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GET IT NOWHi Crock Pot Whole Chicken, Meet Crispy Skin
When I know I’ll have a busy night, I throw a whole chicken in the Crock Pot and know I won’t have to worry about dinner. It’s so simple, but a sure way to have a meal my whole family will enjoy without much effort. Here’s why this slow cooker whole chicken stands out:
- Juicy, flavorful chicken – I almost always put garlic butter under the skin (including my roasted chicken, spatchcock chicken, and air fryer whole chicken), and the herby, garlicky flavor is just as amazing here — even with the melt-in-your-mouth tenderness the slow cooker already provides.
- Skin that’s actually crispy – Many whole chicken Crock Pot recipes end up with soggy skin, which I can’t stand. My recipe has a quick step at the end to get the skin irresistibly crisp!
- Easy to make – Just 15 minutes of prep with simple ingredients, then let the slow cooker do the rest. And I like that it frees up oven space for sides.
- Versatile for any occasion – From busy weeknights to cozy Sunday evenings, or even as a centerpiece for a smaller Thanksgiving dinner, this is my ultimate all-purpose recipe.
Next time you have a hectic evening coming up, make this Crock Pot whole chicken with me and you’re set!
Ingredients & Substitutions
Here I explain the best ingredients for my slow cooker whole chicken recipe, what each one does, and substitution options. For measurements, see the recipe card.
- Chicken – PSA: Make sure your bird fits your Crock Pot! Mine was 5 pounds, but any size works as long as it fits.
- Onion – Rather than placing the whole chicken in the Crock Pot directly, I like a bed of onions underneath it, which helps it cook more evenly and adds flavor from the steam. I used yellow onion, but any kind works — just chop it into big pieces.
- Butter – You can also use ghee for a dairy-sensitive option. I don’t recommend liquid oils, like olive or avocado, because they’re too hard to spread under the skin.
- Garlic – You’ll need it minced for the garlic butter (fresh is best, but I’ve used 2 teaspoons of jarred minced garlic or even 1/2 teaspoon of garlic powder when I didn’t have enough) and whole cloves for the cavity.
- Herbs – My go-to combo for this recipe is thyme, rosemary, and parsley. Sage, oregano, or basil are great, too. (See my compound butter recipe for more ideas!) And while I prefer fresh herbs, you can substitute a few teaspoons of dried if you need to.
- Spices – Paprika, sea salt, and black pepper. Feel free to add a little cayenne pepper for a kick.
How To Cook A Whole Chicken In A Crock Pot
I have step-by-step photos here to help you visualize the recipe. For full instructions with amounts and temperatures, see the recipe card.
- Prep the bed of onions. Pat the chicken dry inside and out with paper towels. Grease your slow cooker (I have this one) with butter and toss in the onion pieces.
- Make the compound butter. In a small bowl, mash the softened butter with the minced garlic, thyme, rosemary, parsley, paprika, salt, and pepper.
- Butter the chicken. Place the whole chicken breast side up over the onions (or on a cutting board first if that’s easier). Use your hands to gently separate the skin from the meat, working around the breast, thighs, and legs. Spread half the herb butter under the skin, and the rest over the top and sides of the chicken. (For most other recipes I butter only underneath the skin to avoid burning, but with slow cooker whole chicken, it’s fine to do both!)
- Stuff the cavity. Place the whole garlic cloves, along with more fresh herbs, inside. Tie the legs with twine.
- Walk away and let it cook. Cover and cook the whole chicken in the Crock Pot until it hits 160 degrees F — it’ll finish cooking in the next step. When it’s done, you can toss the onions (they’re mushy at this point), but I like to save the juices for broth or gravy!
- Crisp up the skin. Move the oven rack close to the top and preheat the broiler. Pop the chicken in a roasting pan, baking sheet, or baking dish, and broil until golden and crispy. Tent with foil and let it rest before carving. I placed my whole chicken back in the slow cooker for the last picture below — it’s a great way to keep it warm before serving!
My Recipe Tips
- Don’t have onions? You can use halved carrots, celery stalks, or other root vegetables to keep the chicken raised. Any hearty veggies are better than nothing at all.
- Soft butter makes spreading so much easier! I usually leave it on the counter for 30-60 minutes. If you forget, you can soften it by placing it into a small bowl over a second bowl of warm water, or run a stainless steel or glass bowl under very hot water and then place it upside down over your stick of butter.
- To spread the butter evenly under the skin, it helps to stuff dollops underneath and then press on top. I also prefer this method because it runs less risk of tearing the skin.
