Slow-cooker chicken cacciatore
320 min · 53 g protein · 453 cals / serving
Hunter-style chicken the easy way: thighs and breast braised with peppers, mushrooms, onion, garlic, rosemary and a splash of red wine in a rich tomato sauce dotted with olives and capers. It comes out of the pot tender and saucy, smelling like an Italian kitchen, ready for a grating of parmesan and a hunk of bread or a little polenta.
Ingredients
- 14 oz chicken thigh
- 1 1/2 lb chicken breast, in large pieces
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 2 tsp olive oil
- 1 large onion, sliced
- 1 large red bell pepper, in strips
- 1 large green bell pepper bell pepper, in strips
- 14 oz crimini mushroom, halved
- 5 cloves garlic, sliced
- scant 1/2 cup red wine, dry
- 1 can (28 oz) canned crushed tomatoes
- 2 tbsp tomato paste
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- 2 sprigs fresh rosemary
- 2 bay leaf
- 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
- 1/3 cup kalamata olives, pitted, halved
- 1 tbsp capers, drained
To serve
- a handful fresh basil, torn
- 1/3 cup grated parmesan
Steps
- Season the chicken with the salt and pepper. Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat and brown the chicken well on both sides, 3–4 minutes a side, in batches. Move it to the slow cooker. (Short on time? Skip the browning; the sauce will be a little less deep.)
- In the same skillet, cook the onion, peppers and mushrooms 5 minutes until they start to color, adding the garlic for the last minute. Tip them over the chicken.
- Pour the wine into the hot skillet, scrape up the browned bits and let it bubble 1 minute. Stir in the crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, oregano and pepper flakes, then pour it all into the slow cooker and tuck in the rosemary and bay leaves.
- Cover and cook on LOW for 4–5 hours (no longer, or the breast dries out) or HIGH for 2 1/2–3, until the chicken is fork-tender and at least 165°F.
- Fish out the rosemary stems and bay leaves. Stir in the olives and capers and cook 10 minutes uncovered on HIGH to thicken the sauce slightly; taste for salt.
- Serve in shallow bowls with basil and parmesan on top.
Good to know
Pressure cooker instead?
Do the browning on SAUTÉ, deglaze with the wine and 1/2 cup chicken broth and scrape the bottom clean. Add the chicken, vegetables and herbs, then spoon the crushed tomatoes and paste on top without stirring (tomato on the bottom triggers the burn warning), and cook at HIGH pressure 10 minutes with a 10-minute natural release. Simmer on SAUTÉ a few minutes with the olives and capers to thicken.
What to serve it with?
Crusty bread for the sauce, a little soft polenta, or a small portion of pasta; it is generous enough to stand on its own with a green salad.
Does it keep?
It is even better the next day: 4 days in the fridge, 3 months in the freezer. Reheat in a covered pan over medium-low until bubbling, or in the microwave, stirring once.
No wine?
Use the same amount of chicken broth with 1 tsp red wine vinegar. It comes out at about the same score.
Alternative
Per
- Calories
- 79
- Protein
- (48%)
- 9 g
- Fat
- (30%)
- 3 g
- Carbohydrates
- (22%)
- 5 g
- of which sugar
- 3 g
- Fiber
- 1 g
- Sodium
- 189 mg
About 5% of the alcohol remains after cooking; the label counts only that.
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Computed from the ingredients with our published formula, not yet kitchen-tested. General guidance, not medical advice. Talk to your prescriber. How
As written, 2266 kcal goes into the pot and 3108 g of ingredients comes out as about 2880 g of food: 79 kcal per 100 g. Cooking moves water and energy density is the score's biggest lever, so the dish is scored as cooked, not as an average of its parts. Every ingredient links to its food page, with the same data and score. The label's percentages are each macronutrient's share of the calories. The full formula.