Slow Cooked Chicken Italian aka Slow Cooker Chicken Cacciatore, is a fabulously delicious recipe which is perfect for days when you don’t have time to cook. You just dump the ingredients and go!
Today I’m sharing my updated and improved Slow Cooked Chicken Italian that I first shared back in July 2014.
Having made this so often since I posted it, I thought I’d take some better photographs and add the olives I mentioned before but weren’t officially part of the recipe!
Not only is this recipe so easy, just dump and go but it’s also low in fat so great for those following a Weight Watchers or Slimming World diet.
So back to the original post and note that where I say my daughter’s view of chicken thighs is a work in progress, she’s now a vegetarian (the writing was on the wall really)!
The longer you own a piece of equipment the better your understanding of it grows and that is very true of my slow cooker.
For a long time, I took it as gospel that I had to follow the manufacturer’s instructions about only ever putting hot liquids and foods in my slow cooker. Then, as I started to read other blogs on the internet I realised that this was not a fact set in stone!
Indeed all the preparation I was doing heating everything up beforehand was really taking away the whole idea of it being a labour-saving gadget.
So last week I threw away my slow cooker instruction manual and decided to go cold turkey, well cold chicken to be precise!
I had to seriously stop myself from browning the chicken thighs and the thought of the added washing up was enough to stop me in my tracks.
“It’ll be fine” I told myself, “everyone else is doing this, you’re just a bit slow to realise”, And with that thought I merrily chucked, I mean placed carefully, all my ingredients in the slow cooker and switched it on.
Six hours later my family asked what the lovely smell was, to which I replied “Slow Cooked Chicken Italian”!
I would say that if you don’t have any of the particular vegetables that I used improvise with a suitable alternative eg courgettes, aubergine, green olives etc you could even add a different coloured bell pepper.
I have to say that we all really enjoyed this dump-and-go meal (with the exception of my daughter who doesn’t do chicken thighs – a work in progress) and I think it’s one you can play around with to ring the changes (thinking chillies now)!
Everyone reading this is probably having a good old laugh that I’ve been such a stickler for my instruction manual.
However, I realised that the manufacturers probably didn’t want to be responsible for giving anyone food poisoning so played it ultra-safe; so safe that it was taking the fun out of slow cooking if you ask me!
Dump-and-go recipes are the way to go!
More Dump and Go Slow Cooker Recipes:
- Easy Slow Cooker Beef Curry
- 2 Ingredient Slow Cooker Roast Lamb
- 2 Ingredient Slow Cooker Pulled Gammon (Shredded Ham)
- Easy Slow Cooker Beef Stew
- Poor Man’s Crispy Duck
- Slow Cooker Chicken Pasanda
- Slow Cooker Fiesta Chicken
- Slow Cooker Chicken Tagine
- Crock-pot Honey Garlic Pork Freezer Meal
- Ultra Easy Honey Garlic Chicken & Veggies
- 3 Ingredient Crock-pot Italian Beef – Weightwatchers Friendly
I know you’ll love this easy chicken thigh recipe so do leave a comment & rating below and if you’re on social media tag @FabFood4All. I love seeing what you do with my recipes!
Pin Slow Cooked Chicken Italian aka Slow Cooker Chicken Cacciatore for later!
Slow Cooked Chicken Italian
Equipment
- 1 cook’s knife
- 1 Chopping Board
- 1 Measuring jug
- 1 Long metal spoon
- 1 Slow Cooker 3.5 litre
Ingredients
- 600 g skinless & boneless chicken thighs 750g with skin & bone, but remove skin
- 5 Chestnut mushrooms sliced
- 2 red onions cut into 6 segments each
- 1 yellow or red bell pepper chopped
- 16 Kalamata olives, pitted
- 1 x 400 g tin good quality Italian chopped tomatoes
- 150 ml chicken stock made up with 1 stock cube
- 4 tbsp tomato paste
- 5 cloves garlic crushed
- 1 heaped tsp dried Italian mixed herbs
- freshly ground salt & pepper
Instructions
- Place the skinned chicken thighs (bone in or out) in the bottom of the slow cooker.
