Super-Simple Seder Meal: Slow Cooker Chicken with Fennel & Lemon

Super-Simple Seder Meal: Slow Cooker Chicken with Fennel & Lemon

slow cooker chicken with fennel & meyer lemon

OHMYGOD the first seder is the day after tomorrow.

In case you missed that: The Day After Tomorrow. We’re going to my parents’ for the second night, but it looks like the first seder will be a casual affair at home, just the three of us. I’ll be making Overnight Chicken Soup tomorrow night, and mixing up the matzo ball dough since Harry will eat that until the kosher-for-Passover cows come home.

Because Friday is a work day and the first day of Harry’s school vacation (oy), once the chicken soup is done I’ll use the slow cooker again for the main course. (If you’re strictly kosher for Pesach and don’t have a KP slow cooker, slow cooker liners are faaaabulous.) This recipe, for Slow Cooker Chicken with Fennel & Lemon, tastes like springtime to me—exactly what you want for a symbolic meal like a seder. And, I suspect, equally useful for an Easter meal. It couldn’t be simpler: Just toss everything into the cooker, turn it on, and walk away.

If you can still find Meyer lemons they’re really wonderful here, piquant and faintly sweet, but regular lemons will work just fine too.

Slow Cooker Chicken with Fennel & Lemon
Serves 4

1 onion, sliced thin
1 fennel bulb, fronds removed (reserve and chop 1 tablespoon, plus more for garnish), halved, cored, and sliced
3 cloves garlic, smashed
2 lemons, organic if possible, preferably Meyer
4 chicken breasts, bone-in, skin removed
salt & pepper
1/4 cup low-sodium chicken broth
1/4 cup white wine or dry vermouth
2 tablespoons olive oil
Mashed potatoes or cooked rice, for serving

  1. Put the onions, fennel, and garlic into the insert of your slow cooker. Thinly slice 1 lemon and lay the slices on top.
  2. Sprinkle the chicken with salt and pepper, then put into the insert.
  3. Juice the remaining lemon and combine with the broth, vermouth, olive oil, 1 tablespoon chopped fennel fronds, and a little more salt & pepper, then pour over the chicken.
  4. Cook on LOW for 8 to 10 hours, or on HIGH for 4 to 5 hours.
  5. Garnish with reserved fennel fronds and serve with mashed potatoes or rice to soak up the sauce.

MAKE BABY FOOD: The texture of food from the slow cooker works well for babies. Either puree a little bit of everything together, or serve as finger food.