The sights, the smells, the oh soo juicy texture, and the yummy delicious taste of this Cajun slow cooked whole chicken makes it the perfect Sunday dinner dish. The south Louisiana Cajun trinity of onions, green bell peppers, and celery - along with sweet potatoes - combine perfectly in this substantial meal-in-one that's overflowing with flavor and texture.
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Do you dig the bird? I do, I do...I love to cook whole roasted chicken because I love to cook anything easy that provides me with next day lunch leftovers. Sadly though, this win-win situation can sometimes backfire on me, due to the simple fact that slow roasting whole chickens sometimes dries out the breasts.
And well, I love the breasts. The breasts are sooo versatile. You can throw them on top of a green salad and have yourself a nice lunch. You can make chicken salad to eat on top of gluten free crackers. Fun and tasty!! You can also make a bada-billion sauce, soup, and pasta recipes with leftover chicken breasts.
But not if they're hard as a piece of cardboard, and dry as a desert rock. Nope. Then nothing can save them, and you just gotta dry swallow through your next-day lunch pretending to be happy and satisfied, or throw them straight into the trash where they belong. Yep.
Well, I wasn't gonna put myself in that kind of harm's way this time. So, I whipped out my beloved 7-quart Dutch oven, and I set about developing an easy, quick whole chicken recipe that yielded ultra-juicy and flavorful breasts. My next-day lunch was at stake here, y'all, and it's a mealtime experience that I will never get back. So, it has to be good to protect me forever from any lingering unpleasant memories.
Oh Sooo Beautiful and Juicy Cajun Slow Cooked Whole Chicken
I started this Paleo and gluten free Cajun slow cooked whole chicken recipe by greasing the Dutch oven generously with olive oil. I cut the 'trinity' veggies, and peeled and cubed the sweet potatoes. Then, I seasoned them with SP&C and hot sauce before placing them along the bottom the big black pot.
Next, I trussed the chicken, seasoned it, and filled the cavity with lemon. Finally, I set the chicken breast down atop the vegetables before placing it into the oven.
Three hours later, the chicken was ready to come out and rest. Although it did release a fair amount of water, the water poached the breasts and veggies into juicy and flavorful deliciousness.
So, my mission was accomplished, and I just had a taste of next-day lunch leftovers, y'all.
The breast leftovers are still sooo juicy and flavorful that I would order them off of any menu any day of the week. That includes a we're-not-gonna-have-turkey-this-year roasted chicken Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner. Yep, yum, and yay for Cajun slow cooked whole chicken, and its too tasty next-day chicken breast leftovers. Sco-ore!!
Cajun Slow Cooked Whole Chicken
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 large onions chopped
- 1 large or 2 small green bell peppers chopped
- 1 large red bell pepper chopped
- 6 stalks celery sliced into 3-inch diagonal chunks
- 3 medium sweet potatoes peeled and chunked
- 3 bay leaves
- 2 teaspoons Tabasco
- Cajun Dry Rub
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 1 5 ½- pound chicken
- 2 tablespoons garlic powder
- 1 tablespoon paprika
- 1 tablespoon dried parsley
- 1 tablespoon onion powder
- ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 large lemon cut in half and seeded
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 275 degrees F.
- Place cut onions, bell peppers, celery, and sweet potatoes in a large bowl. Season with SP&C and Tabasco.
- Pour into bottom of 7-quart cast iron Dutch oven.
- Combine all Cajun rub ingredients together in a bowl.
- Truss chicken.
- Rub dry seasoning mixture all over chicken, and sprinkle some inside of cavity.
- Juice both lemon halves into the cavity, then place lemons in cavity.
- Place bay leaves on top of vegetables.
- Place chicken atop the bay leaves.
- Bake covered for 3 to 4 hours, or until a digital thermometer inserted into the breast reaches 165 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Uncover and broil top of chicken for 1 minute.
- Rest chicken for 15 minutes before serving.
Notes
The information shown is an estimate provided by a third-party, online computer-generated nutrition calculator, not a registered dietitian or certified nutritionist. Actual nutritional content will vary based upon brands used, measuring methods and individual portion sizes, along with other factors.
See our full nutrition disclaimer here.Nutrition
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