Once winter hits….my crockpot, madame crock of the pot, comes out. I don’t know why I don’t use her more often in the summer, but DANG she is handy. She is the queen of easy meals, hence why I call her madame because she seriously deserves it. Every time I pull her out of my cabinet, I feel like an old friend has come back to visit. She makes me feel all warm inside, filling my house with awesome smelling goodness. I love coming home from work to an easy already prepared dinner. Thank you madame crock o’ the pot. I recently used it to easily cook a whole chicken. The spices can vary in this recipe. I prefer a flavor that isn’t too overpowering so that I can shred the chicken and use it in other dishes. For this recipe, I simply used a whole lemon with some fresh rosemary sprigs, but feel free to throw in whatever you fancy.
Lemon Rosemary Chicken in a Crockpot
Ingredients
- 1 whole chicken, 3 to 4 lbs
- 1 lemon, quartered
- 1 sprig of rosemary
- salt and pepper
Instructions
- Wash and pat dry chicken, inside and out. Remove skin (if you have time). Place in crockpot.
- Squeeze lemon quarters and sprinkle juice over lemon. Place lemon and rosemary around chicken. Apply salt and pepper liberally.
- Turn crockpot on low and cook for 8 hours.
Note: Once you debone your chicken, save the carcass to make your own chicken stock. I place the carcass (no skin or fat) back into the crockpot along with some celery, a carrot, about 10 whole peppercorn seeds, an onion, and garlic. Fill the crockpot to cover the carcass and veggies by about 2 to 3 inches. Cook on low overnight. In the morning, turn off the heat and allow the chicken broth to cool. Skim off any fat. I freeze this broth in batches so that I can use it later in other soups.