I love slow cooker recipes (BBQ chicken, Tex-Mex, meatballs, you name it), and this slow cooker chicken and veggies meal is one for the books. This is a classic family dinner with juicy chicken thighs, carrots, green beans, and potatoes.
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This is a year-round favorite, but I especially like to use the Crock-Pot during the busy fall months so I can set it and forget it. The great part about this dump-and-go slow cooker recipe is your veggie sides cook right alongside your chicken.
Cooking for a family, everyone has a different favorite vegetable. With three veggies, this slow cooker meal will have something for everyone. Enjoy a little bit of everything or just pick the parts you like.
This blend of seasoning was based on The Salty Marshmallow's Crispy Baked Chicken Thighs.
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Ingredients
This Crock-Pot chicken and veggies recipe calls for a few core ingredients and a blend of seasonings you probably already have in your spice cabinet.
- chicken thighs, bone-in, skin-on
- red potatoes, cubed
- baby carrots
- green beans, trimmed
- Italian seasoning
- salt
- onion powder
- paprika
- ground black pepper
- chicken broth
- freshly-squeezed lemon juice
- fresh parsley (optional)
See the recipe card for quantities.
Instructions
Add the chicken thighs, diced red potatoes, baby carrots, and green beans to the slow cooker, keeping the green beans elevated.
In a small bowl, combine the seasonings, chicken broth, and lemon juice. Pour evenly over the chicken and veggies.
Seasonings, chicken broth, and lemon juice Pour evenly over chicken and veggies
Cook, covered, on LOW for 6-8 hours or HIGH for 4 hours. Chicken should be cooked to a minimum internal temperature of 165°F.
Before serving, garnish your slow cooker chicken and veggies with fresh parsley (optional).
Alternate Vegetables
If red potatoes, green beans, and baby carrots are not your favorite veggies, the following vegetables are good substitutes that will work with this cook time.
- Yukon gold potatoes
- Sweet potatoes
- Broccoli (add in the last 30 minutes)
- Asparagus (add in the last 30 minutes)
Equipment
For this recipe, you will need a slow cooker. I use a 6-quart Crock-Pot. I recommend using slow cooker liners to make cleaning easier.
Top recipe tips
- Line your Crock-Pot with a slow cooker liner for easy cleanup.
- I recommend sticking with the bone in, skin on chicken thighs rather than substituting with boneless skinless chicken breasts or thighs which have a tendency to fall apart when slow cooked.
- The green beans in this recipe are not too soft, but if you prefer very firm, very crisp green beans, wait to add the green beans until the last 60 minutes of cooking. Keep them out of the cooking liquid if possible.
Got 10 More Minutes?
Take this base recipe to the next level:
- You can sear the raw chicken thighs in a pan on medium heat in olive oil or butter if desired prior to placing in the slow cooker. According to The Kitchn, this deepends the flavor of the meat.
- At the end, you can make a cornstarch slurry and cook it with the liquid in the slow cooker for a lemon/broth sauce.
📖 Recipe
Slow Cooker Chicken Thighs and Vegetables with Herbs
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 lb chicken thighs, bone-in, skin-on (about 4 thighs)
- ¾ lb red potatoes cubed
- ½ lb baby carrots
- ½ lb green beans trimmed
- 2 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon onion powder
- ¼ teaspoon paprika
- ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
- ¼ cup chicken broth
- 1 large lemon, juiced (about ¼ cup juice)
- 1 tablespoon fresh parsley (optional)
Instructions
- Add chicken thighs, diced red potatoes, baby carrots, and green beans to the slow cooker, keeping the green beans as elevated as possible.
- In a small bowl, combine the seasonings, chicken broth, and lemon juice. Pour evenly over the chicken and veggies.
- Cook, covered, on LOW for 6-8 hours or HIGH for 4 hours. Chicken should be cooked to a minimum internal temperature of 165°F.
- Before serving, garnish with fresh parsley (optional).
Notes
Nutrition
Food safety and slow cooker safety
- Cook the chicken to a minimum temperature of 165 °F (74 °C)
- Always thaw meat or poultry before cooking it in the slow cooker.
- Do not use the same utensils on cooked food, that previously touched raw meat
- Wash hands after touching raw meat
- Don't leave food sitting out at room temperature for extended periods
- Do not lift the slow cooker lid unnecessarily during the cooking cycle, this could cause internal temperature drops
- If your slow cooker has a locking lid feature, the unit should not be in the locked position while cooking
See more guidelines at USDA.gov and Crock-Pot.
William Dougherty says
If you can answer my questions about why my carrots and potatoes are so hard on high at 4 hours and the chicken falls all apart then you can change my review rating to 5 stars or I will, if your website lets me edit. And I did dice up the potatoes, carrots and even onions, all were undercooked except the chicken. Everything was at 175F at 3 out of 4 hours. Other problem is your recipe doesn't even have enough liquid for a 5 quart slow cooker/crock pot. My understanding is some of these even have a line punched into the insert and you have to have liquid above the line.
