Chicken Crockpot Recipes

Adapting your favorite chicken recipes for the crockpot

Any busy person knows what a lifesaver a crockpot can be. Whether you’re a working mom or a student trying to fit a cheap, easy meal into an irregular schedule of classes and extracurricular activities, we all have days when we just don’t have the time or energy to face the stove. Walking in the door to the wafting aromas of a hot and ready meal can be a little slice of heaven.

Chicken is a healthy and versatile go-to meat, and not surprisingly it lends itself to an endless variety of easy chicken crockpot recipes. In fact, many of your favorite chicken recipes can be adapted to the crockpot, to simmer quietly all day until you get home. Here are some tips to keep in mind:

• Chicken thighs and legs are the best option for the crockpot, as they hold up better and have more flavor. They can cook for 8-10 hours on low. Chicken breasts shouldn’t cook for more than 6 hours on low, or they’ll get mushy. Whole chicken crockpot recipes can cook for 8-10 hours.
• 1 hour on high is equivalent to roughly 2 hours on low.
• Don’t stir during cooking. Lifting the lid while cooking on low adds 20 min extra cooking time, to regain the heat that’s lost.
• Put things that need more cooking (like carrots and potatoes) on the bottom – stuff on the bottom cooks faster. It’s especially important for chicken breast crockpot recipes to put veggies at the bottom and the meat on top.
• Make sure frozen chicken is fully defrosted before putting in the crockpot; frozen chicken can take too long to reach safe cooking temperatures, risking food poisoning.
• Because no liquid evaporates from the crockpot, reduce liquid by ⅓ to ½ when adapting recipes to avoid a soupy result (unless you’re making a chicken soup crockpot recipe, of course).
• Pasta and rice can be cooked in the crockpot, but they need lots of water and can easily overcook. A safer option is to add cooked rice or pasta in last ½ hour to your crockpot chicken soup recipe.
• Certain other ingredients, like tender vegetables (tomatoes, snow peas), seafood and dairy, don’t hold up to long cooking. These should also be added in the last ½ hour of cooking.
• Use whole herbs and spices instead of ground for better flavor.
• Make sure the crockpot is filled between ½ and ⅔ full, in order for your meal to cook properly. Crockpots are available in a wide range of sizes, so be sure yours will accommodate the quantities you intend to cook.