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Slow Cooker Chicken Cacciatore with White Wine

Slow cooker chicken cacciatore is an old-school Italian dish, my crock pot version is lighter scaling back the tomatoes and uses white wine.

Cooking this dish takes around 4½ hours, but only 20 minutes of that is spent cooking, the rest of the time you get to drink in the aroma!

Lighter slow cooker chicken cacciatore served with cheesy polenta.

Slow Cooker Italian Hunters Chicken

Chicken Cacciatore is a dish that means many things to many people. It has morphed greatly as it has spread across the globe.

The name cacciatore is often taken to mean “Hunters” and as such it is an Italian version of chicken chasseur… or vide versa of course.

My version is very much lighter than some, taking a great deal of inspiration from my rabbit cacciatore recipe.

This version uses white wine rather than the more often-seen red wine. I also scale back the tomatoes a great deal to avoid it becoming a tomato and chicken stew.

Don’t worry though if you have a bottle of red wine you must check out my classic coq au vin recipe.

My slow cooker version of this recipe uses just the legs, this is primarily because they are a convenient size to serve two people.

But they also offer more flavour to the stew as it slowly cooks in the crock pot.

They also make the dish easier to scale up in size and you don’t need to worry about the delicate breast overcooking.

Overhead lighter slow cooker chicken cacciatore served with cheesy polenta.

Frequently Asked Question

Can I use chicken breast?

You could but you would be sacrificing a great deal of flavour, it will also need cooking for less time.

I would suggest 90 minutes on low as a starting point, but depending on the size of the breast it could be shorter.

Does the skin get crispy?

No, because cooking in a slow cooker is a wet environment.

If you are not keen on the texture of not crispy chicken skin you can remove it. Although I would do it after the dish has been cooked because the skin adds a great deal of flavour to the dish.

What wine should I use?

As with all wines, the main consideration should be “would I drink it”.

However, this dish very much suits a dry white wine, whether you would usually drink medium wine. Chardonnay is the obvious answer, but a pinot gris or even a viognier work well.

You have the chicken drumstick “French” trimmed, do I need to do this?

Not at all, I went through a phase of doing this, it adds nothing to the dish other than looking a bit fancy.

Sauce poured over a lightened slow cooker chicken cacciatore.

Serving Suggestions.

As far as I am concerned this dish is best served with a cheesy polenta, I would use a nice nutty gruyere cheese.

But as with all dishes there are options, and this slow cooker chicken cacciatore is no different!

This is comfort food and it would work wonderfully with mash, mashed potato of course, although celeriac mash would be even better.

If you wanted to stick with the hearty theme but go a little lighter than a butter-laden mash then these puy lentils with bacon would also work a treat!

Lighter slow cooker chicken cacciatore using chicken legs served with cheesy polenta.

Equipment Used

I only recommend specific brands of equipment if I believe they make a material difference to a recipe. If you have any questions feel free to ask them in the comments section below the recipe.

  • Stovetop.
  • 28cm or 11″ frying pan or skillet.
  • Slow cooker, this recipe is best made in a 3.5 litre or 1 quart sized crock pot.
  • Chopping board.
  • Sharp kitchen knife.
  • Weighing scales and or measuring cups and spoons.
Lighter slow cooker chicken cacciatore using chicken legs served with cheesy polenta.
Yield: 2 Servings

Slow Cooker Chicken Cacciatore Recipe

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 4 hours 20 minutes
Total Time: 4 hours 30 minutes

Chicken Cacciatore or Italian Hunters Chicken is a really simple tasty dish and this version is cooked in the slow cooker as a wonderful simple autumn meal.

