No one will believe that this easy recipe for Crock-Pot Roasted Herbed Chicken was cooked in the slow cooker! It’s healthy, flavorful and moist! Serve the roasted chicken for dinner with your favorite sides or use the cooked meat in any recipe that calls for cooked rotisserie chicken!
Slow Cooker Roasted Herbed Chicken
After experimenting so many times to make a delicious roasted chicken breast in the slow cooker over and over and over again I think I have finally cracked the code! This recipe for Crock-Pot Roasted Herbed Chicken has come out perfectly for me and I just know you are going to love it as much as my family and I do.
There are a couple of secrets to having this chicken come out flavorful and moist. The first secret is creating seasoning paste that is made up of olive oil and various herbs and spices. The olive oil coats the chicken and seals in the moistness of the chicken so that it does not dry out.
The second secret is to use a liquid browning sauce. I used a bottle of Kitchen Bouquet which you should be able to find in most American supermarkets (or you can order it on Amazon HERE *affiliate*). This adds nice color to the chicken as well as some additional flavor. Now, you can totally leave this secret ingredient out of the recipe if you cannot find it or are totally opposed to using it. But I will tell you this is what will give your chicken breast that “oven roasted” look that you are just not going to get in the crock-pot. In fact, my husband was stunned to learn that I made this chicken in the slow cooker and didn’t roast it in the oven.
Like I said…liquid browning sauce is totally optional but I strongly suggest that you give it a try!
The third secret is to only cook your chicken for a couple of hours. This recipe as written is is for 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts and you only need to cook it 2 to 3 hours on HIGH. Don’t cook this on the LOW setting for longer. The key to moist chicken is to not overcook it and you won’t have dry chicken. Many recipes for chicken in the slow cooker either require a sauce, or bone and/or skin on chicken as those will help keep chicken from drying out in the crock-pot.
But in this recipe there is only a small amount of a seasoning paste (remember the olive oil coats the chicken sealing in moisture a bit) and there is no additional liquid added so you are going to cook this one on HIGH heat for a lower cooking time.
With all crockpot recipes we recommend cooking for the shortest time given in the recipe and then only cooking longer IF needed. So in this case…cook for 2 hours and only cook longer if your chicken is not cooked through.
Because boneless skinless chicken breasts are the healthiest option for chicken that is what I decided to go for (because hey…we call could use to eat a little bit healthier am I right?). But I have made this recipe using other cuts of chicken too. Bone in, skin on chicken breasts or thighs work great…they will have more fat in the liquid that cooks off the chicken. Boneless skinless chicken thighs…yum…nice and tender. And my kids favorites…chicken drumsticks…they love them!
With bone-in chicken (breasts, thighs, drumsticks) you will probably end up cooking them on the longer side of the cooking time range given. I always test bone-in chicken with a meat thermometer because I have a harder time testing to see if the meat is fully cooked. With boneless chicken I usually just poke it with a knife and have a look…
The meat from the chicken is versatile too…in the pictures I show that we just ate the whole roasted chicken breasts (the kids had half of a breast each) with a side of rice pilaf and some garlic green beans (YUMMO!). But you can also just roast the chicken breasts and use the meat in any recipe that calls for cooked rotisserie chicken…dice or shred it and use it in chicken salad, soups, casseroles, wraps, burritos, or whatever you want really.
I like to throw a batch of these chicken breasts into the slow cooker on a Sunday afternoon and then toss them in the refrigerator after they are cooked for sliced roasted chicken sandwiches for lunch all week long. A little mayo, mustard, lettuce and a slice of fresh tomato…heaven!
Another tip (I promise this is my last one)…prep your chicken ahead of time…make the paste, smear it all over the chicken, and put the chicken into the crock part of your slow cooker. Stick the lid on it and shove it in the refrigerator. When the kids get home from school (about 3:00 for my kids) take the whole shebang and put it into the heating element of the slow cooker. Turn it on high and set the timer….your chicken will be done by dinner time! If you have older teenage kids they could even be in charge of putting it in the slow cooker and turning it on.
