Slow Cooker "Roasted" Herb Chicken with Gravy

There's something magical that happens to chicken breasts on the bone when cooked in the slow cooker.  Doing so yields such succulent, tender and flavorful meat.  And, what I, also, love about this recipe is that there is hardly any work to be done in the morning to get the chicken going.  Throw in the breasts, sprinkle on some seasoning, pour in a little broth (or water) and put the lid on!  At mealtime, simple utilize the cooking liquid to make a quick pan gravy and serve it all with some homemade, buttery mashed potatoes.

I am providing the suggested spices that I use for the chicken, but any that you love with poultry and have on hand would do the job.  Watkins' Garlic Peppercorn Blend is pretty magnificent.  I use it in so many dishes.  It is a combination of sea salt, dehydrated garlic, black peppercorns, parsley and oregano.  Substituting those spices and seasonings would be fine in place of the Watkins' product.  Or, go with what you love with chicken!

Yields 2 - 4 servings.

For nutritional value information, visit my post of this recipe on My Recipe Magic.  Click the "Nutrition" tab at the top of the post there.


Ingredients:

FOR THE SLOW COOKER CHICKEN -

2 very large bone-in and skin-on chicken breasts (mine totaled 2 1/2 pounds together)
Watkins Garlic Peppercorn Blend (see paragraph above)
1 teaspoon (approx.) Herbs de Provence (a mixture of several dried herbs)
1 1/2 cups chicken stock or broth (or the same amount of water with the addition of 1 - 2 bouillon cubes)

FOR THE GRAVY -

Chicken cooking juices
2 tablespoons flour
Water
Kosher salt (as needed)
Black pepper

Directions:

Place chicken breasts in slow cooker.

Sprinkle the tops with seasoning and herbs to coat.  Pour in the broth or stock.  (If substituting water, toss in 1 - 2 chicken bouillon cubes.)

Lid and cook on low for 6 - 7 hours.

Turn slow cooker to warm.  Transfer cooking liquid to a small sauce pan.  Cook over medium heat until simmering. (Additional broth or stock can be added if the amount of liquid remaining doesn't look sufficient enough to produce a gravy.  With the initial addition of broth/stock at the beginning of cooking in the slow cooker and the amount of liquid the chicken produces during cooking, you should end up with about 1 1/2 - 2 cups of liquid total.)

Whisk together about a 1/2 cup of cold water with 2 tablespoons of flour until no lumps remain.

Whisk the flour/water mixture into the simmering cooking liquid.  The gravy will thicken over the course of 2 - 3 minutes.  Season with black pepper.  Taste and adjust salt as needed.  Reduce heat to low until ready to serve.

Remove chicken from slow cooker.  Serve with or over mashed potatoes.  Top with the pan gravy.

NOTE:  Preparing chicken in the slow cooker allows for the "fat" from the skin to somewhat "melt" into the meat.  Know that the skin will not get super crispy as if the chicken were roasted in the oven.  The chicken can be put into a very hot oven for a few minutes prior to serving if crispy skin is desired.  The photos within this post show the chicken as-is without "crisping" the skin.  I find that the chicken is wonderful without finishing it in the oven.