Slow cooker recipes to the rescue yet again. When you want something that will impress guests long before they’re even at the table, let this rosemary- and garlic-infused chicken thighs and drummies do the work for you while filling the kitchen with what we’re hearing is an aroma that’s impossible to resist.Jenny Latreille

An oval dish filled with slow cooker chicken with garlic and potatoes and sprigs of rosemary with a fork nestled inside.

Slow Cooker Chicken With Garlic and Potatoes

5 / 7 votes
This slow cooker chicken with garlic and potatoes is an an easy fix for fall-off-the-bone chicken with an intoxicating aroma that will have everyone clamoring for dinner.
David Leite
CourseMains
CuisineAmerican
Servings6 servings
Calories898 kcal
Prep Time45 minutes
Cook Time4 hours
Total Time4 hours 45 minutes

Ingredients 

  • 3 carrots or celery ribs
  • 5 pounds chicken leg quarters
  • 2 tablespoons chopped fresh rosemary
  • 2 teaspoons sweet smoked Spanish paprika (pimentón)
  • 2 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
  • 1 1/4 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
  • 3 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon olive oil
  • 12 garlic cloves, sliced
  • 1/2 cup store-bought or homemade chicken broth
  • 2 pounds fingerling Yukon gold potatoes, halved lengthwise

Instructions 

  • Haul out your slow cooker—preferably a 5-quart (4.7-liter) baby—and place the carrots or celery in a single layer in it.
  • Remove the skin as well as any excess fat from the chicken. In a small bowl, stir together the rosemary, sweet smoked Spanish paprika, 1 1/2 teaspoons salt, and 1 teaspoon pepper. Rub the mixture all over the chicken.
  • In a large skillet over medium heat, warm 3 tablespoons oil. When the oil is hot, add the garlic and sauté until golden brown, 1 1/2 to 2 minutes. Use a slotted spoon to place the garlic in a bowl, reserving the oil in the skillet.
  • Add half of the chicken to the reserved oil and cook until deep golden brown, 3 to 5 minutes per side. Place the seared chicken in the slow cooker, leaving the drippings in the skillet. Repeat with the remaining chicken.
  • Add the broth and garlic to the reserved drippings in the skillet. Cook, stirring and scraping the skillet, for 1 minute. Pour the mixture over the chicken in the slow cooker. Cover and cook on HIGH for 2 hours.
  • In a medium bowl, toss the potatoes with 1 teaspoon oil, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1⁄4 teaspoon pepper. At the end of the 2 hours, add the potatoes to the slow cooker. Cover and cook until the potatoes are cooked through and the chicken is very tender, about 2 hours more.
  • Pile the chicken and potatoes onto a platter. Strain the juices from the slow cooker into a bowl. Skim the fat from the juices, if desired, and pass on the side with the chicken and potatoes.
Sunday Suppers Cookbook

Adapted From

Sunday Suppers: Simple, Delicious Menus for Family Gatherings

Buy On Amazon

Nutrition

Serving: 1 portionCalories: 898 kcalCarbohydrates: 30 gProtein: 56 gFat: 61 gSaturated Fat: 15 gMonounsaturated Fat: 28 gTrans Fat: 0.3 gCholesterol: 315 mgSodium: 1301 mgFiber: 4 gSugar: 1 g

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

Tried this recipe?Mention @leitesculinaria or tag #leitesculinaria!
Recipe © 2017 Cynthia Graubart. Photo © 2017 Time, Inc.. All rights reserved.

Recipe Testers’ Reviews

Comfort Chicken. That’s what I think this is. It has all the prerequisites. Tender, moist, fall-off-the-bone chicken, spices, garlic, juices to die for, and topped off with fingerling potatoes that have sopped up all of those juices and flavors. It’s well worth the time involved. I could have said work, but really, it’s not. It’s quite the opposite.

This dish practically makes itself. If you are trying to sell your house, forget the cookies in the oven and put this in a crockpot. Roasting chicken juices. That’s your hook. Guests, husband, housemate, significant other, amateur food critics, Mickey (you remember him), your picky, picky kids, teenagers, yes, even the judgy, judgy teenagers, heck if it’s just you and the cat, you’ll receive praise and there will be seconds and it will be gone.

So double it for a large dinner party. It was the perfect meal for a cloudy, chilly Memorial Day weekend when grilling was close to impossible. A little forethought and a slow cooker, some chicken thighs, and a French bottle of Sauvignon Blanc. That’s not difficult!

I wound up with about 6 servings. I did some very easy broiled string beans in my Ninja Toaster Oven. A little olive oil, sea salt, and fresh cracked pepper. Columbard Sauvigon Blanc 2018. A perfect end to the cold, cloudy, blah holiday weekend in NJ.

I was skeptical of trying this recipe as it didn’t sound exciting, but as soon as I rubbed the chicken quarters with the spice mixture, I knew it would become a favorite. It smelled wonderful as it was cooking and the flavor did not disappoint in the end.

I served this with additional steamed baby carrots and a Caesar salad. Next time I’ll add some baby carrots to the slow cooker about an hour before the end so that they’re flavored by the chicken and spices.




About David Leite

I count myself lucky to have received three James Beard Awards for my writing as well as for Leite’s Culinaria. My work has also appeared in The New York Times, Martha Stewart Living, Saveur, Bon Appétit, Gourmet, Food & Wine, Yankee, Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune, The Washington Post, and more.


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Recipe Rating




4 Comments

  1. 5 stars
    This recipe is so delicious! I love that it is a simple dish with a savory flavor. I usually only eat white chicken meat but found the leg quarters to be tender and succulent. The next time I make it I might leave the skin on and bake it in the oven in my covered dome stone baker so that it will have a nice brown roasted look. I would increase the broth to one cup to bake it in the oven. Without a doubt, the recipe is wonderful just as it is!

  2. I was wondering how to get the nicely browned skin from the picture, given that it’s a slow-cooker recipe, but then I saw that the first step is to remove all the skin. So that picture is clearly not from this recipe. Actually…where can I find the recipe from the picture?

    1. Excellent catch, Dave. We’re going to test it out, but we think you should be able to proceed with this recipe, leaving the skin on the chicken.