- Scatter the chopped vegetables and olives over the top.
- Mix the chicken stock, chopped tomatoes, garlic, herbs and seasoning together in a measuring bowl/jug.
- Then pour over the chicken.
- Cook on high for 4 hours or low for 6 hours or until meat is falling off the bone.
- Serve as whole chicken thighs or remove and de-bone (if using bone in thighs) then break up thigh meat in the sauce with a spoon.
- Serve on a bed of rice/spaghetti or alternatively serve in a bowl along with crusty bread to mop up the juices!
Lynn Mander
I recently purchased a slow cooker & this recipe was a total success. I did use Chicken breasts & they were so tender! Making it tomorrow & using Chicken thighs this time. I left out the Olives as yuk for me & also added a little red wine. The end result was not at all watery. Thank you, love it!
Camilla
Awesome, so glad you like it and have made it to your liking:-)
Paul Bailey
Sorry but I found this awful. The olives totally overpowered all other flavours.
Camilla
Interesting Paul, no-one else has ever had this problem, this was my 11th most popular dish in 2019. Can I ask you what type and brand of olives you used and were they in brine or oil? You could leave the olives out altogether or just put few in but I thought 4 per person was a reasonable amount and have never felt they overpowered the dish.
Mike Bird
I can only think that the sixteen olives (16 Kalamata olives, pitted), was read as, ‘lb Kalamata olives’. I’m pretty sure that a pound of olives would overpower most dishes.
Camilla
But my recipes are metric so I doubt it and 1 pound would be 1 lb so don’t think it’s that.
David
My partner is veggie and I’m making this all for myself, can I freeze and reheat portions?
Camilla
Yes you can freeze portions and reheat:-)
Lorna
Is the full recipes, with quantities available anywhere please?
Camilla
Hi, I nearly had heart failure just then thinking the recipe had gone! It’s at the bottom of the post like all my recipes.
TimAsparagus
Tried it very good. Reminds me of the ‘pollo alla cacciatora’ my Nonna used to make
Camilla
Excellent Tim, so glad you enjoyed it:-)
Mandy
For slow cooker newbies, there are only a couple of ways you risk food poisoning with your slow cooker. One is to undercook certain items, particularly poultry. Use an instant read thermometer to be on the safe side. The other danger is to follow one of the totally idiotic and irresponsible suggestions I’ve seen about putting frozen ingredients in your slow cooker. This is NEVER a good idea. By the time your dish has come to full temperature, it’s been sitting at room temperature long enough for who knows what to develop.
Rebecca - Glutarama
Love that saying Dump and Go…that’s so me! Not just that but how awesome is the moment when you come back to the house and open the door to the awesome smells of slow cooking. Will be giving this recipe a go for sure
Camilla
Thanks Rebecca, it really is a gem of a recipe as takes so little effort;-)
Alison
I like your daughter don’t like chicken thighs….(i am indeed vegetarian 90% of the time). If I was to swap in Chicken breast insrtead would the timings need changing? I’m totally new to a slow cooker, our has just arrived and is still box fresh hence the asking what is probably a very simple question….
Camilla
Hi Alison, I have to say I have never (I don’t think) put chicken breasts in the slow cooker, unless part of a whole chicken. Breast meat is easily cooked quickly and doesn’t need the long slow cooking to make it succulent. You can buy skinless & boneless thighs and the thigh meat is far more flavoursome than the breast meat. But if you really can’t face thighs then you could try using breasts and the cooking time would be the same. Let me know how you get on as I would be interested to know!
Myra Nicholls
Lovely easy recipe, added white wine with stock and olives 20 minutes.before end
Camilla
Fab Myra, wine sounds like a great addition!
Lisa
Just made this and I’ve got empty bowl from my two children. Great recipe for a busy mum. Thank you
Camilla
Excellent Lisa, so glad you and your kids liked it:-)