Crockpot Chicken

Menu:

Crock-pot Chicken * Noodles * Salad

Time to dinner: 20 minutes*

So, after I told you why I am not a fan of the crockpot, today I’m going to share with you one of the few crockpot/slow cooker recipes that I make during the week.  My sister Lisa gave me this recipe many, many years ago, and it has stood the test of time – I have taken the basic premise and switched it up, this is a very versatile recipe.

Because the main dish is ready when you get home, I spend a little more time on sides than I normally would.  Washing and chopping vegetables for a salad is not one of my favorite things.  I have tried the bagged salads, but they do not appeal to me (What can I say? I’m very picky about my salads!).  If you enjoy them and the convenience they offer, by all means cut down your prep time.

I usually make  a pretty basic salad of Romaine lettuce, tomatoes, cucumber, and red onion.  I’ll add some feta cheese and black olives if I have them.  Sometimes I’ll mix it up with shredded cheddar and santé fe tortilla strips if we are having more of a south west meal.

The following are directions to make this meal in its entirety – but a little different because of the crock pot prep in the morning.  The recipe for Crockpot chicken is at the end of this post.

*Does not include morning crock pot prep 

Morning:

My handy timer.

Evening:

 
I switch from serving noodles to rice with this depending on if we’ve had a lot of pasta lately (we eat a lot of pasta!).  I like to spoon some of the sauce from the chicken over the rice.  This is a kid-pleasing meal (“as long as you pick out the onions” my daughter says :-).  Easy to throw in the slow cooker in the morning, ready in minutes when you get home, and gobbled up by the family.  What could be better?  Oh, if a fairy came after dinner to clean up the mess!

Crockpot Chicken

Lynne Hartley

One of my oldest, simplest slow-cooker recipes. Over the years, I’ve taken the basics of this recipe, and gotten creative with them.  I’ve shared our favorite variations below in the notes section.

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Prep Time 12 mins

Cook Time 6 hrs

Total Time 6 hrs 30 mins

Servings 8

Ingredients

  

• 7-8 chicken pieces
• 1 large onion sliced and ringed
• 1 c ketchup
• 1 c sugar
• 1 c water

Instructions

 

• Place the chicken pieces in the bottom of a crock pot.
• Layer onion rings on top of chicken.
• Pour sugar, ketchup, and water over the chicken and onions.
• Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours, high from 4-6 hours.

Notes

Variations/Notes:
I like to use chicken thighs, skinless, but with the bone for this dish because they hold up in the crock pot.  You can use boneless, but I would suggest reducing cooking time.
One time I went to make this, and I was out of ketchup, so I decided to use BBQ sauce.  I realized that you could swap out any tomato based sauce (chili sauce, salsa, tomato soup, BBQ, etc.) for the ketchup.  Also, could swap any liquid for the water (my favorite is to use red or white wine), and I was never thrilled with pouring 1 whole cup of sugar into this recipe.  I typically cut it back to ½ cup, and use brown sugar.  I have even swapped the regular onion for red or sweet.  The result is always yummy.

Adapted from from Lisa Scott