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Blue plate with 2 forks showing lemon garlic chicken
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5 from 6 votes

Slow Cooker Lemon Garlic Chicken

Slow Cooker Lemon Garlic Chicken is easy and delicious! Juicy and tender whole chicken with crispy skin will become a family favourite. This is a weeknight lemon chicken crockpot recipe!
Prep Time10 minutes
Cook Time4 hours
Total Time4 hours 10 minutes
Course: Dinner
Cuisine: Australian, Australian, International
Keyword: Lemon Garlic Chicken, roast chicken, Whole Chicken
Servings: 8
Calories: 265kcal
Author: Adrianne

Ingredients

Slow Cooker Lemon Garlic Chicken

  • 1.5 kg chicken 3.3lb, Note 1
  • 1 lemon to juice, keep for cavity
  • 6 garlic cloves peeled
  • ¼ cup olive oil
  • 1 teaspoon thyme dried
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 lemon to garnish, for serving
  • ¼ bunch thyme fresh, to garnish, for serving

Instructions

Slow Cooker Lemon Garlic Chicken

  • Insert rack into Slow Cooker Note 2, see image in post.
  • Remove chicken from packaging and place on plate Note 3
  • In a small bowl combine oil, thyme, salt and pepper. Cut 1 lemon in half, juice it and add that juice to the oil mix. Keep the lemon to insert into the cavity.
  • Place chicken into slow cooker.
  • Open the cavity and add the bay leaves. Fill the empty halves of the lemon with the garlic bulbs and push into cavity. Fold skin of chicken closed. Note 4
  • Use a pastry brush to coat the raw chicken in the seasoning mix. Do this all over and underneath.
  • Set slow cooker on high and cook for 3 - 4 hours (or 7-8 hrs on low) . Note 5
  • Preheat oven to 200°c /400°F, gas 6, fan-grill. Broil/grill the chicken for 10 minutes, to crisp up the skin Note 6, 7

  • Serve with additional lemon quarters, oven roasted brussel sprouts and fresh thyme.

Notes

  • Note 1, your chicken needs to be raw or defrosted for this recipe. You can't use frozen chicken. 
  • Note 2, make a rack using alfoil if you don't have a rack to insert into your slow cooker. It will lift the chicken off the base of the crockpot and ensure that any juices that run out of the chicken aren't boiling it from below. 
  • Note 3, some recipes will say that you need to pat the chicken dry with paper towel. I don't. As I don't always have paper towel on hand and I am not going to run out and grab some just for one recipe. Reality is, if you don't pat the chicken dry it will still taste AMAZING! 
  • Note 4, don't worry about tying the chicken legs or using a skewer to close them. We want the remaining lemon juice to seep out of the chicken and drip into the slow cooker. If we tied the legs like a traditional roast in the oven, this would not work the same. It is a good technique for oven roasting chicken as the cook time is shorter and the heat much higher. However, for this slow cooker chicken recipe, we don't need to do that. It actually wouldn't taste as good if we did. The garlic bulbs will be tart from the inside of the empty lemon shell. If you prefer, you can push the bay leaves, lemon and garlic bulbs into the cavity without putting the garlic into the lemon halves. 
  • Note 5, if you are leaving the slow cooker on whilst you are out for the day, use a low heat. The chicken will be cooked after 3 hrs on high. My slow cooker takes 3 hrs 15 minutes to make this recipe. But it would still be fine if it was left on for 4 hrs on high or 7-8 hrs on low (got to LOVE slow cooking!) 
  • Note 6, USA friends the term broiler is the same as Australian Fan-Grill. When I say fan-grill, I mean place under the broiler for 10 minutes. 
  • Note 7, the broiling or grilling will be fast. You need eyes on it and stay in the kitchen. You don't want to have done all the work (well, the slow cooker do all the work), to over cook it at the last minute. Trust me, stay close and keep an eye on it. 

Nutrition

Calories: 265kcal | Carbohydrates: 3g | Protein: 17g | Fat: 20g | Saturated Fat: 5g | Cholesterol: 68mg | Sodium: 355mg | Potassium: 216mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin A: 125IU | Vitamin C: 16.8mg | Calcium: 21mg | Iron: 1mg