Wondering what to make for dinner? Check out my family’s favorite crock pot recipes for great dinner ideas!
Update: If you have a minute, read through the comments, my readers have added some awesome tips and ideas for cooking whole chickens. I have also posted a whole chicken in a crock pot video tutorial for those who are interested.
I am convinced that buying a whole chicken is one of the best values for your grocery budget. I regularly see whole chickens on sale at various grocery stores for under a dollar a pound.
The problem with whole chickens is that no one wants to touch them, or mess with them once they are cooked. I was once like that too, but then I realized how much money I could save by buying whole chickens and I quickly got over my “whole uncooked chickens give me the heebie jeebies” thing and got cooking.
Cooking a whole chicken in the crock pot
After rinsing the chicken place in a crock pot that has been sprayed with non-stick.
You do not need to put any liquid in the pot, just the chicken.
Then sprinkle your favorite spices on the chicken. I usually sprinkle garlic and paprika.
Place the lid on the crock pot, set on low, and walk away for about 7 hours.
7 hours later you will have a beautiful cooked chicken ready to serve for dinner.
Remove the chicken from the crock pot, cut and serve. Do not throw away the liquid in the crock pot.
If you do not want to serve the chicken for dinner, allow the chicken to cool and then remove the meat from the bones. You can use the meat like you would any other cooked chicken, in casseroles, chicken salad, chicken pot pie, pastas, etc.
Once you have removed all the meat from the bones, put the bones back in the crock pot and add about five cups of water. I also put the skin back in the crock pot since my kids won’t eat it.
Set the crock pot
Strain out the bones and you have homemade chicken broth for free!
Not only is it free, it is free from all the preservatives, salt, and other junk you find in some of the store bought chicken broth. I store my broth in large yogurt containers.
I got about 50 ounces of broth from one chicken. After you put the broth in a container, place in the fridge to cool. When the broth has totally cooled a layer of fat will be on the top.
Scrape the fat off with a spoon and the broth is ready to be used or can be stored for up to six months in the freezer. Don’t throw away the fat, it can be used in other recipes.
Whole Chicken in a Crock Pot Meal Ideas
Meal #1 (served 7)
Chicken and Mashed Potatoes
- Chicken $4.00
- Mashed Potatoes $1.50
- Veggies $0.79
- Biscuits $1.00
Total cost $7.29 or about a $1 per person
Meal #2 (served 7)
Chicken and Rice Casserole
- Chicken Free from leftovers
- Rice $0.50
- Cream of Chicken Soup $0.75
- Veggies (I used chopped broccoli and carrots) Free from leftovers
- Spices $0.25
- Cheddar Cheese $.50
Cook rice according to the directions. Chop leftover chicken, and veggies. Mix with cream soup and add spices. (I used garlic, minced onion, and red pepper flakes). Combine the cooked rice with the chicken mixture. Spread in a 9×13 casserole dish, sprayed with nonstick. Bake covered for 15 minutes at 350 degrees, then uncover, top with cheese and bake until the cheese melts.
Tip: If you want to use brown rice for this recipe, replace half the water with your chicken broth. Even your pickiest eaters will love it.
Total cost $2.00 or $.30 per person.
By purchasing one chicken I was able to make two meals and get about $3 worth of chicken broth from a $4 chicken.
This is awesome way to save money and eat GOOD, HEALTHY and inexpensively. I HAD to cook a whole ham and turkey at the same time…Put turkey in the oven and whole ham in crock-pot…overnite….ooohhhh the yumminess…
Cook in crock pot with Tony Cacheres cajun seasonings. Prepare broth as described above and remove the meat, use 4 cup broth, 4 cup water, add sauteed onion, bell pepper, and celery, ladle over rice and you have a simple gumbo.
I found your recipe on Pinterest, and made it tonight for the first time…. And I know I will be making this many times in the future!! It was easy and delicious! And, I’m making the stock tonight for wild rice chicken soup tomorrow! Thanks!
I’ve been doing “crock pot chicken” for years now. My family’s favorite way for me to make “leftover” chicken is to make “chicken pot pie,” which is similar to your chicken and rice dish. I use a can of cream of chicken, potato, onion, or celery with a can of milk, and frozen mixed veggies. Mix, put in a casserole and put in the oven to heat through. Once it’s heated, pop open a can of refrigerated biscuits, layer on top, put it back in the oven until the biscuits are done.
Similarly, you can make chicken and dumplings by adding frozen veggies to the chicken and the broth and then dropping biscuits into the boiling broth, cover with the pot top for about 5 minutes until the dumplings have cooked through.
A comment on the “no salt or preservatives” part of the chicken stock. Unfortunately this is not correct due to the fact that many chickens bought at the store contain up to a 10% salt and water solution that is injected into them. This is to offset the taste of the chlorinated water that they sit in between processing and packaging. If you really want a chemical free bird, the best bet is to check the label of the bird and / or grow your own. The taste of a real free range chicken is above and beyond that of any store bought bird.
I’m not sure what I did wrong, but my chicken was dry and overcooked. I’m going to try to save some meat by turning it into croquettes or a spread. :/ I cooked a free range bird on low for 7 hours overnight; my slow cooker switched to warm for two hours until we woke up.
