healthy chicken cacciatore

The classic Italian 'hunter's stew' gets a healthy makeover, with low-fat chicken breasts, prosciutto and a rich herby tomato sauce

Lighter chicken cacciatore

olive oil

prosciutto, fat removed, chopped

onion,

garlic cloves, finely chopped

sage

rosemary

chicken breasts

dry white wine

can plum tomatoes

tomato purée

chestnut mushrooms, quartered

parsley,

Heat the oil in a large non-stick frying pan. Tip in the prosciutto and fry for about 2 mins until crisp. Remove with a slotted spoon, letting any fat drain back into the pan, and set aside. Put the onion, garlic and herbs in the pan and fry for 3-4 mins.

Spread the onion out in the pan, then lay the chicken breasts on top. Season with pepper and fry for 5 mins over a medium heat, turning the chicken once, until starting to brown on both sides and the onion is caramelising on the bottom of the pan. Remove the chicken and set aside on a plate. Raise the heat, give it a quick stir and, when sizzling, pour in the wine and let it bubble for 2 mins to reduce slightly.

Lower the heat to medium, return the prosciutto to the pan, then stir in the tomatoes (breaking them up with your spoon), tomato purée and mushrooms. Spoon 4 tbsp of water into the empty tomato can, swirl it around, then pour it into the pan. Cover and simmer for 15-20 mins or until the sauce has thickened and reduced slightly, then return the chicken to the pan and cook, uncovered, for about 15 mins or until the chicken is cooked through. Season and scatter over the parsley to serve.

Lighten up your chicken cacciatore by skipping the pasta. 

Light Chicken Cacciatore

chicken breasts (5 ounces each)

Kosher salt

pepper

cremini mushrooms, quartered

red pepper, thinly sliced

garlic,

bay leaf

tomatoes

green olives

c. flat-leaf parsley, chopped

Heat oil in lg. deep skillet on medium-high. Season chicken with 1/2 teaspoon each salt and pepper and cook until golden brown, 3 to 4 minutes per side; transfer to plate.

Add mushrooms and cook, tossing occasionally, until golden brown and tender, about 4 minutes. Transfer to plate with chicken.

Lower heat to medium and add onion, red pepper, garlic, rosemary and bay leaf and cook, stirring occasionally, until tender, 8 to 10 minutes. Add wine and cook, stirring and scraping up browned bits, until reduced by half, about 3 minutes. Stir in tomatoes (and their juices).

Return chicken and mushrooms to skillet, nestling chicken in tomatoes, and simmer covered for 15 minutes. Fold in kale and cook, covered, 10 to 12 minutes more. Uncover, discard bay leaf and stir in olives and parsley.<span class="redactor-invisible-space"></span>

This Easy Slow Cooker Chicken Cacciatore is perfect for weeknights. It is made with chicken thighs, rich tomato herb sauce, olives and lots of extra vegetables to make it healthy.

Easy Slow Cooker Chicken Cacciatore Recipe

tomato paste

smoked paprika

Italian Seasoning

red pepper

coarse kosher salt, divided

chicken

olives, olives

red bell pepper, finely chopped

crimini mushrooms, sliced

½ teaspoon chopped fresh rosemary

Stir diced tomatoes and tomato paste together in the bottom of a large slow cooker.

Mix smoked paprika, Italian seasoning, 1 teaspoon salt and crushed red pepper in a small dish.

Lay chicken on a sheet of parchment. Sprinkle all over the chicken turning pieces to coat completely.

Arrange chicken in the sauce in the slow cooker. Pour any extra spices from the parchment on top.

Layer olives, onion, bell pepper and mushrooms on top.

Cover and set slow cooker to low for 6 hours.

When timer goes off, carefully pull chicken out of the cooker, keeping thighs intact if possible.

Stir rosemary and the remaining 1 teaspoon salt into the vegetable mixture. Serve the vegetable mixture and sauce with the chicken.

So good even the teens loved it and I doubled the amount of smoked paprika!

Did not disappoint!  I was looking for a relatively simple slow-cooker recipe for Chicken Cacciatore and I found this recipe.  A slight bit of prep work (as opposed to throwing everything into the pot at once), but coating the chicken first and laying it on the tomato base was a good idea.  I didn't have smoked paprika or fresh rosemary, but I substituted hot Hungarian paprika and dried rosemary leaves instead.  I had to look up cremini mushrooms because my grocery didn't have any, but I found they are just a slightly more mature version of white button mushrooms, and they had baby bella, which I gather is just another name for the same thing. 

The choice of chicken thighs over breasts was a pleasant surprise, as I tend to favor light chicken over dark.  But in this case, the dark meat was moist, flavorful, literally falling off the bone. 

I have a couple of thighs left over, so I'll see what else I can do with them, but I had a great experience -- and a great meal (served over some thick spaghetti) -- cooking this recipe!

Love this and have made twice. Could I freeze it?

This was such a simple, delicious recipe!  I used thin boneless chicken breasts as well as boneless thighs.  I used sliced Kalamata olives in place of ripe olives, because that’s what I had.  Cooked on high for 4hrs.  Did not add salt or rosemary at the end, not that I wouldn’t next time.  And, YES, there will be a next time!  Thank you for this recipe!

This is SO good and couldn’t be simpler. It has made it into our rotation and it’s delicious every time! So easy to make gluten free by simply using GF noodles. Thank you!

I just realized that I didn’t remove the skin from the bone-in thighs after putting the lid on the crockpot.  Is it OK to leave the skin on and do I need to cook the chicken longer?   Thank you.  

Not sure where I went wrong??? Followed the recipe to the letter. It was bland and disappointing. I had to add some spices to try to add zip. My family won’t eat the leftovers. Won’t be making again.

https://mediavine-res.cloudinary.com/video/upload/t_original/v1542974710/qjyayi69hjdgrvbvgbcd.mp4

This healthier version of Chicken Cacciatore is made in a slow cooker with lots of extra-vegetables. It has plenty of flavor from spices, herbs and olives.

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Light Chicken Cacciatore

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Top 3 healthy chicken cacciatore recipes from across the web

The most viewed healthy chicken cacciatore recipes by Recipe Cart users, saved from over 20,000 sites. Or, go to our Recipe Search Engineic_arrow_forward_48px

Top Tags

Lighter chicken cacciatore

Light Chicken Cacciatore

Easy Slow Cooker Chicken Cacciatore...

The most viewed healthy chicken cacciatore recipes by Recipe Cart users, saved from over 20,000 sites. Or, go to our Recipe Search Engine