Slow Cooker Roast Chicken is the juiciest, most forgiving and easiest whole chicken recipe I know. It’s such a great way to cook a whole chicken in the slow cooker that’s incredibly quick to prepare with beautiful flavours reminiscent of Greek food!
This roast chicken recipe can be slow cooked OR pressure cooked. You can serve up a Sunday Roast Chicken dinner any day of the week!
Slow Cooker Roast Chicken – A Gold Nugget Recipe
If you’re new to making a whole chicken in a slow cooker, this is going to be life changing.
No false promises! This crock pot whole chicken recipe is truly one of my gold nugget recipes. That elusive combination of quick and easy, incredibly forgiving, but in no way a compromise of a great classic Roast Chicken. Here’s why:
✅ The flesh of this chicken (even the breast) is so juicy, you’d swear it’s been brined;
✅ Ultra forgiving – Even if you go 2 hours over the cook time, it’s still juicy. The magic of slow cookers!
✅ It looks and tastes like a traditional oven roasted chicken – albeit (I kid you not) the breast meat is more tender and juicier;
✅ Various cooking options with exactly the same outcome. Slow cook on low (5 hours), high (3 hours), or pressure cook for 24 minutes.
✅ It takes less than 10 minutes to prepare to get it in the slow cooker, and you can prep ahead. Plus, the Lemon Sauce is effortless – just add cornflour/cornstarch into the slow cooker juices.
Crock pot whole chicken recipe ingredients
This is all you need for this recipe:
How to Cook a Whole Chicken in a Slow Cooker
This Lemon Garlic slow cooker whole chicken starts with an olive oil paste that’s made with lemon, garlic, salt, pepper and dried herbs of choice (I use thyme, oregano and parsley).
For maximum flavour, I put most of the paste under the skin of the chicken. This is not hard to do – and doesn’t need to be “perfect”!!! Watch the video. 🙂 Just loosen the skin using a dessert spoon (hugs the curves, avoids piercing skin).
Then spoon the paste under the skin.
Roughly spread the paste using your hands or the spoon on the surface of the skin. Doesn’t need to be perfect, the paste will slide and naturally spread as it cooks.
Pop the used lemon inside the chicken.
Place the chicken on a rack in the slow cooker (or use balls or a ring of scrunched up foil). This keeps the underside of the chicken from being submerged in liquid which makes it cook faster.
Slow cook for 5 hours on low or 3 hours on high.
Brown the skin – When the chicken comes out of the slow cooker, it will smell gorgeous but will look thoroughly unappetising – pale and colourless. Just a quick 5 to 10 minute broil/grill fixes that – you will be amazed how quickly the skin goes from bland to crispy golden brown!!!
How long does a whole chicken take in the slow cooker?
A 2kg/4lb whole chicken will take 5 hours on low, or 3 hours on high. This will be a juicy and carvable, chicken like a traditional oven Roast Chicken.
If you want one where the meat is more tender and can basically be pulled off the bone with little effort, slow cook for 7 to 8 hours on low.
Pressure Cooker / Instant Pot Option!
This Lemon Garlic Roast Chicken can also be made in a pressure cooker. It comes out exactly the same – just a heck of a lot faster! 😂 Just add 1/2 cup of water and pressure cook for 24 minutes on high. Let it depressurise naturally for 10 minutes then release the valve.
Lemon Sauce
I used to call this a gravy, but it somehow seemed odd to have a lemon flavoured gravy. So I reverted to just Lemon Sauce!
You’ll love how straight forward this is compared to usual gravies. No messing around with oily pans and cooking flour and straining. Just add cornstarch / cornflour then simmer until thickened. That’s it!
Oh the possibilities!!!
The beauty of recipes like this is that it’s easy to adapt this cooking method to make it your own. I’ve kept it straightforward because it’s an everyday roast chicken recipe.
Here are some ideas for variations:
Other dried herbs – or use fresh instead;
Add spices – or skip the herbs and use a rub instead;
Add a quartered onion and halved head of garlic (or smashed garlic cloves) under the chicken (it will make the gravy even tastier! Strain out of sauce)
Add fresh herbs and a halved head of garlic inside the chicken (you need lots of garlic to be able to taste it)
Use butter instead of oil (use more!)
