Bone-in chicken breasts, a spice rub, half a cup of broth and a slow cooker. Ten minutes of work and the machine does the rest.
Bone-in is the whole point. Boneless breast in a slow cooker dries out and goes stringy. The bone and skin insulate the meat and the connective tissue around them keeps it moist over hours.
Check the temperature rather than the clock
The recipe gives 3 to 4 hours on high or 6 to 8 on low, which is a wide window, and it gives no internal temperature at all.
Poultry needs to reach 165F. That is the number that matters, and with a range as broad as three to eight hours a thermometer is the only reliable way to know where you are.
Push the probe into the thickest part of the breast without touching the bone, since bone conducts heat and reads higher than the meat around it.
Bone-in breast is forgiving, so a little past 165F is not a problem. Considerably past it and even bone-in dries out.
Oil first, then the rub
Rub the oil all over the chicken, then the seasonings evenly on each side.
This order matters. Dry spice applied to dry chicken sits on the surface and much of it ends up in the broth at the bottom of the cooker. Oil gives it something to adhere to.
A tablespoon is enough for three or four breasts. You are coating, not marinating.
Mix the rub in a bowl first
Oregano, paprika, salt, garlic powder, onion powder and pepper combined before they go anywhere near the chicken.
Sprinkling each spice separately onto the meat gives uneven coverage, with patches heavy in paprika and others in oregano. Mixed first, every part of the chicken gets the same blend.
Smoked paprika rather than sweet is what the recipe specifies, and it is doing real work. A slow cooker browns nothing, so any smoky or roasted note has to come from a spice.
Only half a cup of broth
Which is less than most slow cooker recipes call for, and deliberately so.
Chicken releases a considerable amount of its own liquid over several hours. Add too much at the start and the meat ends up poaching in a large volume of thin broth rather than roasting in its own juices.
Half a cup keeps the bottom of the cooker from scorching and lets the chicken concentrate rather than dilute.
The Instant Pot version uses a full cup, since a pressure cooker needs more liquid to come up to pressure.
Butter on top is optional and worth it
A tablespoon per breast.
Bone-in breast is still lean meat, and the butter melts down over the surface as it cooks, basting the top of each piece. Without it the exposed surface can dry slightly.
It also enriches the liquid at the bottom, which is worth spooning over the chicken when you serve.
The Instant Pot version
Ten minutes at high pressure, then ten minutes of natural release before venting the rest.
The natural release is not optional. Meat cooked under pressure and then released suddenly seizes as the pressure drops, and it comes out tougher than the same meat released slowly.
Use the trivet if you have one, so the chicken sits above the liquid rather than in it. Without a trivet it goes directly into the broth, which works and gives a slightly more poached result.
Check for 165F here too.
What this suits
Low carb, paleo and Whole30 as written, provided the butter is left out for Whole30. <p>The meat pulls off the bone easily once cooked, which makes it useful for salads, wraps, tacos or grain bowls through the week. ## Yield Three to four bone-in breasts, roughly two and a half to three pounds, serving two to four people depending on size and appetite. Bone-in weight includes the bone, so the usable meat is less than the raw weight suggests.
What to do with the liquid
What is left in the cooker is concentrated chicken broth with butter and the spice rub in it. Spoon it over the meat, or strain it and keep it for rice, grains or a pan sauce.
Slow Cooker Bone-In Chicken Breasts
Description
Juicy slow cooker bone-in chicken breasts with a simple smoked paprika rub, with Instant Pot instructions included.
Ingredients:
Instructions
-
In a small bowl mix together the oregano paprika salt garlic powder onion powder and pepper.
-
Rub the oil all over the chicken, then rub the seasoning mix evenly over each side.
-
Pour the broth into the slow cooker and add the seasoned chicken breasts. Top each breast with a tablespoon of butter if using.
-
Cook on HIGH 3 to 4 hours or LOW 6 to 8 hours, until the chicken reaches an internal temperature of 165F measured in the thickest part without touching the bone.
-
For the Instant Pot: pour 1 cup of broth into the pot, place the trivet inside and add the seasoned chicken on top with the butter. Close the lid and seal the valve. Cook at high pressure 10 minutes, then let the pressure release naturally for 10 minutes before quick releasing the rest. Check for 165F..
Note
The source gives no internal temperature and a wide cook time range. Chicken should reach 165F, measured in the thickest part of the breast without touching the bone, which reads higher than the meat. Rub the oil on before the spices so they adhere rather than falling into the broth. Mix the rub in a bowl first for even coverage. Half a cup of broth is deliberate; more and the chicken poaches in thin liquid rather than concentrating. The Instant Pot version uses a full cup, since pressure cookers need more liquid. Natural release for 10 minutes is required in the Instant Pot, or the meat seizes and toughens. Omit the butter for Whole30.
