Spice Rubbed Instant Pot Whole Chicken is a 21-Day Fix approved dinner, cooked to perfection in your Crock Pot or Instant Pot. Just add your favorite sides and you have a complete meal, or use it in a recipe that calls for precooked chicken. Meal prepping made easy! This post contains affiliate links for products I’m obsessed with.
This post was originally published April, 13 2015, but recently got a major overhaul. Now updated with new pictures and Instant Pot directions!
Confession # 23- I’ve been making this chicken in the crock pot forever. It isn’t my creation; I found the recipe somewhere.
Ages ago.
Like before Pinterest.
I tried to find the original recipe, as I know I’ve definitely swayed away from it over the years, but I don’t even know where to begin. So it’s my way or the highway on this one.
And for those of you who have had bad luck with chicken in the crock pot, just try this. One last go.
Because this is absolutely the most tender, falling off the bone chicken you could want, with no added oils or butter.
And it’s ridiculously quick to put together. It’s prepped before you can finish a round of Upper Fix.
How to Make a Whole Chicken in your Crock Pot
It’s SO easy to make this chicken in your Crock Pot.
Just pat your chicken dry with paper towels and place half of the onion in the bottom of the slow cooker. Then mix spices together and coat the chicken skin. Place chicken in crock pot on top of the onions.
Stuff the cavity with the remaining onions, lemon and fresh thyme if you have it. Cook on low for 6-8 hours. No liquid needed – this makes a ton of it’s own!
If you really want to make your life easy, throw in some veggies – I love adding in baby carrots! You can put them into a foil packet, place it right on top of the chicken, and they will steam all day long!
Can I make a Whole Chicken my Instant Pot? What is the Instant Pot whole chicken cooking time?
It’s also very easy to make a whole chicken in the Instant Pot and it’s also easy to adjust the timing based on how big your chicken is: simply put, cook your whole chicken for 6 minutes per pound! So if you are cooking a 5lb chicken, you would cook it for 30 minutes. I’ve added instant pot directions to the recipe card below, but it’s basically the same method as the Crock Pot chicken, it just cooks a LOT faster!
Can I cook a Whole Chicken in the Instant Pot from Frozen?
YES! While it’s not safe to cook your frozen whole chicken in a crock pot, it’s perfectly safe to cook from frozen in your Instant Pot! For this recipe, to cook a whole chicken from frozen, double the cook time! So if you have a 5lb chicken, instead of cooking it for 30 minutes, you would cook it for 60 and it will come out fully cooked and perfectly tender!
What size whole chicken will fit in my Instant Pot? What about my Crock Pot?
For a 6 quart Instant Pot, I find a 4-5 pound chicken works best, and the closer it is to 5 pounds the more you have to work a little to get it in. For an 8 quart Instant Pot, you can fit up to 7 pounds, and this is the same for a slow cooker!
Will the chicken skin get crispy?
No, the skin doesn’t really crisp up in the crock pot or instant pot, which is quite perfect if you ask me. I DO NOT need to be tempted by that!!! But, if you are someone who prefers crispy skin, simply remove the bird from the crock pot or Instant Pot 
What should I serve with this whole chicken?
Your favorite sides! My personal favorites:
21 Day Fix Three Cheese Zucchini Bake
Cauliflower Au Gratin [21 Day Fix | Keto Friendly | Gluten Free | WW ]
Instant Pot Loaded Cauliflower Mash (21 Day Fix | 2B Mindset)
21 Day Fix Crispy Shaved Brussels Sprouts with Bacon, Parmesan, and Balsamic
Healthy Sweet Potato Casserole | 21 Day Fix Sweet Potato Casserole [Gluten-free|Dairy-free|Paleo]
Warm Honey Roasted Butternut Squash Salad (21 Day Fix)
Freezer Friendly Instant Pot Quinoa
Freezer Friendly Instant Pot Brown Rice
Will there be leftovers?
Depending on the size of your family and the size of the chicken, yes, there probably will be leftovers. I’ll share my favorite recipes for the leftover chicken below. If a recipe calls for grilled chicken or rotisserie chicken you can sub this one!
Looking for a recipe in which to use this chicken? Check these out-
21 Day Fix Avocado, Mango and Quinoa Salad
21 Day Fix Buffalo Chicken Pizza
21 Day Fix Spinach and Strawberry Caprese Salad
21 Day Fix Mediterranean Salad with Tzatziki Dressing
Avocado Chicken Salad {21 Day Fix}
Fall Harvest Mason Jar Salads with Maple Cider Vinaigrette (21 Day Fix)
Here’s the recipe for Spice Rubbed Instant Pot Whole Chicken | Spice Rubbed Crock Pot Whole Chicken
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Spice Rubbed Whole Chicken is a 21-Day Fix approved dinner, cooked to perfection in your slow cooker or Instant Pot. Just add your favorite sides and you have a complete meal, or use it in a recipe that calls for precooked chicken.
Ingredients
- 1 Whole Chicken – 4 to 5 lbs for a 6 quart Instant Pot and 5-7 lbs for an 8 quart Instant Pot or Crock Pot
- 1 onion, quartered
- lemon
- 2 tsp paprika
- 1 tsp cayenne
- 1 tsp onion powder
- 1 tsp thyme
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 cup chicken broth or water (for IP)
Instructions
- Pat chicken dry with paper towels.
- Put onion in the bottom of the slow cooker.
- Mix spices together and coat the chicken skin. Place chicken in crock pot on top of the onions.
- Stuff the cavity with onions, lemon and fresh thyme if you have it.
- Cook on low for 6-8 hours. No liquid needed – this makes a ton of it’s own.
- If you really want to make your life easy, throw in some veggies. Or put some into a foil packet, place it right on top of the chicken, and they will steam all day long.
- Pat chicken dry with paper towels.
- Put onion in the bottom of the Instant Pot and pour chicken broth over top of the onions.
- Mix spices together and coat the chicken skin. Stuff the cavity with onions, lemon and fresh thyme if you have it.
- Place your trivet or sling at the bottom of your Instant Pot and put chicken on on top.
- Cook on manual (pressure cook on some models) at 6 minutes per pound. [For example, a 5 lb chicken will cook for 30 minutes.] . **If your chicken is frozen, cook for double the time!
- After cooktime, do a 15 minute natural release before finishing with a quick release.
Notes
21 Day Fix Containers: measure in your RED and be sure to take the skin off!
Weight Watchers FS: zero points for skinless breast meat; 1 point for 4 oz of skinless dark meat.
Keywords: meal prep, chicken, slow cooker, dinner, high protein, gluten-free, grain-free, low-carb
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[…] your dinner. No more overcooked chicken! 2. It’s seriously enormous, so you can cook a whole chicken or roast easily or double your favorite recipe. […]