Foodie on a Budget- Slow Cooker Roast Chicken

As a mother to a teenager and a newborn, time is pretty valuable.  So is saving money and staying on a budget.  Picking up a rotisserie chicken at the grocery store and breaking it down for recipes for the week used to be a pretty regular thing for me.  I was definitely saving time, and in my opinion, money.  Have you bought a whole cooker chicken lately? They usually cost as much if not more than the ready made rotisseries at your local grocery store.  What I didn't like about the grocery store roasted chickens is that I didn't really know what was in them.  How much salt and preservatives had they pumped into those things anyhow?


Then I discovered "roasted" chicken from the Crock Pot.  Actually by accident.  The evening I went into labor with my daughter, I had decided to start boiling a couple of large split chicken breasts that I could break down and use throughout the week for sandwiches and homemade chicken noodle soup.  My local Kroger had a great sale on Tyson split chicken breasts (99 cents a pound!) that week.  A half hour into cooking the chicken, my contractions went to 3 minutes apart!  So, my mom threw the chicken into a container and into the fridge.  The day we came home from the hospital, my mom stopped at our house that morning and put the partially cooked chicken breasts in the Crock Pot to finish.  We came home to chicken with a nice crisp on the skin, moist and juicy on the inside, and that fell off the bone, making breaking it down incredibly easy and quick.  I have cooked large split chicken breasts this way 3 times now since we brought our baby girl home, and I have been able to make quick, delicious, and healthy dinners and sandwiches from it for 3 adults for an entire week.


So here is all that you need to make it:

Yep, that is it. A Crock Pot, chicken broth (I use the Kroger Private Selection Organic chicken broth- less than $2 a carton), and a pack of two large split chicken breasts (I always stock up on them when the local Kroger's has their 99 cents sale- the package pictured was only a little over $2!).

Just pour a little chicken broth in the bottom of the Crock Pot. I do this to keep the chicken from sticking to the bottom of the Crock Pot, and to keep the meat moist. I used about 2/3 cup.  Put the chicken in the Crock Pot, skin side up and cover and cook on low for about 5-6 hours.  

Once the chicken is cooked, I turn off the Crock Pot and let the chicken set until it is cool enough to handle.  Then I place the chicken breasts on a cutting board, remove the skin, and break off the meat from the bones in large chunks, and then chop! 

You can use one of the large breasts immediately for dinner (like I did for my husband and I last night) and then refrigerate the rest to use for recipes the rest of the week like chicken salad or a couple of my favorites:
Chicken and Biscuit Pot Pie
Avogolemono Soup