Crisp & Juicy Slow Cooker Chicken

by Sabrina Snyder

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442 Comments

4.84 from 79 votes
4
Prep Time 1 minute
Cook Time 7 hours
Total Time 7 hours 1 minute
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Crisp and Juicy Slow Cooker Chicken recipe for slow cooking tender chicken thighs with crispy skin in a crock pot with just salt and pepper!

Crispy and juicy, the fat in the skin completely melts away leaving crispy chicken skin that will remind you of your favorite rotisserie chicken. Looking at the picture it would be easy to assume there is some trick to chicken that is golden brown and crispy, but still so moist! The secret? A slow cooker.

Sabrina’s Crisp and Juicy Slow Cooker Chicken

This was originally posted when the blog was just a month old as and I had used this method for cooking chicken in two recipes already. Both times, in Tony Roma’s BBQ Chicken and Armenian Chicken Pita Tacos I mentioned my love for this method of cooking and both times the pictures were….well… not as enticing as they deserved to be and the focus was on the other ingredients in the dish rather than the chicken. This post is more a method than a recipe.

Recipe Card

Dinner, then Dessert

Crisp & Juicy Slow Cooker Chicken Recipe

Crisp and Juicy Slow Cooker Chicken recipe for slow cooking tendy chicken thighs with crispy skin in a crock pot with just salt and pepper!
Yield 4
Prep Time 1 minute
Cook Time 7 hours
Total Time 7 hours 1 minute
Course Main
Cuisine American
Author Sabrina Snyder
chicken thighs in a skillet
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Ingredients
 

  • 6-8 chicken thighs , skin and bone on! (however many you can layer in a single layer)
  • kosher salt , to taste
  • coarse ground black pepper , to taste

Instructions

  • Liberally season both sides of the chicken with salt and pepper.
  • Put bone in, skin on chicken thighs in the slow cooker in a single layer, skin side up.
  • Note: Do not add liquids of any kind.
  • Cook on low for 7 hours .

Nutrition

Calories: 433kcal | Carbohydrates: 0.5g | Protein: 32g | Fat: 33g | Saturated Fat: 9g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 7g | Monounsaturated Fat: 14g | Trans Fat: 0.2g | Cholesterol: 194mg | Sodium: 152mg | Potassium: 405mg | Vitamin A: 154IU | Calcium: 16mg | Iron: 1mg

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Chef’s Note

I love staying simple with Sunday posts, I get to share our staple food items; things that are in heavy rotation and typically available no matter what. Just like Oven Baked Brown Rice this recipe is a constant in our fridge. It is one of the few things I can depend on my oldest eating without complaints. For something with a little more flavor and just as easy, checkout my Slow Cooker Garlic Chicken!

Variations

  • Seasonings: You can add some extra seasoning to the chicken if you want. Try some granulated garlic, onion powder, chili powder, or Italian seasoning. Use whatever you typically enjoy cooking with and add it at the same time you add the salt and pepper.
  • Sauce: I do not recommend adding liquid to the slow cooker with the chicken as that can prevent the skin from crisping up the same way it will without the sauce. Instead, if you want to serve a sauce with your chicken you can heat it up separately and serve on the plate with the chicken. You can rest the chicken in the sauce, drizzle it over the top, or just serve it on the side for everyone to use how they want.
  • Veggies: You can in some sliced veggies (without extra liquid) to the bottom of the slow cooker if you’d like to have chicken and veggies ready at the same time. Remember you still want the chicken to be in a single layer so the skin will get crispy.
  • Larger Batch: If you’d like to make more crispy thighs in the slow cooker, you’ll have to use a second crock pot. Stacking more thighs into the pot will ensure the ones on the bottom are not crispy. So borrow another slow cooker if you need to, in order to make a bigger batch of chicken.

More Chicken Thigh Recipes

Pinterest collage for slow cooker chicken thighs

About the Author: Sabrina Snyder

Sabrina is a professionally trained Private Chef of over 10 years with ServSafe Manager certification in food safety. She creates all the recipes here on Dinner, then Dessert, fueled in no small part by her love for bacon.

Sabrina Snyder is a professionally trained personal and private chef of over 10 years who is the creator and developer of all the recipes on Dinner, then Dessert.

She is also the author of the cookbook Dinner, then Dessert – Satisfying Meals Using Only 3, 5 or 7 Ingredients, published by Harper Collins.

She started Dinner, then Dessert as a business in her office as a lunch service for her coworkers who admired her lunches before going to culinary school and becoming a full time personal chef and private chef.

As a personal chef Sabrina would cook for families one day a week and cook their entire week of dinners. All grocery shopping, cooking and cleaning was done along with instructions on reheating. As a private chef she cooked for private parties and cooked in family homes in the evenings for families on a nightly basis after working as a personal chef during the day.

Sabrina has been certified as a ServSafe Manager since 2007 and was a longstanding member of the USPCA Personal Chef Association including being on the board of the Washington DC Chapter of Chefs in the US Personal Chef Association when they won Chapter of the year.

As a member of the community of food website creators Sabrina Snyder has spoken at many conferences regarding her experiences as a food writer including the Indulge Food Conference, Everything Food Conference, Haven Food Conference and IACP Annual Food Professionals Conference.

Sabrina lives with her family in sunny California.

See more posts by Sabrina

Dinner, then Dessert, Inc. owns the copyright on all images and text and does not allow for its original recipes and pictures to be reproduced anywhere other than at this site unless authorization is given. Read my disclosure and copyright policy. This post may contain affiliate links.

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Comments

  1. Very easy. Not 100% satisfied with the texture of the chicken. Followed the recipe as written. Texture was odd. I might try again with a shorter cooking time. Maybe 5 hours? Seems like my crockpot cooks high even on low.

    Reply

    1. Crockpot heat varies for sure Sherry! Appreciate your feedback and thank you for the kind review.

      Reply

  4. OMG!!! This chicken was PERFECT with a tomato, cucumber, feta cheese, bacon salad with raspberry vinaigrette dressing!!! I was skeptical, but I now believe in you!!!!!!

    Reply

    1. So glad to hear you enjoyed the chicken. I hope you’ll head over to the Recipe Index and browse through our recipes. If you enjoy Slow Cooker recipes we have a TON of them!

      Reply

    1. You can; however, keep an eye on your meat temp as chicken breasts cook faster and dry out faster. When your temp is at 165 degrees in the thickest part of your chicken breast the meat is done.

      Reply

  6. Great dish chicken was moist and delicious skin did crisp up pretty good but did put it under the broiler for a few minutes. The only problem was my wife was a little too liberal with the salt but it was still edible so we will cut back on that next time. Also I had asked if you could use a rack in the slow cooker but never heard back.

    Reply

    1. Hi Richie…sorry about the lack of response. Thanks for reminding me. Yes, you can use a rack. Glad you enjoyed the chicken! There are a BUNCH of Slow Cooker Chicken recipes on the site! Take a look and enjoy!

      Reply

    2. My crock pot won’t allow for laying enough chicken in a single layer. Can I do this with them on top of one another?

      Reply

  7. I’m going to be making this dish tomorrow I have a rack for my slow cooker would it make a difference if I use it or should I not.

    Reply