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–+ servings

Slow Cooker Chicken Cacciatore

So much flavor, so little work. You will love coming home to this warm and cozy, super-filling dinner.
Prep Time:30 minutes
Cook Time:3 hours
Total Time:3 hours 30 minutes

Ingredients

  • 4 tablespoons olive oil
  • salt
  • coarse ground pepper
  • 6 skinless boneless chicken thighs (about 2 pounds), trimmed of excess fat
  • 8 ounces sliced white mushrooms
  • ½ large onion chopped
  • 1 tablespoon minced garlic
  • 1 can crushed tomatoes 15 ounce
  • 1 can whole peeled tomatoes 14 ounce
  • ½ medium carrot finely grated
  • ¾ teaspoon thyme dried
  • ½ cup reduced-sodium chicken broth
  • 1 teaspoon chicken bouillon base
  • 1 tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary
  • ½ cup chopped roasted red peppers
  • 1 tablespoon capers drained
  • 6 Kalamata olives optioal

For Serving

  • 1 pound spaghetti noodles or other pasta rice, polenta or zucchini noodles are options as well.
  • grated parmesan
  • chopped fresh parsley

Instructions

  • Cook chicken. In a 12-inch skillet, heat 2 tablespoons of oil on medium-high heat. While oil heats, season chicken with salt and pepper on both sides. Sear chicken, cooking on each side for 2-3 minutes. Set aside on a plate. Repeat with remaining chicken.
    A skillet containing seasoned chicken thighs that have been browned on both sides.
  • Saute mushrooms. Reduce heat to medium-low. Add an additional tablespoon or more of oil if needed and add mushrooms to the pan. Cook for about 5 minutes until browned and set aside on a plate & refrigerate when cool.
    A skillet on a blue cloth showing sautéed sliced white mushrooms.
  • Cook garlic and onion. Add a tablespoon or more of oil and add chopped onion, cooking 3-5 minutes until onions are translucent. Add garlic and cook for an additional minute.
  • Put veggies and seasoning in slow cooker. Put onions and garlic mixture in the slow cooker. Add crushed tomatoes. Add whole tomatoes, crushing tomatoes with your hand when placing them in the slow cooker. Add carrots, thyme, 1 teaspoon salt, and ½ teaspoon pepper and stir together.
    The slow cooker at an early stage of preparation, filled with a red tomato sauce base, including chopped onions and herbs ready for the chicken to be added.
  • Add broth and base. Measure broth in a measuring cup. Add chicken base to the measuring cup and whisk together. Pour into slow cooker, scraping all of the bouillon base out with a spatula into the tomato mixture, and stir to combine.
  • Add chicken and cook for 2 hours. Place chicken into the tomato mixture and nestle into the slow cooker so that the chicken is covered with the sauce. Cook on high for 2 hours.
    An intermediate step in the cooking process showing the slow cooker with just the sauce made of crushed tomatoes, herbs, and onions before the chicken is added.
  • Add mushrooms. At two hours, add in the fresh rosemary, roasted red peppers, cooked mushrooms, capers, and Kalamata olives if using. Cook for an additional 15-30 minutes. Check the chicken with a meat thermometer to see if the internal temperature is 165 and remove the chicken to a plate.
  • Thicken. Remove the lid from the slow cooker and continue to cook the sauce until it has thickened, an additional 30-45 minutes.
    The completed Chicken Cacciatore dish inside a white slow cooker, with chicken thighs nestled amongst a thick tomato sauce with mushrooms and olives.
  • Cook pasta. While the sauce thickens, bring water to a boil and cook spaghetti according to package directions, or prepare other pasta or food to serve with chicken. Drain and transfer noodles to a serving platter or individual plates.
  • Season and serve. Taste the sauce and add additional salt and pepper if desired. Return chicken to the sauce. Place chicken onto pasta, adding additional sauce to serve, and garnish with parsley and parmesan cheese.

Notes

I put the olives as optional more for personal preference and because not all chicken cacciatore recipes call for olives. 
This chicken could also be cooked on low for about 4-5 hours, checking with a meat thermometer.
You could easily cook up to 8 chicken thighs if you wanted and still have enough sauce.
I used Cento brand for the tomatoes and Swanson’s reduced-sodium chicken broth.

Nutrition

Calories: 252kcal | Carbohydrates: 8g | Protein: 24g | Fat: 14g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 8g | Trans Fat: 0.02g | Cholesterol: 107mg | Sodium: 403mg | Potassium: 614mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 5g | Vitamin A: 268IU | Vitamin C: 13mg | Calcium: 57mg | Iron: 3mg
Servings: 6
Calories: 252kcal
Author: Katie Shaw