Slow Cooker Lemon Garlic Chicken

Amarante

Tue, Apr 20 2021, 3:57 pm

I have made whole chicken in the crockpot many times but this version with lemon garlic was really delicious. This recipe doesn't specify but I elevated the chicken a tiny bit with three wadded balls of tinfoil as this is how I cook the chicken in the crockpot with my other recipe.

The chicken doesn't emerge pretty because the slow cooking essentially dissolves the bones so the chicken will collapse when you take it out. Also the skin is flabby and not very palatable but the chicken itself will be delicious.

I think you don't need the gravy if you want to make the recipe even simpler.

Slow Cooker Lemon Garlic Chicken

Excerpt From: Sara Kate Gillingham - The Kitchn Cookbook

SERVES 4

Slow cooker recipes are some of our most popular at The Kitchn, and this garlicky, lemon-scented chicken is the most popular of them all. Simply pop a chicken in the slow cooker with a few lemons, a handful of garlic, and some herbs, and then you’re free to read the paper, run errands, play in the park, or go wherever your weekend adventures take you. Come dinnertime, your house will smell amazing and you will have a chicken dinner ready to eat. Press the garlic cloves out of the skins and spread them on baguette slices for an extra treat.

One 4- to 5-pound whole chicken or the equivalent in chicken parts
1 head of garlic, separated into cloves
6 sprigs fresh thyme
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon salt
2 lemons
2 tablespoons soy sauce
¼ cup store-bought or homemade low-sodium chicken stock

FOR THE GRAVY
2 cups low-sodium chicken stock
¼ cup all-purpose flour
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Remove the bag of giblets from the chicken and discard (or reserve for stock). Pat the chicken dry with paper towels.

Peel 3 of the garlic cloves and mince them. Strip the leaves from 2 sprigs of the thyme. Mix the minced garlic, thyme leaves, olive oil, and salt in a small bowl.

Gently work your fingers under the chicken’s skin covering the breast meat and slide them back and forth to separate the skin from the meat without tearing it. Scoop up a dollop of the garlic-thyme mix and work it under the skin, covering both breasts. Rub any remaining seasoning over the drumsticks and thighs. Place the chicken breast side up in a slow cooker large enough to comfortably hold it. (If you are using chicken parts, arrange the thighs and drumsticks on the bottom of the slow cooker with the breasts in a layer on top.)

Juice one of the lemons (about 3 tablespoons juice). Whisk the juice together with the soy sauce and chicken stock and pour over the chicken.

Stuff the rinds of the juiced lemon into the cavity of the chicken along with a few unpeeled garlic cloves. Quarter the remaining lemon and arrange it along with the rest of the unpeeled garlic cloves and the sprigs of thyme around the chicken.

Place the lid on the slow cooker and cook on HIGH for 4 to 6 hours.

Remove the chicken from the slow cooker and allow it to rest on a baking sheet or carving board, tented with foil, for about 20 minutes. The wings and drumsticks may fall away as you lift the chicken.

TO MAKE THE GRAVY

While the chicken is resting, strain the cooking liquid from the bottom of the slow cooker into a measuring cup. Add more water if necessary to make 2 cups of liquid. In a small separate bowl, whisk together the flour with ½ cup of the cooking liquid until no lumps remain. Combine the cooking liquid, flour mixture, and the 2 cups of chicken stock in a saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a simmer and whisk gently until the gravy thickens, 3 to 5 minutes. Remove from the heat. Season the gravy with salt and pepper to taste.

To serve, remove the skin from the chicken and discard. Use your fingers to pull the meat away off the bones; it should come away easily with gentle pressure, but use a knife as needed. Serve the breasts, thighs, and drumsticks right away with gravy, if desired, and tear the remaining meat into shreds for use as leftovers. Leftovers will keep for up to 3 to 4 days refrigerated or for 3 months frozen

Amarante

Tue, Apr 20 2021, 4:41 pm

Here's an example but I just improvise based on how I like rotisserie chicken to taste. You can be extra heavy with spices because slow cookers tend to make foods more bland.

Honestly don't worry if you don't have everything. I do like to put a cut lemon inside any roast chicken. Also do elevate on the tin fall balls and cook with the breast side UP.

When it is defrosted or soft enough you can rub the spices in.

I have never broiled the chicken after cooking. As I posted originally the chicken isn't pretty like a chicken roasted in the oven but the meat is delicious.

This recipe uses veggies on the bottom instead of tin foil but I don't like the veggies cooked in all that chicken fat.

1 1/2 teaspoons paprika
1 teaspoon light brown sugar
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
1 (4-pound) whole roasting chicken
1 lemon, halved
3 sprigs fresh thyme
1 sprig rosemary
2 large carrots, cut into 3-inch pieces
2 celery ribs, cut into 3-inch pieces
1/2 small onion

DIRECTIONS:

In a small bowl, combine paprika, brown sugar, oregano, onion powder, garlic powder, 1 1/2 teaspoons salt and 1 teaspoon pepper.

Remove giblets and excess fat from the chicken cavity. Dry chicken thoroughly with paper towels. Season chicken and chicken cavity with paprika mixture. Stuff cavity with lemon, thyme and rosemary.
Place carrots, celery and onion into a 4-qt slow cooker. Place chicken, breast side up, on top of the vegetables; tie drumsticks together with kitchen twine.

Cover and cook on low heat for 4-5 hours, reaching an internal temperature of 165 degrees F. Remove chicken from the slow cooker; let rest 10-15 minutes.

OPTIONAL: Preheat oven to broil. Place chicken onto a baking sheet and broil until crisp and crusted, about 4-5 minutes.

Serve immediately.

greenhelm

Tue, Apr 20 2021, 5:45 pm

Amarante wrote:

This sounds really tasty!