Chicken

Homestead Rosemary Lemon Chicken

Bright lemon and fresh rosemary. Light, clean and not creamy at all.

Prep 5 min LOW 6–7 hours HIGH 3–4 hours Serves 6

Homestead Rosemary Lemon Chicken, finished and plated — Serving suggestion

Most slow cooker chicken is rich. Creamy, cheesy, saucy — all good things, but after a few weeks of it you start wanting something that tastes like it grew rather than something that tastes like it was poured.

This is that recipe. Lemon, rosemary, garlic and good chicken broth. No cream, no cheese, no thickener. It comes out clean and bright and tastes like a Sunday roast rather than a casserole.

It's also our lightest packet at 28 grams, and completely dairy-free. When you need a dinner that doesn't sit heavy, this is the one.

Why you'll love it

Light where everything else is rich.

No cream, no cheese. A genuinely different kind of dinner.

Completely dairy-free.

Nothing in the packet contains milk.

It smells like a roast.

Rosemary and lemon in a warm house is one of the better smells there is.

Works on a whole bird.

One of the few recipes here you can do with a whole chicken.

What's already in the packet

Chicken bouillonGarlicOnionRosemaryLemon powderBlack pepperWhite pepper

Small, clean and herb-forward. No dairy and no thickener — this one is meant to taste bright.

Choose your setting

Recommended

LOW · 6–7 hours

Low and slow gives collagen time to melt and flavors time to build. It is the setting this recipe was written for.

HIGH · 3–4 hours

For when you started late. It gets dinner done, but the texture is better on LOW.

Done at 165°F

For a whole chicken, measure the inner thigh without touching bone.

You'll Need

2 lbs Chicken (pick one below)
1½ cups Water or chicken broth
1 packet Cook SLO Homestead Rosemary Lemon Chicken

Pick your chicken

2 lbs

Chicken breasts

3 lbs

Bone-in chicken pieces

Whole chicken, about 4 lbs

Cook chicken to 165°F

Add vegetables

Baby potatoesSliced carrots (fresh or frozen)Green beans (fresh or frozen)Lemon slicesDiced onion (fresh or frozen)Whole garlic clovesAsparagus (fresh or frozen)

Baby potatoes, sliced carrots (fresh or frozen), diced onion (fresh or frozen) and whole garlic cloves at the start, on the bottom; lemon slices at the start; green beans (fresh or frozen) in the last hour; asparagus (fresh or frozen) in the last forty-five minutes.

When to add what

When	Add	Why
At the start, on the bottom	Baby potatoesSliced carrots (fresh or frozen)Diced onion (fresh or frozen)Whole garlic cloves	Root vegetables cook slower than meat. They belong closest to the heat, and they hold the meat up out of the liquid. Cut everything an inch and a half or larger — smaller pieces disintegrate.
At the start, to soften into the sauce	Lemon slices	These break down and give their flavour to the pot. Right for a gravy or a fajita, wrong if you want them to hold their shape.
Last hour	Green beans (fresh or frozen)	Any longer and green beans go grey, squash turns to water, and pineapple falls apart.
Last 45 minutes	Asparagus (fresh or frozen)	This is the one people get wrong. Broccoli added at the start comes out grey and falls apart. Forty-five minutes keeps it bright and firm.

Two ways to do this

If you're home

Follow the timing table above and add things when they're due.

About an hour is all you need

If you're out all day

Put in at the start as normal: baby potatoes, sliced carrots (fresh or frozen), diced onion (fresh or frozen), whole garlic cloves and lemon slices. These need the full cook anyway.

Add green beans (fresh or frozen) and asparagus (fresh or frozen) when you walk in the door. Forty-five minutes to an hour on LOW is enough for all of it, and it will taste better than if it had cooked all day.

If you would rather not touch it at all, put everything in at the start and use frozen where you can. It will be softer than the timing above intends and the greens will lose their colour, but it will taste good and dinner is ready when you walk in.

Frozen is the better choice for a long day. Already cut, holds its shape better than fresh over eight or nine hours, and goes in straight from the bag with no thawing. Frozen diced onion and pepper strips remove the only real prep this recipe has.

Pasta and noodles

**Cooked separately.** Shred the chicken and toss with cooked orzo, olive oil, the pan juices and extra lemon. **Do not add dry pasta to the pot for this recipe.** The sauce is cream and cheese based. Pasta cooked in it releases starch that turns the sauce gluey and grainy. Boil it separately and combine at the end.

Before anything goes in the pot

1
Coat the meat in a bag, not in the pot
Put the meat and the whole packet into a gallon zip bag, seal it, and shake until every surface is covered. It coats far more evenly than sprinkling from above, it takes ten seconds, and there is nothing to wash afterwards.

These happen outside the crock pot, before it's switched on.

Tonight's Plan

1
Put the chicken in the crock pot.
If you're adding potatoes or carrots, put them underneath first.
2
Pour the water or broth around the sides.
Around, not over. There's no sauce here to redistribute the seasoning if you wash it off.
3
Sprinkle the whole packet over the chicken.
Lay a few fresh lemon slices on top if you have one.
4
Put the lid on.
Nothing else to do.

Vegetables

Spoon the pan juices over the chicken.

Concentrated lemon and rosemary. Don't leave it in the pot.

Serve with a fresh lemon wedge on the side.

People should be able to add more.

Stirring

Leave the lid on

Nothing in this one settles or scorches, and there is plenty of liquid moving. Every lift of the lid drops the temperature ten to fifteen degrees and costs about twenty minutes. There is nothing to check.

Swaps and add-ins

Use a whole chicken.

Four pounds, breast side up, same timing. The best version.

Add potatoes underneath.

Two pounds of halved baby potatoes turns it into a complete meal.

Add fresh rosemary.

Two sprigs tucked in with the dried herb in the packet. More aromatic.

Add white wine.

Replace half a cup of the liquid with dry white wine.

Tips for success

Fresh lemon slices on top make a real difference. The packet has lemon powder for depth. Fresh slices add brightness on top of it.
Bone-in beats boneless here. With no cream to carry flavor, the collagen from bones does that job instead.
Don't skip the final lemon squeeze. This is a lemon recipe. Finishing it with fresh juice is the whole point.
Drop in a liner before anything else. Smooth it against the sides and fold the edges over the rim. When you're done, lift it out and throw it away — the crock never needs scrubbing.

Finish it right

Fresh lemon juice over everything.

Cooked lemon and raw lemon are two different flavors, and this dish wants both.

Fresh chopped parsley.

Green against a pale plate, and it tastes clean next to the rosemary.

Good olive oil, drizzled.

This is a dish where a spoonful of decent olive oil at the end actually shows up.

Serve it over

Roasted potatoesRice pilafSteamed green beansCrusty breadA simple green salad

Tomorrow night

Lemon chicken salad.

Shredded with mayo, celery and extra lemon. Excellent on croissants.

Greek-style bowls.

Over rice with cucumber, tomato, olives and feta.

Chicken and orzo soup.

Add broth and orzo, simmer 15 minutes.

Herb chicken pasta.

Toss with pasta, olive oil, garlic and Parmesan.

Keeping it

Fridge

Airtight, up to 4 days

Freezer

3 months. Freezes well since there's no dairy to break.

Reheating

Gently with a splash of broth. Lean chicken dries out if you blast it.

Questions people ask

Recipe card