Crock Pot Chicken Cacciatore

Oftentimes, it’s the busiest weeks when I’m frantically trying to meet work deadlines, that I most want to unwind with friends at a Friday or Saturday evening dinner. But who has time to prepare a meal if you’re under deadline pressure or are away from work 10 more or hours a day? That’s often when I get out the crockpot.

I know a lot of people don’t think “crock pot” and “company” go together. They just don’t believe most crock pot meals are “elegant” enough for dinner parties. Well, over the years I have found or developed a lot of recipes that are. One of them is chicken cacciatore. With this meal, you just put the chicken cacciatore ingredients in the crock pot in the morning, and it’s ready later on in the day when you want to eat dinner. You just need to cook up some pasta to go with the cacciatore right before you’re ready to eat. Add a tossed salad, a loaf of French or sourdough bread and some olive oil and vinegar for dipping, and a beverage of some kind or a bottle of wine, and you have a meal that’s nice enough for company!

You’ll find chicken cacciatore is a very easy meal to prepare in the crockpot…and it fills your home with a wonderful aroma while it’s cooking! Here’s the recipe:

Crock Pot Chicken Cacciatore

1 whole chicken, cut into pieces
1 large Spanish onion, sliced thinly
½ red or green bell pepper, sliced thinly
1 T. oregano
1 T. parsley
3 garlic cloves, minced, or 2 tsp. garlic powder
½ tsp. lemon pepper
½ tsp. salt
½ cup rose wine
1 T. granulated sugar
1 (16 oz.) can tomato sauce
2 (8 oz.) cans mushrooms

Put all of the ingredients in a medium-sized crockpot, in the above order. Turn on low and cook 7 to 8 hours. Serve over pasta (fettuccini, spaghetti, etc.) and toss with Parmesan cheese.

Buona cena!
~Becky