This Slow Cooker Chicken Cacciatore is an easy set-it-and-forget-it dinner! Serve this comfort food with egg noodles for a full meal.
Ingredients and substitutions
- Olive oil – use any neutral cooking oil here, such as avocado or canola oil.
- Boneless skinless chicken thighs – you can use boneless skinless chicken breast instead.
- Mushrooms – summer squash or zucchini would also be good here.
- Carrots – double up on the celery or try using some parsnips instead of carrots.
- Red bell pepper – swap out for some roasted red peppers for a deeper flavour.
- Celery – double up on the carrots or leave this out altogether.
- Yellow onion – white onion or shallots can also be used.
- Garlic – I prefer the flavour of freshly minced garlic but jarred minced garlic will work in a pinch.
- Italian seasoning – make your own using a blend of dried basil, oregano, rosemary, parsley and thyme.
- Salt & pepper – to taste.
- Marinara sauce – use a homemade sauce or use your favourite store-bought version.
- Chicken broth – beef broth or vegetable broth would also do the trick.
- Red or white wine – you can leave this out if need be.
- Egg noodles – serve your chicken cacciatore over another kind of pasta like spaghetti or even rice.
- Fresh parsley – garnish with fresh basil instead or leave this out altogether.
How to make chicken cacciatore in a slow cooker
Step 1: Prep your ingredients.
Step 2: Add everything to the slow cooker.
Dump all the ingredients except the egg noodles and parsley into the slow cooker.
Step 3: Cook on high for 4 hours or low for 8 hours.
Meanwhile, cook the egg noodles.
Step 4: Serve and enjoy!
Serve the chicken cacciatore over the egg noodles and garnish with fresh parsley.
Tips for the best chicken cacciatore
Making this slow cooker chicken cacciatore recipe is super easy – but there are some things you can do to ensure you get the best possible cacciatore! Here are my top tips:
- Brown the meat and veggies first: It's not necessary, but it will add depth of flavour if you brown the chicken and veggies first in a skillet before adding them to the crockpot.
- Thicken the sauce: If you want the cacciatore sauce to be nice and thick, remove the chicken once it's done cooking and stir in a cornstarch slurry, then let the sauce simmer for 5-10 minutes.
- Use red wine: This will give you the most classic Italian dish and that amazing depth of flavor. Red wine is the most traditional option like a dry Merlot, but white wine would work too.
Frequently Asked Questions
If the sauce is thinner than you'd like, make a cornstarch slurry to thicken it up. Remove the chicken from the slow cooker and then stir the cornstarch slurry into the sauce and cook on low for 5-10 minutes. Easy-peasy!
Slow cooker chicken cacciatore is typically served over egg noodles or pasta. It would also be delicious served over white rice, cauliflower rice or mashed potatoes, or with a side of garlic bread or green salad.
Yes! You can make this easy chicken cacciatore recipe up to 5 days in advance if you're meal prepping it or serving it for a party or potluck. Make the egg noodles the day off, then reheat the chicken cacciatore in the slow cooker over low or in a pan on the stovetop.
If you'd like this dish to be completely alcohol-free, you can just leave the wine out entirely.
You can easily make chicken cacciatore in the Instant Pot if you’re short on time. Check out my recipe for Instant Pot chicken cacciatore.
Storing and reheating
For an easy meal prep dinner, you can prepare your crock pot chicken cacciatore ahead of time and store it in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. I’d recommend waiting to make the egg noodles until the day of. Reheat the chicken in the microwave for 1 to 2 minutes or in a pan on the stovetop, then serve over fresh noodles!
Can you freeze chicken cacciatore?
You sure can! This slow cooker chicken cacciatore can be frozen without the egg noodles in freezer-safe glass bowls or Ziploc bags for up to 3 months. You can reheat from frozen in the microwave, but I find the best way to reheat this dish is to let it defrost in the fridge overnight then reheat on the stovetop over medium heat.
