Slow Cooker Lemon Chicken

If you love a moist, juicy chicken that is bursting with flavor and is super easy to make, wait until you try this delicious gluten free Slow Cooker Lemon Chicken recipe!! Even your pickiest eater will love this easy slow cooker chicken recipe! This recipe is naturally gluten free, paleo, dairy-free, Whole30, and keto!

Fall is here, and as the weather cools, I love to pull out my slow cooker so I can slowly cook our dinner all day. Flavors mesh together slowly and penetrate the chicken in a scrumptious way! This healthy chicken dinner is always popular!

This chicken can feed a family of four, provide some leftovers, or feed one growing hungry teen boy. I am kidding, but wow, a teen boy can sure pack away the food! This chicken dinner is a great budget recipe.

Top Tip: When the chicken is done, you can boil the bones with water, salt/pepper, and vegetables and make a chicken bone broth that can be used to make a homemade soup. You get two for one this way!

Check out all of my easy gluten free slow cooker recipes. You may also like my Gluten Free Slow Cooker Chicken Pot Pie recipe.

Why you will love this recipe:

You will love this crock pot lemon chicken recipe because it is so easy to make. Directions to show you how to cook a whole chicken in the slow cooker.

This is what I call a dump-and-go recipe, meaning you put all of the ingredients into your slow cooker at once, cover, and turn it on. There are no pre-cooking steps needed!

Ingredients you need:

• A whole chicken - I try to aim for 3 pounds, but if your slow cooker is small, it is okay to make a smaller chicken.
• Lemons - you will need fresh lemons, so you have slices to insert under the skin.
• Fresh herbs like thyme and parsley.
• Garlic - you can mince garlic cloves or use jarred minced garlic.
• Olive oil - you can also use butter if you like a buttery chicken.

This slow cooker recipe has all the good stuff, fresh herbs, juicy lemon...and it tastes incredible. If you love using fresh herbs in your cooking, why not try growing fresh herbs in your kitchen? 

Top Pick

Crockpot 8 Quart Slow Cooker with Auto Warm Setting and Cookbook, Black Stainless Steel

This is the slow cooker I own. I bought it a couple of years ago, and it is still going strong! This Crock Pot can hold a whole 3-pound chicken and does a great job cooking!

Pros:

• Holds a lot of food
• Easy cleanup
• Cooks evenly

Cons:

• It doesn't have an auto-switch from high to low temp

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Recipe step-by-step directions:

There are only three simple steps to make this gluten free slow cooker chicken recipe.

Step 1: Add your chopped herbs, minced garlic, and olive oil to a small bowl and mix.

Step 2: Peel up the skin and use a spoon to pour some of the herb mix under the skin. Spread it around. This delicious flavor is going to slow-cook right into your chicken! Rub the extra seasoning on the outside of the chicken.

Step 3: Insert the lemon slices under the skin over the herb seasoning.

Step 4: Cover and turn it on high to cook for 4-5 hours and low to cook for 6-7 hours. That is it! It is a very popular dump recipe!

Tips and Recipe FAQ:

More Gluten Free Slow Cooker Recipes:

If you are into easy recipes, here are more delicious easy 5-ingredient slow cooker recipes:

• 5 Ingredient Slow Cooker Pulled Pork
• Easy 5 Ingredient Crock Pot Roast

While you are here, you may want to check out all of my delicious Gluten Free Chicken recipes on the blog. They are kid-approved and super easy to make.

Side Dishes to Serve:

• Mashed Potatoes with Cream Cheese
• Brown Sugar Carrots
• Funeral Potatoes with Hatch Chiles

📖 Recipe

Slow Cooker Lemon Chicken

Sandi Gaertner

A slow cooker lemon chicken that is tender and juicy!

5 from 4 votes

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Prep Time 10 minutes mins

Cook Time 4 hours hrs

Total Time 4 hours hrs 10 minutes mins

Course Gluten Free Dinner Recipes

Cuisine American

Servings 6

Calories 301 kcal

Equipment

• ▢
  Slow cooker

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x

• ▢ 1 whole chicken * see note
• ▢ 1 lemon
• ▢ 1 teaspoon fresh thyme
• ▢ 2 teaspoons fresh parsley
• ▢ 2 cloves garlic minced
• ▢ 1 tablespoon olive oil
• ▢ 1 teaspoon salt
• ▢ ½ teaspoon pepper

Instructions

 

• Remove the chicken from the packaging and put onto a large plate.
• Peel up the skin under the chicken breasts.
• Slice lemon in thin round slices.
• In a bowl, combine the minced garlic, chopped herbs, and olive oil. Stir to mix.
• With a spoon, pour the herb blend under the skin in the chicken breasts. Make sure to get way deep under the skin so the flavors will slow cook into the chicken.
• Insert the lemon slices under the skin and pull the skin back over them.
• Rub the extra herb mixture all over the outside of the skin along the chicken breast, legs, thighs, and wings.
• Add the chicken to the slow cooker.
• Optional: add vegetables to the slow cooker around the chicken.
• Cover the slow cooker with the lid and cook on low temperature for 6-7 hours, or high temperature for 4 hours. Check the internal temperature of the chicken with a meat thermometer. The internal temperature should read 165 F degrees.
• Serve hot.

Notes

1. If there are giblets, remove them from their paper wrap and put them in the slow cooker.
2. You can substitute butter for the olive oil if you are not dairy-free.
3. The chicken will be very tender and may fall apart easily when you try to lift it from the slow cooker. Be careful of the hot juices. 
4. This chicken will keep up to 4 days in an air-tight container, or up to 4 months in the freezer.

SPECIAL NOTE

Please know that every gluten free flour blend has a different starch to grain ratio. If you use a blend I didn't test, you may need to adjust your moisture levels in your baked goods.

Nutrition

Serving: 1gCalories: 301kcalCarbohydrates: 2gProtein: 24gFat: 22gSaturated Fat: 6gCholesterol: 95mgSodium: 477mgPotassium: 265mgFiber: 1gSugar: 1gVitamin A: 194IUVitamin C: 12mgCalcium: 20mgIron: 1mg

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Nutrition Disclaimer

Nutritional information is an estimate provided to you as a courtesy. You should calculate the actual nutritional information with the products and brands you are using with your preferred nutritional calculator.

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This was guest posted by me on A Day In CandiLand back in 2019.