Slow Cooker Chicken Cacciatore

Our out of town guests for the Saturday birthday party began arriving on Friday evening. Of course, Friday was a busy day doing last minute clean up and some decorating and food prep for the party, so this slow cooker dinner was a perfect option. I just browned the chicken in the morning and put it the crock pot with the other ingredients. Dinner cooked all day while I prepared for the party. About half an hour before my house guests arrived for dinner, I boiled some water for the pasta, threw together a salad with a bottled dressing, and tossed a loaf of garlic bread into the oven. Super easy and it looked as if I'd slaved over the stove for hours.

To make this Chicken Cacciatore, put 1/4 cup of flour in a large bag. Throw in a cut up frying chicken and shake the bag to coat the pieces. Then, heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a skillet and brown the chicken with 3 cloves of chopped garlic.



Now transfer the chicken to a slow cooker.


In a bowl, mix the sauce ingredients. I began with the sugar and spices, parsley, salt, oregano, thyme, red pepper flakes, and a bay leaf. Then I added the tomato paste and tomato juice.


Pour the sauce over the chicken and cover and cook on low for 8-10 hours.


When it was time to serve dinner, I put some spaghetti on a large platter. Then arrange the chicken pieces over the pasta and cover with the sauce. There you go, family-style Italian dining.



Slow Cooker Chicken Cacciatore

1 frying chicken, cut up
1/4-1/3 cup flour
2 T. oil
3 garlic cloves, minced
46 oz. can tomato juice
12 oz. can tomato paste
2 T. dried parsley
2 T. sugar
2 t. salt
1 T. oregano
1/4 t. dried thyme
1/4 t. red pepper flakes
1 bay leaf

1. Put flour and chicken pieces into a bag and shake to coat. Brown chicken and garlic in oil in skillet. Transfer cooked chicken pieces and garlic to slow cooker.
2. Mix together tomato juice, tomato paste, parsley, sugar, salt, oregano, thyme, and bay leaf. Pour over chicken and garlic.
3. Cover. Cook on low 8-10 hours.
4. Serve over spaghetti.