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Prepare the most tender and flavorful whole chicken by coating it with the best homemade dry rub and slow cooking it with nothing but an onion. So easy!
If you’re looking for more of a complete meal, you could also consider making slow cooker chicken and dressing.
Why this recipe works:
- Once you make my One Spoon Dry Rub recipe, you’ll never want to use anything else. You most likely have everything you need in your pantry. I’ve used it to make this recipe, pork tenderloin, roasted chicken, chicken wings… Trust me – you’ll love the combination of flavors!
- This is the easiest way to make a whole chicken E-V-E-R. Just the chicken, sliced onion, and the dry rub.
- You can get multiple meals from this recipe. Eat it for dinner as is or shred the meat to use in recipes like Chipotle Chicken Quesadillas, Homemade Chicken and Dumplings, or Warm Buffalo Chicken Dip
- The meat from a slow cooker whole chicken is so tender and flavorful that it blows a rotisserie chicken out of the barn!
Here’s how to make it:
- Prepare the dry rub by mixing all of the seasonings together in a small bowl.
- Add the onion slices to the bottom of the slow cooker.
- Coat the entire chicken with the dry rub and set it breast-side-down on top of the onion slices.
- Cook a little over 2 hours on high heat, flip the chicken, then continue cooking for another couple of hours. That’s it!
Cooking Tips:
- Cook the chicken face down for the first half of the cooking time. This makes the breast meat extra juicy because all of the fat melts down into the liquid. I use this same trick when I roast a whole chicken on the grill too. No one likes dried out white meat!
- Make an extra big batch of the dry rub and store it in a mason jar for other recipes. You won’t regret it.
- Use this recipe to make a rich chicken broth! Once you remove all of the meat from the bones, toss the skin and bones back into the slow cooker, add some chopped celery and carrot (if you like) with a bay leaf, fill the crockpot to the top with water, and cook for a few hours.
Did you make this recipe? Please leave me a comment below to let me know what you think!
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Pin ItSlow Cooker Whole Chicken
Prepare the most tender and flavorful whole chicken by coating it with the best homemade dry rub and slow cooking it with nothing but an onion. So easy!
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 whole chicken 3-4 pounds, rinsed
- 1 medium onion peel removed, thickly sliced
One Spoon Dry Rub:
- 1 tablespoon garlic powder
- 1 tablespoon fresh ground pepper
- 1 tablespoon kosher salt
- 1 tablespoon mustard powder
- 1 tablespoon chili powder
- 1 tablespoon cumin
- 1 tablespoon dried thyme
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons paprika
Instructions
- Spread 1 medium onion slices over the base of your slow cooker.
- Prepare dry rub by mixing together all of the seasonings (1 tablespoon garlic powder, 1 tablespoon fresh ground pepper, 1 tablespoon kosher salt, 1 tablespoon mustard powder, 1 tablespoon chili powder, 1 tablespoon cumin, 1 tablespoon dried thyme, 1 tablespoon brown sugar, and 2 tablespoons paprika) in a bowl.
- Coat entire 1 whole chicken with all of the spices. Add the spice rubbed chicken with the breast side down. Cook on high for 4 1/2 hours, turning chicken to breast side up half way through cooking process.
- Serve immediately for an easy dinner or shred the meat to use in soups, salads, dips, quesadillas, etc.
Notes
Cooking Tips:
- Cook the chicken face down for the first half of the cooking time. This makes the breast meat extra juicy because all of the fat melts down into the liquid. I use this same trick when I roast a whole chicken on the grill too. No one likes dried out white meat!
- Make an extra big batch of the dry rub and store it in a mason jar for other recipes. You won’t regret it.
- Use this recipe to make a rich chicken broth! Once you remove all of the meat from the bones, toss the skin and bones back into the slow cooker, add some chopped celery and carrot (if you like) with a bay leaf, fill the crockpot to the top with water, and cook for a few hours.
Nutrition
Calories: 346kcal, Carbohydrates: 13g, Protein: 26g, Fat: 22g, Saturated Fat: 6g, Cholesterol: 95mg, Sodium: 1095mg, Potassium: 512mg, Fiber: 4g, Sugar: 4g, Vitamin A: 2196IU, Vitamin C: 5mg, Calcium: 123mg, Iron: 7mg
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Did you make this? Leave me a comment below
This recipe was originally published in February 2015 and was updated with more information and cooking tips. Don’t worry – nothing about the recipe was changed!
Would this work for a Cornish hen instead of a regular chicken and hour long to cook?
I’ve never made one using this method but I’m sure it would work. I have no idea about timing, however, but I would imagine it would be done sooner.
what if I want to add potatoes and carrots? When should they be added?
Depends on how soft you want them. I would probably throw the potatoes in an hour before the chicken is done and the carrots about 30min (only because I don’t like mushy carrots).
Do I use all the rub on one chicken?
Your recipe sounds wonderful and I will be making!
Thank you
I do! If it seems like too much, you don’t have to use all of it.
This chicken looks so tender and just falls off the bone after slow cooking. Perfect for Sunday meals.
My family LOVES grocery store rotisserie chicken but once I started making this we haven’t purchased a single one! Delicious!