Slow-cooker roast chicken dinner – all in one pan

This recipe for slow-cooker roast chicken dinner is mainly hands-off. The chicken cooks by itself with the vegetables in the slow-cooker, and all you have to do is pop it into the oven to brown. You end up with the juiciest and most tender chicken ever and perfectly cooked vegetables – with minimum effort on your part. What’s more, you can thicken the cooking juices for a really tasty gravy!

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A one-pot roast dinner – yes really!

Did you know that you can make a complete roast chicken dinner, complete with tasty vegetables and a deliciously thick gravy, in your slow-cooker?

I have to say that when I decided to make a roast chicken dinner in my slow-cooker (or crockpot) I was a bit sceptical. I thought I’d end up with a chicken stew! But I have to say that cooking a roast chicken dinner in the slow-cooker is one of the best things I have ever done. I can’t believe how well it turned out.

The chicken was moist and tender, and once I’d browned it in the oven for 20 minutes I was hard-pressed to see any difference between this easy slow-cooker roast chicken and a chicken that was roasted entirely in the oven.

The vegetables were soft and perfectly cooked. And the gravy was packed full of flavour thanks to the chicken juices and the spices I rubbed onto the chicken before cooking it. All I had to do was thicken the gravy while the chicken was browning.

Normally a boiled chicken looks very white and unappealing, so to give it a bit of colour (and lots of flavour) I rubbed it with a mixture of salt, paprika, and soup powder before putting it in the slow-cooker. A packet of mushroom cup-of-soup mix makes a tasty gravy, but you could use any flavour of soup of your choice.

I put the vegetables in with the chicken, turned the temperature setting to low, and left the slow-cooker to work its magic for 6 hours. What I ended up with was a delicious and complete meal – all in one pot.

I actually made this meal twice in 2 days, because the first time I accidentally tore the skin on the breast of the chicken, so the photos didn’t come out too well. Hubby was delighted – and I didn’t mind because I had lots of leftover chicken to make my favourite chicken and mushroom pie, which I’ve packed into the freezer for another easy meal.

Why you’ll love this slow-cooker roast chicken dinner

I’m sure this is going to become one of your favourite recipes.

• There’s hardly any work involved. Just prep the vegetables and put them in the slow-cooker with the chicken and let the slow-cooker do all the work.
• Because it’s all made in one pot there is hardly any cleaning up to do afterwards.
• You don’t need any oil, so it’s a relatively healthy way of cooking chicken.
• There are no pans of vegetables boiling away on the stove, so you use less electricity.
• The gravy virtually makes itself – all you have to do is thicken it.
• You won’t believe how tender and juicy the chicken is.
• You get a complete roast dinner, all cooked in one pot.

Ingredients

**You can get full instructions for making this slow-cooker roast chicken dinner on the printable recipe card at the end of this post**

These measurements are not precise. This is more of a method than an actual recipe.

You will need a chicken. It doesn’t matter what size chicken you get, as long as it fits into your slow cooker. The cooking time will remain the same, so get a chicken that will be large enough to feed your family. You can buy either fresh or frozen chicken. If you have frozen chicken, let it defrost overnight in the refrigerator.

For coating the chicken you will need:

• salt – this is to your own taste obviously, but I like to use about half a teaspoon of salt
• paprika – this not only adds colour to the chicken but also imparts a delicious flavour.
• dried soup powder – this not only adds more flavour to the chicken, but also to the gravy. I used a packet of Heinz mushroom flavoured cup-of-soup but you can use your own favourite flavour. If you can’t get cup-of-soup then you could use 2 tablespoons of any dried soup powder.

And finally a mixture of vegetables. Here are my suggestions – you will need about 1 to one and a half cups of mixed vegetables per person.

• Potatoes (quartered)
• Onions (quartered and separated into petals)
• Carrots (thickly sliced)
• Green beans (topped and tailed)
• Celery (cut into 1″ pieces)
• Parsnips (core removed and sliced)
• Swedes (cut into largish cubes)
• Cabbage (coarsely shredded)

If you want to use more delicate vegetables such as cauliflower and broccoli you should add them halfway through the cooking process to ensure that they don’t overcook.

How to make slow-cooker roast chicken

You will need a slow-cooker. I’ve had my slow-cooker for years and it’s now on its last legs. I’ve got my eye on this one. The only problem is it doesn’t have a timer, so I might change my mind and go for this slow-cooker with timer instead.

• Peel and chop the vegetables and arrange them on the base of your slow-cooker.

• Pat the chicken with paper towels to remove any moisture from the skin and remove any visible fat which is normally found tucked inside the neck cavity.
• Mix the dried soup powder, paprika, and salt together, and then rub it all over the chicken, taking care to get it all over the skin.
• Place the chicken breast side down in the slow-cooker on top of the vegetables.

These days, most supermarket chickens are injected with a brine solution which is supposed to make them juicier. I have made this slow-cooker roast chicken with both fresh and defrosted frozen chicken, and in both instances the chicken released sufficient liquid to make more than enough gravy. I haven’t tried using an organic chicken that hasn’t been pre-brined. If that is what you are using, keep your eye on the chicken and if it hasn’t started to release moisture after an hour, add a cup of chicken stock to the slow-cooker.

• Cook the chicken on low for 6 – 7 hours or on high for 4 to 5 hours.

Note – the chicken should have an internal temperature of 73C / 165F. If you don’t have a thermometer, pierce the chicken on the thickest part (either the thigh or the breast) and make sure that the juices are running clear.

• Remove the chicken from the slow-cooker and place it breast-side up into a baking dish. If you line the baking dish with aluminium foil first it will make cleaning up afterwards much easier.

• You can place the vegetables in the baking dish with the chicken if you want them to brown, or you can just transfer them to a serving dish and keep them warm.
• Place the chicken into a hot oven (200C / 400F) for about 20 minutes to brown the skin.

Note – only the skin on top of the chicken will brown, so if you want brown skin on the bottom, turn the chicken over for another 10 minutes or so.

• Once the chicken has browned, remove it from the oven, cover it loosely with a sheet of tinfoil and leave it to rest for 10 to 15 minutes before carving.

Make the gravy

Make the gravy while the chicken is browning in the oven.

• Turn the slow-cooker up to high.
• Thicken the gravy in one of these ways:
  1. Make a slurry with one tablespoon of cornflour mixed with 2 tablespoons of water and then mix it into the juices in the slow cooker. There should be at least 2 cups of liquid (or more) still in the slow-cooker. Leave it to cook on high, stirring occasionally, while the chicken browns (about 20 minutes).
  2. Mix in one or two tablespoons of instant chicken gravy granules – depending on how thick you like your gravy, and also on how much liquid is still in the slow-cooker. Leave it to cook on high, stirring occasionally, while the chicken browns (about 20 minutes).

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Freezing and storage

Any leftover chicken can be cut into pieces and frozen in a plastic container for 3 months. Use it for making chicken a la king or this chicken and mushroom quiche.

Leftover chicken can be stored in a covered container in the refrigerator for up to three days and used for sandwiches or used to make this cheesy chicken and vegetable pasta bake, for another easy supper.

Pin for later

If you’d like to make this slow-cooker roast chicken dinner, why not pin the recipe to one of your Pinterest boards so you can find it easily. Just click on the image below.

Other slow-cooker recipes

If this recipe isn’t quite what you are looking for, why not take a look at some of my other slow-cooker recipes:

• Slow-cooker beef trinchado
• Slow-cooker beef silverside
• Slow-cooker oxtail stew
• Slow-cooker beef and kidney stew
• Slow-cooker pork casserole with honey and mustard

The recipe

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