Up until last Saturday, I was a chicken in the crock pot virgin 😉 Yup that's right, I had never cooked a whole chicken in the crock pot, and even more so I had never cooked a whole chicken! Don't get me wrong, I love chicken, and eat it a lot, but I always just cook up chicken breast.. Well recently the whole chickens went on sale at my local grocery store... so I put all my fears behind me and stuck one of those babies (ok chickens) in my cart! Boy am I glad I did... Let me tell you this could not have been any easier and certainly could not have tasted any better! Even though there is not much to it and probably a thousand recipes online already for crock pot chicken I thought I just have to add this to my blog, so my followers can see how simple it is 🙂
Crock pot rotisserie chicken
Ingredients
- 1 whole chicken about 5lbs (I bough the one with the neck and giblets removed)
- ½ tablespoon cajun
- ½ teaspoon onion powder
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon paprika
- 1 teaspoon dried rosemary
- 1 teaspoon dried parsley
- 1 teaspoon dried sage
- Pinch of cayenne pepper
- Dash of salt & pepper
Instructions
- Plug in your crock pot, I found cooking on high worked well but you can cook on low too.
- Place 4 foil balls on the bottom of your crock pot, this will prevent the chicken from cooking in its own juices.
- Mix all your seasonings in a bowl.
- Rinse your thawed chicken under cold water.
- Sprinkle your seasonings all over the chicken, getting everywhere you can cover. You can change up your seasonings to please, there really is no right from wrong when it comes to seasoning it. Also you can make it more of a rub style by adding a bit of water to your mix.
- Place chicken in crock pot so it is resting on the foil balls, cook on high for 4-4.5 hours or low 7-8 hours. Chicken should reach a minimum temperature of 175F (you can check with a meat thermometer) Remove chicken, slice and serve.
- 0-3 personal points depending on your 0PP foods , SP Blue & purple- 0SP if skin is removed
- SP green - 2sp for 3oz
- Points plus is 3PP for 3oz
Lori
Did you remove the skin before seasoning and cooking??
Drizzle
Nope, just put it in as is 🙂
Michelle
I'd tried this but didn't do the foil balls and it was wet and mushy. Thanks for the tip!
Drizzle
Yeah, I saw the trick on Pinterest.. Glad I did 🙂 Hope it turns out for you.
Shanna Tanner
Do you know how many calories? I don’t do WW. ? I
Drizzle
Hi Shanna, I'd just check on My Fitness pal or google calories in cooked chicken, there isn't anything in this really other than spices, when I look on My Fitness Pal it has 30z at 120 calories
Christy Spurlock
I bought my first chicken in 52 years and made this recipe. Excellent chicken and very moist. I too was a crockpot virgin but my life has been turned around....THANKS TO YOU! I look forward to making this many times to come. Love your blog and how it makes my life so much easier and healthier.
PS the foil balls is an excellent tip!
Drizzle
Awesome!! Can't believe we both waited so long to break that virginity lol 😉 It cooked so nice and I know I see many more whole chickens in my future.. So glad you enjoyed it, and thank you for your kind words Christy
Lynette
I know that you cook the chicken with the skin on but to get the points to be that low, don't you have to remove the skin before eating? If that's the case, I would suggest loosening the skin and putting some seasoning under the skin so that it flavors through all of the meat - just a thought.
Drizzle
Good suggestion.. Most of the meat is skin free, only the pieces cut from the top have the skin on, so I guess it comes down to what pieces you eat 🙂
Missy Anthony
I made this last night and I have to say it was amazing......I never thought of the foil balls but it worked...Another win!!
Drizzle
Yay, glad you enjoyed it Missy.. The foil balls work great 🙂
Nadine Newton
Im trying this recipe for the first time as we speak. I want to add this as a recipe in my recipe builder on weight watchers app but I'm not sure how because I add in a 5 lb chicken and it comes out to 129 smart points (for the whole chicken) but that's including the bones and everything. Any suggestions on how to get this more accurate so I can track it?
Drizzle
Hi, hmmm not too sure, sorry I never use the recipe builder, I use myfitnesspal to build my recipes.. Maybe guess what the weight would be with just the chicken (no bones etc..)
Lee Ann
Just weight it after you deboned only the portion you r about to eat
Cynthia
My WW leader says skin is OK......
