slow cooked, tender chicken makes for a healthy and comforting meal.
Skip the rotisserie section and make this Slow Cooker Chicken Pot Roast at home. Warm paprika, seasonal thyme, and also lots of freshly ground black pepper – have I got your attention yet? This slow cooker recipe is perfect to make for a big family meal on a Sunday night as the main dish. Enjoy eating slowly together and then shred up the chicken for tacos, pasta, great sandwiches, and all of your favorite chicken things for the entire week! One bite, and it will hook you!
You can also check out some of our best slow cooker recipes!
A Leaner Pot Roast
I know we all think of “pot roast” as a beef dish. Actually, the term “pot roast” simply means a piece of meat that is cooked slowly in a covered pot. This Slow Cooker Chicken Pot Roast is not only leaner, it’s also easy to achieve a reliable, moist, and flavorful meat every time you make it.
This beautifully browned chicken was cooked in a Set n’ Forget Slow Cooker. We love this slow cooker because you simply add the chicken, put the probe in the fatty part of the thigh, and set the probe to 165 degrees.
The chicken cooks to the set temperature and switches to warm when done. This deliciously simple slow cooker recipe, with its potatoes and root vegetables, is actually a perfectly balanced complete meal for any day of the week!
Ingredients Needed for Slow Cooker Chicken Pot Roast
This list of simple ingredients includes the basics you can use for this delicious recipe, but you can always add or take away depending on what your family will enjoy.
- Whole chicken
- Extra virgin olive oil
- Garlic cloves (could use garlic powder if in a pinch)
- Fresh thyme
- Black pepper
- Paprika
- Kosher or sea salt
- Celery stalks
- Water
- Baby carrots
- Potatoes
Filled with protein and vegetables, this recipe gives you all of the good stuff! Low in sugar but rich in protein and flavor, you will be adding this one to your meal rotation after the first try.
How to Make This Delicious Slow Cooker Dinner
Slow cooking is the perfect way to give your family a delicious dinner and give yourself a break. With the ability to throw everything into the crock pot and let it cook to perfection all day while you’re at work, or doing chores around the house, or even just sitting and reading a book! There is also less clean-up to mess with afterward, especially if you throw in a slow-cooker liner before you begin.
To start, rinse and dry the chicken before rubbing it down with some olive oil. This helps the herbs and spices really stick to the skin, giving the most flavor. Put some of the minced garlic, salt, and pepper into the cavity of the chicken. You want this to be a flavorful chicken from the inside all the way to the outside. Add some water to the slow cooker to prevent the meat from becoming dry. Then, add in some of the celery before you place the chicken into the slow cooker. The celery will work as a barrier to keep the chicken from browning too much on the bottom.
Next, you can place potatoes and carrots around the chicken and top with your fresh herbs and other seasonings. Cook on low heat for about 6 hours. If you need a shorter cooking time, you could probably do it on high for a shorter time, but we really recommend the slow cooking option to make sure it stays nice and moist throughout the process. Either way, make sure the chicken’s internal temperature reaches between 165-170℉ and the surrounding veggies are tender.
If you prefer a little more browning or crispy skin, you can remove the chicken from the slow cooker at the end of the cooking time and place it in a large roasting pan to broil. Just be sure and keep an eye on it, as it won’t take very long.
If you’ve never worked with a whole chicken in a recipe before, check out these tips on how to cut a whole chicken.
Want to Add More Vegetables?
If potatoes and carrots aren’t your favorite additions, you can always try some different options to find the best things that work for you and your family. Cooking is really just a big experiment or game. It doesn’t always have to be done just as written.
Maybe your family really loves green beans, sweet potatoes, small onions, cremini mushrooms, turnips, or other root vegetables. Finding ways to bring as much flavor to the dish as possible will make it more of a hit! This is an easy meal to get your family members involved in. Give them some options of what to add in. Oftentimes, when someone feels more involved in the process, they are more likely to enjoy the final product.
Need to Store Leftovers?
Slow Cooker Chicken Pot Roast is a great recipe to have on a weeknight when you don’t have a lot of time, but also will be delicious the next day.
Just store any leftovers you have in an airtight container for up to around 3-5 days. You could warm up as is or shred the chicken before storing it and use it for delicious sandwiches, chicken tacos, or chicken salad.
We would love to hear from you on what you feel is the best way to utilize these yummy leftovers!
More Slow Cooker and One-Pot Dinners
Rotisserie chicken is one of the most versatile protein sources when it comes to creating different dinners. This can be a game changer when it comes to providing healthy meals with as little effort as possible. For more chicken deliciousness, check out these One Pot Chicken Recipes for Any Day of the Week!
While we love this slow cooker chicken pot roast, we also know that sometimes you might want something a little different.
Here are a few of our favorite slow cooker meals that you can make for Sunday dinner and then use up leftovers as the week goes on!
- Mississippi Pot Roast
- Slow Cooker Pot Roast
- Slow Cooker Minestrone
- Slow Cooker Chunky Beef and Potato Stew
- Slow Cooker Paella
- Slow Cooker Spinach Artichoke Chicken
- Slow Cooker Moroccan Chicken
You can also use your slow cooker for dessert with this amazing Slow Cooker Fudge!
