This Crock Pot Lemon Garlic Chicken and Veggies is easy to make, healthy, and provides everything you need for dinner in a single pot. Made with simple ingredients and loved by kids and adults alike, this slow cooker lemon garlic chicken will be a new staple in your dinner rotation!
It always amazes me when I hear people say they “forgot to eat” on a particularly busy day. This concept is completely foreign to me. I have had busy days. I’ve had days where I’ve had to push back a meal or skip it in favor of scarfing a granola bar down in the car. But I honestly can’t remember a single time where I’ve just “forgotten” to eat. When I’m hungry, my body makes it awfully hard to forget. Those loud, angry stomach gurgles aren’t going to wait.
The term “hangry” has enjoyed a lot of success the past few years, at least partially because it’s a feeling so many people identify with. When I’m hungry I often find myself impatient and short tempered.
I can easily snap at my husband or get upset about things that wouldn’t normally bother me. Hangriness isn’t a state that’s good for anyone–me, my family, or anyone unlucky enough to get between me and the sample ladies at Costco.
My Secret Weapon: Slow Cooker Chicken Dinners
The hangries seem to be at their worst around 4:30, that “witching hour” before dinner time when everyone is hungry, tired, and fussy (and no, I’m not just referring to the kids).
That hour could be the most stressful part of the day were it not for my beloved slow cooker. Let me tell you, there is no better feeling than looking at the clock at 4:30 PM and suddenly remembering dinner is ready and waiting for you in the crock pot. Hallelujah.
This lemon garlic crock pot chicken is a family favorite. The chicken is cooked in the slow cooker along with a slew of vegetables, so by the time the pre-dinner whining kicks in, I’ve got a satisfying meal ready to go.
It has a lovely light and lemony herb flavor that’s not too strong for little tastebuds. And for my mom tastebuds? Well, Crock Pot Lemon Garlic Chicken tastes a lot like victory.
How To Make Crock Pot Lemon Garlic Chicken
Making lemon chicken in a crock pot requires only a few minutes of prep time and simple ingredients.
- To start, layer quartered potatoes (I prefer red potatoes or Yukon golds), carrots, and onions in the bottom of a slow cooker and season well with salt, pepper, and sliced garlic cloves.
- Place well-seasoned bone in, skin on chicken thighs on top of the potatoes.
- Pour fresh lemon juice over top, followed by several cloves of sliced garlic.
- Sprinkle the chicken with your favorite fresh or dried herbs and cook on low for 6-8 hours or until chicken is very tender.
Tips for Slow Cooker Lemon Garlic Chicken
- My favorite cut of chicken to use for this recipe is bone-in, skin on chicken thighs or drumsticks. They are tender, juicy, and nearly fail proof.
- To get that lovely crispy, crackly chicken skin, broil the chicken for a few minutes after it’s done slow cooking.
- Originally, I used a few Tablespoons of olive oil in this recipe, but since then I’ve omitted the oil, and it’s been just fine! The chicken cooks in its own delicious juices.
- This recipe is extremely adaptable. I’ve experimented with a few different combinations of seasonings, so feel free to use what you have on hand. The original recipes uses fresh thyme and rosemary, but I’ve also tried and loved dried parsley, basil, and Italian seasoning.
Crock Pot Lemon Garlic Chicken
This Slow Cooker Lemon Garlic Chicken is an easy chicken recipe with a bright lemon flavor. Paired with carrots and potatoes, this is a one pot meal!
Ingredients
- 2 lbs. red potatoes, quartered
- 1 sweet yellow onion, quartered
- 1 lb. carrots, sliced into 2-3 inch sticks
- 6 bone in, skin on chicken thighs
- 3 Tablespoons lemon juice
- 4 cloves garlic, pressed
- 1 lemon, sliced
- 3 sprigs rosemary, stems removed, chopped
- 6 sprigs fresh thyme leaves
- Kosher salt and fresh ground pepper
Instructions
- Place the potatoes, onions, and carrots in the bottom of a large slow cooker. Sprinkle generously with salt and pepper. Stir in two cloves of garlic and half of the fresh herbs.
- Sprinkle the chicken thighs generously with salt and pepper then nestle them in with the potatoes and carrots. Squeeze the lemon juice on top then spread the remaining garlic over the chicken. Place the lemon slices over top.
- Cook on high for four hours or on low for 6-8 hours. When the chicken is finished, remove the sliced lemon, squeezing it out over top of the chicken if you want extra lemony flavor.
- Preheat the broiler and place the chicken thighs on a pan under the broiler for 3-4 minutes or until browned and crisp. Serve immediately with the vegetables from the slow cooker.
