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 is super easy. First unwrap the chicken, remove the bag of who knows what from the cavity and give the chicken a quick rinse. I have not gotten to the point where I can do something creative with the innards in the bag, but if you have any ideas feel free to post them in the comments.
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 dump 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 on the low setting and cover. Leave overnight. In the morning you will have a crock pot full of bones and chicken broth, and your house will smell like Boston Market for the next day or two.
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.
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.
Sorry, no pictures, the kids devoured this casserole before I could get the camera.
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 post is linking to DIY Day.
For great meals for less you can purchase at your local store visit $5 Dinner’s new feature, Bargain Meal of the Week. Bloggers around the country create a bargain meal based on their local store sales.
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I did this today. Made the house smell wonderful and I love having the extra meat and broth!
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I tried this out tonight because of your post. It turned out great!!! Thanks so much. I left it in the crock pot a little longer than 7 hours more like 10 cause I had to, but it was still fine. broth is now cooking for the morning. LOVE this!! Going to go read comments to see what else everyone said to do.
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For those who don’t like dealing with the innerds, you can do as I did and buy a Kosher bird which come without for some reason.
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I love cooking a whole chicken in the crockpot-I like to prop it up on foil balls so it is not sitting in the juices. I have also done this with a bone-in turkey breast. Very moist!
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I add whole garlic cloves and dried rosemary. It smells heavenly.
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One fun and only slightly twisted thing I like to do before I put it in the crock pot is to hold it by it’s wings and “dance” the chicken. It doesn’t do anything at all beyond entertain the kids for a minute!
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I do this all the time, though I make gravy out of the original broth. I also save veggies scraps, primarily onions to have on hand when makeing broth. I also open the giblet bag and put that in the broth. The organ meats are full of nutrients and they are imparted to the broth. The neck is full of more meat. You can often get more than one batch of broth from a set of bones.
I also save various beef bones from chuck roasts or such, and throw them in a bag in the freezer. When I have enough, I put them all in the crock pot to make beef broth.
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Don’t throw out the bag of “stuff” inside the bird! Pour it into a saucepan, add water, (try to not pour in the “juices” ie blood)…and simmer it on the stovetop for about 10 – 15 min. Let it cool and pour the broth over the dog’s kibble and chop up the stuff that can be chopped (ok, wear rubber gloves if you think you need to), which means do not chop the neck – it is too boney. Give the chopped up delicacies to the dogs or the cats – whoever is wrapped around your legs while they smell this cooking! Just don’t think about body parts, ok? The pets will love, love, love this – and it is SO good for them too! (Throw away the neck)
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I already did this, but the comments gave me some new ideas to try. I like to put a lemon sliced in half into my chicken cavity and season with garlic, salt, and lemon pepper.
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What a wonderful discovery! I just tried this recipe out tonight and it was perfect. The chicken just fell off the bones and was delicious. I had never made a whole chicken before in my life and this was a great introduction. Thanks!
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I was so happy to see this post and previously posted a note about trying this. I cooked a whole chicken yesterday and let the broth cook all night long last night. The broth is now cooling in the fridge so I can scrape off the fat. Wow – I don’t think I’ll ever buy chicken broth again! Thanks again for this post.
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I like your site. I appreciate what you are trying to do (get more people to realize that a two-income household is NOT mandatory).
When cooking with a crockpot – you may want to always start with one hour on High. It gets the ambient temp in the pot to a point where germs can’t grow (a very cold chicken would take hours to get up to temperature on the inside and would be making a nice batch of Salmonella). Also – you didn’t mention it in your article, but ALWAYS when cooking with crockpot; open the top only a couple of well-planned times. Every time you open it up the ambient temperature inside drops precipitously and takes a while to get back up (this is less true with soups and stews since they have lots of liquid to keep in the heat).
Great site – keep it up.
Phillip
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TheHappyHousewife Reply:
November 20th, 2009 at 12:31 pm
Thanks for the extra tips! I don’t open my crock pot at all, but thanks for pointing that out!
Toni
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I’ve done this a lot since I can get chickens cheap most of the time. I do add the organ meat (I’ll eat liver, heart, gizzard) or will freeze it until I have enough to fry them for a meal. I vary the spices and herbs, slice either apples, onions, pears or pineapples in the cavity and layer them over the chicken (put the breast down and it’ll always be moist) and usually use fresh Rosemary sprigs except for pineapple. I use garlic with sliced onions, or if I’m just using spices and herbs, but not with fruit. I use mixtures like Mrs. Dash or Old Bay, grill rubs or barbecue rubs at times to give the chicken different flavors. Soy sauce or Worschester sauce can improve the flavor as can terriaki sauce.
If you want to skin it, but don’t like messing with the skin and fat, stick it in your freezer for about an hour, or wait until it is almost thawed, or cook it, then let it cool and skin it after cooking. After the first meal, I let it cool enough to de-bone it, package the meat, then add water and more of the seasonings I’ve already used, the skin, bones, innards, neck and let them reduce until the flavor is intense, then strain it and either put it in the fridge or freezer for later use, or (in winter)combine it with the leftover meat, cook rice or noodles with mixed veggies for a super chicken soup.
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I finally tried this! (And posted about it on my blog tonight…lol). How amazing! Very yummy, and so easy! Great idea… thanks!
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A whole chicken is on the menu for dinner tomorrow and will definitely be making broth with the bones and leftover juices. Thank you!!
