A few years ago, I used my slow cooker to make the majority of our dinners. That time period gave birth to this recipe, which might be the easiest slow cooker recipe ever. I wanted the rosemary chicken my mom made when I was a kid, but I wanted to use the slow cooker instead of the oven. At the time, we were living in Korea and had a tiny oven that could only fit one quarter sheet pan at a time. So using the slow cooker to cook chicken meant the oven was available for roasting vegetables, baking biscuits, etc. We are now back in the US with a giant oven, but I still like to cook these in the slow cooker. Not only does it keep the kitchen cooler in warm weather, but it also means I am not tethered to the oven for an hour before dinner, aka the time of day when small children are most fidgety. The slow cooker makes dinner and we can go to the playground.
I have made this with bone-in and boneless chicken thighs, and both turn out deliciously moist with a nicely browned exterior. The trick to getting that nice color is to arrange the chicken thighs in a single layer. I can get about 5-6 bone-in thighs (or 8ish boneless pieces) across the bottom of my slow cooker.
Ingredients:
- 1 1/2 – 2 lbs of chicken thighs
- salt and pepper
- dried rosemary
Directions:
- Spray the interior of the slow cooker with nonstick spray.
- Arrange the chicken thighs in a single layer along of the bottom of the slow cooker. If you are using skin-on thighs, the skin side should face up.
- Generously sprinkle salt, pepper, and rosemary on the chicken thighs.
- For boneless skinless thighs, cover and cook for 6 hours on low. For bone-in skin-on thighs, cover and cook for 8 hours on low.
That’s it! Occasionally I change up the seasoning and use herbes de Provence instead of rosemary, depending on what I have on hand. For a simple but delicious meal, serve these alongside quinoa and your favorite veggies (quinoa is especially yummy when you make it with a 50-50 mix of water and the juices that accumulate on the bottom of the slow cooker). If you have more time, this is also a great main dish to serve when you want to make a more involved side because it is so easy!
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