OK, so that’s it from me! Longer than usual post, but I have a lot to say when it comes to this Slow Cooker Roast Chicken. 🙂 Hope you enjoy. And I’d really love to hear what you think if you try it – or how you make it your own! – Nagi x
Lemon Garlic Slow Cooker Roast Chicken
WATCH HOW TO MAKE IT
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Lemon Garlic Slow Cooker Roast Chicken
Ingredients
- 2 kg / 4 lb whole chicken , patted dry (Note 1)
Rub (Note 2):
- 1 tsp dried thyme
- 1/2 tsp dried parsley
- 1/2 tsp dried oregano
- 3/4 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 2.5 tbsp olive oil (or melted butter), plus extra for drizzling
- 3 garlic cloves , minced
- 1 large lemon , all zest + all juice
Lemon Sauce:
- 1 tbsp cornflour/cornstarch mixed with 1 tbsp water
- 1 extra lemon , just in case
Instructions
- Rub – Mix Rub ingredients. should be fairly thick and sludgy. Adjust with extra oil if too thick.
- Loosen Skin: Use upside spoon to loosen skin of chicken (see video). Spoon most of the Rub under the skin, leaving about 1 tbsp mostly oil for the skin. Use hands or spoon on skin to spread the paste – doesn’t need to be perfect.
- Stuff used lemon inside the chicken.
- Put rack inside slow cooker (Note 3), place chicken on top. Spread with remaining sludge, sprinkle with a pinch of salt and pepper.
- Slow cook 5 hours on low or 3 hours on high, or until juices run clear or internal temperature is 75C / 165F using a meat thermometer. (Note 4 for other cook methods)
- Brown skin: Remove chicken from slow cooker, drizzle with a bit of extra oil. Grill/broil on medium high for 5 to 10 minutes to brown the skin (~25cm /10″ from heat source). Or oven 240C/450F for 10 min.
- Spoon over pan juices, then serve with Lemon Sauce! (No need to rest chicken)
Lemon Sauce:
- Pour all slow cooker liquid into a saucepan, add cornflour / water mixture. Mix.
- Bring to simmer over medium high and cook until liquid thickens to thin syrup (depends how much liquid you have, usually 3 min or so). Adjust salt and pepper to taste, add more lemon if desired (the extra lemon). Pour into jug.
Recipe Notes:
Pressure cook – Add ½ cup water and pressure cook for 24 minutes on high (depressure naturally 10 min before releasing valve).
Oven – Follow directions in this juicy Roast Chicken recipe. 5. Slow Cooker Cook Times:
1-1.5kg / 2-3 lb – 4.5 hrs on low
1.75-2.25kg / 3.5-4.5 lb – 5 hrs on low
2.5kg / 5lb – 6 hrs on low
For almost “all apart” meat, add 1 to 2 hours onto the cook times. Flesh is still juicy! Pressure Cooker: 6 minutes per 500g/1lb of chicken. 5. Prep Ahead / Storage: Prepare chicken with rub under and on skin. Refrigerate up to 48 hours then slow cook per recipe. Cooked chicken keeps for 3 to 4 days in the fridge. 6. Nutrition per serving assumes all sauce is consumed.
Nutrition Information:
Originally published August 2014. Updated January 2019 – recipe improved, everything completely rewritten, new photos, new video. Most importantly, Life of Dozer section added! 😂 Just in case anyone is after the original recipe, here it is.
More whole chicken recipes
Life of Dozer
He was captivated by the video for this slow cooker chicken…. 😂😂😂
Have made this a few times and everyone has loved it. Great flavour and the chicken was really moist. The sauce is also delicious. Thank you 🙂
You’re so welcome Nadine! Thanks for the feedback!
Hi Nagi I made lemon whole chicken in crockpot then put in broiler to brown this was s very good recipe I will make again I have made quite a few of your recipes thanks for sharing
You’re so welcome Laurie, I’m so happy you enjoyed the chicken!
I am making this morning I will let you know results!
I hope you love it!!
Hi Nagi. I made the lemon garlic chicken in my Instant Pot this past Sunday. It turned out beautifully and was very good! It is only my husband and myself so I’m wondering what I can do with the leftovers. Any ideas!. I mixed the chicken and the sauce together and put in the freezer. Any of your thoughts would be appreciated! Love your site and follow you every day!!
