How To Meal Prep Chicken For The Slow Cooker

It’s the final day of our Crocktober and I just had to feature different ways showing you how to meal prep chicken for the slow cooker. Having some marinated chicken ready to go is perfect for taking the boring out your chicken setup.

Using budget chicken (yes it still exists!) we are going to be showing you how to use it for meal prep, along with emptying your pantry and spruce up your dinners.

Crocktober Day 30

This slow cooker meal prep recipe guide is day 30 of our Crocktober. Where we share with you a brand new slow cooker recipe every day for the month of October, to celebrate Crockpot season. You can do as many or as few of our Crocktober recipes. 90% of them are freezer friendly and perfect for storing in your freezer cubes or freezer bags for another day.

Should I Wash My Chicken?

Absolutely not. But of course its one of those topics that has people having a big argument over very much like when someone suggests using beef in a shepherd’s pie!

You will notice in cookbooks that feature chicken it will often in the small print have a warning not to wash chicken. This is the recommendation by the food standards agency. The idea is that if you wash chicken, you are spreading the bacteria about and then of course, making your kitchen area that you washed the chicken in, a high risk too.

Can I Cook Frozen Chicken In The Slow Cooker?

Absolutely not. Again, this is the recommendation of the food standards agency and the reason behind it is that frozen chicken doesn’t get hot enough and quick enough when slow cooked to get rid of the bacteria.

As a general rule in our kitchen, we will use frozen vegetarian food only in the slow cooker and we avoid slow cooking any meat from frozen. Simply defrost the night before, overnight in your fridge.

How Long Can I Store Chicken For?

Aim to store frozen chicken in the freezer for up to 3 months. Then with thawed cooked chicken in the fridge aim for up to 3 days. So if you cooked some chicken legs on Sunday and have leftovers, you can enjoy them up until the end of Wednesday.

Why Meal Prep Chicken

Chicken is a great source of protein, can be as healthy or unhealthy as you would like it to be, and is perfect for freezing for later and then defrosting and slow cooking.

You can shred your chicken, or you can use marinated chicken for your next Sunday dinner – think delicious chicken legs for serving with gravy and all your other favourite side dishes.

In our how-to meal prep guide, we are going to be showing you how to prep your chicken, along with 5 different ways to enjoy it.

It Started With Chicken Legs

Many years ago, when we lived in Portugal, I became obsessed with the special offer our local Portuguese supermarket did with chicken legs. I say Portuguese it was actually a French supermarket brand!

I was learning all about saving money and that the deal on the front cover of those supermarket flyers, was the ones of the best value. On there we often found chicken legs on the front cover. It worked out at 50 cents (from Euros to pounds it would be 42p).

We could then keep some whole and also do some drumsticks and thighs and they would rotate the deal every 6 weeks and we would stockpile them in the freezer in marinades.

That was between 2010 and 2020 and now back in the UK we do similar with M&S chicken legs.

Of course, we don’t all have an M&S or a Portuguese supermarket, but we all have a different version where we live so go with what you do have.

So, I headed to the tills with this big batch of M&S chicken legs following the same principle and this big collection cost me just £9 enough for about 6 different family meals.

Chicken Legs Or Drumsticks & Thighs?

You have got your budget chicken home from the supermarket, and you are ready to get started.

The first step is deciding are you team chicken legs and would you rather have drumsticks and thighs. Personally, we love a bit of both.

Chicken legs for our next Sunday dinner and then being able to separate the rest so we have some thighs for a chicken thigh dinner, and some drumsticks too.

Though what I do is get them all out of the packaging in a really big dish and then I can prep them in the dish and it speeds up my meal prep routine.

Then if you are separating your legs simply feel for the joint and cut through the skin to see the joint and cut down firmly to separate the thigh from the drumstick.

Get our air fryer cookbook here >> In Air Fryer Easy Everyday we have a full chapter dedicated to meal prep and show you how to chop up a whole chicken as well as many recipes using homemade marinades.

You can then separate your thighs and drumsticks and keep some of your legs whole and then use them for each one of the marinades you have planned.

Now that you have your chicken plan, let’s marinate shall we….

#1 Chipotle Chicken Freezer Bags

This is what we made last, but I have bumped it to the top of the list because it’s a good demonstration for how to meal prep your chicken. We made this Mexican style meal prep chicken with the bits we had leftover. Which is what meal prep should all be about.

Always use an oversized dish as its then easier to get your hands in. Then load up the chicken with all the marinade ingredients.

Mix well with your hands to create marinated chicken.

Then either marinate in the dish in the fridge for later, or load into freezer bags to freeze.

The job is done and you have a chipotle chicken for later.

This kind of recipe is also fantastic if you look in your fridge and find a half-used jar of curry paste, some lime juice, or even some fresh garlic cloves that need a new home.  

For example, I used up some garlic and onion, ginger paste, chipotle paste, and homemade tomato sauce.

Behind The Scenes >> This used up leftover ingredients we had from day 8 of Crocktober when we made slow cooker chipotle chicken breasts.

#2 Teriyaki Chicken Thighs

Load all the ingredients into a mixing bowl, mix well and then freeze in freezer bags. Defrost fully in the fridge before adding to the slow cooker.

Then slow cook for 3 hours on high before brushing with extra teriyaki sauce and serving.

#3 Barbecue Chicken Thighs & Drumsticks

Rinse and repeat. Making barbecue chicken is like a variation of teriyaki chicken. It’s also a great way to prep lots of chicken then separate into portions so you have different flavours.

In this we have used the Ninja Speedi just because we can finish with the air fryer for the ultimate barbecue chicken experience. We have also used a mixture of chicken thighs and drumsticks.

Of course this starts with marinating the chicken, then you can freeze it and once defrosted fully we are ready for slow cooking. Add the chicken thighs and drumsticks with its marinade to the slow cooker and slow cook on high for 3 hours.

Then swap slow cooking for air frying. You can add a little extra barbecue sauce if you wish.

Then after an air fry you will have crispy, juicy and tender BBQ chicken.

#4 Red Thai Chicken Drumsticks

This was another, of those clear out the kitchen cupboard/pantry, kind of recipe. But of course, you can buy in the ingredients if you don’t have them already.

Load the ingredients into a bowl, give it a good mix, freeze, defrost and then slow cook. Of course, you can marinate on the day if you prefer.

Then when slow cooking, add the drumsticks and any remaining marinade into the slow cook and slow cook for 3 hours on high.

I then like to finish with a drizzle of some extra red thai curry sauce and a sprinkling of fresh herbs.

#5 Sunday Dinner Chicken Legs

This is what I call the Sunday dinner chicken. A quick simple marinade, freeze it and then its marinated ready for our next Sunday dinner. We can then slow cook it with gravy like we do on day 7 of our Crocktober.

Add the chicken legs to a bowl, add in the marinade ingredients, mix and then transfer to a freezer bag. Freeze and then defrost when ready to slow cook.

Next, add the gravy ingredients first and give it a good whisk.

Then after mixing the gravy add your raw, marinated chicken on top.

Slow cook for 3 hours and you will have tender chicken that is ready for serving. I then like to give the gravy a stir (after removing the chicken) and then serve it with some baby potatoes and some steamed broccoli.

Chicken Night In

You can also meal prep these different chicken recipes then use them as a chicken night in. Where you pop one type of chicken in one slow cooker and another batch in another slow cooker. Then you have a lovely selection of different chicken for dinner. Add a salad and you have a hassle free supper.