Cooking Whole Chicken in Crock Pot
Braising in Herbs and Wine Makes the Most of Slow Cooked Flavor
Toss white wine, tarragon and chicken in a slow cooker for a juicy, flavorful but delicious dinner.
Whether you're away from home all day, or your office is your home, there's nothing quite like having dinner ready for you at the end of the day. This slow cooker chicken in wine has minimal ingredients, meaning it's easy to toss together in the morning, but is big on flavor. You can cook the whole chicken this way, braising in the Crock Pot, or substitute cut up chicken pieces if you prefer. Either way, your house will smell delicious and you will feel pampered not having to cook at dinnertime.
Chicken
The great thing about cooking a whole chicken in the slow cooker is cutting it up once it's cooked is a breeze. It will practically fall apart without much help from the knife. After dinner, you can use the whole carcass to make a soup. But if you'd rather not mess with whole chicken, pieces work great too. Either way, you can remove the skin first to keep fat to a minimum. The skin does help keep things moist and flavorful, though, so consider keeping it on if fat is not a big concern. You can also leave the skin just on the breast and cook it breast side up, keeping a crispy skin with moist meat, and letting the remaining portion of the chicken cook without skin in the wine.
A Complete Meal
If you want the entire dinner cooked in the Crock Pot, feel free to add vegetables to the bottom of the pot. They'll be well seasoned in the liquid there, but if you put vegetables in at the beginning of the cooking time and let them go all day, they will be very soft. If crisp vegetables are your preference, cook them separately at the end. A cold salad, warm rolls and the rest of the wine would make a great dinner.
Leftovers
Whatever is left from the chicken should be removed from the carcass right after dinner. It doesn't have to be pretty. Just slice off big chunks of it and store in a well-sealed container. As this chicken will be very moist, it's best to remove the meat from everything, even the legs, and store all of the boneless meat together. You can use it for sandwiches, chicken salad, soup, fajitas, quiche or anything else you'd like a little protein in.
Slow Cooker Chicken in Wine Recipe
Ingredients:
- 1 whole chicken
- Salt and pepper
- 1 tablespoon dried tarragon
- 2 cups white wine
Directions:
- Remove skin from chicken if you're cooking without it, or leave it on the breast portion as mentioned above.
- Remove giblets from chicken, rinse well and pat dry. Season liberally inside and out with salt, pepper and tarragon.
- Pour wine into slow cooker, then add chicken.
- Cook on low setting for 8-10 hours. Makes about 4 servings.
