(OPTIONAL STEP): Season chicken with salt and pepper. Heat a small amount of oil in a pan or skillet. Sear skin-side down (if using skin on thighs) first for 3 minutes, until deep golden brown. Rotate and sear the other side for a further 3 minutes.
Arrange the potatoes in a 6qt slow cooker bowl in single layer. Place the chicken over the potatoes and add the rest of the ingredients over the chicken (except olives and mushrooms).
Stir to combine; cover and cook on high for 4 hours, or low for 8 hours, until the chicken is tender and falling off the bone.
Add in the mushrooms and olives in the last 30 minutes of cooking. Season with extra salt, to your tastes and serve.
Serve over rice, pasta or spaghetti squash.
About Chicken Cacciatore
If you’ve never had chicken cacciatore, it’s an old Italian dish. Cacciatore means “hunter” in Italian, and to prepare something alla cacciatora refers to a meal that is prepared “hunter style.”
In cacciatore sauce, you’ll find onions, herbs, tomatoes, and sometimes bell peppers. Mushrooms and wine (red or white) are also common ingredients.
I can’t imagine a more fitting meal than “hunter’s stew” for a casual dinner, whether it’s with friends or on a busy weeknight at home. It’s warm and comforting, and its classic, simple Italian flavor profile is accessible and appealing, even to picky eaters.
chicken cacciatore slow cooker recipe
Slow Cooker Chicken Cacciatore is a simple and flavorful rustic recipe that you can make without pre-cooking any of the ingredients.
Ingredients
1mediumOnion,diced
2-3poundsBoneless/Skinless Chicken Thighs(or bone-in, or a cup up fryer)
3-4clovesGarlic, minced(or 2 tsp Garlic Powder)
2TablespoonOlive Oil
3teaspoonsItalian Seasoning
1 ½teaspoonsKosher Salt
½teaspoonBlack Pepper
½teaspoonOnion Powder
¼-½teaspoonRed Pepper Flakes
1Green Bell Pepper,chopped
6-8ounceSliced Mushrooms
1(24 oz) jarMarinara Sauce(3 cups)
¼cupRed Wine*,optional
½cupWater
1(6 oz) canTomato Paste
Optional
1poundPotatoes,cubed
1poundCarrots,cut in 1″ pieces
Instructions
Spray the slow cooker with cooking spray.
Add the diced onion to the slow cooker crock (and potatoes & carrots, if using).
To a bowl, add the chicken thighs/parts and the olive oil, and garlic. Coat the thighs with it.
Sprinkle on the Italian seasoning, salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, and red pepper flakes. Stir together to coat the chicken thighs in the spices, then add to the crock.
Add the bell pepper and mushrooms.
Pour the marinara sauce over the chicken, covering it completely.
Mix together the wine, water and tomato paste. Pour over the chicken.
Cook on Low for 5-6 hours, or until the chicken reaches 165° F. Bone-in takes longer than boneless.
Stir before serving, spooned over pasta or cauliflower, potatoes, or other vegetables,
Garnish with some shredded parmesan or mozzarella cheese, if desired.
chicken cacciatore slow cooker jamie oliver
Do the meals really only take 15 Minutes? Yes but you have to get the ingredients out and ready, then the recipes should only take 15 minutes or less to actually cook.
INGREDIENTS
For the chicken and sauce:
4 skinless, boneless chicken thighs
olive oil
125g oyster mushrooms
125g chestnut mushrooms
4 rashers of smoked pancetta
2-3 sprigs of rosemary
2 anchovy fillets – finely chopped
2 jarred red peppers
a small handful of black olives – the recipe says stone in but I say no stones, please!!
700g passata – I only used 400 and found it to be enough, remember you can always add more
1 bunch of fresh basil
For the Pasta:
320g dried whole-wheat spaghetti
30g Parmesan cheese
INSTRUCTIONS
Cut the chicken into 1cm chunks, then put into a large frying pan with 2 tablespoons of oil and a pinch of salt and pepper.
