It's time for another savory, delicious slow-cooker recipe! If you can't guess, this one features one of my favorite spices: the ever-delicious, thyme.
This recipe was a complete fluke and came out of a random desire for comfort food on a low-key, frigid Sunday. Wouldn't you know that this was the result!
My husband absolutely loved this chicken, despite always claiming to dislike thighs...
So much for that. He couldn't get enough of this chicken and neither could I!
This recipe is great for a cozy date night, an intimate gathering of friends, or a big, heaping family dinner. Of course, like most crockpot recipes, this one is easy to make and low maintenance. NOTE: If you're not a citrus person, use only 1 lemon, for juicing and zesting.
Ingredients:
4 chicken thighs - bone-in, skin-on
1 shallot, diced
2-3 tbsp. butter, room temperature (unsalted)
2 lemons: 1 juiced + zested, 1 sliced
2-3 cloves of garlic (I used - and mashed - 3 cloves of garlic confit)
2-4 sprigs of thyme (we LOVE thyme, so we go on the heavier side)
1/2 tsp. baking soda
salt and pepper, to taste (I use about 1 tsp. salt between all four per side, and 6 cranks of pepper per thigh, per side)**
Set slow cooker or crockpot to sautee/350 degrees and spread butter across the bottom, adding garlic (pressed or spread confit), shallots, lemon zest & juice, and thyme. Cook until onions reach translucence.
Take the sliced lemon and stuff it into the chicken, under the skin. Salt and pepper both sides of chicken.
Place thighs in crockpot skin-side down for 5-10 minutes, or until the skin begins to brown. Flip and switch to low for 6-8 hours, or high for 4-6.
After about 2 hours, taste sauce and add 1/2 tsp. baking soda if desired. This cuts the citrus significantly. Personally, we do. The lemon juice keeps the chicken juicy, but I don't want all that citrus.
If you're not a huge citrus person, remove the lemon slices halfway through cooking or omit entirely!
**I recently read an article interviewing Ina Garten, and she discussed how problematic she felt "to taste" was; so, I will add what we use when I use this phrasing!
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