My family loves dill pickles. They especially love crunchy homemade goodness. Chicken, too, is a staple in our house. Enter Crock Pot Dill Pickle Chicken.
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Crock Pot Dill Pickle Chicken
A number of years ago, I read an article in a magazine suggesting that you could use dill pickle “juice” as a brine for chicken. It was an obvious match for our family. We’ve brined all types of chicken in left over dill pickle juice: bone-in seared on the stove top, finished in oven and boneless cooked on the grill. I began to wonder what would happen if you cooked it in the crock pot.
Just like the other versions, Crock Pot Dill Pickle Chicken is juicy and tasty. So, when you get to the bottom of that jar of pickles, don’t throw the brine away. Save it for your chicken!
Update 8/15/18: If you don’t happen to have a jar of pickles that is near the bottom, you can make a batch of Dill Pickle Brine to use instead. Just plan ahead, in addition to the crock pot time, you will need at least 5 hours for the brine the steep in that dilly goodness.
Update 3/11/21: If you love the recipe but don’t have the time for the slow cooker, we now have a Instant Pot/Pressure Cooker version of this recipe here.
All you need is a cup or so of leftover juice from dill pickles, boneless chicken breasts or thighs and a crock pot! We use homemade pickles, but you could just as easily use commercially produced pickles. Since I used homemade pickles, I strained out the dill seeds and garlic cloves. I added the garlic clove to the crock pot for a little added flavor.
Just pour the pickle juice into the crock pot, put the chicken on top. Cover it. Cook on high for 3 hours or low for 5 hours until it easily pulls apart. I simply have an ordinary old school slow cooker, (affiliate link) and this recipe works great in that.
Uses for Crock Pot Dill Pickle Chicken
We ate it just as it came from the crock pot with roasted potatoes and salad. You could use the shredded chicken as the base for another meal like my Tzatziki Chicken Salad. It also makes a great base for Dill Pickle Chicken Salad.
This meal is also an important part of our Whole30 meal plan. For more information on that, check out my post on One Week of Whole30 Meals.
Update: 7/27/18–If you love Crockpot Dill Pickle Chicken and you have an electric smoker, be sure to check out Dill Pickle Smoked Chicken Thighs.
| Prep Time | 5 minutes |
| Cook Time | 3 hours |
| Passive Time | 3 hours |
| Servings |
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- 1 c dill pickle brine
- 5 boneless chicken breasts
- 1-3 peeled garlic cloves optional
Ingredients
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- Add brine, chicken and garlic (if desired) to the crock pot. Cover and cook on high for 3-4 hours or low for 5-6 hours.
I was looking for something like this but I was wondering if you use frozen or thawed chicken when you do this. I use frozen chicken when when I cook because I have an issue with raw chicken and too long s story to go over right now.
I generally use thawed chicken. To use frozen chicken I would up the cook time. I would guess double, but since I haven’t done it I don’t know for sure. And you should know that although the makers of Crock Pot and the Nation Chicken Council say that it is safe to cook frozen chicken in your slow cooker, the USDA believes you should let meat defrost before cooking it in a slow cooker. Just be sure that your meat has fully come to temp of 165ºF.