A super easy Slow-Cooker Lemon Chicken recipe full of lemon flavor and tons of delicious garlic. No need for sides as the potatoes and veggies are cooked right in the crockpot with the bone-in chicken thighs.
Tried and loved by HUNDREDS of people. This recipe went mega-viral on social media and the feedback has been incredible.
There are days in the week where you have to have dinner ready within 15-20 minutes from the moment you enter the front door.
Of course, you can always make a fried egg and eat it with some bread but after a while, that can get pretty boring. Doesn’t a delicious Lemon Chicken sound so much better?
This is where our slow-cooker comes into the game. What an amazing tool this is!
This Crockpot Lemon Chicken recipe can be made in as little as 3 hours and up to 8 hours. Which makes it perfect for many different schedules. If you prefer rice over potatoes you may want to check out my Crockpot Chicken and Rice recipe instead.
Slow-Cooker Lemon Chicken Thighs
I know I will get this question so I’m going to address it right away: “Can I use Chicken Breasts?”
Well of course you “CAN”. The question though is if you should and for this specific Slow-Cooker Lemon Chicken recipe (and many others for that matter) I do not recommend it.
Here is why: Chicken breasts that are steamed or cooked for too long become incredibly dry. The only way to get around this is completely submerging them in sauce and making sure not to cook too long.
Bone-in and skin-on chicken thighs are much more forgiving. There is almost no way to overcook them. So I highly, highly recommend using those for this Crockpot Lemon Chicken.
You won’t regret it. I promise.
To address the fear of a soggy, leathery skin: yes, it will be soggy and leathery but you have two options once the chicken thighs are cooked through. Either remove and discard the skin. It will be super easy to remove at this point.
OR, place the chicken thighs on a baking sheet and place under the broiler for 3-5 minutes. The skin will crisp up super nicely and taste absolutely fantastic.
If you are concerned about the fat rendered into the lemon sauce due to the skin you can always pass the sauce through a fat separator. I love those things. They are perfect for ANY sauce.
Slow-Cooker Lemon Chicken And Potatoes
What you will probably love most about this recipe is that the sides are cooked right in the crockpot with the chicken.
Potatoes don’t need to be submerged in any liquid to cook through. You can place them all to one side or layer on top of the chicken.
The best potatoes to use are baby potatoes. They hold their shape the best. No need to peel them either because the skin is very soft and stays stuck on the potato halves as opposed to fall off and float around in the sauce.
If you want them crispy you can place them next to the chicken thighs on a baking sheet and also broil for 3-5 minutes. 3 minutes if you preheated the oven, 5 minutes if you didn’t.
I also like to add my veggies right into the pot, but at the end. Not for the whole cooking process. You risk vegetables becoming mush if you cook them for so long. The only vegetables that can withstand long cooking times are root vegetables.
You can use carrots or celery instead of asparagus if you prefer to cook everything in the crockpot from the beginning and be able to eat within 5 minutes of walking in through the front door.
I prefer fast cooking veggies that stay crispy though for some freshness and crunch in the meal.
Thin green asparagus cooks within 15-20 minutes max with the crockpot set on high. So it’s perfect as side for this Slow-Cooker Lemon Chicken.
Slow-Cooker Lemon Chicken
Ingredients
- 1 red onion
- 6-8 chicken thighs - bone in, skin on
- 1-1.5 lbs baby potatoes
- 1 lemon
- 2 Tbsp olive oil
- 2 Tbsp honey
- 4 cloves garlic
- 1/2 Tbsp fresh thyme leaves
- sea salt
- pepper
- bunch thin green asparagus
Instructions
- Peel and slice red onion and add to the bottom of the slow cooker in one layer.
- Add chicken thighs on top in one layer.
- Wash and half baby potatoes and add to slow-cooker.
- In a small bowl mix zest of 1 lemon, juice of that same lemon, olive oil, honey, thyme, sea salt, pepper and finely chopped garlic and then pour over ingredients in slow cooker.
- Put lid on and secure, then set to high for 3-4 hours or low for 6-8 hours (depending on your schedule. 3 hours on high being the minimum and 4 the maximum and 6 hours being the minimum and 8 hours the maximum when set on low).
- 15-20 minutes before the time is over, set slow cooker to high and add asparagus on top and put lid back on. The thicker the asparagus, the longer it will take.
- optional but recommended: 5 minutes before the time is over, remove the chicken thighs, place on a baking sheet and put under the broiler on high for 3-5 minutes or until the skin is golden.
- Enjoy!
Nutrition
Cynthia says
Good flavor. Added extra lemon juice and garlic and used a spicy honey. Used chicken breast. Took them out when they were done so they would not dry out. Shredded the chicken and poured a bit of the juice over them. They were perfect. We don’t eat tons of saturated fats…. fats are good, but we limit them from animals specifically.
