Crock-Pot Roasted Herbed Chicken Recipe (2024)

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!

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