Roughly chop the mushrooms, finely slice the pancetta, then add both to the pan with the rosemary leaves, anchovies, and torn peppers.
Squash and add the olives (discarding the stones), then turn the heat up to medium-high, tossing regularly until golden.
Put the pasta into a large pan, cover with boiling salted water and cook to the packet instructions.
Squash the garlic through a garlic crusher into the chicken pan. Finely slice and add the chilli, pour in the wine and passata (I found 400g to be enough), then season to taste.
Tear through and stir in most of the top leafy half of the basil.
Finely grate the Parmesan. Drain the pasta, reserving half a cupful of the starchy cooking water, then tip on to a platter and spoon over the sauce.
Scatter with the remaining basil leaves and the grated Parmesan.
Toss together, loosening with a splash of the cooking water if needed.
Season chicken with salt and pepper. Heat a small about of oil in a pan.
In the pan, sear the seasoned chicken skin-side down (if using skin-on thighs) first for 3 minutes, until deep golden brown. Rotate and sear the other side for a further 3 minutes. Remove from the heat.
Arrange the potatoes in a slow cooker in a single layer.
Place the chicken over the potatoes and add the rest of the ingredients over the chicken (except the olives and mushrooms). Stir to combine; cover and cook on high for 4 hours, or low for 8 hours, until the chicken is tender and falling off the bone.
Add in the mushrooms and olives in the last 30 minutes of cooking. Season with extra salt to your taste and serve with cooked rice.
What is Chicken Cacciatore?
“Cacciatore” means hunter in Italian and was used to name this hunter-style stew. It’s an old, classic Italian dish that dates back as far as the 14th century. A variety of different proteins can be used but today you’ll most commonly see the dish made with chicken. The chicken is braised in a tomato-based sauce that includes onion, garlic, and herbs and an assortment of other vegetables. I went with carrots for sweetness and earthy, meaty cremini mushrooms.
How do you Thicken Chicken Cacciatore?
To thicken my chicken cacciatore, I remove the chicken meat, and let the sauce simmer in the slow cooker uncovered on high. After about an hour, the sauce will thicken, and the flavors will develop nicely.
You could also add a cornstarch slurry to thicken your sauce. Remove your chicken, and whisk together 1 tablespoon cornstarch with 1 tablespoon water and 1 tablespoon of your sauce. Then, stir this mixture into the slow cooker and let simmer until thickened.
Can you use white meat chicken?
Bone-in skin-on thigh is the traditional choice for cacciatore, but you can use chicken breast if you want to cut a few calories or use what you have on hand. Dark meat lends itself well to slow cooking and is considerably more forgiving when it comes to long cooking periods.
SLOW COOKER TIPS:
When using your slow cooker, I always recommend browning the meat and vegetables first for deeper flavors and a thicker sauce because liquids don’t evaporate in the slow cooker.
But for those of you who don’t want to dirty a pan, or don’t have that extra time to brown first I tested this out using the quick method of dumping it all in the slow cookers.
Verdict: The sauce wasn’t as thick as I would have liked, so my easy fix: I set the crock pot to high with the cover off for one additional hour to let it simmer and thicken and that worked fine. Perhaps adding a little flour would also help it thicken. If you want to add mushrooms to the sauce, this would also be a great time to do so.
If you like white meat, you can certainly use chicken breast but I highly recommend keeping the chicken on the bone. The bone is what gives you such great flavor, you can always remove it after.
And since so many are asking, although I have and love my Instant Pot, I still love my slow cooker! I have the 6 Quart Hamilton Beach Set ‘n Forget Programmable Slow Cooker (affil link). I love it because you can adjust the time you want it to cook, and it automatically turns to warm when it’s done. It also has a probe for meat that automatically shuts off when done. I hated my old crock pot, it burnt everything and my food had a weird taste. This slow cooker is so great, I actually own several!