This delicious slow cooker chicken cacciatore is so easy to put together for a tasty weeknight meal or effortless Sunday dinner. Chicken thighs are cooked low and slow with tomatoes, bell peppers, and mushrooms to make a light sauce that can be served over pasta, polenta, or even potatoes!
I love making slow cooker meals for dinner. The hours after the kids get home from school through dinner are always so busy with homework and chores. Prepped ahead of time, these easy meals make the dinner hour a breeze. For this recipe, simply add all of the ingredients to the slow cooker and let them cook while you go about your day. The chicken is so tender after cooking all day. The vegetables mixed with the broth make a light and flavorful sauce that we love eating with a big bowl of pasta!
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🥘 Ingredient notes
- Chicken - Chicken thighs are tender and higher in fat than chicken breasts, so they are great for slow cooking. They are also inexpensive and very flavorful and work great in this recipe.
- Bell pepper - Use your favorite color bell pepper in this recipe. Red, yellow, and orange have a sweeter flavor to them, while green bell peppers have a lighter and slightly bitter taste to them.
- Tomatoes - You can use either canned diced tomatoes or crushed tomatoes for this dish. For a thicker sauce, use crushed tomatoes and for a thinner sauce, used diced tomatoes.
📋 Substitutions and variations
- Olives - Stir in a can of drained pitted plain black or kalamata olives in the last hour of cooking for a briny kick to this dish.
- Peppers - Add 6-8 pepperoncini peppers in the last hour of cooking for a zestier dish.
- Cream - Stir in ½ cup of half and half or heavy cream into the finished dish for a creamy sauce.
🔪 Step by step instructions
First, add the chicken thighs to the bottom of the slow cooker and season them with salt, pepper, and Italian seasoning.
Next, add the remaining ingredients on top of the chicken.
Lastly, cover and cook on high for 4 hours or on low for 8 hours until the chicken is fork tender.
This dish is especially tasty with your favorite pasta, polenta or even mashed potatoes!
If you ever don't recognize a tool or skill that I mention, be sure to look it up in the Glossary of Cooking Terms and Definitions for more information.
⭐ Top tip
Boneless, skinless chicken thighs are healthier and make for easy serving. On the other hand, bone in and skin on chicken thighs may be used and do render more flavor. Just be sure to remove the bones before serving.
💭 Frequently asked questions
Chicken cacciatore is served typically over pasta, like spaghetti. You can also serve it over polenta or mashed potatoes with salad and bread on the side.
Cacciatore means "hunter" in Italian. In Italian cuisine, it means that a dish is prepared "hunter style" with tomatoes, onions, mushrooms, occasionally bell peppers and sometimes wine or vinegar.
For a quick overview of this recipe, check out my web story for this easy chicken cacciatore!
🥘 More slow cooker meals
If you loved this chicken cacciatore recipe, check out these other slow cooker meals that I know you will love!
- Slow Cooker Jalapeno Pulled Chicken
- Easy Slow Cooker Minestrone
- Crock Pot Chicken Marsala
- Slow Cooker Barbacoa Beef Tacos
📖 Recipe
Slow Cooker Chicken Cacciatore
Ingredients
- 3 pounds boneless skinless chicken thighs
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- 1 Tablespoon Italian seasoning
- 1 small onion chopped
- 1 Tablespoon chopped garlic
- 1 medium red bell pepper chopped
- 8 ounces baby bella mushrooms sliced
- 28 ounces canned diced tomatoes
- 2 Tablespoons tomato paste
- 1 cup chicken broth
Instructions
- Place chicken thighs in the slow cooker and season with salt, pepper, and Italian seasoning.
- Add onion, garlic, bell pepper, mushrooms, diced tomatoes, tomato paste, and chicken broth.
- Cover and cook on high for 4 hours or on low for 6-8 hours. Serve over pasta, polenta or mashed potatoes.
Linny
Delicious recipe! I’ve been wanting to attempt this dish and when I saw your
recipe, I knew it was something I can do! I actually made it on an iron cast skillet because I forgot to put it in my slow cooker earlier that day and wanted it to cook faster. It was still very delicious!
Amanda
That's awesome, I'm so glad you enjoyed it!