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–+ servings
A rich, red stew full of chicken, roughly chopped vegetables being stirred by a white spatular in a slow cooker.
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4.47 from 41 votes

Slow Cooker Chicken Cacciatore With Potatoes

Slow Cooker Chicken Cacciatore With Potatoes is an EASY weeknight dinner that cooks itself! With chicken falling off the bone in an Italian stew!
Prep Time10 minutes
Cook Time4 hours
Total Time4 hours 10 minutes
Course: Dinner
Cuisine: American
Keyword: chicken cacciatore, Slow cooker chicken cacciatore with potatoes
Servings: 6 serves
Author: Karina Carrel

Ingredients

  • 6 chicken thighs bone-in, skin on or off
  • 1 pinch salt to season
  • 1 pinch pepper to season
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil more if needed
  • 2 pounds baby potatoes quartered
  • 2 tablespoons garlic minced, or 8 cloves
  • 1 medium onion roughly chopped
  • 1 small yellow pepper deseeded and diced
  • 1 small red pepper deseeded and diced
  • 2 carrots peeled and sliced
  • 14 oz crushed tomatoes canned
  • 14 oz tomato passata tomato sauce or puree for US readers
  • 150 ml red wine optional - substitute with beef broth if desired
  • 2 tablespoons tomato paste
  • 2 tablespoons freshly parsley chopped
  • 1 teaspoon dried basil
  • 1 teaspoon dried oregano
  • 1 beef bouillon cube crushed
  • 1 teaspoon salt adjust to your taste
  • 1 pinch pepper adjust to your taste
  • ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes optional
  • 1 cup mushrooms sliced
  • ½ cup pitted black olives
US - Metric

Instructions

  • Start by heating a little oil in a large pan over medium-high heat. You want the pan hot before the chicken goes in so it sears instead of steaming.
    Oil drizzled into a large skillet before searing chicken
  • Add the chicken skin-side down and let it cook undisturbed for about 3 minutes. Once it hits the pan, you should hear that sizzle right away.
    Bone-in chicken thighs searing skin-side down in a skillet
  • Flip and sear the other side for another 3 minutes, until lightly golden. This step is optional, but it adds more flavor to the sauce later.
    chicken thighs in a nonstick skillet
  • Add the potatoes to the bottom of your slow cooker and spread them out in an even layer so they cook through properly.
    Quartered baby potatoes layered in the bottom of a slow cooker
  • Place the chicken over the potatoes, then add the onion, garlic, red pepper, carrot, tomatoes, tomato paste, herbs, and seasonings on top. No need to make it look perfect here.
    Chicken thighs layered over potatoes with vegetables, tomatoes, and seasonings in a slow cooker while Red wine being poured into slow cooker chicken cacciatore ingredients
    • Pour in the red wine, if using. At this point, everything is ready to cook.
  • Cover and cook on high for 4 hours or low for 8 hours, until the chicken is tender and the potatoes are cooked through.
    Slow cooker chicken cacciatore cooking with potatoes in tomato sauce
  • Add the mushrooms and olives during the last 30 minutes of cooking so they keep their texture and don’t get too soft.
    Mushrooms and black olives added to chicken cacciatore in the slow cooker
  • Let everything finish cooking, then gently stir so the mushrooms and olives settle into the sauce.
    Finished slow cooker chicken cacciatore with mushrooms, olives, and potatoes
  • Spoon the chicken cacciatore into bowls or plates and finish with fresh parsley, if you like.
    Slow cooker chicken cacciatore garnished with fresh parsley
  • Serve warm as-is. Or over pasta or spaghetti squash for a more complete meal.
    Slow cooker chicken cacciatore served with spaghetti
    • The chicken should be tender enough to pull apart easily with a fork, with the sauce coating everything underneath.

Video

Notes

This recipe is pretty forgiving, but a few small details can make a difference in how it turns out.
If you have time, browning the chicken first adds a deeper flavor to the sauce. It’s not required, but it does give you a better base. Just make sure the pan is hot and don’t overcrowd it, otherwise the chicken will steam instead of sear.
The potatoes are what make this a full meal, so how you cut them matters. Baby potatoes can be halved or left whole, while larger ones should be cut into even chunks so they cook through at the same time.
A few extra things to keep in mind:
  • The sauce may look a little thin at first, but it thickens slightly as it cooks and settles.
  • Avoid adding extra liquid, the chicken and tomatoes release enough as they cook.
  • Red wine adds depth, but you can skip it or replace it with a splash of stock.
  • Taste and adjust salt at the end, especially depending on your tomatoes and olives.
  • Leftovers keep really well and taste even better the next day.
This is one of those recipes that doesn’t need much adjusting once you get the basics right. It comes together on its own and is easy to make work with what you have.

Nutrition

Calories: 398kcal | Carbohydrates: 46g | Protein: 27g | Fat: 11g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 6g | Trans Fat: 0.02g | Cholesterol: 97mg | Sodium: 999mg | Potassium: 1.664mg | Fiber: 8g | Sugar: 10g | Vitamin A: 4.229IU | Vitamin C: 72mg | Calcium: 101mg | Iron: 5mg