Crock Pot Chicken from Heaven

This no-brainer crock pot recipe is as easy as it can get

For an easy dinner, nothing beats relying on your crock pot. This crock pot chicken recipe—from Phyllis Good’s new book, Stock the Crock—is truly a slice of heaven. Convenient, delicious, and adaptable to Paleo diets, we’re betting this recipe will soon become a part of your nightly rotation. Read on for the crock pot recipe below, and then check out her book by clicking here.

You’ll need a 6 qt. oval slow cooker
Serves 4 to 5
Prep: 10 to 15 minutes
Cook: 4 to 5 hours.

Chicken Crock Pot Recipe Ingredients:

1 lemon, sliced
4 sprigs fresh rosemary
4- to 5-pound whole chicken
1⁄2 teaspoon salt
1⁄2 teaspoon black pepper
1 1⁄2 to 2 cups chicken broth (make your own, page 256) or dry white wine, or a combination of the two
3⁄4 to 1 pound gluten-free noodles, cooked, optional
1⁄2 pound peeled baby carrots, cooked, optional
1 1⁄2 cups peas, cooked, optional
fresh toppers: fresh rosemary and lemon slices

Method:

1. Grease the interior of the slow cooker crock with butter or nonstick cooking spray.

2. Place the lemon slices and rosemary sprigs into the cavity of the chicken.

3. Holding the chicken over the crock, sprinkle salt and pepper all over the bird. Place it in the prepared crock.

4. Pour the chicken broth and/or white wine down along the sides of the crock so you don’t wash the seasoning off the chicken.

5. Cover. Cook on Low 4 to 5 hours, or until the legs move freely and an instant-read meat thermometer stuck into the breast (but not against the bone) registers 160°F or stuck into the thickest part of a thigh (but not against the bone) registers 175°F.

6. Remove and discard the lemon slices and rosemary sprigs. Cut up the chicken, and serve with noodles, carrots, and peas, if desired. Add fresh rosemary and lemon slices, if desired. Reserve the broth for gravy or as a soup base for another meal.

Good to Know: Simple Swaps

Add 1⁄4 teaspoon garlic powder in addition to salt and pepper in Step 3. After seasoning, put the chicken in the crock, breast down, and sprinkle in a pinch of saffron just before cooking. Saffron isn’t cheap, but it really boosts the wonderful flavor of this chicken!

For more broth, add 3 to 4 cups of water in Step 4.

Place half of an onion into the cavity of the chicken in Step 2 for additional flavor. Remove it in Step 6 before cutting up the chicken.

How to Make It Paleo-Friendly

Use sea salt instead of iodized salt.

Eat the chicken with vegetables (remember, no legumes, potatoes, or grains) for one main meal and with fresh salad ingredients for another (steering clear of commercial salad dressings, of course).

Excerpted from Stock the Crock by Phyllis Good. Copyright © 2017 Oxmoor House. Reprinted with permission from Time Inc. Books, a division of Time Inc. New York, NY. All rights reserved.