Slow Cooker Roast Chicken {with Lemon & Herb Butter}
This Slow Cooker Roast Chicken recipe makes a brilliant alternative to cooking it in the oven. So simple, succulent, convenient and tasty. Put this on your menu for next Sunday or an easy midweek meal!
Servings: 6 People
Ingredients
For the herb butter:
- 3 tbsp Butter See notes
- 1 tbsp Fresh thyme Leaves only, stalks removed
- 1 tbsp Fresh sage Finely chopped
- 1 tbsp Garlic powder
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
- Mix the herb butter ingredients together.
- Pop the onion chunks into the bottom of the slow cooker and set the chicken on top. (I like to cut off and remove and string holding the bird. I think this makes it cook more evenly.)
- Spread the herb butter over the top and sides of the chicken.
- Slice one of the lemons in half and push in around the edges of the bird. Add 100ml/0.5cup of boiling water. Pop the lid on and cook for about 5 hours on LOW.
- The chicken is cooked when if you wiggle a leg bone, it feels very loose. You can now serve (I tend to remove the skin and portion up if serving like this as the skin doesn't look/taste very good.) OR if you'd prefer to serve as a regular whole bird roast:
To brown the chicken:
- Pop the whole chicken under a very hot grill for about 15 minutes until the skin is crunchy and crisp. Add more lemon slices and fresh herbs to serve if you'd like to.
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Notes
Butter: I use salted butter, if you only had unsalted, you could add extra salt. The butter should be soft, but not melted. If it's hard, just pop into the microwave for a few seconds
Herbs: You can use dried herbs if you prefer and/or it's all you have, BUT in this case I do feel like fresh herbs do work best as they have a more aromatic, softer quality
To get a crispy skin: The chicken won’t get that crispy or golden skin we associate with a roast, but simply cutting it off after cooking is fine - it’s still delicious. However, if you DO want a crispy skin, just pop it under the grill for about 10-15 minutes until it crisps up and turns colour
Water: When it comes to making a roast chicken, there are plenty of its own juices that stop it from drying out. So just using about 100ml/0.5cup in the bottom of the cooker is sufficient
Make a gravy:
- Once you remove the chicken from the cooker, blend the onions into the liquid (if you have a blender. If not, leave them in whole or remove with a slotted spoon if you prefer your gravy smooth).
- Put 2 tbsp of cornflour (corn starch in the US) into a small mug and add enough of the chicken juices to make a smooth paste.
- Put the chicken juices over a medium heat on the hob (in the slow cooker pan if it’s heatproof and suitable for use on the hob, or in a small saucepan if not).
- Add in enough of the cornflour mixture, a little at a time, whisking as you go to thicken the liquid.
Nutrition
Calories: 598kcal | Carbohydrates: 2g | Protein: 47g | Fat: 43g | Saturated Fat: 14g | Cholesterol: 203mg | Sodium: 226mg | Potassium: 506mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin A: 580IU | Vitamin C: 7mg | Calcium: 45mg | Iron: 3mg