Slow Cooker Chicken Cacciatore is a rustic Italian dish with braised flavorful bone-in chicken slow-cooked in a luscious tomato sauce and aromatic vegetables that will change your life!

easy family Slow Cooker Chicken Cacciatore

Slow Cooker Chicken Cacciatore is one of my all-time favorite comfort foods and one of the best things about it is that it only gets better with time. That means you can make it on a Sunday and have it for dinner Monday night and it will taste even better. It makes getting dinner on the table during the week even easier!

Note: This post may contain affiliate links. That means if you click on a link and make a purchase we may receive a small commission. Thank you!

Slow Cooker Chicken Cacciatore in white platter


 

Cacciatore means “hunter style” in Italian and in the culinary world a hunter-style dish is a dish prepared with with onions, herbs, usually tomatoes, often bell peppers, and sometimes wine. There are lots of different variations, some use rabbit, I use chicken. Sometimes it has red wine, sometimes, white, sometimes none at all. You can make it with or without mushrooms. I add olives to mine but it a lot of recipes don’t. Basically, it’s a simple recipes and the main rule is that it should be full of flavor.

Slow Cooker Chicken Cacciatore made in crock pot

This easy Slow Cooker Chicken Cacciatore is all about the sauce. It starts with a combination of diced tomatoes and crushed tomatoes, then you add a mix of green and red peppers, onions, olives, mushrooms, and garlic. All of that simmers, along with chicken thighs, for 4-6 hours in your slow cooker and when it is done you have a delicious sauce and perfectly tender braised chicken. The sauce takes on the flavors of the peppers, onions, olives, and garlic and becomes this rich, delicious sauce you’ll want to put on everything. Serve Slow Cooker Chicken Cacciatore over some creamy mashed potatoes or polenta, rice, or pasta and you have a complete meal!

Slow Cooker Chicken Cacciatore with spaghetti

Tips for making Slow Cooker Chicken Cacciatore:

  • If you prefer white meat you can substitute chicken breasts for chicken thighs.
  • You can also use skinless chicken breasts or thighs if you prefer. I like the extra flavor that cooking chicken with the skin on adds.  If you use skinless breasts or thighs you can skip the browning step.
  • Save time by chopping all of your vegetables up the night before so all you have to do is throw everything in the slow cooker in the morning.

Want more slow cooker recipes?

Like this recipe?
Make sure to follow us on Instagram and Pinterest for more recipes like this.

Servings: 4
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 5 hours
Total Time: 5 hours 15 minutes

Slow Cooker Chicken Cacciatore

Slow Cooker Chicken Cacciatore is a rustic Italian dish with braised flavorful bone-in chicken slow cooked in a luscious tomato sauce and aromatic vegetables that will change your life!
easy family Slow Cooker Chicken Cacciatore
Print Recipe
5 from 1 vote

Ingredients

  • 4 Chicken thighs, bone in, skin on
  • 2 Chicken drumsticks, bone in, skin on
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons Salt, divided
  • 1 teaspoon Ground black pepper
  • 2 tablespoons Extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 medium Yellow onion, sliced
  • 1 Red bell pepper, sliced
  • 1 Green bell pepper, sliced
  • 1 cup Kalamata olives
  • 2 cups Baby bella mushrooms, sliced (aka crimini)
  • 3 cloves Garlic, minced
  • 28 ounces Crushed tomatoes
  • 14.5 ounces Diced tomatoes
  • 1 cup Chicken stock

Instructions

  • Mix 1 teaspoon of salt and pepper and sprinkle over the chicken.
  • Heat olive oil in a medium skillet (I love using cast iron) over medium-high heat. Place about 1/2 of the chicken pieces in the skillet skin side down. Cook until browned, about 3 minutes each side. Place browned chicken in the slow cooker while you cook the remaining chicken. Repeat.
  • Meanwhile: add onions, peppers, olives, mushrooms, garlic, crushed tomatoes, diced tomatoes, chicken stock, and remaining 1/2 salt to the slow cooker.
  • Cook on low for 5 hours.
  • Serve over polenta, mashed potatoes, pasta, or rice and enjoy!

Nutrition

Calories: 559kcal, Carbohydrates: 30g, Protein: 32g, Fat: 36g, Saturated Fat: 7g, Cholesterol: 147mg, Sodium: 2024mg, Potassium: 1493mg, Fiber: 7g, Sugar: 16g, Vitamin A: 1825IU, Vitamin C: 92.5mg, Calcium: 150mg, Iron: 5.3mg
Nutrition Disclaimer: We are not certified nutritionists. Nutrition facts are an estimate and are provided as a courtesy. They are generated by an online API which recognizes ingredient names and amounts and makes calculations based on the serving size. Results may vary.
Author: Kat Jeter & Melinda Caldwell
Course: Main
Cuisine: Italian
Keyword: chicken crock pot recipe, chicken slow cooker recipe, hunter-style chicken, slow cooker recipe

This post first appeared on The Slow Roasted Italian