Notes
This recipe can be easily adapted based on the ingredients you have on hand. Feel free to use chicken drumsticks or breasts instead of thighs and use dried herbs (Italian seasoning, parsley, basil, or dried rosemary/thyme) instead of fresh.
Note: If substituting a boneless, skinless cut of chicken, drizzle the vegetables with 1 Tablespoon of olive oil and the chicken with another Tablespoon of olive oil.
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Nutrition Information:
Yield: 6 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 226Total Fat: 4gSaturated Fat: 1gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 2gCholesterol: 28mgSodium: 200mgCarbohydrates: 41gFiber: 6gSugar: 6gProtein: 10g
Please note nutritional information for my recipes is calculated by a third party service and provided as a courtesy to my readers. For the most accurate calculation, I always recommend running the numbers yourself with the specific products you use.
SO. . . when DO the rest of the herbs get added? I saw a number of questions about that step but never saw an answer. ‘So sorry if I missed it.
I made this recipe today and was disappointed that both the nice crispy chicken skin and the vegetables had a bitter lemon flavor. I believe this came from the lemon slices. I even removed the lemon slices after a few hours. I might try it again without the lemon slices to see if that fixes the problem. Also, not to nitpick, but you forgot to mention in the instructions when to add the other half of the herbs. I assumed they were to be sprinkled on the chicken and noted just now that you mention that in your blog post. I am a fellow food blogger so I hope you appreciate the honest feedback. Other than the bitterness, this seems like a good recipe.
I made this yesterday and wow! It was amazing! I will definitely be making this again.
Thank you!
Hi,
So happy to have found this recipe. I am not a fan of cooking, so I am trying to find easy crock pot recipes. How should I determine if I need to keep in for six to eight hours? Should I do a temperature check?
Thanks!
You can check at six hours and if it’s at 165, it’s good to go. But honestly, it shouldn’t hurt to go the full 8 hours if you’re away from home or unable to check.
May I brown the chicken first in a skillet before I put in crock pot?
Definitely! Browning can be great for adding flavor, but the skin won’t stay crispy while it’s in the crock pot. That’s why I prefer to broil the chicken briefly after it’s cooked.
Hi i love your recipe can I use onions, broccoli and cauliflower to lay the chicken on?
The broccoli and cauliflower might get a bit too mushy if they were cooked all day, but you could add them for the last few hours.
I nees low carb veggies can I use brocolli and cauliflower and onion to lay the chicken on instead of potatoes and carrots?
I used parsley flakes and bay leaves instead of thyme. Is that OK?
Just tried this tonight and all I can say is YUMMMM.. Great call on broiling the chicken after cooking turned nice and crispy. Will look forward to having it again tomorrow after it sits overnight. Keep up the great work and looking forward to trying more of your recipes.
This makes me so happy! I’m so glad you liked it and I hope you find many more recipes to enjoy!
Hello,
I don’t have any potatoes on hand. Can I make this without any potatoes using the same cooktime? I do have couscous on hand. Do you cook the couscous together with the chicken or separately just before serving?
Thank you!
You can definitely omit the potatoes. I would cook the couscous separately right before serving.
Hi I made this with sweet potato but when I served it the potato was still quite hard. So were the carrots. It have been cooking on Auto for 8 hours. Any tips? Would some extra chicken stock help? Im new to crock pot cooking.
Hmm…the vegetables definitely should’ve been soft after cooking that long. I’m not familiar with the “auto” setting. My crock pot just has low or high. Is it possible that setting isn’t warm enough?
Tried it last night was amazing thank you for sharing this amazing recipe !
As a bachelor, there’s two things that I appreciate. A slow cooker, and awesome people who share recipes for the slow cooker. Cheers on the awesome recipe.
I appreciate you taking the time to come back and comment! So glad you liked the recipe!
What do we do with the second half of the herbs? It only say mix the first half in with the veggies.
I have read that for safety you should never reheat chicken but eat it cold if you have leftovers. Is this a true statement?
I don’t believe that’s true. These are the guidelines I follow for reheating leftovers. https://www.foodsafety.gov/blog/holiday_leftovers.html
What if I don’t have a broiler ? Can i bake to get the same texture on the tops of the chicken after they have slow cooked ?
Baking would probably help crisp up the chicken, but I’d be a little more concerned about drying it out. I would just try a really hot oven for a short amount of time.
I made this recipe on lunch and the house smells great. Can’t wait to try it for dinner!
You have one small typo- at the end, I think you meant broileR not broiled.
