Slow Cooker Lemon Herb Chicken (Printable View)
Tender, lemon-kissed chicken and herb-scented rice slow-cooked until juicy; finish with peas and parsley.
# What You'll Need:
→ Chicken
01 - 4 bone-in, skinless chicken thighs (about 1.2 lbs)
02 - 1 teaspoon kosher salt
03 - ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
→ Vegetables & Rice
04 - 1 cup long-grain white rice, rinsed and drained
05 - 1 medium yellow onion, finely diced
06 - 2 cloves garlic, minced
07 - 1 cup carrots, thinly sliced into rounds
08 - 1 cup frozen peas
→ Liquids
09 - 2¼ cups low-sodium chicken broth
10 - Juice and zest of 1 large lemon
→ Herbs & Seasonings
11 - 1 teaspoon dried thyme
12 - 1 teaspoon dried basil
13 - ½ teaspoon dried oregano
14 - ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes
→ Finishing
15 - 2 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped
16 - Lemon wedges for serving
# How-To Steps:
01 - Pat the chicken thighs dry with paper towels and season both sides evenly with kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper.
02 - Add the rinsed rice, diced onion, minced garlic, sliced carrots, dried thyme, dried basil, dried oregano, and red pepper flakes to the slow cooker insert. Stir to distribute the seasonings evenly throughout the rice and vegetables.
03 - Pour the chicken broth over the rice mixture, then add the lemon juice and lemon zest. Stir gently until all the liquid is evenly incorporated.
04 - Place the seasoned chicken thighs on top of the rice mixture in a single layer, pressing them down slightly so the bottoms are submerged in the broth.
05 - Cover the slow cooker and cook on high for 4 hours or on low for 7 hours, until the chicken is fall-apart tender and the rice has absorbed all the liquid and is fully cooked.
06 - About 15 minutes before the cooking time is complete, scatter the frozen peas over the top of the chicken and rice. Re-cover and let the residual heat thaw and warm the peas through.
07 - Remove the lid and taste the rice for seasoning, adjusting with additional salt or a squeeze of lemon juice as needed. Fluff the rice with a fork, garnish generously with chopped fresh parsley, and serve hot with lemon wedges alongside.
# Expert Advice:
01 -
- It practically cooks itself while you go about your day, and that alone is worth celebrating.
- The rice absorbs every drop of lemon herb broth, turning into something far more flavorful than rice has any right to be.
02 -
- If you swap in chicken breasts instead of thighs, start checking at three hours on high because white meat dries out much faster and there is no rescuing it once it crosses that line.
- Resist the urge to lift the lid and peek during cooking, because every time you do you let precious steam escape and add roughly thirty minutes to the total cook time.
03 -
- Rinse the rice until the water runs completely clear, because that one extra minute of patience is the difference between fluffy separate grains and a starchy clump.
- Taste and adjust the seasoning at the very end, since slow cooker flavors concentrate and mellow in ways that are hard to predict until that final spoonful.