This Slow Cooker Whole Chicken comes out tender and juicy, rubbed with a simple savory herb seasoning. Finish it under the broiler for deliciously crisp skin, and don’t forget to use the drippings in a homemade gravy that might steal the show.
Serve this chicken with garlic ranch mashed potatoes and my favorite roasted broccoli for a complete Sunday dinner your family will love.
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Holly’s Recipe Highlights: Slow Cooker Whole Chicken
- Flavor: Savory and herb-seasoned with a hint of smokiness, and a flavorful gravy that adds a delicious finish.
- Why It’s the Best: Just five minutes of prep, hands-off cooking, and the drippings are turned into a homemade gravy (no flavor wasted!).
- Tools: A 6-quart slow cooker comfortably accommodates a whole chicken weighing about 4 pounds, with enough room for even cooking.
Cook Time: 4 Hrs 5 Mins (5 Min Prep!) Servings: 6 Cooking Method: Slow Cooker
Ingredient Notes
- Whole Chicken: Choose a chicken weighing about 4 pounds that fits comfortably in your slow cooker without touching the lid. Remove the neck and giblets from the cavity, and pat dry before seasoning.
- Seasoning Mix: Paprika, smoked paprika, seasoned salt, garlic powder, black pepper, parsley, and thyme create a savory, smoky roast-style flavor. Swap the seasoning mix for homemade poultry seasoning or chicken seasoning.
How to Make Slow Cooker Whole Chicken
- Coat the chicken with oil and rub with the seasoning mix.
- Set the chicken on foil balls and onion slices in the slow cooker, then cook.
- Broil, then rest the chicken while making the gravy (full recipe below).
Storing Leftover Crockpot Chicken
- Remove the meat from the bones before refrigerating the leftovers (keep these!). Keep the leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.
- Freeze the chicken and gravy separately for up to 3 months. I love to store the chicken bones in the freezer as well to use in my Instant Pot chicken broth.
Set-It-and-Forget-It Chicken Dinners
Did you enjoy this Slow Cooker Whole Chicken and Gravy? Leave a comment and rating below.
Ingredients
- 1 whole chicken about 4 lbs
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 slices onion
- 4 tablespoons cornstarch
- chicken broth optional
Seasoning Mix
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1 teaspoon seasoned salt or to taste
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- ½ teaspoon dried parsley
- ½ teaspoon dried thyme leaves
Instructions
- Combine all seasoning mix ingredients in a small bowl.
- Brush chicken with olive oil and rub seasoning into chicken.
- Roll up balls of foil and place in the bottom of the slow cooker with 2 thick slices of onion. Place chicken on foil, breast side up so it is slightly lifted off the bottom of the slow cooker.
- Cover and cook on low for 7 to 8 hours or high for 4 to 5 hours until the chicken reaches an internal temperature of 165℉.
- Remove the chicken and place it in a small pan. Broil for 3 to 4 minutes to crisp the skin (optional). Rest for 10 minutes before slicing.
Gravy
- Remove foil and onion from slow cooker and turn onto high. If required, add broth to create about 2 cups of liquid.
- In a small bowl, combine 4 tablespoons cornstarch with 4 tablespoons water to create a slurry.
- Whisk about ⅔ of the cornstarch into the drippings/broth and let cook on high. Depending on the amount of liquid you may need to add more of the cornstarch slurry to reach desired consistency. Let cook at least 5 minutes before serving.
- Taste and season with salt & pepper.
Notes
Nutrition Information
Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.
Course Main Course
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Nice guideline to follow for my whole chicken! I used a gourmet collection spice mix and out like three tablespoons on top with some salt. When it was finished i mashed some potatoes and cooked some corn, then layered them all as someone else recommended. It’s super yummy’ Unfortunately my slurry sunk to the bottom too . Do i need to use very cold water to mix the cornstarch? Mine was mostly room temp.
Hi Coral, cold water is the best to mix with cornstarch to ensure it combines completely. You will want to slowly whisk in the slurry to ensure it mixes into the broth.
Finally! A recipe that doesn’t lie about how long it takes for the prep work. (Usually when recipes say “minutes to prep” or “on your table in 20 minutes with only one pan,” I’m there for 2 1/2 hours, between chopping all the vegetables and washing the pan multiple times in between cooking all the vegetables separately in “one” pan, wondering where in the heck I went wrong.) Why? Why must they lie? This recipe doesn’t lie. I spent more time pulling out the crockpot than I did prepping the chicken. Making the gravy was key (I added 3 large sliced mushrooms to it first, and it was amazing!). Served with mashed potatoes, this was the perfect almost no-work Sunday dinner. A million times better than Kentucky Fried Chicken’s famous bowls. Add some fresh corn to it … yummm! And with prices what they are, if you can get a whole chicken for .$99/lb when it’s on sale, this is a great way to feed a family for under $15, all in. Thanks for the great recipe!
So happy you loved this recipe as much as we did, Patty!
With school starting and my children’s crazy schedules for sports etc, I went searching for crockpot recipes and found this. My family loves rotisserie chicken so I am super excited to try this recipe. It is cooking as we speak. I followed the recipe as close as possible, however I did add some Bells seasoning and add a bunch of sage, thyme and rosemary to the cavity of the chicken. Put fresh carrots and potatoes in the crock pot with an onion. Set on low for 8 hours. Can’t wait for dinner!
My new favorite way to cook and eat my homegrown chicken! So tender and flavorful! Thank you.
I have made this 4 times. twice the gravy was perfect almost the minute i added the cornstarch mixture. the other 2 times it was literal water consistency and i could never get it thickened. adding more cornstarch mixture made it a powdery, cornstarchy mess. what gives? what did I do wrong those 2 times? I’m at a complete loss. It sucks to work hard to make this delicious chicken and then have to use yucky powder packaged gravy.
I’m so sorry that happened, Andrea. I can’t say for sure what happened but when using cornstarch it is important to mix it with cold water before adding to the gravy mixture and to whisk in slowly to ensure it mixes properly. Hope that helps!