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We raised our own chickens (meat birds) this past fall. When I first tried to cook one of the whole birds I was stuck. I didn’t know what to do with it. I tried this and it worked great. I just put it in the pot and left it. I love chicken, but my husband is not a big fan. He really enjoyed eating my crock pot chicken. Thanks for all of the suggestions, too.
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We love the chicken in a crock pot. One of our family favorites is to prop the chicken up on the balls of foil and add bar-b-q sauce. Mmmmmm
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I just got two whole chickens at the store this morning, and I’m excited to try this!
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If you use the parts in the bag (taken out of bag) and the neck of chicken in about 4 cups of water in a medium pot and boil them. Next you skim off any dirty foamy stuff off the water after the water and parts have boiled for about 15 mins. Use this as your water you would use to make your stuffing. Best if stuffing is placed in the bird and cooked as you specified but can be done out of the bird also. This makes even the driest cheapest boxed stuffing on the market seem so much better. Stove Top brand name chicken kind is the best it just melts in your mouth and has the most savory flavor ever. Feel free to add this to your recipe if you like after you test it for yourself. My Grandpa taught me this from a young age and I would like to see it passed around to make family meals more tasty without too much more effort. Oh and take a spoon and scoop the stuffing out as you cut parts of the chicken or turkey away it makes it much easier and I myself stuff both ends of the bird it seems to make the bird more juicy.
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In the Crockpot is about the only way I’d cook stuffing IN the bird–the
long, soaking heat cooks everything, not just the outside like a faster,
higher temp. method. The boxed stuffing is ok, but making stuffing from
biscuits, cornbread, pepper, sage and salt, using the broth as Ms. Reed
suggests makes an AWESOME and relatively simple dressing. When you have
leftover biscuits and cornbread, you can freeze it all in a large bag and
use the frozen stuff for the dressing.
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Do u cook it on low or high?
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So fun reading about this. Im excited because I just did my last 3 posts on 3 things to do with 1 chicken. Roast chicken, then chicken noodle soup, then chicken pie. But I have not ever put the whole chicken in the crockpot. Just the oven or the boiling pot of water. I love the crockpot, so this will be my next thing. And I too was so averse to handling a slimy chicken, but I got over it after I realized all the fantastic, inexpensive meals that could be made. Like grandma used to make
Thanks again!
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Making broth in the crock pot is brilliant!
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Thanks for adding this to my CrockPot carnival, Toni!
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I’m not sure if I’m brave enough to attempt this, but it sure looks like a great idea! I love that you got three good meals out of it too!
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Don’t be a chicken!!! Just jump in–you might be surprised how many ways a chicken can be made delicious once you have the basics down.
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just got done eating dinner! the chicken was a little dry but i will play around with that next time! i’ve already got the bones and skin back in the crockpot for broth…i cant wait for soup! you rule!!
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TheHappyHousewife Reply:
February 24th, 2010 at 11:35 pm
I am so surprised the chicken was dry. My chickens are always so juicy. Maybe my crock pot cooks at a lower temperature. If you want a juicier chicken, maybe cook it a little less next time?
Thanks for the feedback!
Toni
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katadata Reply:
February 24th, 2010 at 11:42 pm
i cooked it until the internal temp was 180..i am going to try the orange in the cavity next time. chickens are on sale for 49cents a pound so nows the time to stock up!
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TheHappyHousewife Reply:
February 24th, 2010 at 11:57 pm
Wow, that is an amazing price! Great time to stock up!
Toni
WileyR Reply:
February 25th, 2010 at 10:20 am
Next time if you will put the chicken breast down and cover it with thinly sliced apples or onions (depending if you want sweet or savory) it’ll be juicy.
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Thanks SO much for sharing! I have added this to my meal plan for this week and will use any leftover chicken for the casserole too (that is, if there is any left!) and will definitely come back to comment after I make it!
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Thank you,
your recipe was just what I was looking for! I have cooked chicken wings in a crockpot but that was years ago and I have never cooked a whole one! I was going to give up on buying whole chicken but now I’ll have to revise my plans. The broth is an added bonus-as i use alot but hate the added salt in the canned variety.I just found your site but will visit more often.
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Save the “guts” and throw those in the pot too! Another good tip is to save the ends of carrots, onions and celery sticks in a bag in your freezer. Then when you go to make broth dump it in there as well. I usually fill my pot with cold water to get all the good stuff out of the bones and then turn the pot on after about 15 minutes and leave it for about 10-15 hours. mmmmm. So yummy!
When I cook chickens in my crock pot it only takes 4 hours on high and its done. 7 hours seems a bit overkill.
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This is a great post. I’ve been wanting to try chicken in a crockpot but didn’t know how. Thanks for the broth tip. I’ll be back to read your reader’s comments! Lisa
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When you put all the stuff back in the crockpot, you can add the “innards” back at this point for even more flavor.
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My brain is fried. I always cook a whole chicken like this, but then I THROW OUT THE GOOD STUFF IN THE CROCKPOT. Thank you for minding us to keep going.
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Hey Toni!
I do this too, only I just put a ton of Tony Cachere’s and about 5 drops of Tabasco. YUM.
I also make two foil balls and set them in the bottom – keeps the chicken from burning.
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I’ve done this a few times and love that we get a few meals out of it. I will almost always use the broth and extra chicken to make Chicken Tortilla Soup…yummy!! I have a question though, why do you skim the fat off the broth? Isn’t that somewhat beneficial to have some fat in it? Also, I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the idea about freezing cilantro in water in the ice cube tray! I love cilantro but I never use the whole big bunch and it kills me to throw it out. Now I won’t have to! Thanks to everyone for the great tips!
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