Thanks for the wonderful recipes 🙂
What will happen if you use frozen chicken?
Technically, the USDA doesn’t recommend using frozen chicken in the slow cooker. I think it would work okay, although the texture if you use skin-on chicken thighs might be off.
I’m trying it with boneless skinless thighs hope it turns out OK. Have you done it with boneless skinless?
I haven’t, but I think it would still work fine. I hope it turned out great for you!
Love this chicken! I have made this twice already and everyone loves it. I use the skinless thighs, I brown them first. I found 5 hours on low is more then enough. Last time did the 7 hours and it was a bit too much. I also add a cup of chicken bouillon. Lately I’m tired of stuff I have tried making like pot roast, turkey,pork, it always comes out tough so now trying new recipes. This is a keeper. I also use the Near East Couscous Couscous with wild mushroom and it’s excellent!! The smell of this cooking for hours is so great, thanks for this recipe.
I’d like to add as above poster said it was bitter but I find that at all in fact I may use a little more lemon especially since I added the chicken bouillom
I’m so glad you enjoyed it! It sounds wonderful with the couscous!
Love the idea of this, but not a fan of dark meat chicken. How would I adjust the cooking time if I used bone-in chicken breast? Thank you.
The cooking time should be about the same with chicken breasts!
Made this yesterday and my husband now thinks I am a genius! He said we can make this for guests, so I knew he loved it 🙂
That is AWESOME. I love feeling like a genius. 🙂
I’m cooking this now…do I need to make any adjustments for boneless skinless thighs?
Those should work just fine!
Hiya :} Nice recipe. Just wondered if anyone else had bitter sauces? The lemon pretty much destroyed everything in the dish, carrots, onions and sauce, yet the chicken was fine. Although it seeped into the skin so that was inedible also. ):
So sorry to hear it didn’t work well for you!When you say the lemon destroyed the vegetables do you mean it was just too strong?
Thanks so much for the amazing recipe. I made this and my husband couldn’t believe it’s home-cooked!
I have 6 quart crock pot. Is this too big for this recipe ?
No that should work great!
Came across this recipe this weekend and just made in the oven — this is excellent! So glad that I came across this site – Thank you so much for sharing this!!
Awesome! So glad you loved it!
If you were to make this with boneless chicken breasts, how many breasts or how much should the breasts weigh? I’ve noticed that some recipes change the wgt. of the chicken breasts when substituting for chicken thighs. Thank you.
I would just use a standard package of 1-1.5 lbs. chicken breasts. I would also probably skip the broiler part at the end of the recipe to avoid drying them out.
I am 33 yr old. Lol first crock pot meal made. Looked so easy and delicicious. Find out this evening. Thanks
Trying it tonight. Can’t wait!
I hope you enjoyed!
I loved this recipe! I love the fact that everything is natural. My sister was just put on a low sodium diet and this was the perfect recipe for her. Everyone absolutely loved it!
I am so glad! Thank you so much for taking the time to come back and let me know!
I am making this for dinner tonight. Thank you for the recipe, I however did use russet potatoes. And orange slices cause 8 didn’t want to go to the store. That should be ok right?
Hi there! I apologize for the delayed response. I hope the chicken still turned out great for you!
When the chicken is done in the crock pot and it says to preheat the oven so the chicken is crispy it doesn’t say to what temperature. What should I preheat it to?
I just use the broiler! No need to preheat to a certain temperature.
The directions say broil – so I would use low since the meat is already cooked. Just stick around and watch as the broiler can be tricky at times. I’m going to make this next week and will report back.
This came out outstanding! We followed the recipe to the tee and it was very tasty. I cooked on low for 8 hours and let it sit to cool some for 2 hours. Couple of changes I made/will make next time:
1. We added 1 cup of chicken broth to add moisture.
2. It really needed more salt – I thought I was being heavy handed, but I will add more next time.
3. I didn’t bother with the browning in the oven step and it was still great.
4. I would probably cut the potatoes and carrots by 1/4 of the amount each and add more onion. There seemed to just be too many potatoes and carrots ratio to chicken.
5. I’m thinking either the lemon juice or the lemon slices, but both seemed slightly overpowering.
I stumbled upon this delicious looking recipe earlier today. It’s in the slow cooker right now and smells so good. Can’t wait for dinner tonight! I used skinless boneless chicken thighs, and following the recipe as written.
So you can place the uncooked chicken with the potatoes and carrots, correct? I just ask because I’m not super great with cooking chicken and I just wanted to make sure.
That’s right! You can place the chicken in the slow cooker raw, just make sure it’s not frozen!
