Simple Slow Cooker Chicken

Chicken is one of the most familiar meats to cook, and slow-cooking is one of the easiest methods of taking anything from raw to dinner – put them together, and you’ve got a basic recipe for super-easy food with almost no work.

The key here is to find chicken with the skin on – don’t go for the skinless breasts here. For one thing, the skin adds flavor, and why would you ever pass up on chicken skin when you could be eating it? But for slow-cooking it’s particularly important because the fat helps keep the meat tender while it cooks. Nobody likes dried-out, stringy chicken, and skin-on cuts are much less likely to end up that way, even if you cook them a little long.

Other than finding a skin-on chicken cut, there’s not much to worry about here; that’s the magic of the slow cooker. Raw meat and spices go in; dinner comes out. The onions give you an aromatic base and also prevent the chicken from sticking to the bottom of the pan. Put it in for lunch or dinner, or just turn it on as you’re doing meal prep for the week, and when you’re done with all your other prep, you’ll also have a bunch of easy cooked chicken that you can add to salads, stir-fries, or other meals as necessary.

Simple Slow Cooker Chicken Recipe

SERVES: 4 PREP: 15 min. COOK: 4 h.

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Ingredients

• 4 bone-in, skin on chicken breasts;
• 2 red onions, sliced;
• 1 tbsp. chilli powder;
• 1/2 tbsp. paprika;
• 2 tsp. garlic powder;
• Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper;

Preparation

1. In a bowl, combine the chili powder, paprika, and garlic. Season generously with salt and pepper.
2. Rub the chicken breasts with the chili powder mixture.
3. Arrange the onions in a single layer at the bottom of the slow cooker.
4. Place the chicken breasts on top of the bed of onions, and cook on high for 3 to 4 hours.
5. Brush the chicken breasts with the liquid from the bottom of the slow cooker and serve.