Crock Pot Chicken Cacciatore Recipe

Cooking food in a crock pot is one of our all-time favorite ways to prepare a meal that is loaded with flavor without putting in hours of effort. Slow cookers do exactly that — cook food slowly — and most of the work takes place inside the appliance. Tasting Table recipe developer Julianne De Witt put together this crock pot chicken cacciatore recipe that highlights everything we love about slow-cooked meals. Sure, you'll have to chop up some vegetables, sear the chicken, and combine a few ingredients, but the rest comes together with minimal effort. 

De Witt shares, "What I love about this dish is that it's healthy, flavorful, and hearty. I like to serve this with rice, pasta, or soft polenta and fresh, crusty bread for soaking up all the delicious sauce." Even better, enjoy this delicious meal for dinner and savor the leftovers. "This dish tastes even better the next day," De Witt says, and it'll easily last a few days in a sealed container. 

While most people have an idea of chicken cacciatore, De Witt comments on its origins: "It is thought that this hearty stew, dated back to 14th century Italy, was originally made with rabbit or game and readily available herbs such as parsley and oregano. This recipe was likely created for hunters to keep them nourished while they were out on a hunt." Whether or not you hunted the meat yourself, this crock pot chicken cacciatore is sure to satiate your appetite.

For this recipe, start with olive oil and boneless, skinless chicken thighs. Most of the prep work involves chopping vegetables, so dice a small yellow onion, peel and dice a medium carrot, dice a couple of ribs of celery, mince garlic cloves, and dice a red bell pepper. Pick up a can of crushed tomatoes and get a bottle of dry red wine (preferably something you'll be happy to drink, too). Next, pit and slice some green olives and get capers. To season the dish, you'll need crushed red chilies, salt, fresh ground black pepper, minced fresh oregano, and minced fresh thyme. Slice white mushrooms, get flour and water, and finish the prep off by mincing fresh Italian parsley for garnish.

Place a frying pan over medium-high heat and add olive oil.

When pan is hot, working in batches, sear chicken thighs skin side down for 2 minutes or until lightly browned.

Flip and sear on opposite side for an additional 2 minutes.

Add thighs to crock pot insert. Repeat steps 2–4 with remaining thighs.

Turn frying pan heat down to medium. Add onion, carrot, celery, and garlic and sauté for 2 minutes.

Add red pepper and sauté for 1 minute more. Transfer vegetables to crock pot.

Add crushed tomatoes, red wine, olives, capers, chilies, salt, pepper, oregano, and thyme to crock pot. Stir well to combine.

Turn crock pot on to low and cook for 3 hours.

After 3 hours, add mushrooms to crock pot.

Whisk together water and flour in a small container. Add flour mixture to crock pot and stir well.

Continue cooking on low for an additional 2 hours, or until sauce has thickened and the chicken reaches an internal temperature of 165 F.

Serve chicken with a generous portion of sauce and garnish with parsley.

De Witt offers a few substitutions for the recipe in order to suit your needs. She says, "I like to use boneless, skinless chicken thighs in this recipe, but chicken breasts can be used if desired." Considering the dish was originally prepared with assorted game meat, there's certainly room for flexibility. However, keep in mind that different cuts will have more or less fat, which will slightly affect the flavor and consistency of the dish. 

As for the herbs, De Witt notes that "Dried oregano and thyme or Italian seasoning can be used instead of fresh, but reduce the amounts to 2 teaspoons each," explaining that "dried herbs are more potent than fresh." She also says that "pitted black olives can be substituted for green," if that's your preference or what you have on hand. Lastly, wild dried mushrooms can be swapped in instead of fresh ones, "but they should be added at the start so that they cook thoroughly," De Witt says.

If you've prepared chicken cacciatore before, De Witt notes that it's likely to have been in a Dutch oven. Nevertheless, she thinks the recipe "lends itself perfectly to the crock pot." She says, "The low and slow cooking method is what you want for this dish, and using a crock pot allows you to set and forget it." Just add in the ingredients, stir, and return to your ready-to-eat dinner a few hours later.

That being said, finding the ideal setting on your appliance might require a bit of fiddling. "The first time I made this recipe I set the crock pot to high for 4 hours and the result, while tasty, caused the chicken to fall apart — like pulled chicken," De Witt says. Although that sounds delicious, she says, "Cooking on low allows the chicken to hold together nicely while the inside is lovely and tender."