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Best Ways to Use a Whole Chicken in a Crock-Pot

As much as I love the convenience of boneless skinless chicken breasts, I always prefer to buy whole chickens. Whole chickens are significantly cheaper than chicken breasts or thighs, and you truly get so much more for your money. With just one chicken, I can typically make 2-3 meals and several cups of homemade chicken broth!

I am going to show you my favorite way to prepare whole chickens and truly get the most for your money (and if you have to handle raw meat – blech, it has to be worth it, right?). Best of all, it’s all done in the crock-pot so it takes very little time!

The first thing I do with my chicken is make Crock-Pot Roast Sticky Chicken (recipe below). This recipe only requires about 5 minutes of prep and then the crockpot does the rest. This chicken is so delicious, everyone in our family loves it. It really is not spicy despite the spices used, but if  you’re concerned, you can omit any spices you don’t want. I’ve left out spices before due to not having them on hand, and the chicken still turned out delicious.

After the chicken is done, you have a few options. You can serve the chicken as a main course for dinner, or you can stretch the meat and incorporate it into several meals like casseroles or soups. We typically serve it as a main course and then use what is left to make another meal like soup on another day. Our way makes only two meals for a family of four, but you could possibly make three meals if use all of it for soups and casseroles.

You’ll want to get all the meat off the bones, so wait until the chicken cools and then use your fingers to get all the meat. You then refrigerate your meat and let it fully cool. Then shred the chicken and freeze it. You can also set it aside until you are ready to use it in your recipe. Leave the bones and everything else in your crockpot. Now you’re going to make chicken broth!

If you use only veggie scraps, your homemade broth essentially costs you nothing! Makes you wonder why they charge so much for the canned stuff, doesn’t it? Plus, you don’t have to worry about preservatives, MSG, or BPA when you make your own.

I love making homemade chicken noodle soup using crock-pot roast sticky chicken and homemade chicken stock. It’s frugal, healthy, and delicious!

Once you’ve made this chicken and chicken stock a few times and realize how easy and frugal it is, you will have a hard time paying so much for boneless chicken breast!