- It’s okay if the garlic butter on top clumps at first. This happens because the chicken is cold. If your garlic butter didn’t spread well in the beginning, you can spread it an hour into cooking. Just lift the lid after an hour and use a pastry brush to spread. I don’t recommend melted butter from the beginning, because it drips off the bird too fast.
- Breast side up or breast side down? Some slow cooker whole chicken recipes suggest breast side down to avoid drying out the white meat, and I used to do it this way. But for this particular recipe I now recommend breast side up — the garlic butter stays on better.
- Cook time can vary widely depending on the size of your chicken. I check on it starting at 5 hours on Low, or after 3 hours on High. And although Crock Pot whole chicken is pretty forgiving, I love this meat thermometer to avoid drying out. Aim for an internal temperature 160 degrees F for the slow cooking step, and then it finishes when it broils and rests. But if it goes a bit higher, it’s not a dealbreaker.
- Keep an eye on the broiler — it can burn the garlic butter quickly! I check every minute or so.
- Save the broth at the bottom. I like to strain it and freeze it in small portions for other healthy recipes later. You can also simmer it in a small saucepan with 1-2 tablespoons of arrowroot powder (my go-to) or cornstarch to make a gravy.
- Can you cook it from frozen? There is some disagreement on whether you can cook frozen whole chicken in a slow cooker. Poultry manufacturers say it’s okay, but the USDA recommends thawing poultry first. Either way, you have to thaw before making my slow cooker whole chicken recipe, because you won’t be able to get the compound butter underneath the skin when it’s frozen.
Whole Chicken In A Crock Pot
Make the best whole chicken in a Crock Pot with my easy slow cooker recipe! It's fast to prep, with a juicy inside and crispy skin.
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Instructions
Tap on the times in the instructions to start a kitchen timer.
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Use paper towels to pat the chicken dry inside and out. This will help the herb butter stick better. (For food safety reasons, it's better NOT to rinse it.)
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In a small bowl, mash together the butter, 4 cloves minced garlic, 6 sprigs chopped thyme, 2 sprigs chopped rosemary, chopped parsley, salt, paprika, and pepper. (If your butter is not super soft, first soften it by placing it into a small bowl over a second bowl of warm water.) Set aside.
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Grease the bottom of a Crock Pot with more butter. Place the onion pieces into the slow cooker. (The onion will help keep the chicken raised.) Place the whole chicken, breast side up, on top of the onions.
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Starting from the cavity side of the chicken, gently insert your hands underneath the skin to separate the skin from the meat, including the breast, thighs and legs. (Be careful not to tear the skin.) Use your hands to rub half the garlic herb butter all over underneath the skin. Rub the remaining butter all over the top and sides of the chicken.
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Stuff the remaining whole garlic cloves (6-10 cloves), remaining 2 whole rosemary sprigs, and remaining 6 whole thyme sprigs inside the chicken cavity. Tie the legs together with kitchen twine. If necessary, reposition the chicken and onions so that the chicken is sitting on top and the onions are elevating the chicken.
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Cover and cook whole chicken in the Crock Pot for 5-8 hours on Low or 3-4.5 hours on High, until the internal temperature reaches at least 160 degrees (72 degrees C) inside (it will rise another 5 degrees during broiling and resting). If your garlic butter didn't spread well in the beginning, you can lift the lid about an hour into cooking and use a pastry brush to spread the herb butter more evenly over the top and sides of the chicken. (Don't use melted butter from the beginning because it will all drip off the chicken too fast.)
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When the chicken is done, discard the onions but save the liquid below, which you can use as chicken broth in recipes!
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Optional step for crispy skin: Toward the end, preheat the oven broiler and place the rack close to it, with just enough room for the chicken to fit underneath. Transfer the chicken to a baking dish (use the biggest size in this set) or a roasting pan, breast side up, and broil for 4-6 minutes, until browned.
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Let the chicken rest for 10 minutes on a platter or cutting board, tented with foil, before carving.
LAST STEP: Leave a rating to help other readers, or tag me @wholesomeyum on Instagram. I’d love to hear from you!
Maya’s Recipe Notes
Serving size: 1/6 of the chicken, or about 8 ounces without bones
- Tips: Check out my recipe tips above to help you avoid common issues like uneven cooking, dry chicken, or burnt skin. I also have tricks for spreading the butter, what you can do with the liquid at the bottom, and notes on cooking from frozen.
- Storage: You can wrap the entire chicken in foil, but I prefer to remove the meat from the bones so I can store in an airtight container, along with a little broth. Leftovers will keep in the fridge for up to 4 days.