Kelsey Smith says
When using a slow cooker, the amount of liquid needed typically ranges from 1/2 to 1 cup per hour of cooking, depending on the dish. For meat, especially fattier cuts like chicken thighs or pork, less liquid is required since the meat will release its own juices. Up front, this recipe has 1/4 cup broth and 1/4 cup lemon juice, and then the thighs release juices as they cook.
William Dougherty says
My wife passed and like your slow cooker recipe because it was real close to all I had during this snowstorm. I have a question(s). 1) Do you have to fill a crockpot with fluid up to a certain level. I have an old one without a manual. I am looking at a Hamilton Beach with temp probe but they have zero customer service so looking elsewhere. 2) After 4 hours on high, the liquid at the center was 175 Fahrenheit. Couldn't measure chicken temp as thighs fell apart, yummy. BUT the carrots and the potatoes were hard like they didn't cook at all. What? What do you recommend to have edible carrots and the potatoes, were tiny red potatoes. And the carrots were tiny ones also. Confused in Maryland, billy AND THANK YOU. Please call me billy.
Kelsey Smith says
Hi Billy! You do not need to add any additional liquid beyond what is included in the recipe card. If you’re considering upgrading your slow cooker, I’ve had good experiences with Crock-Pot brand, this particular model I've had for more than a decade and it's great. To answer your second question, if they were cut small just like in my pictures, they really ought to have cooked through. Placement could also be an issue if they were piled on top of the chicken instead of to the side like my pics. I can't say for sure why this happened to your food, I am so sorry to hear that.
Ebony says
Can this be made with skinless boneless chicken breasts also?
Kelsey Smith says
Yes, definitely. Chicken breasts cook faster than thighs, I would say stick to the lower end of the time range. If you're home while it cooks, I would even temp it at 5 hours to see if it's done.
William Dougherty says
I cook boneless, skinless chicken thighs and at 4 hours they fall all apart. I also have a suggestion not mentioned. I have to add a helpful suggestion to her recipe...I added 1.5 pounds of raw chicken to a 5 quart slow cooker/crockpot and the amount of chicken in the final result was barely detectable. I need to triple that amount of chicken and I eat alone now. I really ended up with hard tiny carrots and tiny hard potatoes. I have laboratory grade thermocouple and the center of the liquid was 175 Fahrenheit. Chicken fell apart nicely, yumm. But carrots and potatoes were too hard to eat. So I munched them like a horse anyway. With a temp probe type of slow cooker it's too difficult to measure meat temp to shut off cooking and go to warm mode because the thighs fall all apart. In this case boneless and skinless are better. The chicken fell apart so much the skin would just be all in with the dish, separated and the bones would be in the chicken you are eating, difficult to remove when they all fall apart so I use boneless skinless also. Maybe Kelsey Smith will give us a better answer. I have no idea why she says 5 hours in a crock pot, And did she mean at low or high. She gives both at top of the recipe and on high 4 hours, the chicken thighs fell all apart. Breasts cooking faster than thighs makes no sense to me, anti-intuitive. Breast have less water and are way thicker. Less water means less ability to transfer conductive heat into the meat. Yes, I'm a chemist/physicist, can you tell 🙂
Kelsey Smith says
Searing the chicken before placing it in the crockpot can help it hold together. Searing creates a protective layer on the outside of the chicken, which helps lock in moisture and gives it a bit of structure. To answer your question about my 5 hour comment above, that is a tip for temping chicken breasts if cooking on LOW. Chicken breasts typically cook faster than chicken thighs due to their leaner nature. Breasts have less fat and connective tissue, which allows them to cook through more quickly.
Nan Griffin says
This was so good! Thanks for the recipe and will be certainly making it again. Chicken and veggies came out perfect.
Nan Griffin says
Did anyone try this on high for the 4 hours as recipe states can do? Just wondered if comes out better on low as I don't want to ruin it the first time tried.
Kelsey Smith says
Hey Nan, High or Low, you'll get fall-of-the-bone chicken. (although, side note: the best way to ensure any chickened is cooked to perfection is to temp the chicken with a meat thermometer as you get close to the end of the cook time. You can end the cook time early and avoid over-cooking this way.)
Ariel says
Sorry my mistake. It actually came out to 429 calories. Am I logging it incorrectly?
Kelsey Smith says
I double checked through my recipe card's nutrition API, and it comes out to 525 calories. I will email you the breakdown so you can cross-check your calorie tracker.
Ariel says
Hi! This was really good! I did notice one difference though. When I added created the recipe in MyFitnessPal for the macros. My calories were only 299 and the carbs, fat, and protein were also different.
Susan says
Looks delicious and healthy!! Can't wait to try!!
Charene Griffin says
Cooking time was Perfect.