Slow Cooker Chicken Thighs – Tender, fall-off-the-bone chicken with hearty vegetables and a flavor-rich sauce delivers the perfect comfort food. The flawless balance of herbs and spices, celery, carrots, and potatoes will make any day much brighter. Wind down and enjoy the delicious aroma that greets you as you walk in the door.
I’m always putting my slow cooker to good use. There’s something super comforting about putting everything together, taking off for the day, and coming home to the tantalizing smells of dinner ready to go on the table. And slow cookers are also great for transporting food and keeping it warm for gatherings.
Recently, I’ve been cranking it up for this super easy slow cooker chicken thigh recipe. Hearty vegetables (celery, carrots, and potatoes) make it a complete one-pot meal. What a lifesaver!
An Amazing Slow-Cooker Chicken Thigh Recipe
The wonderful thing about slow cookers is that you can throw everything in the pot as is. Yes, you can put your meat in raw. However, it tastes a touch better if you sear your chicken or meat before adding it.
Chicken thighs in a slow cooker are especially good. Since they have higher fat content and are a well-used muscle, they get much more tender when slow-cooked. And that allows your seasonings to penetrate down to the bone. Yum!
Recipe Ingredients
- Chicken Thighs – The star player in this game is the most juicy and tender part of the chicken. But you can use the whole chicken or your favorite pieces.
- Seasonings – Garlic powder, onion powder, paprika, and Italian seasoning all kick chicken up on the flavor scale. Experiment with your favorite seasoning mixes for flavor twists.
- Gravy – Olive oil, butter, and flour create the perfect roux. And chicken broth turns it into a flavorful gravy. Gluten-free all-purpose flour will work if you need a gluten-free sauce.
- Veggies – Celery, carrots, yellow onions, and red potatoes give you a delicious one-pot meal for the win.
- Flavor – Garlic, rosemary, and thyme provide a soul-satisfying taste to your slow cooker chicken thighs.
How to Make Slow-Cooker Chicken Thighs
- Prep the Chicken – Prepare the chicken thighs by trimming excess skin and fat, washing, and patting them dry. Season both sides of the thighs with salt and pepper and set aside.
- Seasonings – Add the dry ingredients to a small mixing bowl: garlic powder, onion powder, paprika, and Italian seasoning. Mix well. Then generously season the chicken with the mix on both sides.
- Sear Chicken – Heat oil over medium-high heat in a large cast-iron skillet. Once the oil is hot, add chicken skin-side down. Sear until golden brown, 3-5 minutes. Flip and continue cooking for 2 more minutes. Transfer to a clean plate.
- Veggies – Put the celery, carrots, onions, potatoes, and garlic in a 6-quart slow cooker, and place the seared chicken on top of the vegetables. Then add the herbs.
- Make the Roux – Melt butter in the same cast-iron pan you seared the chicken, and then add flour. Mix well until the flour is fully incorporated into the oil, 1-2 minutes.
- Finish the Gravy – Next, add chicken broth and continue stirring until slightly thickened, 2-3 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to your preference, then pour the sauce into the slow cooker.
- Slow Cook It – Cover the slow cooker and simmer (2-4 hours on the High setting or 4-6 hours on the Low setting) until the chicken and potatoes are tender.
- Serve – Transfer the chicken, vegetables, and some sauce to serving plates. Garnish with herbs if desired and serve.
Recipe Variations
- A beef stew made the same way is fantastic. Replace the chicken thighs with stew beef cut into 2-inch cubes, and have at it. (You could also make it with pork.)
- While celery, carrots, and potatoes are the classic veggies in this recipe, you could also use green beans, cabbage, peas, tomato paste, etc. Let your imagination go wild. 😉
- Spice Swap – You could give this a Mediterranean flair with cumin, coriander, ginger, and smoked paprika, and add a can of chickpeas and some olives toward the end.
Tips and Tricks
- Giving the bottom of your slow cooker a spritz of cooking oil before loading it up will reduce sticking.
- Put the hardest, slowest cooking veggies on the bottom. For example, put your carrots and potatoes in before the celery.
- Take advantage of cheap cuts of meat for your slow cooker because they have the most flavor, and the slow cooker makes them fall-off-the-bone tender.