Ingredients

  • 2 Chicken Legs
  • 1 Head Garlic
  • 30g (2 Tbsp) Butter
  • 1 Tbsp Olive Oil
  • 50g (⅓ Cup) Carrot
  • 35g (½ Stalk) Celery
  • 175 ml (⅔ Cup) White Wine
  • 250 ml (1 Cup) Chicken Stock
  • 200g (7oz Tin) Tinned Tomatoes
  • 2 Sprigs Rosemary
  • 30g (2 Tbsp) Flour
  • ¼-½ Tsp Salt
  • ¼ Tsp Black Pepper

Instructions

  1. Separate the chicken legs into thighs and drumsticks (optional).
  2. Cut the celery and carrot into a 5mm (¼") dice.
  3. Cut the top of the head of garlic off keeping the root in place.
  4. Heat a frying pan over a medium-high heat add the olive oil and butter.
  5. Season the chicken with the salt and pepper, then dust them with flour.
  6. Add the garlic cut side down to the pan.
  7. Fry the chicken on both sides until golden brown, this should take around 10 minutes.
  8. Remove the chicken and set aside.
  9. Turn the heat up to high and add the diced carrot and celery.
  10. Fry for 5-6 minutes until the edges start to colour.
  11. Pour in the white wine and reduce by half.
  12. Transfer to a slow cooker and add the chicken & tinned tomatoes, chicken stock and rosemary.
  13. Add a lid and cook on low for 4 hours.
  14. I like to separate the vegetables and serve the chicken on top with a drizzle of sauce.
  15. I also squeeze the garlic from the head of garlic and mix it through the sauce.
  16. You can thicken the sauce with 1 tablespoon of cornflour slaked with water if you wish, I do not think that it is necessary.

Notes

You can double the amount of chicken in this recipe without increasing the liquids, although I would add more carrot and celery.

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

2

Serving Size:

1

Amount Per Serving: Calories: 852Total Fat: 44gSaturated Fat: 16gTrans Fat: 1gUnsaturated Fat: 25gCholesterol: 364mgSodium: 973mgCarbohydrates: 27gFiber: 4gSugar: 8gProtein: 69g

Calorific details are provided by a third-party application and are to be used as indicative figures only.

Did you make this recipe?

If you made this recipe, I'd love to see what you did and what I can do better, share a picture with me on Instagram and tag me @krumplibrian and tell me how it went!

Anne

Tuesday 10th of December 2019

It was delicious! My husband loved it?

Brian Jones

Tuesday 10th of December 2019

Glad you liked you both liked it, this is one of the little hidden gems on my site that people do not stumble over as often but it is a personal favourite :)

Grahame Cox

Sunday 14th of July 2019

I don't understand:

8. "When boiling pour in the chicken stock and stir, keep stirring every few minutes for 45 minutes. I find wine and good music helps with this task."

Do you not mean:

8. "When boiling pour in the polenta and stir, keep stirring every few minutes for 45 minutes. I find wine and good music helps with this task."

Brian Jones

Monday 15th of July 2019

Well spotted that man... Thanks for the heads up, I have updated.

April

Thursday 12th of April 2018

I love your recipes! They're so simple but they look like you spent all day in the kitchen making them. I love chicken cacciatore but I haven't tried cooking it in a slow cooker. I'll have to try my recipe in the slow cooker next time. Thanks for the inspiration.

Brian Jones

Thursday 12th of April 2018

I don't often spend all day in the kitchen although love doing it when I get the chance. I have worked hard on my presentation though so it is lovely to hear that it is appreciated, this recipe used to look like I threw it at the plate from the other side of the room ;)

Jemma

Thursday 12th of April 2018

I've been using my slow cooker a lot recently and I think this needs to be my next dish.

Brian Jones

Thursday 12th of April 2018

Enjoy!

Veena Azmanov

Thursday 12th of April 2018

Oh, how I love your recipes! This Chicken Cacciatore looks very appetizing and delicious! This is a great idea for dinner, for me and my family! Very beautiful presentation! Thank you for sharing this great recipe. I want to try it immediately! YUM!

Brian Jones

Thursday 12th of April 2018

Thanks Veena, my recipes are definitely all a bit old school ;) So glad you liek them :)

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