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Turmeric is the perfect, anti-inflammatory miracle spice, and I am always on the lookout for new ways to use it.
This is a slow cooker dish that lives up to the slow cooker hype; dump all of the ingredients into the pot, hit the button and return several hours later to a perfectly cooked dinner.
Although the vast majority of slow cooker meals won’t be very tasty if you don’t do a little prep work first, this Slow Cooker Chicken Recipe with Turmeric and Vegetables really is a set-it-and-forget-it tasty one dish wonder. It embodies the true spirit of slow cooking.
The Best Chicken for Any Slow Cooker Chicken Recipe
If you have our Clean Cuisine book, you know we always recommend eating a pasture-raised chicken over free-range, organic, vegetarian-fed, etc. Not only are pasture-raised chickens healthier, they are also much tastier.
Whatever slow-cooker chicken recipe you are making, I can’t emphasize enough the importance of eating chickens that are pastured and fed the natural diet chickens are supposed to eat.
The quality and nutritional value of the chicken you eat varies widely depending on what the chicken ate. The natural chicken diet is one that contains fresh pasture, worms and bugs. Chickens are not supposed to be vegetarians!
If the chicken eats a deviant diet from what a wild chicken would eat then it won’t be as healthy, and neither will you if you eat it.
A chicken allowed to consume a natural chicken diet has a more balanced ratio of omega-6 fat to omega-3 fat and the chickens themselves are leaner because they get to exercise.
The eggs from pastured chickens are also healthier. Compared to commercial eggs, eggs from hens raised on pasture contain about 1/3 less cholesterol, less saturated fat, more vitamin A, omega-3 fat, beta carotene, vitamin E (more than twice the amount), and less omega-6 fat.
To turn your Slow Cooker Chicken Recipe into a complete dinner, serve with a chopped side salad and steamed short grain brown rice (I use sprouted brown rice, such as Lundberg brand, whenever possible).
And, I know I have said it a million times, but I can’t help but say it again; using a rice cooker is the absolute easiest way to cook rice and all other whole grains.
Ok, on with the recipe!
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PrintIngredients
- 1 tablespoon ground cumin
- 1 tablespoon paprika
- 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon turmeric
- 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 1 1/2 teaspoons unrefined sea salt (plus more to taste)
- 2 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon raw honey
- 1 whole lemon
- One 3 1/2 pound whole pasture-raised broiler/ fryer chicken (rinsed and patted dry inside and out)
- 2 onions (sliced into thin strips)
- 8 cloves garlic (chopped)
- 8 carrots (sliced into thin strips)
- 2 red bell peppers (sliced into thin strips)
- 1 1/2 cups crushed tomatoes (Note: Look for Muir Glen Organic Crushed Tomatoes with Basil)
- 1 1/2 cups chopped parsley (you will want to add the parsley about 30 minutes before the chicken is done. If you add the parsley right from the beginning, you’ll just end up with a wilted, discolored parsley mess)
- Steamed short grain brown rice (Note: I like Lundberg brand sprouted short grain brown rice)
Instructions
- In a small bowl, mix together the cumin, paprika, turmeric, cayenne pepper and salt. Add the honey and the juice from one whole lemon (reserving the lemon rind) and mix well.
- Using your hands, apply the turmeric spice mixture generously all over the inside and outside of the bird. Stuff the cavity of the chicken with half of the onions, half of the garlic and the reserved lemon rind.
- Place the remaining onions and garlic in the bottom of a 5 or 6-quart slow cooker. Add the carrots, bell pepper and crushed tomatoes. Season with salt to taste. Place the chicken on top of the vegetables. Cover and cook on low for 4 to 6 hours (Note: Cooking time will depend on the size of your chicken and slow cooker). Add the chopped parsley about 30 minutes before cooking time ends. Serve warm over steamed short grain brown rice.
Notes
Crushed tomatoes can vary tremendously from brand to brand; to ensure the Slow Cooker Chicken recipe turns out properly, I recommend Muir Glen Organic Crushed Tomatoes with Basil.
Looks great! I’ll be trying it soon. Thanks!
Thank you so much Avonna!! Not sure if you have cooked with turmeric before, but if not please be sure to see my comment to Michelle about the thin cooking gloves =)
This is now on my menu for next week. I tend to always do my slow cooker whole chicken the same with garlic, lemon, and onions…so this will be a great change of pace! Thanks!!
★★★★★
Oh good! Thank you for letting me know Michelle =) We just did a workshop last night for Andy’s patients and one of the ladies said she made it and loved it—but she had never cooked with turmeric before and didn’t realize it would turn her hands yellow! The yellow will wash out but you might want to use thin cooking gloves when making it OR just put a lot of EVOO on your hands before you start cooking (that will make it easier for the turmeric to wash out) Please do let me know how you like it!
Dumb question Ivy. For the chicken… You mean a whole chicken like the frozen or refrigerated kind right? -Stephanie Cahill
Not a dumb question at all Stephanie! I should have specified—but yes, I mean a WHOLE chicken. I actually never get frozen chicken because they just don’t taste as good to me—but I buy a fresh, pasture-raised chicken from our local whole foods. I have also heard you can get great pasture-raised beef/ chicken/ etc. online from the Butcher Box (I have been meaning to order from them but just haven’t had time to try it out just yet.) Hope this helps?
Ivy,
Is there a way to cut this recipe down? I am right now on my own until my husband returns from a deployment. And, when he returns its just the two of us. I can’t justify cooking a whole chicken, I guess unless its a small one. I feel that the leftovers here would be less versatile with the depth of these flavors. Does it have to be a whole bird or could I use a small pack of thighs or breasts?
Hi Sandi, I definitely understand why you might want to cut the recipe down, but you are right, the bones and everything definitely contribute to the flavor of the dish. I would suggest getting the absolute smallest whole chicken you can find (and to be honest, the pasture raised ones I find are ALWAYS way smaller than the regular chickens) and then make the full recipe and eat what you can for the first 2 days or so and then portion out the rest and freeze it. You can then use the bones to make chicken broth on the 3rd day. Hope this helps?
I love this recipe! Great flavors. Mine was a bit saucier than yours looked (not sure why) but it was quite delicious. I’m using the extra sauce with other things like swiss chard and veggies over polenta. I’m glad I tried it and will be making it again.
★★★★★
So so happy you liked it Angela!! Mine is actually VERY saucy too (the sauce just didn’t photograph very well) but yes, you can definitely use the sauce for a lot of different things 😉
This recipe was delicious and my kids (4.5 and 16 months) even loved it! I had some celery to use up, so I substituted 1 carrot with two celery stalks. Thanks!
★★★★★
Oh so good to know Kimberly! And I am thrilled the kids ate it too =) Thank you for letting me know and for sharing what worked as a substitute.
I just found you and this recipe today. I was on a serious time crunch so I just threw all the ingredients in a crock pot with 4 chicken breasts. It was amazing! The whole family loved it! Thank you!
YAY! So so happy you all liked it so much Renee. Thank you for taking the time to write and let me know 😉 We love it over here too…
This was a big hit in our house (with the kids, too!) I have an allergy to garlic and onion, so i made it without, but the chicken spice mixture with lemon and honey was delicious! We drizzled the extra juices over a quinoa/rice mixture. So yum!
★★★★★