Slow Cooker Chicken Cacciatore

A slow cooker filled with cooked chicken in a tomatoey sauce for a delicious Chicken Cacciatore dinner.

4.79 from 28 votes

Slow Cooker Chicken Cacciatore

This rich, flavour-filled and aromatic Chicken Cacciatore (a hearty, rustic Italian-style stew) is a perfect slow cooker recipe for a midweek dinner that the whole family will love.

Prep Time10

Cook Time3 5

Total Time3 15

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: Family Food, Italian

Servings: People

Author: Sarah Rossi

Ingredients

For the Slow Cook:

900g Chicken thighs Bone in
1 tbsp Olive oil
200 g Onions Peeled and chopped into chunks
4 Cloves of garlic
400 g Tinned tomatoes
100 g Tomato paste or puree
250 g Mushrooms Chopped into medium chunks
250 g Carrots Peeled and chopped into chunks
75 g Olives Drained and chopped a little
1 tbsp Dried oregano
2 tbsp Sundried tomato paste If you have it, don't worry if you'd prefer not to buy a whole tube
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

To Serve:

30 g Fresh basil

Metric - Imperial

Instructions

Brown your chicken first in a frying pan with hot oil (or in your slow cooker if it’s suitable for browning).
Add everything except your basil into the slow cooker and cook on HIGH for 3-4 hours or LOW for 4-6 hours.
Garnish with fresh basil and serve with your chosen side dish.

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Notes

Chicken: You can use skin on or off chicken thighs for this recipe. The skins can go a little soft in the slow cooker but they do keep the meat very tender.

You can also use bone in or bone out chicken thighs. Boneless are easier to eat, but I do think that bone in gives more flavour. If you use boneless you'll probably only need about 750g/1.6lb rather than 900g/2lb of bone in chicken thighs.

Red wine: If you fancy indulging yourself then you could marinate the chicken for a couple of hours beforehand in oregano and red wine. Before browning your chicken, pour off the marinade and then add it back in with the tomatoes etc

To make this in the oven:

Firstly brown your chicken thighs (you may need to do this in several batches depending on the side of your pan), then set aside. Add some more oil to your pan if necessary and fry your chopped onions and garlic until slightly golden and softened
Next, add in chopped tomatoes, tomato puree, sundried tomato paste (if using), mushrooms, olives, carrots and dried oregano
Give it a good stir and add the chicken back in. Bring everything to the boil and then pop into a preheated oven for 1.5 hours

To make this on the hob:

You could also do a speedy version on the hob by cooking the chicken thighs in the oven for around 25 minutes while you bubble the sauce away on the hob. The flavour won’t be quite the same but it’ll still be delicious!

Serving suggestions: Rice (brown rice is good for texture), cous cous, mashed potatoes, pasta or even soft polenta

To thicken the sauce: If your Chicken Cacciatore needs thickening, whisk a small amount of cornflour (corn starch if you're in the US) with some water (or a little of the sauce), and stir slowly in. Cook for a further 5-10 minutes or until it’s thickened up

This recipe is gluten and dairy free

Nutrition