I ‘m trying the
Lemon garlic crock
Pot recipe.i bought boneless skinless thighs, is that ok ?
This recipe is so delicous. We’ve made this a couple times and it gets better everytime. I love the texture you get from the skin on chicken when it’s broiled as a last step.
What adjustments need to be made, if I want to double the recipe?
As long as you can fit it all in the crock pot, you shouldn’t need to make any adjustments other than doubling all the ingredients!
Trying this is the morning was wondering why recipe says 4 cloves of garlic then in making the recipe it only says 2 cloves
Sorry about that! The remaining 2 cloves go on top of the chicken! I’ve updated the recipe.
I made it twice and it was amazing both times!
Awesome! Thank you so much for coming back to let me know!
Thank you..
How long for boneless (new to crock pot cooking)
The time should be the same whether you use bone in or boneless!
I notice that the recipe instructions say to stir half of the garlic and herbs in before starting to cook the meal. When does the remainder of these ingredients come into play?
Never mind! Disregard please 🙂
Do you have any suggestions for reheating? After being in the slow cooker for 8 hrs, I had to pack it up for future meals. To reheat, I put in the broiler on high for 10min. Mine was fine, but my husband’s was pink. I put it back in for another 5 min in tented foil and then turned off the broiler and kept it in for a few more minutes (trying to avoid drying it out). It darkened up, but of course we are concerned about food safety. There wasn’t really a thick enough portion of chicken left to check the temp. Thoughts?
Hmmm…pink is not necessarily a sign of doneness (or un-doneness). You could always try microwaving for a few minutes before placing in the oven to crisp up, just ot be sure.
Can I use boneless chicken boneless breast
That should work fine!
The recipe says to remove the leaves from the thyme. Does that mean you use only the stems? Also, should the garlic be chopped or go in whole?
Sorry that’s confusing! I use the thyme leaves, not the stems. And the garlic can remain while, or if you have chopped you can use about a teaspoon chopped.
Can I use coconut oil instead of olive oil?
That should work fine!
hi ,do we need to add water or ang liquid on the slow cooker pot ? crackpot slow cook lemonchicken and veggie
No extra liquid is necessary!
hi ,do we need to add water or ang liquid on the slow cooker pot ?
What liquids do I use in this recipe
No extra liquid needed! The chicken will cook in its own juices.
Hi, looks lovely but I am wondering if it wouldn’t be a bit dry with only oil and lemon juice? Won’t it dry/burn to my slow cooker?
Thank you.
Do you think it would be ok to use boneless chicken breasts in this recipe?
I think you could try it, but I would bake the chicken breasts on a separate pan in case they get done before the rest of the meal. That way you can take them out early and avoid drying them out!
I’m so sorry, I just realized I responded on the wrong recipe. I think you could absolutely use chicken breasts in this recipe without making any changes. I hope that helps!
What a wonderful recipe this is. I have not seen my family members in a various number of years and we all live most of the time in the same general area but work interferes.
I will double this recipe this weekend and use a 5 quart crock-pot. Thanks and take care….
I’m so glad you like it and I hope your family will as well!
Hello, this is the first time I ise a crockpot, can I just leave it on high for 6 hours? The people I have coming over will be here soon I don’t really have time to wait 12 hours till this is done thank you so much
It should be fine to do it on high. I would check it at 4 hours to see if it’s done, and if not go the full 6. Hope you enjoy!
I found this recipe quite by accident and thought it sounded easy, nutritious, and delicious.
I was right.
I have just found your website and will be selecting other of your recipes from now on.
Thank you!
This comment just made my day, Peggy. I’m so glad you enjoyed the recipe and hope you find many more favorites on the site!
Does the olive oil make it seem greasy?
I personally haven’t run into this issue, but I have received one other comment about it seeming greasy. If you’re worried about it, feel free to omit the olive oil. Another reader did that and said it turned out fine!
I am recently widowed. Cooking for one has been a problem. But I will make this, package it, and have several meals ready to go. My husband retired three years before I did. He took over meal preparation. Didn’t realize how spoiled I was.
Hi Pamela,
I’m so sorry to hear that. I’m sure that is a really hard adjustment. I hope this recipe can help make your dinner times a little easier!
can you cook this dish in the oven??
thank you
That should work fine! I would put everything on a foil lined sheet pan then bake at 400 degrees for 40-50 minutes.
Covered or not for the oven?!?
Can’t wait to try this tonight. I just didn’t have time to put it in the crock pot.
In the oven does it have to be covered and why do you put on foil
I made this last week and it was amazing! 😛
Yay! I’m so glad you liked it Nicki!