Crockpot Lemon Chicken & Veggies

Now that we’re back home from a week-long road trip visiting family, home cooking is back on the menu. Since it has finally gotten a bit colder this week, the crockpot has taken up residence on The Frog & PenguINN kitchen counter.

Chicken is on the menu quite often here; lemon and varied herbs are great partners. I came across a few recipes for this recipe, then altered and combined a couple for this version. (Does anyone else do this too?)

Crockpot Lemon Chicken & Veggies

• 1/3 C flour (save leftover flour to thicken sauce later)
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/8 tsp pepper
• 4-5 skinless chicken thighs (bone in OR boneless)
• 2 TBSP butter
• 1 onion, chopped
• 3-4 carrots, cut up OR 1 bag baby carrots
• 2 stalks celery, cut up
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tsp each: dried oregano, parsley, sage, rosemary, thyme 
• 1/4 C lemon juice
• 1 TBSP brown sugar
• 1 C  chicken broth (low-sodium is our choice)
• 1 TBSP cornstarch OR use reserved flour
• 1/2 C chicken broth (or water) to thicken sauce

1. Combine flour, salt and pepper in shallow dish and coat chicken pieces, shaking off excess flour. Brown chicken in butter in nonstick skillet over medium high heat for 2-3 minutes on each side. Remove chicken and drain on paper towels, then place on top of onion, carrots and celery in a 3-4 quart crockpot.
2. Add oregano, parsley, sage, rosemary, thyme (sing if you must), lemon juice, brown sugar, garlic and chicken broth to the skillet. Cook and stir, scrape to remove browned bits, until mixture comes to a boil. Pour over chicken in crockpot.
3. Cook on LOW for 7-8 hours (or HIGH for 3-4 hours if short on time). Remove chicken and shred with fork, then place back in crockpot.

When ready to serve, combine cornstarch and 1/2C chicken broth (or water), mix well and stir into sauce. Cook on HIGH for 20-30 minutes until thickened. Serve over hot rice or noodles to soak up the sauce.

Serves 4 for dinner and in our case that’s dinner twice with a side salad.