Slow Cooker Chicken Cacciatore

By: Deborah

This slow cooker chicken cacciatore is a rich, flavourful Italian dish with tender chicken, tomatoes, olives, and herbs. Perfect for a fuss-free family dinner!

PREP: 15

COOK: 3 10

TOTAL: 3 25

Course: Main

Cuisine: Italian

Servings: 4 people

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Equipment

Ingredients

8 skin on bone in chicken thighs
300 ml (1 ⅓ cups) red wine
6 sprigs of thyme and oregano and 4 sprigs of rosemary tied together with cooking string
8 bay leaves
8 cloves garlic finely sliced (separated into 1 sliced and 7 sliced)
2 tbsp flour
salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 tbsp olive oil
1 large onion finely sliced
6 anchovy fillets
2 x 400 g (4.4 oz) tins plum tomatoes
200 g (7.1 oz) fresh tomatoes diced
2 tbsp tomato purée
200 g (7.1 oz) mixed olives

Instructions

Put the chicken, red wine, tied bunch of herbs, bay leaves and 1 sliced clove of garlic in a large bowl. Cover and leave to marinate in the fridge for at least 2 hours, or overnight if possible.
Drain the chicken from the marinating liquid (reserving it for cooking). Dust the chicken in the flour and season well. Add the oil to a large pan and fry the chicken on a medium high heat, skin side down, for 5 minutes until golden. Remove from the pan onto a plate.
Put the onion, anchovies and remaining garlic into the frying pan and cook for 3 minutes on a medium heat, until golden. Transfer the onion mixture to the slow cooker. Stir through all the tomatoes, the tomato paste, reserved marinade and olives. Add the browned chicken thighs skin side up and cook for 3 hours on low, until the chicken is cooked through. Remove the tied bunch of herbs and 8 bay leaves, check the seasoning and add more, to taste, if needed. Serve straight from the slow cooker or transfer to a serving dish.
Enjoy with your choice of pasta, rice, mashed potatoes or crusty bread to soak up the rich sauce, along with some extra vegetables on the side, if you like.

Notes

Vegetarian option – replace the chicken with chickpeas, tofu or a mix of hearty vegetables like aubergine and courgette.

Leftovers – turn any leftovers into a quick pasta bake by mixing with cooked pasta, topping with cheese, and baking until bubbly.

This slow cooker chicken cacciatore recipe is easily adapted if you’re cooking for 2 people.

Nutrition

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

KEYWORDS chicken cacciatore recipe, comfort food, freezable, make ahead, slow cooker chicken recipe, winter warmer

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