Crock Pot Whole Chicken Recipe

This crock pot chicken recipe is pretty good. It's not grilled beer can chicken, but it's very simple. Don't feel like you have to use the exact spices in the recipe. Hit up your spice cabinet and have at it. In fact, if you want to throw some celery, carrot and garlic in there with the onions, I shall curtsy and call you Julia Child. Once you have your onion chopped and the dry spice mix lovingly rubbed into your chicken, you can put the whole mess in the crock pot and go sew. Or do laundry. I recommend sewing. Or catch some inappropriate television. That's always fun.

When the chicken is done, pull it from your crock pot and let it sit for a few minutes. My chicken kind of fell apart. There will be plenty of liquid chicken goodness leftover in your crock pot. We're going to use it, so don't toss it. Throw the whole shebang in the fridge if you're tired.

I took the skin off because I'm having a physical this week and I'm hoping to banish years of cooking with butter, cream and well, eating crispy chicken skin, in three short days. Having a French mother, aunt and grandmother didn't help either. Wish me luck. Use some of this chicken for dinner the day you make it. I plan on making these Salt 'n' Vinegar roasted potatoes and serving a big salad bursting with fresh veggies. Take that, cholesterol level.

You could also use the meat for chicken salad, quesadillas, tacos, taco salad, sandwiches, Buffalo chicken wing dip, chicken and dumplings, chicken noodle/rice soup, or if you were born in the 60s, a chicken casserole. Don't forget the water chestnuts if you're going with the casserole. I know, you could really buy a rotisserie chicken and make all these things, but I saw the Publix guy un-crating those raw chickens this week and I started to wonder where they got those chickens. Or, how they were being handled. And what they were marinating in. That's when I snuck away from the deli counter and bought a raw chicken.

Once most of the meat is off the bones, I'm going to make chicken stock while I sleep. Yep, toss those bones back in the liquid chicken goodness you saved from the crock pot. Add some celery, carrots, garlic, more onion, a bay leaf or two, salt and pepper, and fresh parsley if you've got it. That dried out stuff works too. A splash of white wine would be nice, but if you drank it all, add enough water to cover the bones. Throw in a chicken bouillon cube if you're feeling lucky. Then let that mess cook on low while you get some beauty sleep.

In the morning, strain all the solids and you're left with homemade chicken stock. Let your chicken stock sit in the fridge for a day and you'll be able to scrape off the fat that rises to the top. And voila, homemade chicken stock for your next recipe. You can freeze it if you don't plan to use it in the next day or so. And there you have really simple homemade chicken stock from leftover bones you would have normally tossed. Plus, you know exactly what's in it.