Easy Slow Cooker Roast Chicken

I had no idea that it’s possible to roast a chicken from frozen, until my friend Chrissie mentioned it a few months ago. I promptly tried my own version and was amazed. The chicken was moist, falling-off-the-bone tender, and delicious—with barely any fuss! And the minimal seasoning means I can use the leftovers in any number of other recipes. I wish I had known this trick when I was working full-time!

One word of warning: You need to understand how your chicken is packaged before you try this. The chicken will be frozen shut, so you won’t get to remove any giblets from the body cavity before cooking. Some suppliers simply place the neck and giblets inside the cavity, others wrap the giblets in parchment paper or another wrapping before placing inside. If you’re not sure how your supplier packages your chicken, roast a thawed one first so you can investigate.

(And, no, I don’t mind having some heart and liver in the bottom of the pot. I’ll be using the leftovers for chicken stock anyway, and organ meats add to the nutrition of that.)

Easy Slow Cooker Roast Chicken

Ingredients

• 1 Tbsp minced garlic, OR 6 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 whole chicken, still frozen but unwrapped
• (optional) 1/4 – 1/2 cup water
• (optional) some fat and some additional seasonings, to taste

Directions

1. Scatter the garlic loosely across the bottom of the cooker.
2. Make sure you have all the wrapping off your chicken, then place it on top of the garlic.
3. Add the water if you’re using it. This can create a moister roast.
4. Cook on High for 8-10 hrs, until legs are beginning to fall away from the body and all juices run clear.  (Cookers vary greatly. Mine will do this in 6 – 7 hrs, but it cooks any meat faster than most recipes think it “should.” 8-10 hrs will be the range for most cookers.)
5. 1 – 2 hours before serving, you can coat the skin with some fat to help it gain some color and get a little more crisp.
6. 15 minutes – 1 hr before serving, you can add more seasonings if you like.
7. Enjoy as is, with veggies on the side, or use the meat in other recipes. Leftovers can be refrigerated for 3-7 days or frozen for up to 4 months.

Nutritional Information: The whole chicken contains approximately 3.4 g carbohydrates (mostly from the garlic), 0.2 g fiber, 3.2 g net carbs, 183.2 g protein, 90.5 g fat, and 1609 calories.