Lemon Pepper Roast Chicken in a Slow Cooker
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One of our all-time favorites is making a roast chicken in a slow cooker, it happens to be the most popular recipe here on The Little Kitchen as well. I have been making a lemon pepper variation for the last couple of years and I'm finally sharing it. It took a few tries — one time I made it for my family and went lemon crazy, using 4 lemons…they complained and said it was too lemony. I have even used Meyer lemons in this recipe…it's so good if you can still get them right now!
I even put a quick video together to show you just how easy it is to put this recipe together.
Chop up your veggies and they go into the slow cooker first. They form a little bed for your chicken.
Add the spices to the chicken, stuff it with a quartered lemon. Sprinkle some lemon juice on the chicken and over the veggies. A halved lemon goes into the slow cooker and then the chicken itself.
And no, you don't have to add water or broth to the crockpot. Look at the broth this recipe made. The longer the chicken cooks, the more broth it makes. I used the broth to make a gravy for this recipe. (My favorite fat separator.)
The results? There's a nice hint of lemon but it's not overpowering. I love this recipe and it's kinda tied with the original whole chicken in a slow cooker recipe for us now. Be careful removing the chicken from the crockpot, it may fall apart on you, I use my turkey lifters or you can use a couple of big spatulas to do this. Broil the chicken to crisp the skin and you won't miss roast chicken ever again.
Serve this with mashed potatoes and the veggies from the crockpot and you're golden!
Lemon Pepper Roast Chicken in a Slow Cooker Recipe
Yield: 4 to 6 servings
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 4 hours 10 minutes
Total Time: 4 hours 30 minutes
Ingredients:
- 1/2 Tablespoon lemon pepper seasoning
- 3 teaspoons salt
- 2 pinches cayenne pepper
- pinch onion powder
- 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
- zest of one lemon, then take the lemon & cut in half
- 4 carrots, cut into thirds
- 4 celery, cut into thirds or quarters
- 1 lemon, quartered
- 4 to 5 pound whole chicken, rinsed and patted dry with a paper towel, neck & gizzards removed (if any)
Gravy (optional)
- 1 Tablespoon unsalted butter
- 2 Tablespoons all-purpose unbleached flour
- 1/4 white wine
- salt & pepper
Directions:
- Mix lemon pepper, salt, cayenne pepper, onion powder, ground pepper and lemon pepper together in a small bowl and set aside.
- Chop vegetables and add to a 6 to 7 quart slow cooker.
Prep the chicken
- Fold wings back below the chicken. Put lemon pepper spices inside and all over the skin of the chicken. Add the quartered lemon pieces to the inside cavity of the chicken. Taking the lemon you halved, squeeze one-half over the chicken and over the vegetables. Add the two halves on top of the vegetables in the slow cooker.
- Lay the chicken inside the slow cooker on top of the vegetables. (No need to add water or broth). Turn slow cooker on high for 3 to 4 hours or on low for 4 to 6 hours until chicken is thoroughly cooked through to an internal temperature of 160 degrees F.
- Remove chicken with turkey lifters and place into a baking dish and broil for 4 to 6 minutes or until the skin is crisp.
- Carve the chicken and serve with the vegetables from the slow cooker if desired.
Gravy
- Remove vegetables and pour chicken broth from the bottom of the slow cooker into a fat separator or use a spoon to remove any extra fat. Strain the liquid.
- In skillet, melt butter on medium heat. Add flour and mix with a wooden spoon to cook the flour. Whisk in 1 to 1.5 cups of the strained chicken broth. Bring to a boil and allow to boil for 30 to 60 seconds. Add in white wine and stir. Simmer for 2 to 3 minutes and season to taste.
Leftover chicken: Make a chicken salad or these chicken pot pies.
Note: No need for chicken broth or water to be added to this recipe, a broth will accumulate around the vegetables below the chicken as it cooks. Feel free to save and use that in a future soup or another recipe if you decide not to make a gravy with it.
From The Little Kitchen
Have you tried this recipe?
Tools I use for this recipe:
- Crock-Pot 7 Quart Slow Cooker – We use our slow cooker at least a few times a month if not more. It's easy to use and I have had one that doesn't have bells and whistles forever and it works just fine.
- OXO Fat Separator – Super easy and super durable, get rid of the fat from the chicken juices so you can make a sauce or use it as a broth.
- Better Zester – I love this zester because it has a cup that holds what you zest and it doubles as a measuring tool too!