Enjoy!
Special Diets
Gluten Free | Low Calorie | Low Carb | Low Fat | Low Sugar
This recipe for Crock-Pot Roasted Herbed Chicken is Weight Watchers Friendly on the new Personal Points plan. You can see the WW personal points for this recipe here on the Weight Watchers website. Click here for MORE of our Weight Watchers Recipes
Crock-Pot Roasted Herbed Chicken Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon Olive Oil
- 1 teaspoon Ground Paprika
- 1 teaspoon Garlic Powder
- ½ teaspoon Seasoned Salt
- ½ teaspoon Dried Thyme
- ½ teaspoon Dried Basil
- ½ teaspoon Freshly Ground Black Pepper
- ½ teaspoon Liquid Browning Sauce (such as Kitchen Bouquet brand (optional))
- 4 whole Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts (about 8 ounces each)
Instructions
- In a small bowl mix together the olive oil, spices and liquid browning sauce (if using).
- Rub the spice mixture all over the chicken and place the seasoned chicken into a 5 quart or larger slow cooker.
- Cover and cook on HIGH for 2 to 3 hours or until the chicken is cooked through.
- Serve and enjoy!
Nutrition
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Heidi, this recipe looks so delicious! I love a good crockpot recipe, I can just put it in and go about my day! Thanks for the great recipe, I can’t wait to give it a go! I’m visiting you from Monday’s Musings Linkup.
Thanks for dropping by Debbie and for your kind words. I love anything that allows me to multi-task too. I can cook AND read a book..sure why not! LOL
I would love to try this recipe, but have a question on cooking temperature. In your story above the recipe, you say to cook on HIGH for 2-3 hours but on the actual recipe, it says to cook on LOW for 2-3 hours. I just wanted to clarify before I try this. Thanks!
Thank you Tammy for catching that. The chicken should cook for 2 to 3 hours on HIGH. I have gone ahead and edited the recipe to reflect that. My apologies.
I was planning on making this and putting it in the crock pot before church, but we are usually gone for 3 1/2 hours, and the cook time says 2-3 hours. Can I make this work?
It probably will be OK. The thing with chicken breasts is that they do tend to dry out when cooked too long in the slow cooker but 1/2 an hour shouldn’t make that big of a difference. If you have a slow cooker that automatically switches to the warm setting after the programmed cooking time it will be just fine on the warm setting for 1/2 an hour.
Thank you!
I want to make this a crockpot dump meal. If the meat is uncooked and frozen how long would you cook it for?
Hi Val, this recipe calls for using uncooked chicken already so you are good there. However, if you are starting with frozen chicken breasts you will need to add about 1 hour extra to the recipe. Keep in mind the herb mixture may not stick as well to frozen chicken as it does to thawed though.
I’m cooking this as we speak it smells so good so far. Am I supposed to flip it/ mix it around or just leave it as is?
Hi Nicole, you just leave it as is as it cooks. Opening the slow cooker often while it is cooking may increase the cooking time due to the heat escaping.
How could this be adjusted for an Instant Pot?
Hi June, this recipe has not been tested in an InstantPot or electric pressure cooker so we are unable to give advice on how it is best cooked in one. However I would think that you could follow the directions and just cook on the Poultry setting. If you give it a try be sure to come back and let us know how it turned out for you!
I made this chicken yesterday. It was the most tender, flavorful chicken breast recipe ever! We usually slice the chicken for our salads!
I followed the recipe exactly and 3 hours on high was perfect!
Thank you for another great recipe!
I am so glad you enjoyed this recipe Steph. I like to make this chicken and serve it cold in salads too!
Hey there! If I wanted to cook this on low, how long would be ideal for this particular recipe?
Hey Kristy, while I feel this recipe is best cooked on HIGH for the 2 to 3 hours indicated in the recipe for best results and juicy chicken. If you want to try cooking it on LOW I would suggest going 4 to 6 hours. Start at 4 hours and then check to see if the chicken is done and only cook longer if is the chicken is not fully cooked.