After making this spicy, flavorful, rotisserie-like chicken at home, you’ll never want to buy one again. This chicken also makes excellent taco meat or you can add it to soups and chili.
Prep time 15 minutes, plus marinating time
Serves 6
1 whole chicken, 4 to 5 pounds (1.8 to 2.3 kg)
3 tablespoons (18.8 g) Cajun Spice Blend
2 teaspoons sea salt
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
3 tablespoons (44 ml) avocado oil
1 Remove the neck and any organs from the cavity of the chicken. (Put them in a freezer zip-top bag and add the rest of the bones later for making stock.) Loosen the skin of the chicken by slipping your fingers under the skin and—without ripping the skin—separate it from the flesh. Start on the breast side and do this with the thigh and leg, too. I like to cut a small hole with a pair of kitchen shears or a knife on the side of the chicken between the thigh and leg, and stick a finger under the skin to loosen it. Place the chicken on a large plate or small pan.
2 Combine the remaining ingredients in a small bowl to make a paste. Take this mixture and get as much of it as you can underneath the skin—on the breast, thighs, and legs. It helps to maneuver the seasoning from the outside of the skin, by massaging it with your fingers. Rub the remaining seasoning over the outside of the chicken.
3 Cover the chicken with plastic wrap and chill for 4 to 12 hours.
4 When you’re ready to cook the chicken, make 4 balls out of aluminum foil, about 2 to 3 inches each. Arrange them in the bottom of a 6-quart (5.7 liter) slow cooker, forming a square.
5 Place the chicken, breast-side down, on top of the foil balls.
6 Cover and cook on low for 4 to 5 hours. Using a meat thermometer, check the temperature of the chicken in the thigh or the thickest part of the breast. It should register 160°F (71°C).
7 Remove the chicken from the slow cooker and serve. (You probably won’t be able to get it all out in one piece.)