- Meal prep: You can chop the onions and butter the chicken the day before if you like. I often do! You can also cook the whole chicken ahead to use in other meals. I’ve used the meat in so many ways, like chicken bacon ranch casserole, creamy chicken salad, Cobb salad, or tossed into healthy soup recipes.
- Reheat: I usually reheat in the oven with some broth in the baking dish, but you can also place the chicken in the Crock Pot again to warm up.
- Freeze: Shred the meat, add some broth, and freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator.
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Whole Chicken In A Crock Pot
Serving Ideas
All this Crock Pot whole chicken recipe needs is some delicious healthy sides to go with it. Try one (or two!) of my reader favorites:
- Vegetables – I like sauteed veggies or air fryer green beans when I need something really fast that night. If you have more time and prefer something hands-off, oven roasted vegetables are a great option. My fave is roasted cauliflower year round, but I’m partial to root vegetables or buttercup squash in the fall and winter.
- Salad – My kale salad or Greek salad are wonderful for a light side. Try sweet potato salad for something more hearty.
- Potatoes – You can actually place them in the bottom of the slow cooker, but I’m not a big fan of the texture unless it’s in pot roast. Instead, I recommend roasted potatoes, or for a quicker option, baked potatoes in the air fryer. When I want something lighter, cauliflower mashed potatoes are it.
50 Comments
Steve
1I’d like to give this recipe 6 stars!
Better than rotisserie chicken from the store. A little messy with all the herbs, but that’s part of the fun with chicken.
White meat was tender and juicy, dark meat melts in your mouth.
Kristen
1This was so good and juicy, and it was beyond easy to make. I typically can’t follow recipes very well, but this was very easy.
Stephanie Surman Falls
1This is AMAZING!! I substituted Worcestershire sauce for the Browning sauce. And my husband said it was some of the best chicken he had ever eaten. Highly recommend!
JudytheBaker
1Can 8 piece cut up chicken work? I keep kosher and the only store that carries kosher meat in our area, Trader Joes, doe not carry whole chicken. Just Empire 8 piece cut up chicken. Or chicken quarters.
Thank you, Maya!
Wholesome Yum M
0Hi Judy, Yes, that will work fine. Enjoy!
Sydney
0I put my thermometer in wrong in my roast chicken, so it was a little dry. I should have made gravy with it. But the seasoning for it was absolutely amazing! Thank you so very much! 10/10 would recommend!
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0Hi Sydney, Sorry to hear it overcooked, but I’m glad you liked the seasoning! Thank you!
Sheila G
0So easy to make, thank you! Please create more crock pot recipes, this one was amazing and even my picky son ate it.
Pam
0This turned out so moist and flavorful! I’ll for sure make this again!
KH
0Can I broil first then crock?
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0You could, but the Crock Pot would soften the skin, so it wouldn’t be crispy anymore. It’s better to broil at the end.
Eric
0One of my FAVORITE recipes of all time!! Make it about twice a month. Then do bone broth right after. Question: why not go ahead and include the leftover onions in the bone broth?
Wholesome Yum A
0Hi Eric, You can totally store the onions with the chicken and broth leftovers.
Heidi
0Can you use 2 Cornish hens instead?
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0Hi Heidi, Yes, you can! The cook time might vary. You might also like my Cornish hen recipe.
Jessye
0I am making this tonight for the second time!! First time I made it, the family picked the bird clean! They LOVED it!
Deborah Cochran
0I’m confused. You’re instructions say “breast side up” but the pics show it breast side down. Help! Deborah
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0Hi Deborah, Good eye! I used to cook it breast side down, but now prefer breast side up because the butter stays on better. Hope this helps!
Susan McAllister
0Any tips for getting it out of the crock pot in one piece? Thank you.
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0Hi Susan, I like to use a larger turner underneath and tongs with my other hand for more leverage. Hope this helps!
Mike Kranz
0Followed recipe to the letter. Cooked on low for 6 1/2 hrs. Chicken was overcooked, in my opinion. Dry, lacked salt & pepper seasoning. Herbed butter seasoning was absent from the taste of the chicken. Although recipe looked inviting, was simple to put together but, alas, results were less than favorable. Will not do this again. Might use herb butter seasoning again in other recipes. Thank you.
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0Hi Mike, I am sorry this recipe didn’t turn out the way you had hoped, but it sounds like you overcooked it. The cook time can vary and I recommend starting to check on it after 5 hours, as noted above. Hope this helps for next time if you decide to try again.
Gina
0Some Crockpots can cook faster as well. My new one is far faster cooking. I would make sure to check temp about midway. Also make sure you adjust time according to size.
