Slow Cooker Lemon Chicken (Low-Carb, Paleo, Whole30) (Edit recipe)

This easy lemon chicken recipe can be made in the slow cooker or Instant Pot. Low-carb, paleo, and whole30, serve this family-friendly recipe year-round. When I use a cut of chicken that has skin on it, I almost always remove the chicken from the slow cooker to broil it. What can I say, I like crispy skin. This is an optional step of course. I highly recommend you pour the leftover lemon juice from the slow cooker or Instant Pot on top of the chicken before serving.

10 minutes

3 hours

Difficulty:

Easy

Show nutritional information

This is our estimate based on online research.
Calories:	520
Fat:	38 g
Carbohydrates:	1 g
Protein:	38 g
Cholesterol:	190 g
Sodium:	410 mg
Fiber:	0 g
Sugars:	1 g
Calculated per serving.

by Fit Slow Cooker Queen

View original recipe

Serves: 4

Ingredients

2-3 lb skin on Chicken Thigh, (see notes)
1 Lemon, sliced
1 Tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil, or oil of choice (for pressure cooker)

Sauce

.5 cup Lemon Juice, (approximately 4 medium or 3 large lemons)
2 Tbsp Water, (add an additional 2 tbsp for pressure cooker)
1 tsp Garlic Salt, (or 1 teaspoon salt & 1 minced garlic clove)
.25 tsp dried Basil

Shop

Process

Note, these instructions are written assuming the standard serving size, since you have modified the number of servings, these steps may need to be modified for best results

Slow Cooker

Add chicken to the slow cooker.
In a small bowl, mix together sauce ingredients. Pour sauce over chicken. Top chicken with lemon slices.
Cook HIGH 2-3 hours or LOW 4-6.

Electric Pressure Cooker (Instant Pot)

Set Instant Pot to the high saute setting. Once hot, add oil and chicken and brown chicken, skin-side down approx 3-5 minutes. Remove chicken & turn off the heat. If you’re using skinless chicken, skip this step.
In a small bowl, mix together sauce ingredients. Add the sauce to the pressure cooker & deglaze the bottom by of the pressure cooker by scraping all the bits off off with a wooden spoon.
Add chicken. Top with lemon slices.
Close lid and seal vent. Select high pressure for 12 minutes. Quick release pressure when done.

Notes

Dark meat works better in the slow cooker because it’s less likely to dry out. I have always used chicken thighs and/or legs when making this. Having said that, as with the majority of my recipes it doesn’t matter what cut of chicken you use, it can be skin-on, skinless, bone-in, boneless, etc. If you do choose to use white meat, lower the cooking time by an hour or more in the slow cooker and 2-3 minutes for the electric pressure cooker. This is so the chicken doesn’t overcook. The meat won’t be fully submerged when the food starts cooking. Don’t worry, it’s supposed to be like this. When I use my electric pressure cooker (Instant Pot) and skinless chicken, I don’t brown the meat first. I just add it in to the appliance raw. I pretty much only saute my chicken when using my pressure cooker if it has its skin. You can use anywhere between 2-3 pounds of chicken without having to modify any measurements. I used 3 pounds of skin-on chicken thighs.