Drizzle
🙂 I think it depends on you and what works best for you, I personally don't add points if I eat some of the skin 😉
Joelle Zimmer
Made this yesterday and it was delicious!
Drizzle
Glad you enjoyed it 🙂
Joelle Zimmer
I made this yesterday and it was delicious! I am going to use the leftovers for a quesadilla. Thanks!
Drizzle
Yes, perfect for quesadillas, enjoy! 🙂
Maria
I wanted to try this recipe but I was wondering if you need to add additional liquid to make this in a crock pot..... thanks , Maria
Drizzle
This recipe is for a crock pot, no added liquids were needed
Susan
Trying this today????
Drizzle
Hope you love it 🙂
Brittany Marques
I made this tonight, and am not sure how to calculate the WW SP. I added the ingredients into the recipe builder and accounted for 3oz of chicken breast with the skin on and spices, and got 3SP.
Drizzle
Hi there, I guess if all of the 3oz you took has skin on it then you would go with what the App says but chances are you probably only had a little skin, I just go with what the App says for 3oz cooked chicken breast , but do what your comfortable with
Lori Nixon
I always rub the seasonings all over the chicken and then bag it and put in fridge for 8 hours before putting into crock pot. I believe it adds to the flavor and moistness of the chicken. I also put it under the broiler for 10 minutes to brown it up before serving. Yum
Drizzle
Sounds awesome, I will have to try it out, thanks for the tip 🙂
MDog
How much would you suggest reducing the time for a smaller chicken? I have a 3lb chicken. Thanks!
Drizzle
I am not too sure, I would just check on it and see, maybe do the math on how long it is in per lb?
Dixie Petersen
I was wondering if you could just use chicken breasts and follow same
procedure? Perhaps 4 good size, boneless with skin on? We are not
dark meat eaters.
Thanks so much! Loving your recipes!
Dixie
Drizzle
Sure you could, you would get a shredded type chicken 🙂
Shannon
Looking forward to this recipe! I use crock pots a lot! I’m plan to throw some veggies around the chicken for a one pot meal.
Jackie
This was fabulous! So easy and so delicious; the whole family loved it. Your website is awesome; thank you for all the WW-friendly recipes!
Drizzle
You are very welcome Jackie 🙂 so glad you loved the chicken 🙂
Kathy
I wonder if you could foil wrap potatoes instead of the foil balls under the chicken? Going to give this a try! The recipe looks wonderful
Drizzle
Don't see why not, great idea 🙂 Let me know if they bake up ok
Crystal
When I cook meets in the crockpot, I usually line the bottom with thickly sliced sweet onions, so that the meat doesn't stick to the bottom, and it's added seasoning, and the onions are AMAZING after for serving and presentation 🙂
Drizzle
Yum, I love onion, thanks for the tip Crystal 🙂
Kathy
Oh I know this is gonna be delicious! Just one thing though - if you put “chicken thigh - skinless w bone” into the app you get some serious points. I think the only zero point chicken is breast meat. Right? But I love dark meat so much I make room for the points anyway!!! ?
Drizzle
Yes I think dark meat has points, that said, remember it is your journey, if you find you are not over eating it and can still lose while counting it as a zero food as well then go for it 🙂
Cathy
My chicken is in the crockpot already, foil balls too lol Can't wait to try it.
Drizzle
I hope you enjoyed it Cathy 🙂
Terri Holleran
I have been making chicken like this for years. But I use an envelope of dry Good Seasons Salad Dressing mix . Really good
Drizzle
Thanks for sharing Terri 🙂
Jeanne
This recipe is so good. When I joined Weight Watchers the program was Points Plus; I stayed with that because it worked so well for me.
I ran the recipe using the Very Well Fit recipe analyzer (Verywell.com). A 3 oz. serving is 4 Points Plus according to their analysis. The chicken is so delicious it's worth the extra point!
We have this chicken once a month, it's that good.
Drizzle
Hi Jeanne, so glad you enjoy the chicken 🙂
Tina
I am thinking of using this recipe, do the foil balls and put skinless, boneless chicken breast on top. Wouldn’t thst work,the same as a whole chicken?
Drizzle
Hi Tina, in this case I would skip using the foil balls so you don't end up with really dry chicken.