Fall into slow cooker season with this zesty Italian Slow Cooker Chicken Cacciatore Recipe. This delicious hunter style recipe only takes 10 minutes to prep!

Slow Cooker Chicken Cacciatore

Name: Slow Cooker Chicken Cacciatore
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 6 h
Total time: 6 h 10 min
Yield: 4
Cuisine: Italian
Ingredients: 1 medium onion (thinly sliced); 1 red bell pepper (finely chopped); 300 grams mushrooms (sliced in half); 1 pound chicken breast fillets (or 4 chicken thighs); 3 cloves garlic (minced); 1 teaspoon dried oregano; 4 sprigs thyme; 1 teaspoon salt; 1 bay leaf; 1 tablespoon capers (drained); 14.5 ounces can diced tomatoes; 1/2 cup chicken broth; 1/2 cup red wine; good quality extra virgin olive oil for drizzling before serving; cooked spaghetti to serve with (optional)

I’ve never been much of a set-it-and-forget-it girl. Sure, I love the ease of preparing slow cooker recipes. But one of the things I love most about cooking in general is making things up on the fly – and then building (and correcting) the flavor as I go. It’s just super fun to add a little of this and a bit of that to create a tapestry of taste! Also, much like a painter, it’s always helpful to know when to stop adding flavor so you don’t ‘overpaint’ the canvas – or, in this case, oversalt the pot!

Therefore, using a slow cooker requires me to get out of my comfort zone and do some serious planning before I make a dish. It also forces me to access the knowledge I’ve built up over the years about what flavors work well together so, when I open the lid after three hours, the right flavor is just there. Luckily, this slow cooker chicken cacciatore recipe gets its savory Italian flavor from an easy list of ingredients that just work together every time. Food disaster averted!

Wine is Awesome – But Optional

There’s just nothing quite like the delicious combination of slow cooked chicken, tomatoes, red bell pepper and garlic in my book! The red wine in this slow cooker chicken cacciatore preparation is totally optional, but adds a depth and richness of taste – even though the dish is light overall. Capers bring a salty, briny zing to this slow cooker Italian stew.

Best thing about this easy slow cooker chicken cacciatore: it’s a choose your own adventure meal! You can spoon the delicious broth on its own like a soup or stew. Or, how about adding a bit of orzo to the mix? Sure – sounds great! However, my all time favorite way to devour this zesty Italian slow cooker recipe is over al-dente spaghetti! While the chicken cacciatore broth is less thick than many spaghetti sauces, the slow cooked chicken and veggies intertwine with the spaghetti perfectly. Plus, it just tastes like an Italian dream!

Alla Cacciatore: Hunter Style

Interesting note: cacciatore in Italian translates to ‘hunter’. So preparing something alla cacciatore means that the protein is usually cooked with onions, tomatoes, herbs, bell peppers and wine. Sometimes even mushrooms. An awesome combo to be sure! Aside from the actual meaning, Ben got a huge kick out of repeating (like three times) that he was eating his mammoth bowl of spaghetti topped with luscious slow cooker chicken cacciatore hunter-style. What’s your favorite slow cooker recipe? I’d love to hear about it in the comments!

Other simple, delicious chicken recipes:

Did you like this Slow Cooker Chicken Cacciatore Recipe? Are there changes you made that you would like to share? Share your tips and recommendations in the comments section below!