Renee from one of my favorite forums posted this chicken recipe the other day and I knew I would have to try it. I love a good slow cooker recipe and we eat so much chicken we could cluck (and that’s not a complaint, it’s just the way it is).
The recipe is simple (another one of my favorite things) and it didn’t disappoint. I served it with couscous that I cooked with the broth and onions from the chicken. Yum!
Zesty Crockpot Chicken with Couscous
Ingredients
- 4 tsp. salt
- 2 tsp. paprika
- 1 tsp. cayenne pepper
- 1 tsp. onion powder
- 1 tsp. thyme
- 1 tsp. white pepper
- 1/2 tsp. garlic
- 1/2 tsp. black pepper
- 1 whole chicken
- 1 large onion sliced thin
- 1 box couscous
Instructions
- Clean the chicken and remove the giblets from the insides.
- Place the onions on the bottom of the slow cooker.
- Mix all the spices together and rub all over the chicken.
- Place the chicken in the slow cooker on top of the onions.
- Cook on high for 5-6 hours or low for 7-9 hours.
For the couscous:
- Cook according to the package directions, except instead of water use the broth and onions from the chicken. Couscous cooks in about 5 minutes, making it perfect for a busy night.
Please forgive me for this picture of the chicken. Chickens are not photogenic. Plus, I somehow cooked this one upside down, which didn’t help it’s beauty a bit. And you can see where we stabbed it with the fork to get it out of the crockpot. Have I made you hungry with that description? On the plus side, the spices made it look colorful, rather than the bland look a slow cooked chicken usually has.
Did you have leftover chicken? I know that we would. Any suggestions for using the excess?
I did have leftover chicken. I bought a big chicken so that I would. I just took it off the bones and pulled it apart a bit so that it would be ready for a casserole, then froze it in a ziplock bag. To use it, I’ll pop it in the microwave for a minute and then add it to the casserole or soup or whatever I need it in. I love having cooked chicken in the freezer.
This looks wonderful.
This looks really good! Can you crockpot Chicken breasts? I’ve wondered, but worry that they would dry out too much.
Thanks!
You can definitely crockpot chicken breasts. I do it all the time. It won’t take as long to cook them as doing a whole chicken, unless you have a lot and they have bones in them. The boneless seem to cook faster.
I am anxious to try a whole chicken like this! It looks delish
Tiffany-
Did you put any water over the chicken? No liquid?
Just checking. Looks yum!
No liquid at all. The chicken and onions make a good amount of broth though. If you wanted, you could freeze that broth to use in a soup later.
Nichole, one of my favorite things to do with left over chicken that is already deboned like this is to make quesadillas.
I take a can of black beans drained and a can of corn drained and put them in a bowl. Add a can of rotel (liquid and all). You can add a can of sliced black olives if you want. Stir that all up.
Take a soft taco size tortilla and fold it in half and place in a skillet or on a griddle.
Place a few scoops of the black bean corn mixture inside the folded tortilla. Then on top of that a layer of the chicken and top off with shredded cheese.
Flip once it is browned. Flip again a few times if needed making sure not to burn the tortilla but getting all the goodness inside nice and melted and warm.
Top with guacamole, sour cream, hot sauce, etc.
Really yummy and really fast dinner. My kids love it.
Crystal, that sounds really good! Quesadillas are great too, because you can tailor them to the person. If likes just the chicken and cheese, it’s easy to make them that way. I may try this for dinner tonight with that left over chicken.
Nichole- exactly! I have 5 boys- only four of them are old enough to eat (our baby is only 6 mths old) they are all picky and some of them only want chicken and cheese which is totally manageable!
Good Luck!
Opps, I meant Tiffany… sorry about that.
I found this exact recipe online this week and made it. I used bone-in chicken breasts and it turned out great. After deboning the cooked chicken, I put the bones back in the broth, added 2 cups of water and cooked on high in the crockpot for 4 -5 hours. It made a great broth/stock. I then froze the broth in 2 cup containers to use to make couscous, rice, etc. I got 4 – 2 cup containers.
This leftover chicken would make great great quesadillas. Thanks for the idea!
We love this! It is a must try and I really love that it gives leftovers for easy future dinners like Tiffany suggests. Yum!
Swing by and check out my giveaway:
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So I am new at your website and I am loving it!! I have made your stir fry noodles,fire roasted tom and raviollis, and know this chicken. Amazing,simple,and so yummy!!!! Thanks for sharing!
I really like the sound of this. It will be going on my menu plan soon. Come join me for What’s On the Menu Wednesday whenever you can.
Just got through eating this for dinner. Delicious! We served the chicken and broth over couscous rather than using the broth to cook the couscous. Thanks for the great recipe!
I’ve been making this for a couple years now and it’s one of my favorite recipes from your site. 🙂 We have ..
* served it over rice, couscous, or quinoa.
* put it on a bed of spinach and added some chopped tomatoes for zesty chicken salad.
* used it in quesadillas.
* eaten in fresh from the crockpot.
* frozen it for future meals.
* made broth from the carcass and liquid.
* mixed it up with pasta and spinach for zesty chicken pasta.
* eaten it plain.
I love how it tastes and how good it makes our home smell when it’s cooking. Thanks again for this fantastic recipe!
I love all your serving ideas! I really want to try it on spinach or maybe even on cooked Kale. Yum!
Trying this and 4 others from your menus this week! So far preparing had been a lot easier than I thought!
Thank-you
Is the garlic ingredient garlic powder?
Yes, it’s garlic powder.
Can you cook with boneless chicken breasts? I am not a fan of bones so I avoid them – will I need to tailor the recipe any? And can you tell me what size crock pot you use for your recipes – I have a 6 quart, am a beginner cook – very beginner, I burn water – and am trying very hard to lose 150 lbs so am looking for good recipes.
Andrea, yes you can make it with boneless chicken breasts. I use a 6 quart slow cooker. The key to not overcooking is to have the crock fairly full. If it isn’t full, then reduce the cooking time. Hope you enjoy the recipe!
I think I’ll try this with just chicken breasts. It’s summer, and I’m lazy, and I just don’t want to mess with a whole chicken. 🙂 Walmart has big packages of chicken breasts for $1.99 lb. I divide them into the amounts my family needs for a meal, and freeze in ziplocks.
That’s a great idea! And if you wanted to add the seasoning to the chicken before freezing it would be all ready to go in the slow cooker.
Had high hopes for this recipe. But at the end of the day it just tasted like stewed chicken, such as when I make chicken broth. Gave it 3 stars because it’s not bad in any way, but it’s not something that wowed us.
I tried this for dinner tonight, but I had to improvise!
I ended up using frozen chicken breast. I didn’t weigh it though, I’m sorry! I cut the breast about 1/2 in thick. I didn’t have white pepper or onion powder (I’m surprised about the onion powder) and used a yellow onion. I also added a splash of water to make sure the chicken didn’t dry out and to make sure there would be enough moisture.
OH MY GOSH, this recipe is delicious! With Trader Joe’s brand of whole wheat couscous, this meal felt like a cheat even though it was a healthy dinner option! My husband loved it so much he felt bad about not finishing his plate.
I’m saving this recipe, it’s SO good!
Could you use the same basic recipe and roast the chicken in an air fryer? I have an air fryer/toaster oven combination and have roasted a whole chicken in it previously. (It’s still new and I’m doing a lot of experimenting. The seasoning seems to be good and we like well-seasoned food.)
I would think that would work, but I’ve never used an air fryer.