In Italian, "cacciatore" means hunter. So the dish named chicken cacciatore actually refers to a dish prepared hunter-style. With amazingly fresh and simple ingredients like mushrooms, tomatoes, pepper, carrots, and wine, this chicken dish is a modern take on the timeless classic.
Luckily, you don't have to hunt for this dish like the old Italians did. Instead, you can whip this up with mostly ingredients you keep stocked in the fridge. Check out the full recipe below.
Chicken cacciatore
4
25 minutes
4 hours
4 hours 25 minutes
2 pounds chicken drumsticks and thighs, bone in, skin on
1 cup mushrooms, thinly sliced
2 carrots, medium diced
½ onion, thinly sliced
5 cloves garlic, minced
1½ cups flour
1 can 14.5-oz. chopped tomatoes
1 bell pepper, thinly sliced
2 teaspoons thyme
2 teaspoons parsley
3 cups red wine
2 tablespoons canola oil
1½ teaspoons salt
Pepper to taste
In a large bowl, season chicken with 1 teaspoon salt, and pepper. Toss chicken in flour until fully coated.
Put a large sauté pan on high heat. Add in oil. When oil becomes hot, add in chicken to brown. Do not overcrowd the pan cook chicken in batches and adjust the heat as needed. Remove from pan and set aside.
In the same pan, add in onions, garlic, mushrooms, ½ teaspoon salt, and pepper. Sauté until mushrooms are tender and onions are translucent.
Deglaze with wine. Allow to reduce for 10 minutes. Then pour into a 6-quart slow cooker.
Add in tomatoes, carrots, bell pepper, thyme, and parsley. Mix.
Place chicken into slow cooker. Be sure to press it into the wine.
Cook on low for 4 hours.
Tip: For a thicker sauce, add in 2 tablespoons of tomato paste when reducing wine.
Note: All slow cookers are a little bit different in temperature and calibration. This recipe was tested in Cooktop Cove's Test Kitchen using this slow cooker, which is available for purchase here.
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