- Italian Bakers -I love these baking dishes for this recipe and for making scalloped potatoes!
- Turkey Lifters – I have a similar set I bought years ago that we use every Thanksgiving and every time I make this recipe. The best way to remove the entire chicken out of the slow cooker in one piece. (Amazon | Sur la Table)
- Glass baking dish. It's great for this recipe and potatoes too. You can never have too many baking dishes because of holiday baking!
- Carving Knives – Similar to the ones we have (Amazon | Sur La Table)
- Glass Prep Bowls – These were given as a gift to us from my in-laws and I use them EVERY DAY. So convenient for prepping meals and we use them as storage in the refrigerator too!
PS There are affiliate links in this post and I did mention McCormick in the video but I wanted you to know this isn't a sponsored post. I like to mention brands that I love using!
We are using the crock pot more often lately due to life changes. I had a hen, and hankering for using my crock pot and found this recipe. I’m a pretty darned good and experienced cook in my own right, and this recipe looked pretty good. My thing is that I typically use my crock pot for cereals and stews, so I was a little nervous about doing a whole hen, but was interested in finding out how this turned out. I have to say I’m not displeased, BUT the breast meat was quite dry. I think I’ll try cooking it breast down next time. Or brining it first. My daughter, however, LOVED the dryness, so it wasn’t a big deal really. The taste is good. The guy with the lemon pledge chicken must have had a bad hen or not so fresh lemons. For all I know, the dryness I ended up with is the hen’s fault, not the technique. Overall, this is what my family refers to as a keeper. Thanks a bunch!
Until now I thought that I just didn’t know how to follow recipes, because they never turn out right. I am no chef, but I do well enough to feed my family a good meal. Pinterest always promises easy, tasty recipes, but doesn’t always deliver. After trying two of your recipes with great success, you have gained a follower! The directions are easy to follow, and the pics are very helpful. I just made lemon pepper chicken for dinner and my very picky 8 year old, who is not a fan of lemony food, absolutely loved it! Thank you so much! I look forward to making more your awesome recipes!
My family liked this recipe so much that we are making again a week later.
I am currently at work and have this beautiful chicken in the oven!!! I hope it turns out as good as the pictures show !! 🙂
I rarely find a recipe online that isn’t good, but this was pretty awful. Followed directions to a tee, and…yuk! The fresh lemon flavor I expected morphed into something else after slow cooking. My wife dubbed it “Lemon Pledge Chicken”.
Hi David, I’m so sorry you were disappointed. I can assure you I wouldn’t post a recipe that my family and I didn’t love. I’m not sure what went wrong as I have made this recipe many times and other commenters have enjoyed it. I’m more than happy to email with you to try to figure out what might have gone wrong. You’re welcome to email me. All the best and hope you’re having a nice weekend.
Made this chicken tonight and absoultely loved your recipe and video! So I subscribed to your blog. I chose your recipe because it’s very detailed and has gorgeous photos. I did change up the veggies & spices a bit to include my husband’s ethnic cuisine: Persian. Instead of celery, I used about a dozen dried Persian golden plums. I used 1-1/2 large sweet onions cut in wedges and a bag of peeled organic baby carrots which I halved lenghtwise. I used 2 small lemons and a 4.5 lb natural chicken. When I washed the chicken I removed the extra fat from the cavity. The spice mixture I used includes salt, black pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, ground cardamom, ground cumin, and cinnamon. I put some in the cavity with the lemon wedges and also put under the skin of the breast as well as on top. I cooked on high for 4 hours which was plenty of time for the chicken, but the carrots needed more time. The chicken held it’s shape when removed. The veggies & broth were cooked stovetop for about 15 min. I usually make this dish with orange juice & zest so I added a squirt of honey and garnished with chopped flat leaf parsley before serving with brown basmati rice. I didn’t crisp the skin which is actually better for us as it prevents us the eating the yummy skin. Next time I will make using your spices and add some geen olives for a Morrocan flair. Thanks for the recipe – It was 90 degrees today and we both had meetings until 8pm. Was great to come home to a healthy home-cooked meal instead of take-out!
I finally tried out this recipe today and it turned out AMAZING!! Having the video helped a lot too so thank you! It was the first time I’ve ever cooked a whole chicken. Thank you again!!
I love slow cooker chicken, looks great
Julie this is fabulous. I love roast chicken and having it with lemon is just the icing on the cake. Or lemon on the chicken as the case may be. This is such a great recipe.
Lovely recipe. Thank you and have a great weekend!