Lorena says
Sounds fantastic and great idea about taking the chicken out ahead of time :)
Sylvia tobar says
Hello, I’m Sylvia. I’m planning on making this for my husband on Father’s Day, but I got an instant pot. I understand you have cooking instructions for it. Where can I find them? TIA
Lorena says
Oh no! I’m so sorry Sylvia. I didn’t see this comment in time :( Did you end up finding it? I have a search bar in the menu. There you can search for anything on my website.
Bonnie says
Can you use regular onion i forgot to buy red onion
Lorena says
Yes! Absolutely.
Jeanine says
Hi,
What size slow cooker do you use for this? And can I use regular potatoes instead of baby potatoes? I’m going to make this for dinner next week 😀 Thank you!
Lorena says
You can use any low-starch potato. High-starch potatoes will become mush. I like new potatoes because they are super low in starch. My crock pot is a 7-quart.
Sue says
Trying this in my instant pot using the slow cooker function for the first time. Also added some cubed butternut squash wish us luck :) I also seared the chicken skin before adding
Lorena says
Good luck. Let me know how it turned out. I have this recipe converted to Instant Pot pressure cooking in case the slow-cooker function doesn’t work.
Lorna says
Wonderful recipe, was amazed how good it was. Temperature here 96 degrees, wanted something that wouldn’t heat up kitchen , it worked great! Too hot to grill outside! Thank you!!!
Lorena says
You are very welcome. I’m happy to read you liked it :)
Gail Sprlyan says
this was awesome. i have made with both lemon and lime and find the lime gives it a bit more zing. i served it over cauliflower rice and i leave out the potatoes as im on keto
Lorena says
Brilliant!!! Thank you for your serving suggestion. This will be so helpful for others on the Keto diet :D
Tami says
I really want to try this! Do you think I could use fresh green beans instead of asparagus?
Lorena says
Absolutely! Many have and it’s just as delicious :)
Sarah F says
I browned the chicken first and was glad I did.
The chicken was falling off the bone after 4 hours.
All in all a nice experience. Flavors were there.
Bee says
It was delicious!!!
I halved the chicken count and used boneless/skinless because that’s all I had. Cooked on low for 5.5hrs and it was perfect 🤗
Thank you for sharing this great recipe!
Lorena says
I’m so happy to read you liked it :)
Blaine says
Wish me luck! Stumbled across this recipe and going to use a whole chicken, cut up with bones still in
Lorena says
It’ll turn out fantastic! I’m sure!
Tess says
I just put this on to cook and have added some chicken stock. The liquid doesn’t cover the chicken… Fingers crossed it works out!
Lorena says
It doesn’t need to cover the whole chicken :)
Michelle Sustaita says
Can I leave out the honey? Will still taste just as good?
Cheryl says
Made this with asparagus the other night and it was amazing. How would you recommend cooking it with broccoli, cauliflower & baby carrots in the crockpot! Thank you
Lorena says
Baby carrots will need quite a while, you could add them right from the beginning. Broccoli and cauliflower cook in about the same time as asparagus so you can add at the end just like the asparagus :)
Melanie says
This look amazing and I cant wait to try it,Have you tried this using drumstcks? I have them in the freezer and wonder if those would work.
Lorena says
I haven’t tried but I’m 99.9% sure it’ll work perfectly with drum sticks. Just don’t use white meat. Any dark chicken meat will be perfect.
sean says
can we use boneless skinless chicken thighs ( not a big fan of bone, skin on thighs)?
sean says
perhaps add a little chicken stock so it prevents any drying out of the boneless skinless chicken thighs, would that help?
Lorena says
That gives you a lot more liquid but worth a try. I think boneless skinless chicken thighs will be ok even following the rest of the recipe to a T. What becomes super dry are chicken breasts.
Julie says
I did and it was great because it eliminated the need to broil. I added 1-2 tbsp cornflour (mixed with a little water for the last 15 min of cooking) to thicken the sauce
Deb says
Can I do this with boneless breasts? Just not a fan of thighs. Thanks! Looks like a great recipe
Lorena says
I don’t recommend chicken breasts cooked in the slow cooker unless drenched in a sauce as else they dry out horribly. I’m afraid only dark chicken meat will taste good slow cooked.
Janice Walker says
How can this recipe be done with the Instant Pot.?
Lorena says
https://greenhealthycooking.com/instant-pot-lemon-chicken/
Terry (Ted) Muse says
AWESOME, AWESOME, AWESOME
Great recipe!!
Lorena says
Thank you :)