Although slow cookers are great for a wide range of simple recipes, we have it in mind that there are certain recipes that they just can’t handle. Once you’ve thrown your ingredients into the crock pot, you’re typically supposed to just set it and forget about it. The result is generally a chili-style meal or a meat with a gravy resulting from the other ingredients breaking down in the heat. The one thing these things can’t seem to do, however, is to create some nice crispiness or crust on meat. Or can they?
As it turns out, there’s still a way to use a slow cooker for that purpose as well—it just requires a little bit of creativity. Fortunately, we have the perfect recipe for your today to try out this slow cooker hack that will let you put a nice crust on some chicken without it turning wet. More specifically, this is a recipe for some perfectly tender garlic parmesan herb crusted chicken and it couldn’t be easier to make. So let’s get started.
Here’s what you’ll need:
- 2 pounds of skinless, bone-in chicken thighs
- 1 1/2 cups of powdered parmesan
- 7 cloves of garlic, minced into paste
- 1 tablespoon of fresh thyme, finely chopped
- 2 teaspoons of fresh rosemary, finely chopped
- salt
- pepper
Here’s what you do:
1. To get started, get about eight to 10 forks and arrange them around the bottom of your slow cooker facing upwards or downwards. The goal here is to use your forks as a kind of roasting tray, creating some elevation that will keep your chicken from touching the bottom of the slow cooker and the rest of the ingredients. By doing this, the air will circulate around the meat and cook it evenly and dryly!
2. Once that’s set, make sure your chicken is prepared and season it with salt and pepper as you see fit, rubbing those seasonings into the meat. In the meantime, get a bowl and mix together your parmesan, garlic, thyme and rosemary.
3. After you’ve made your mix, sprinkle it all over your chicken breasts and press the meat into it to make sure it’s completely coated in it. After it cooks, this seasoning mixture will form the basis of your delicious crust.
4. When you’re ready, carefully place the chicken breasts in the slow cooker with the bone side facing down. If you need to adjust your forks to keep your chicken elevated, feel free to do so. Once it’s all in place, cover the slow cooker and set it to cook on high for three hours.
5. Once the time is up, take the lid partially off and let the chicken sit for five to 10 minutes to cool off a little. Be sure to check that the meat is fully cooked before you eat!
As you can see, cooking chicken with a firmer crust is totally possible—even in a slow cooker. The process is still very easy and just requires a little bit of ingenuity on our part. As an added bonus, you can even use the remains from this recipe to make a sauce that you can serve the chicken with! All you have to do is pour the leftover juices into a pot and boil it, reducing it by half. Turn off the heat, add two tablespoons of butter and you’re ready to serve. While this recipe is particularly tasty, feel free to use this trick however you see fit!
Have you given this cooking hack a try? Let us know how it went in the comments.
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