Whether you want a whole rotisserie chicken for dinner or need to do some batch cooking for the week’s meal plan, this Crockpot Express Whole Chicken is the best way to get it done. It works in the Instant Pot or other pressure cookers, too!
This week I put Sour Cream Enchiladas and Creamy Chicken Taquitos on the menu, so I decided to do a little meal prep and cook a whole chicken in my pressure cooker. Normally, I would either buy a rotisserie chicken or do like my mom did growing up and boil the whole chicken. But this Crockpot Express Whole Chicken has so much more flavor and it stays perfectly tender!
This was a five pound chicken and after cooking and getting all the meat off the bones, I had plenty of meat for my enchiladas and taquitos, with a little extra for chicken salad sandwiches later! It was easy to get the meat, too, because it was so tender. The wings actually fell off the chicken as lifted it out of the pot! 🙂
I left the juices from cooking in the Crockpot Express and when I had stripped the chicken of meat, I put the carcass back in and made a large batch of chicken broth. I use it so often (especially now that I am pressure cooking more) that this is a much cheaper solution than buying it over and over. You can see that recipe for Crockpot Express Chicken Broth here.
Crockpot Express Whole Chicken
Ingredients
- 1 5 (five) pound whole chicken
- 2-3 tbsp Italian seasoning
- 1 cup chicken broth
Instructions
- Remove the giblets from the chicken, rinse and pat dry
- Rub the outside of the whole chicken with the seasoning
- Pour the chicken broth in the pot, place the chicken in it, breast side up. Cover and press Meat. Cook for 35 minutes and leave to release pressure naturally. (Takes about 10 minutes.)
Notes
Nutrition
If you want a whole chicken to eat (rather than to de-bone and use in other meals) just follow the same overall instructions. The difference would be the skin. To get that golden, crisp skin, you need to saute it first. You can do it in the pot on Saute/Brown, or do it in another pan so it’s easier to flip. Brown on both sides, pour the broth in the post, add the trivet and then place the chicken inside to cook. If you’re new to cooking with the Crockpot Express, be sure to check out my Crockpot Express Cooking Guide and FAQ’s here.
Recipes great for using up Crockpot Express Whole Chicken:
Easy Chicken Lo Mein
Vivica says
I can’t wait to try this but why not put it on Poultry? Just curious
Nicole Burkholder says
You can-it works the same way. It just defaults to 15 minutes so you have to adjust the time. I usually just choose the preset that’s closest to my cook time.
Mary says
Thank you! I was looking for HOW to cook it, already had my seasoning picked. Like you said, it’s all preference and I don’t care for Italian seasoning so I went with a family favorite.
It’s cooking now, updates after it’s done!
Ben says
Needs LOTS of salt.
Nicole Burkholder says
I think that will depend on the brand/type of Italian seasoning you use. Some mixes are much more salty than others. As with any recipe, adjust to you personal tastes, for sure!