SaurabhCrock pot is one of the kitchen essentials that offer us convenience, especially for busy individuals. All you have to do is drop all your ingredients and seasonings in the pot, then voila! You have yourself and your family a delicious dinner.
Compared to traditional cooking, a dish will take a long time to cook since it’s cooking it slowly.
How Long to Cook Frozen Chicken in Crock-Pot? A frozen chicken will approximately take 6 hours. Since it’s frozen, it needs time to thaw and cook at the same time. A thawed chicken can only cook for about 3-4 hours depending on how much you’re cooking.
How To Cook Frozen Chicken in the Crock Pot?
The easiest part of the chicken to cook when frozen are chicken breasts. It doesn’t have bones and the meat is soft enough to thaw quickly and cook well at the same time.
It’s easy to cook, too. All you gotta do is put the frozen chicken directly in the crockpot and just cook it longer. Always give the chicken more extra time to thaw to avoid any food safety risks. Before serving, make sure you check the chicken’s temperature.
The USDA suggests that the chicken needs to reach an internal temperature of 165 degrees before you consider eating it.
Here’s a simple recipe that you can follow.
“Shredded BBQ Chicken Sandwiches”
Ingredients:
- 4 lbs frozen boneless and skinless chicken breasts
- ½ cup of water
- 5 cloves of thinly chopped garlic
- 1 tsp of garlic powder
- 1 tbsp salt
- 1 tsp pepper
- Burger buns or hotdog buns
- Ready-made barbecue sauce
Instructions:
- Put the frozen chicken in the crock pot.
- Add the water, garlic cloves, and seasoning than salt and pepper.
- Cover the chicken with a lid and cook on low for 6 hours.
- Check if it’s ready to shred.
- Shred the chicken with two forks and set it aside.
- Toast the sandwich buns on a pan with butter.
- Slice in half and smear some barbecue sauce on both sides.
- Add 1-2 tbsps of shredded chicken and serve.
- You can chill leftover chicken for about a week or freeze for a month.
Can You Cook Frozen Chicken in the Crock Pot on High?
The same method applies for both raw and frozen chicken, it all needs to be cooked on low temperature. Cooking it at a high temperature will result in a dry, tough and overcooked chicken meat.
I mean who likes tough chicken?
If the point of cooking it at a high temperature is to cook the meat faster or you’re cooking a larger batch, then it won’t work. It will still cook at the same time the same as putting in on low but will have extremely different results. Remember to always cook any meat in the crockpot on low.
How Long to Cook Frozen Chicken Meat with Bones in a Crock Pot?
Since it has bones and the bone marrow still has traces of blood, you need to give it another hour to cook the meat especially when it’s frozen. Don’t hurry on the cooking process and be tempted to cook it at a high temperature because it will not cook well and will dry out the meat.
What’s the difference between a Crock Pot and a Slow Cooker?
First of all, let’s define the slow cooker and crockpot separately.
Crock Pot is actually a brand name that was invented during the ’70s. It’s the same thick ceramic or stoneware pot that you currently have in your kitchen.
The stoneware is surrounded by a heating element that helps evenly cook any dish you put in it. Since the ceramic is thick, it holds the heat inside perfectly.
Crock pots are easy to use as well. It has 3 settings to choose from: low, high, and keep warm. It maintains a consistent heating pattern that doesn’t need any effort to turn on or off when adjusting the heat inside.
Other advanced models even have a timer that will automatically switch to keep warm when the set time is up.
While the Slow Cooker, on the other hand, is not a brand but it refers to a type of kitchen appliance. There are different styles of slow cookers. But it typically comes with a metal pot placed on a heated surface.
Unlike the crock pot, the slow cooker’s heating mechanism is just on the bottom. That’s the reason why sometimes the food sticks or burns on the bottom if not stirred occasionally.
Cooking with dishes that have low amounts of fluid or contains dairy products must be stirred to avoid it from sticking.
Unlike the crock pot, the slow cooker cooks in cycles. It will not remain on a steady cooking pattern but it switches on or off for the whole time until the set cooking time has elapsed.
Just like the crock pot it also has 3 settings to choose from. You can purchase Slow Cookers from many brands available in the market.
Therefore, both kitchen appliances are similar in a way and don’t offer much of a difference. Just pick the right recipe for each and follow the standard cooking procedure. So if you got either one of them, you should be good.
Can You Cook Frozen Chicken in a Slow Cooker?
Yes, the same process applies to how it’s cooked with a crockpot. Just make sure that you follow the safety guidelines suggested by USDA. The chicken meat has to achieve the desired temperature before serving it to avoid any bacteria like salmonella to grow.
How Long Will it Take to Cook?
Depending on the size of your recipe then it needs more time. It’s about 6-8 hours under low heat. Just be cautious with a slow cooker and keep stirring the dish so it won’t burn on the bottom.
Just like the crock pot, you don’t want to cook your chicken at a high temperature because it will result in overcooked chicken meat.
Here’s a recipe you could try for your Slow Cooker.
“Slow Cooker Chili Chicken”
Ingredients:
- 3 large pcs of boneless and skinless frozen chicken breasts
- 2 cups of chicken broth
- 2 cups of diced tomatoes
- 2 cans tomato sauce
- ½ cup full cream sauce
- ½ cup diced onion
- 1 large chopped green bell pepper
- 1 can black beans
- 2 pcs thinly chopped jalapeños
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 tsp Italian seasoning
- 3 tsp chili powder
- 1 tbsp cumin
- 1 tbsp minced garlic
Instructions:
- Mix all the ingredients in the slow cooker except for the cream sauce.
- Stir all the ingredients evenly and cook it for about 6 hours on low.
- Once cooked, remove the chicken and chop it into small pieces. Place it back to the slow cooker together with the cream sauce.
- Stir evenly until the mixture is nice and creamy.
- Do a taste test and just add seasonings if needed.
- Cover for 15 minutes.
- Serve with warm rice and top with cheese and freshly chopped cilantro.
- Store leftovers in the chiller for a week.
My Key Takeaway
I’m a fan of using crock pot during weekends. I’m not at work so I don’t need to hurry for prepping lunch or dinner.
If I forgot to thaw or defrost my chicken meat, I can always cook them directly instead of waiting for it to thaw.
However, I don’t recommend this ALL THE TIME because of food safety concerns. When using the crockpot, we tend to just go on with our lives and do other stuff while waiting for it to cook. Because of the distraction from other stuff, we might end up forgetting to check the meat’s desired temperature.
So when cooking frozen chicken with a crockpot, be more cautious and always check the temperature. If not, then always thaw your meats beforehand. Safety is still more important than convenience.