Hi Mull, you probably didn’t do aything wrong. Chicken bought from the grocery store has so much done to it to make it big that it has a high fat content. Free range chicken is much leaner. You could try adding a little broth to the bottom and/or rub olive oil on it to seal in juices.
Made this today & the family loved it!! Definitely a “keeper”! Thank you!
Forgot I wanted to put a whole chicken in the crock this morning. While the family got ready for church, I Googled “Whole chicken in crock pot” and found this. Took about 5 min. to pop in the crock, and set it on high for 4 hrs. When we arrived home from church, I whipped up some instant brown rice in the nuker, heated up canned green beans as well as a can of cream of mushroom soup for gravy, and we sat down for a great, hot Sunday lunch 30 min. after arriving home. Broth is simmering now. Thank you!!!
I also put 4 chicken bullion cubes, potatoes and carrots in mine. When it’s done after 8 hours I put the chicken in the broiler for 5-10 min to make the skin crispy
I’ve been cooking whole chickens in the crock pot for years now. I don’t even buy pre-cut chicken anymore unless it’s a wild good deal. What I like to do is buy a 7lb bird and once cooked automaticly freeze half of it for later uses.
I’m also a huge fan of leftover cooking as I like to call it. This is what I usually do with the half a chicken-
meal 1-
chicken
special mashed potatoes (omit milk,use sour cream,add fav spices)
vegis
meal 2-
chicken fahitas (chicken seasoned with garlic and peprika, chopped onion and tomatos, on a whole wheet tortila loaded with rice.add sour cream and cheese as desired)
meal 3a-
bbq chicken (cover shreaded chicken in bbq sauce,heat on stovetop until bbq is thick.)
corn on the cob
corn bread
meal 3b-bbq spicy quesadldias (follow first step 3a-add hot sauce and a1 sauce)
place on tortila. Cover with sour cream and shreaded cheese
meal 4- chicken pot pie
meal 5a-chicken green salad
lettucemix
cucumbeer
onion
cottege cheeze
meal 5b-chicken saled with crackers
chicken
mayo
musturd
onion
pickles
mix and serve on crackers.
with this much varity no one gets sick of eating chicken! Plus I like to mix it up,one day chicken for lunch, the next chicken for dinner.
so you get 5-7 meals from half a 7lb chicken, so really it’s 10-14 meals.We have a family of 5+ one due in sept.
just wanted to know if taking the whole chicken right after its done and the crock pot bowl its in and putting it in the fridge right away to cool down and then removing the meat the next day is ok
I made this last night for dinner tonight and may I say “OMG” it was delicious. I squeezed honey all over the inside of the cavity along with my seasoning I used McCormick’s Grill Mates Montreal Chicken, Ralphs Chicken Fajita Mix, Hidden Valley Ranch Seasoning mix and Gordon’s Grub Rub. It was beautiful I cooked my on low from about 7pm till 6:30 am and left it on warm all day today. All though I’m from TEXAS YA’LL I’m going to serve it with chicken Rice a Roni my favorite San Francisco treat. I hope that ya’ll will try mine sometime I will definitely be cooking this again. Happy Cooking : ) : ) : ) : )
This is one of the most awesome recipies ever!!! I have used your site for this meal so many times. I keep checking back to see if other comments can give me cheap and easy meal ideas. I am so glad you have posted this because it is delicious! Thank you so much. This recipe is also one of my go to meals for Sunday dinner after church. Yummy!
This posting is for DALE!!!
Sorry Dale, that is NOT a good idea to cool the chicken that way. It needs to reach an internal temp of at least 40 and below in less than 2 hours for it to be safe. If a chicken has been exposed to some kind of bacteria in it’s life or if it wasn’t cooked to at least an internal temp of 165 in the thickest part of the chicken, then the likelihood that it can start growing that bacteria again and multiply is very high. Cool your chicken by first taking the peices apart; pull the legs, thighs, wings and breasts off the chicken and place them in a dish that isn’t hot from cooking. It’s important that you not cover it while it’s still hot, that way the heat isn’t trapped in the container with the chicken. Next place the pulled apart chicken pieces in their container in the freezer (only for a short time like 30 min’s) ;or in the fridge to cool. Cover chicken when it’s cooled to the right temp.
I know thats a lot Dale, but thats the safe way; and you or your family can get very sick if ANY food is not cooled properly. Especially if you’re eating that food cold later.
It looks like the chicken is breast down. Is that correct? Or does it matter?
I just had this for lunch and it was incredible! I used a local, free range, hormone and antibiotic free bird from Whole Foods and had no trouble with dryness after about 4 hours on high. After I prepared the bird I put a couple of pieces of quartered onion and orange in the cavity. I laid the remaining onion quarters in the bottom of the crock pot. I squeezed the remaining orange quarters into the pot and then put them in, too. The I put in several sprigs each of fresh thyme, oregano, and marjoram. I placed the bird on top of this little “bed” and added a touch of salt and pepper. I’m making the stock now and it smells fantastic! Thanks for sharing such an easy way to prepare chicken!
these recipes have got to be one of the best money savers. my brother and i are both bodybuilders well over 200lbs each and feeding us is a challenge. being able to get all the protein and calories for the day in good clean food for under $10 a person? didnt think it was possible before. keep the idea coming