Slow Cooker Chicken Cacciatore

I think I’m having a love affair with chicken thighs. Okay, that’s going a little overboard, but they are my new obsession. I have always been a chicken breast only kind of girl. But, chicken thighs offer great flavor without adding much more by way of fat. Plus, my local grocery store has had organic boneless skinless chicken thighs on special a lot lately. So, I scooped up quite a few. They are also great for the slow cooker.

Jessica and I wrote a Paleo cookbook, which was released last year. We created an awesome chicken cacciatore recipe for the book. I have been craving it lately, but wanted to simplify the recipe a little. So instead of a whole cut up chicken, I used chicken thighs. And, instead of a complicated recipe that you have to keep checking while in the oven, I made it a slow cooker recipe. Now, don’t get me wrong, the cookbook version of the chicken cacciatore was probably my favorite recipe in the book. Delicious. But, for a weeknight meal, it may be a little complicated. I’m excited to share this slow cooker version with you.  I also added some heat to this one with a hot pepper. I recently read that eating spicy food boosts your metabolism. Anyone over 30 knows that a metabolism boost is always a good thing.

I served this with a side of fresh steamed broccoli. It was a great compliment to the tomato-y flavors of the cacciatore. It would also go great over some fresh steamed zucchini noodles or even spaghetti squash. Take an extra 30 minutes to get this meal in the slow cooker in the morning and you will come home to a deliciously smelling house and yummy dinner.

Local Ingredient: Dried oregano from a table at my local farmers market and garlic from my local harvest box.