Sue
0I will definitely try this recipe. Ever the frugal one, though, I am wondering if anyone has any ideas to use the onions instead of discarding them. Maybe in a soup or to add flavor to a casserole? Or do they get too soft and mushy to be of any good use?
Wholesome Yum M
0Hi Sue, The flavor and nutrition are pretty much spent by the time these onions are done in the Crock Pot. I’m sure you could add them to another recipe, but they probably won’t give much in the way of flavor.
Mary
0You could just eat them.
Sam
0Thank you for this recipe! We had perfect chicken tonight
Changed the herbs to coriander and parsley because that’s all I had and stuffed a lime in the chicken while slow cooking… kids and hubby loved it!
This was soo so easy, we’ll definitely be cooking whole chicken like this all the time now!!
Easyladys
0Pop the used lemon inside the chicken, then place the chicken on a rack in the slow cooker (or use balls or a ring of scrunched up foil), and slow cook for 5 hours on low.
Margaret
0Do you have to add water to the CrockPot for cooking? If so, how much? Thanks! 🙂
Wholesome Yum M
0Hi Margaret, Nope! As the onions and chicken start to cook they will give off their own juices, so no need to add water to the Crock Pot.
Danielle
0Hi, thank you for the recipe, I’m looking forward to making this! I was wondering, I know dried ingredients are not as flavorful as fresh, but would you please advise on how to convert the measurements from fresh herbs to dried? Thank you so much!!
Wholesome Yum M
0Hi Danielle, Actually dried herbs are a bit more concentrated than fresh.. 1 Tablespoon of fresh herbs = 1 teaspoon dried.
MarySue
0I am also looking to sub in dried rosemary and thyme for the fresh sprigs (as good as they sound) in the instructions, but I have no idea how much 2 sprigs of rosemary will amount to. Can you give the comparable amount of dried herbs I should use?
Wholesome Yum M
0Hi MarySue, A sprig of fresh rosemary is approximately 1 tablespoon of rosemary. Thyme is about 1/2 teaspoon of fresh thyme. The dried version of these herbs are generally more potent, so 1 tablespoon of fresh herbs would equal 1 teaspoon of dried herbs. 1/2 teaspoon of fresh herbs would equal 1/8 teaspoon of dried herbs. I hope this helps!
Kaye
0I love the look of this recipe, can this be done in a regular oven, I dont’ have a crock pot
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0Hi Kaye, Sure! Follow the directions to prepare the chicken as written, then you can use my roasted whole chicken recipe to cook it.
Jen
0This is the 3rd of your recipes I’ve tried. They all turn out exactly as you describe, amazing! Thank you for posting delicious recipes and fun to read posts! I look forward to purchasing your book as well.
Sandra Hoopes
0GENIUS! I didn’t realize you could cook a chicken in a slow cooker! I’m going to do this all the time… especially in the summer!
R. Chamberlain
1This is a bit of a throwback for me as my wife and I poor as church mice were fortunate to have a crockpot in the early 80’s. As we both worked a crockpot chicken was a way of life, affordable and delicious at the end of a long day. Now we have many toys in the kitchen but the eternal crockpot is still a favorite. Great dinners to all….
Eileen Kelly
0We love this recipe for chicken. It’s moist and juicy and perfect every time.
Whitney
0Whole chickens can be so tricky! This recipe makes it foolproof, not to mention how amazing the flavor is with the garlic butter!
Ellen
0This is perfect for just the 2 of us for Thanksgiving!
Megan Ellam
0Well this looks amazing Maya! Popping this one into this week’s meal plan. Thanks for an another amazing recipe.
Adriana
0There is no doubt that cooking in the slow cooker is a great idea this chicken looks fantastic. I can’t wait to try this recipe at home. Garlic, butter, and herbs are the best condiments.
Veena Azmanov
0Love this amazing recipe. The Chicken looks flavorful and mouth melting too. I love the Spices with Herbs and Butter over the chicken. Your crockpot option is so very interesting.
Elaine
0Just look at that chicken – it is too good not to try it. It can easily become a center of everyone’s attention, unless there is a bigger turkey around! 🙂
Shari Lynne
0Wow! After all these years I’ve never made a whole chicken in a crock pot and now that our kids are grown and we cook smaller I’d really like to try it! Perfect recipe!
Liz
0This recipe is right up my alley! I always buy rotisserie chickens and feel bad about the big plastic packaging!
JWhite
0Hi, this looks lovely! I was just wondering how would this go in an instant pot?
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0Thank you! I haven’t tried it in an Instant Pot, sorry!