the rub?? I need help♪ Thanks for any ideas♪ Love your blog♥
Clara–You can (which is why most people roast themi n the oven). 🙂 To achieve a similar finished product, you'd want to use a heavy cast iron pot like Le Creuset (or a cheaper knockoff). However…any of those pots will be more expensive than a large slow cooker–I have a large Hamilton Beach slow cooker that I got for less than $30, which is way better than you'd get a heavy cast iron enamel pot for. 🙂
I want to try and make this. Can I use the oven instead of the crock pot? I do not have a normal sized crock pot. I only have a tiny tiny one.
Made this for my husband last night and he LOVED it! Said it was some of the best chicken he had ever had (and he's hard to please). Thanks for the great idea! The garlic under the skin really added a lot of flavor.
I know you have posted recipes that use fauxtisserie chicken in them (or could use it…) but I can never remember what they are. It'd be AMAZING if you had links at the end of the recipe to take you to those. It's just me and the hubby so we have leftovers!
Jennifer–Yep, I'm sure if you can fit two birds in there, it would be fine! 🙂 You might need to increase the cooking time a little, but probably not by more than an hour or so.
I've tried this twice and the whole family loves it! I am wondering though can 2 be cooked at the same time in a larger crock pot? And if so would it still just be 7-8 hours on low? We never have leftovers so I'd like to have one for that reason!
Kathleen–Yes on both counts! 🙂 You can use the rack instead of the balls and you can add veggies.
My slow cooker came with a raised rack… Can I just use that instead of the foil balls?
Also, can I add vegetables? I wasn't sure if they would burn on the bottom if I added potatoes, carrots, etc.
Thanks so much for the recipe! So excited to try it!
Made this for dinner tonight, big hit with the hubby and the kids. So easy! This was very economical, it will be a regular for us.