Easiest Sunday Dinner EVER!

My husband and I recently tried cooking a whole chicken in our crockpot for the first time and it was so easy and delicious, we now do it almost every week. The chicken comes out so tender and moist it falls off of the bones so carving is a breeze. When we use a 5 lb. chicken, we have enough leftover for chicken sandwiches for a week or to make a chicken pot pie. I have also made a overnight crockpot chicken stock afterward (see recipe below) and it makes enough stock to last several weeks depending on how often you cook with stock (freeze the stock in small containers; 2 cups per container works well.)

Crockpot Whole Chicken
Ingredients
Rub Ingredients
4 tsp. salt
2 tsp. paprika
1 tsp. cayenne pepper
1 tsp. onion powder
1 tsp. dried thyme
1 tsp. white pepper
1/2 tsp. black pepper
Roasting or fryer chicken (I usually use a 5 lb. chicken)
1-2 garlic cloves, peeled and smashed
1 lemon, quartered

Directions
Combine rub ingredients in a small bowl. Rinse chicken and pat dry with paper towels. Rub garlic all over outside of the chicken. Put garlic inside the chicken. Add quartered lemon to the inside of the chicken. Place chicken in slow cooker, cover and cook chicken on low for 8 hours. (Time will depend on the size of the chicken and your slow cooker.)


Crockpot Overnight Chicken Stock

Ingredients
Leftover chicken bones
1 onion, peeled and loosely chopped
1 rib of celery, roughly chopped
1 carrot, roughly chopped (no need to peel)
1 bay leaf
1 sprig fresh parsley
1 sprig fresh thyme
Salt, to taste

Directions
After removing all edible meat from the chicken put/leave the bones, skin, cooking juices, etc. in the crock pot. Leave every single thing that’s leftover (except the good meat of course) in the crock pot. Add the onion, celery, carrot and spices on top of the bones and fill the crock pot almost to the top with tap water (leaving about 1/2” at the top). Turn the slow cooker onto low after dinner and cook all night long. After the stock is done cooking turn off the heat and, using a soup ladle, pass the stock through a fine sieve to remove all herbs/bones/etc. Either refrigerate or freeze the stock for future use.