More easy slow cooker recipes
Meal Prep Tools
- Grab some glass meal prep bowls if you plan on turning this cacciatore into your weekly lunches.
- I get all my free-range chicken from Butcher Box, conveniently delivered to me frozen.
- Get a meat thermometer to make sure your chicken is cooked through.
- **Get my full list of tools here**
Slow Cooker Chicken Cacciatore
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 lb boneless, skinless chicken thighs
- 2 cups mushrooms sliced in half
- 2 carrots diced
- 1 red pepper chopped
- 2 stalks celery, chopped
- 1 medium-sized yellow onion diced
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- 1 tsp Italian seasoning optional
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp pepper
- 1 (650mL) jar marinara sauce
- 1 cup chicken or beef broth
- 1/2 cup red or white wine optional – I recommend red wine for best results
- 1 lb egg noodles to serve
- Fresh parsley or basil, for garnish
Instructions
- Dump all ingredients except for egg noodles and parsley in slow cooker, then cook on high for 4 hours or on low for 8 hours.
- Meanwhile, cook egg noodles according to package directions.
- Turn off slow cooker once finished cooking. Serve chicken mixture over egg noodles then garnish with fresh herbs. Serve and enjoy!
Video
Comments & Reviews
Jennifer says
Is the 456 calorie nutrition just for the chicken cacciatore or does that calorie count include being served on egg noodles?
Taylor Stinson says
It includes being served on the egg noodles 🙂
Pam says
Made this today and it was delicious! Didn’t use celery only b/c I don’t really like it. Also didn’t have any wine. But still had great flavor! And enough for 2 meals for my husband and I.Pam
Taylor Stinson says
So happy you enjoyed! 🙂
Amy says
When I add this recipe into my fitness pal app, it calculates the carbs at 69g per serving, WITHOUT the rice. This seems high based on the ingredients.. am I crazy??
Amelia Azzarello says
Just made this tonight! Is delicious! Omitted the squash and just had basmati rice. Really yummy, the bf loved it too! I think I might do less tomato sauce next time bc it wasn’t needed for us (was too soupy) and I mightttt next time add some cream cheese instead of sour cream. But love it! Thanks!
Jim says
You say the bell peppers go in the Last hour. Does that include the roasted red pepper puree? Or does that go in at the beginning?
Taylor Stinson says
Hey Jim! The roasted red pepper puree goes in at the beginning along with all the other ingredients. It’s just the raw peppers that go in during the last hour!
Andrea says
Hi, when you say strained tomatoes, do you mean the canned diced tomatoes drained?
Thanks!
Taylor Stinson says
Hey Andrea – I mean Passata (it’s crushed strained tomatoes that come in a jar, you can find them in the section where the canned diced tomatoes are) or you can use canned crushed tomatoes. You just want them to be more of a sauce than diced. Alternatively, you can run canned diced tomatoes through a blender to puree them.
Agape Assefa says
Is okay if I only have one jar of roasted red peppers?
Taylor Stinson says
You could definitely try it – the flavour may not be exactly the same as if you were following the recipe exactly, but it should still taste good!
alli bryant says
Where could i purchase pureed red peppers?
Taylor Stinson says
I just pureed jarred roasted red peppers in a blender!
Cory says
Hi. Newby question here. The diced chicken goes in uncooked right? Thanks
Taylor Stinson says
Yes it does 🙂
Lupita R Hernandez says
I’m a bit confused. It says cook time will be 240 minutes, but step one requires 6 hours and step two 1 hour. Just wanted to be sure those numbers are correct? Thank you! Can’t wait to make this
Taylor Stinson says
Hey Lupita – so sorry the cook time is a bit off on my recipe plugin because I had to transfer this recipe over from an old plugin and I guess it didn’t properly calculate the time. The recipe instructions are correct in that it takes 6 hours on low, then another hour on low once you stir the veggies in. Hope that helps!