Slow Cooker Chicken Pot Roast
Ingredients
- 1 chicken large, roasted
- 2 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil
- 2 garlic cloves minced
- 2 teaspoons fresh thyme
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 1 teaspoon kosher or sea salt
- 2 celery stalks
- 1/4 cup water optional
- 1 cup baby carrots
- 2 potatoes medium, cut into 1-inch cubes
Instructions
- Rinse and pat dry chicken. Rub the outside of chicken with olive oil. Combine spices and rub on the outside of the chicken. Place minced garlic in the cavity along with a little more salt and pepper. Add water to the slow cooker, next the celery and the chicken on top, breast side up. The celery prevents the chicken from browning too much on the bottom.
- Add carrots and potatoes around chicken. Cover and cook on low 6 hours or until chicken has reached an internal temperature of 165-170 degrees and veggies are tender. Use a meat thermometer to check for doneness or pierce with a fork, to make sure the juices run clear.
- For extra browning, carefully remove chicken from the slow cooker, place in a large roasting pan and broil until desired color has been reached. Garnish chicken with fresh thyme, if desired.
Notes
Nutrition Information
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This looks interesting! Can't say that I would have thought about cooking a chicken this way before seeing your post.
Our family loves chicken and with the way I work, this works out great and they get a good meal too.
I can't wait to try this. I rarely use a whole chicken as my family is not that keen on the dark meat. Would this be good with just using chicken breasts (with skin on and bones in)?
Lisa, Sure that would work as well. You will likely have to reduce the cooking time…start with an hour less and check for doneness.
Chrissy, Not so much…you’ll need to place in the oven to brown to desired color.
I made two of these this weekend, they cooked for 6 hours on low (one in each crock pot). They were so tender and juicy they were falling off the bone! The only thing I did differently, I doubled the spices for each chicken, and added coriander. Simply amazing!!
My kids just DEVOURED this chicken! So easy and our whole family absolutely loved it. Definitely a winner for this household. Only problem is I don't think it was enough! They ate more than I anticipated. May need to put one in each crock pot next time to make sure we have enough!
I made this today… even have the same kind of crock pot as that recommended. It just beeped that it is to temp, but by gosh, my chicken doesn't look even slightly browned like the delicious looking one in the picture. 🙁 Not sure if I did something wrong….?? Hopefully it will still taste delicious!
Debbie, Here are instructions for browning: To brown the chicken, carefully remove from the slow cooker, place in a large roasting pan and broil until desired color has been reached.
Are the carrots and potatoes included in the nutrition facts?
Yes, they are:)
Add an apple in the cavity of the chicken instead of water. This will give it plenty of juice.
How is it only 2 points? It doesn't have a serving size, only says it serves 6.
Heidi, I just redid the calculations and it's actually 4 points. 1/6th of the recipe is the serving size. The roasting chicken should be large.
Another all time favorite! I love how tender, juicy, and flavorful the chicken is! It really does just fall apart. The potatoes and carrots are delicious along with it. 🙂
When I suggested us making our own whole chicken to my husband, he was really skeptical. He says, "It's cheaper to buy a rotisserie chicken at Wal-Mart." and I just can't believe that considering the chicken is $0.95 a pound ($6 for a 6 lb chicken!). I think this recipe will be different in terms of taste but from the reviews it sounds worth trying and making a believer out of my husband!
It says to discard the skin, why?
Michelle Lass Parrinello, Remove the skin if you don't want to eat the fat that's in the skin. For those who never eat poultry skin due to the fat content/ don't like it is still a good idea to cook with the skin on to seal in the juices and remove the skin after cooking. If you like the skin, you can keep it on.
What do you do if you do not have probe as part of the slow cooker..
Lyn, After 4 hours, use a meat thermometer inserted in the thigh to check that the temperature is at least 165 degrees. Once it's that way, it's safe to eat. Another method home cooks usually use is just to see that the juices run clear and the chicken is not pink, no thermometer necessary.
Can you use sweet potato instead of the white potato
Michelle, Yes, you can use sweet potatoes in place of white potatoes.
I love the idea of slower cooker recipes because everyone says you can come home from work and eat. However most recipes, like the one above says to cook from 4-6 hours. I work an 8 hour day with a 25 min. drive to and from work, so I am looking at about 10 hours in the crockpot. Is cooking on low like the recipe recommends above, going to over cook the meal?
Shawn J., I think you would be fine, but we can’t promise it won’t be overcooked. The ideal thing would be to cook on low for 6 hours then it
automatically goes to warm. Of course not all slow cookers have that feature. The 10 hours on low should work, if your slow cooker doesn’t have that feature.
The Chicken Pot Roast won’t be ruined just fall-off-the-bone extremely tender. You should also make sure there’s enough liquid so that it doesn’t dry out, so you would want to add 1 cup more liquid than the recipe calls for, either one cup of chicken broth or water, if cooking for 10 hours on low.
Just an extra tip for the crock pot users. I use a security timer to manage the crock pot while I’m at work. These are the light timers that you can find easily during Christmas time for tree lights. Everything goes in before I leave for work and I set the timer to switch the pot on and off as needed. Might be a little cold when I get home but it works for me.
can you do lamb shanks this way in slow cooker
Yes! Lamb shanks would be a delicious substitute in this recipe. Just keep in mind lamb will change the nutritional information.