Make-Ahead Instructions
This incredible chicken thigh recipe for a slow cooker is ideal for making ahead. I love doubling the recipe, so I have enough to freeze too. You can refrigerate it for four days or freeze it for three months.
Serving and Storage Instructions
These chicken thighs are best steaming hot right out of the slow cooker. But you can make a big batch and reheat them in a saucepan on the stovetop.
Properly stored chicken lasts about four days in the fridge or three months in the freezer.
FAQs
Low and slow, if you have the time, will always be my answer. An internal temperature of 175℉/80℃ gives you well-cooked thighs, but 195℉/90℃ is even better.
Yes, it is. Even though you’re cooking your chicken at a lower temperature, it’s still hot enough to kill any unwanted bacteria. While searing your chicken adds a layer of flavor, throwing everything in the pot raw does save time.
Yes, they do. But they’re also juicier than boneless. So the extra 20 minutes they take is worth the wait.
What to Serve With Slow-Cooker Chicken Thighs
This one-pot wonder is wonderful on its own but also goes great with a few sides and a dessert. 😍
- Cucumber and Onion Salad
- Yellow Squash Casserole
- Creamy Brussels Sprouts
- Homemade Biscuits
- Lemon Pound Cake
More Mouthwatering Slow Cooker Recipes to Try
Conclusion
Deliciously simple and absolutely flavor-packed, this slow cooker chicken thigh recipe is a sure keeper. Would you like more amazing slow cooker recipes? Then sign up for my newsletter for the latest and greatest.❤️
This blog post was originally published in May 2015 and has been updated with a new recipe, tips, and photos.
Slow Cooker Chicken Thighs
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Ingredients
Chicken Thighs
- 4-6 chicken thighs (skin-on and bone-in)
- 1 teaspoon (5-6g) salt, plus more to taste
- ½ teaspoon (2-3g) freshly ground black pepper
- 1 teaspoon (1.5g) garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon (2.5g) onion powder
- 1 teaspoon (3-4g) paprika
- 1 teaspoon (5g) Italian seasoning
- 2 tablespoons (30ml) olive oil
- 4 ounces (113g) unsalted butter
- 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 1 cup chicken broth
The Veggies
- 2-3 stalks celery, cut in 2-inch pieces
- 2 carrots, peeled and cut into 1½-inch pieces
- 1 large yellow onion, cut into 8 wedges
- 8 ounces (227g) red potatoes, cut into 1-inch pieces
- 4-5 cloves garlic, peeled and smashed
- 3 sprigs rosemary
- 2 sprigs thyme
Instructions
- Prepare the chicken thighs by trimming excess skin and fat, washing, and patting dry. Season both sides of the thighs with salt and pepper and set aside.
- Add all dry seasonings to a small mixing bowl: garlic powder, onion powder, paprika, and Italian seasonings. Mix well. Generously season chicken with seasoning mix on both sides.
- Heat the oil over medium-high heat in a large cast-iron skillet. Once the oil is hot, add chicken skin-side down. Sear until golden brown, 3-5 minutes. Flip and continue cooking for two more minutes. Transfer to a clean plate.
- Add celery, carrots, onions, potatoes, and garlic to your 6-quart slow cooker, then add the seared chicken on top of the vegetables. Add the herbs.
- Add butter to the same cast-iron pan, let it melt, and then add the flour. Mix well until flour is fully incorporated into the oil, 1-2 minutes.
- Next, add chicken broth and continue stirring until slightly thickened, 2-3 minutes. Season it with salt and pepper to taste, then add the sauce to the slow cooker.
- Cover the slow cooker and cook (2-4 hours on the High setting or 4-6 hours on the Low setting) until the chicken and potatoes are tender.
- Transfer the chicken, vegetables, and some sauce to serving plates. Garnish with herbs if desired and serve.
Tips & Notes:
- Giving the bottom of your slow cooker a spritz of cooking oil before loading it up will reduce sticking.
- Put the hardest, slowest cooking veggies on the bottom. For example, put your carrots and potatoes in before the celery.
- Take advantage of cheap cuts of meat for your slow cooker. They have the most flavor, and the slow cooker makes them fall-off-the-bone tender.
- Please remember that the nutritional information is a rough estimate and can vary significantly based on the products used in the recipe.
