Whole Crock Pot Chicken

MizEmerilLagasse's Note:

I made this one day when I was in a very big hurry to get to work, but I also wanted a nice dinner to come home too. Since my Fiance works the same hours almost that I do...well, that wasn't happening. So, I decided to see how a whole frozen chicken would do in a crock pot, and it was great!

• Total Time: 10 hrs 10 mins
• Prep Time: 10 mins
• Cook Time: 10 hrs

Ingredients:

Serves: 4-6

Yield: 1.0 chicken

• 1 (3 lb) frozen whole chickens (or a chicken that with just fit in your crock pot)
• 1 lb cremini mushrooms or 1 lb button mushroom, halved
• 1 small onion
• 3 garlic cloves
• 1/2 tablespoon dried rosemary
• 1/2 tablespoon black pepper
• 1/2 tablespoon salt (I like kosher)
• 1 tablespoon garlic powder
• 1 tablespoon onion powder
• 3 tablespoons butter, softened
• 2 tablespoons honey

Directions:

1. Place the chicken and the mushrooms in a crock pot set to low.
2. (I put mine on high, but it's really old and doesn't heat up as well as it should, so go with your instincts on this one).
3. Place all the other ingredients in a food processor (I use one mini food processor) and blend them into a paste.
4. Pour the paste over the chicken and mushrooms, cover with the lid, and let it cook for about 10 hours ENJOY.
5. PS it will be very VERY tender so be careful when you are taking it out of the crock pot because it will just fall apart.
6. Also, the stock that the chicken makes is GREAT for chicken noodle soup!

Reviews

[WI Cheesehead]

This was wonderful and easy. I put the onions UNDER the chicken with some mini carrots. I put the sauce ingredients (minus onions) in a mini processor and poured it over. This will make some great chicken broth. I just leave the bones and stuff in the crock pot, add water and let cook on low overnight. Then I strain and put in containers in the freezer.

[SRF68]

"Cut food into chunks or small pieces to ensure thorough cooking. Do not use the slow cooker for large pieces like a roast or a whole chicken because the food will cook so slowly it could remain in the bacterial "Danger Zone" — between 40 °F and 140 °F — too long." http://www.fsis.usda.gov/News_&_Events/NR_013106_01/index.asp

[lolablitz]

Excellent recipe, I'm so happy to have found a whole chicken crockpot recipe that's delicious and easy! I did thaw the 5.25 pound chicken overnight and then cooked it on low for 8 hours. I increased the ingredients by about 1/3 (except the kosher salt) because of the size of the bird, but next time I think I'll cut down the amount of honey to 1.5 tbs and up the salt. I also added about 1 cup of rice to the broth mix and bumped it up to high for 30 minutes thanks to another reviewer's awesome suggestion. Thanks so much for the keeper!