Preparation: 30mins | Cooking time: 90 mins

This is one of our favorite crockpot chicken recipes. Really easy to put together, and then you simply sit back and let the crockpot or slow cooker do its thing. We’ve made this as a family meal and we’ve made it to entertain friends – it’s suitable for any occasion.

Ingredients

• 1 x 1.5kg roasting chicken, jointed (ask your butcher to do this for you if you like)
• 1 tablespoon of oil (vegetable or sunflower would be ideal)
• 1 green pepper, sliced
• 4 streaky bacon rashers, rind removed and quartered
• 1 large onion, peeled and sliced
• 225g green beans, cut into 2 inch lengths
• 1 tablespoon paprika
• 2 tablespoons of tomato ketchup
• 300ml chicken stock (chicken stock cubes in boiling water will be fine)
• Salt and pepper
• ½ teaspoon dried basil
• 225g smoked sausage, sliced

Instructions

Heat the oil in a pan, then add the bacon and onion and cook for 5 minutes. Stir in the paprika and cook for 2 minutes.

Put the chicken joints into the pan, coat them with the paprika and cook for 5 minutes.

Pour in the chicken stock, season with salt and pepper, and add the basil.

Transfer all this to the crockpot or slow cooker. Cook this slowly for around 5 hours or so. The chicken joints will slowly start to fall apart and take on the delicious flavors.

Stir in the sausage, green pepper, beans and tomato ketchup. Let it all cook for about another hour. To save time and messing about you can put these ingredients into the crockpot together with the chicken, the pepper and beans just may become a little too mushy. But that’s ok!

Serve! We like to eat this with some plain rice, easy. This is one of our favorite crockpot chicken recipes, it comes out perfect every time.

Preparation: 40mins | Cooking time: 90 mins

I’ve included this recipe here as it’s such a classic. It’s certainly not particularly easy or quick, but for a special occasion it certainly impresses the guests!

You don’t have to cook this in an oven in a casserole – you could easily use a crockpot or slow cooker and just leave it in for longer to slow cook. If you’re looking for crockpot chicken recipes, this is one that’s a show stealer.

Ingredients

• 45g butter
• 100g diced streaky bacon
• 12 pickling onions (peeled)
• 1 x 1.5kg roasting chicken, jointed (ask your butcher)
• 2 tablespoons brandy
• 1 bottle Burgundy
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 2 garlic cloves (peeled and crushed)
• 1 bouquet garni
• ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 225g small button mushrooms
• 20g plain flour
• 1 teaspoon meat or yeast extract

Instructions

Pre-heat the oven to 180°C or Gas Mark 4.

Melt half the butter in a casserole (or a pan if you’re going to cook the main bit in a crockpot). Add the bacon and onions and fry till they start to color. Transfer these to a plate.

Add the chicken joints to the casserole (or pan) and brown all over.

Warm the brandy, pour it over the chicken and set it alight (be careful!) When the flames die down, add the bacon and onions back with the chicken.

Heat the wine in another pan, then pour over the chicken. Season well with salt and pepper, then stir in the garlic, bouquet garni and nutmeg.

Cover the casserole and cook in a pre-heated oven for an hour. Now, if you want to use the crockpot then transfer the ingredients to it now instead and leave to cook on low for around 5 hours or so. Plenty of time to let those flavors develop!

Stir in the mushrooms, cover again and cook for 15 more minutes. Then take out the bouquet garni.

Mix the flour with the remaining butter then whisk into to the sauce in small pieces. Bring to the boil, stirring all the time. This thickens the sauce up a bit.

Add the beef or yeast extract at this point, just to deepen the color of the sauce.

This is one of the absolute classic chicken dishes that can easily be adapted to be one of the most beautiful crockpot chicken recipes by simply leaving the cooking time in the middle to the slow cooker.

Preparation: 15 mins | Cooking time: 40 mins

We used to eat a really similar dish to this when I was a kid. While apples are often associated with pork, in this dish they add a delicious tangy sweetness to the chicken.

I added some cider on a hunch that it might enhance the flavor further and, my goodness, does it just! Absolutely delicious, and one of our family’s favorite baked chicken recipes. Nice and quick and easy. Enjoy!

Ingredients

• 25g/1oz butter
• 350g/12oz boneless chicken breasts (skinned and cut into strips)
• 100g/4oz French beans (sliced roughly)
• 1 stick celery (thinly sliced)
• 25g/10z walnuts (roughly chopped)
• 2 tomatoes (sliced – skinned and seeded too if you can be bothered!)
• 1/2 green pepper (thinly sliced)
• 1/2 red pepper (thinly sliced)
• 2 dessert apples (peeled, cored and sliced)
• 600ml/1 pint medium dry cider (too sweet will ruin things I think)
• Salt and black pepper
• 1 tablespoon corn flour, dissolved in a splash of the cider
• 2 teaspoons chopped fresh mint

Instructions

Pre-heat your oven to 180°C, Gas Mark 4.

First off, melt the butter in a flameproof casserole. When it starts foaming (but before it burns) add the chicken strips and fry. Stir them for about 3 minutes but be careful not to color them too much.

Then add the beans, celery, walnuts, tomatoes, peppers and apples. Mix it all together really well, without breaking up the vegetables, and then pour in cider. Add a bit of salt and pepper for seasoning.

Bring it all to the boil then cover and bake in a pre-heated oven for around 35 minutes.

Remove the lid, stir in the corn flour. Lift the casserole pot out of the oven and bring the bake carefully to boil on top of stove, stirring all the time. This will thicken the sauce up nicely!

Remove from the heat. Garnish the top with the chopped mint and serve with roasted potatoes and buttered zucchini (or courgette) and/or carrots.

As baked chicken recipes go, I think this one’s a winner. Let me know what you think.