MJ says
Hi! I made this recipe along with the Ethiopian lentil stew. My guests LOVED it. The two dishes went so well together. The only thing different I did with the chicken recipe was cook it in the oven instead of the crock pot. So glad to have stumbled upon your website!
ImmaculateBites says
AWESOME! Thanks for taking the time to let me know. Am happy you are here!!!!!
Jacqueline Gawler says
Oh My goodness, this recipe is AMAAAZING!! I am so used to internet recipes being hit and miss, and this caught me by surprise. Demi-glazing the pan was such a revelation! So tasty, bursting with flavour and nourishing. I added more canned tomatoes because my slow cooker is quite large. This recipe is going straight into the home cookbook. Thank you so much!!!
ImmaculateBites says
Yay!!! Thank you so much for taking the time to share your thoughts with us.
Kate Collins says
Fantastic! Family says I can make it again.
I tried a few modifications … Boneless chicken thighs, chipolte pepper instead of cayenne, 2 cinnamon sticks and a 1/4 cup of chopped dates. I like a little added smokeyness and sweet in my dishes
ImmaculateBites says
Nice additions kate! So happy to hear your family gave it a thumbs up. Thank you so much for taking the time to provide feedback.
Kristen says
I love Moroccan food and cook it often. I made this tonight and it was good, but not great. It had a little too much grease from the chicken skin. Next time I’ll make sure to remove it. Also there was a lot of liquid so I added the cornstarch slurry but I think it would’ve been much better to reduce the liquid. I added the preserved lemons, dried apricots, raisins, and cinnamon. I seared the chicken and saluted the onions and garlic before used chicken stock to deglaze the pan. I think what it was missing was a little more heat. Maybe some red pepper flakes or some more cayenne pepper. This recipe is worth a try and easy to make so I recommend that you give it a try.
ImmaculateBites says
Hi Kristen, glad you tried out this Moroccan Chicken. And so happy that you took the time to provide feedback . Thank you so much.
Simone says
This went well ( I deglazed!) and it was AMAZING! So good, I’m hooked on this site now!
ImmaculateBites says
Hahaha.YAY! So glad you are!!
Simone says
This looks sooooo good and I’m excited to make tonight. Can you please tell me what it means to deglaze the pan with 3/4 water? That is only part I was super confused about! Thanks in advance!
ImmaculateBites says
My bad Simone! Deglazing is simply scraping and stirring the browned bits from the pan with water to boost the flavor of the overall dish. Do let me know how it works out for you. Thanks
Simone says
Great thanks so much for your quick reply! I’ll keep you posted!
april says
Oh my, I need to try this recipe out. It looks like it would be music to my mouth. I have some chicken breast, so maybe I’ll use those instead.
ImmaculateBites says
Hi April! Thigh meat is so much more flavourful. Texturewise there is s slight difference. That being said breast meat should work fairly well. Adjust the cooking time.
Philo says
Oh my gosh this was sooo good. Thanks for the recipe. This is a keeper!
ImmaculateBites says
Glad you liked this one too! Always appreciate your feedback!
Philo says
Making this today 🙂
Giroma says
Wonderfoul Recipe!
It works very good with a tajine, a maroccan pot.
ImmaculateBites says
Thanks for sharing!
ChiChi says
I absolutely love Moroccan food and your slow cooker chicken and peas is right up my street. Looks so flavourful and delicious. Definitely going to try out your recipe. Pinned!!
ImmaculateBites says
Thanks for pinning chichi!
ImmaculateBites says
Hi Coley! Thank you so much .
Coley says
This recipe looks delicious! Great flavors and not too hard to make for a family or a party! The photos look awesome and really capture what it looks like at each step so we don’t get lost. The outcome looks amazing too!
Tiana says
This is going down next week .Will let you know how it works out!!! By the way your jerk chicken was a hit with everyone.
ImmaculateBites says
Aww thanks Tiana- so good to know you are making my recipes
Charlene @ That Girl Cooks Healthy says
You know I was doing my grocery shopping yesterday and stumbled upon a jar of Moroccan spice. The spice combo sounded wonderful but I decided not to buy the jar, rather make my own blend. This recipe sounds and looks like a HIT, another one of your tasty recipes to try. Though, I’ll make mine with quinoa (albeit not traditional) instead.
ImmaculateBites says
Quinoa will work as well. I know what you mean about condiments.. we have the spices already why add to it .