Hi Cherie, I’m so happy you liked it! I love using my left over chicken in salads or tossed through pasta!
Today was a cold snowy day (so far 9 inches/22 cm accumulated in our area) and this was a great warming dish to enjoy. Turned out delicious, chicken was moist and juicy and skin was crispy. Not waiting for another snow day to make this again! 😉
Brrr! I’m so glad this warmed you up Margie!
I wish I could allocate more than 5 stars to this beauty. MOTH made it on the weekend and OMG how amazing are the flavours and totally agree on how moist is the chicken.
This is such an easy peasy recipe that sure packs a punch.
Woah what great feedback!! Thanks so much Barbara!
Beautiful recipe. Can’t be any better. Great advice to adapt to ingredients of choice. Instead, of making lemon sauce, I used the juices to build rice. Served it with yogurt sauce and coriander, mint, green chilies, chutney
That sounds sooooo good!
Got thumbs up from my family. But I need more “meat” to feed them. Can you adapt this recipe for bone in chicken breasts so I can get more breasts in the slow cooker?
Sure can! Just adjust the cook time and check the internal temp with a thermometer to ensure it’s cooked. N x
Yum, so good. I made this last night and while my chicken didn’t look as beautiful as the photos, the flavor and texture were spot on. I used the Instant Pot – easy, pretty quick and delicious. Even my picky daughters ate it up.
Flavour is the only thing that matters Lynette!! I’m so glad it was a hit!
Made this yesterday; it’s very good, thank you! This site still has a glitch. When I hit tab to enter the comment section it takes me up to the search space.
When I’m roasting a meat, rather than using a rack (which must be washed, I usually put a layer of chopped onions, carrots, and celery (or any other vegetables I feel like–potatoes are also lovely) on the bottom and rest the meat on them. They cook up nicely and you can either serve them up separately or press the juices out of them for making your gravy.
Dear Nagi,
We made this delectable slow cooker lemon chicken last night and it tasted just as you say….totally moist and delicious especially accompanied with the sauce. We did a 3 hour slow cook with no problems at all. Second helpings tonight!
Thank you Nagi
I’m not much of a cook, but I have worked up enough courage to try this out after reading your simple & easy to follow instructions. Wish me luck. Love your new website.
Hi Nagi
First I want to thank you for your lovely fuss free recipes. I have tried and constantly come back to so many. Got so many wonderful comments this Christmas for dorothy’s Carrot cake, mango cheese cake and the spinach puffs I took to a party. Second and why I am writing thanks for putting pressure cooker timings on the garlic lemon roast chicken. I use my pc constantly and have converted, after some trial and error on timing but mostly stuffing up on the liquid amounts, so many of your recipes that are oven bake;lots of thigh/breast chicken, pork char sui etc then I finish them off quickly under the grill to get the brown crunch we all love so much. Don’t get the pan stripes and the look but the flavours are good. Marinade goes through the meat really well too saving time in the fridge. Saves my poor hot house and $s in power. So thanks and if it’s not too much trouble can you keep doing the pressure cooker instructions too where possible? Thanks again. Really appreciate all your well thought out instructions and especially the videos.
Of course Dozer loves video he knows all about chicken! Good receipt but it has to wait. We had 42 C, am stuffed turkey. Friends and neighbours try to save frit, VEGES so am having big supply of apricots, pink grapefruit, peaches. Last night was till 11.00 HR in kitchen making jam. Also was given potatoes, herbs.next two days mild tem. So will be making vege soup and stuffed red peppers. This week they are only 3.90 kg and raspberry, blueberry 2.50. At a moment we seem to be eating the same food. Would be good if you are bit closer to help me with all prep and cooking. Enjoy your w/ end!
Happy New Year to you and Dozer. xxx
I don’t have a slow cooker so I’m going to try the pressure cooker method. Do I still elevate the chicken Nagi?
I look forward to trying this recipe but, I really need to add veggies to make it a one pot meal. Do you think it would be a problem if I threw in some carrots parsnips potatoes onions as a base for the chicken?
The only success I’ve had roasting a chicken. Yours are the best recipes in Australia. You’re a genius.
Gae
Nagi’s recipes are seriously competitive here in the UK. Keep on rocking those recipes .xx
Yummy,easy recipe to follow,delicious to eat