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The Smartest Way to Transform Slow Cooker Chicken Cacciatore into Two Cozy Family Dinners

published Oct 6, 2020
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Credit: Photo: Ghazalle Badiozamani; Food Styling: Brett Regot

Welcome to Rollover Dinners, a new monthly series to help you make smart use of leftovers. Step 1: Make a family-friendly big-batch recipe for the first night. Step 2: Cook a meal later in the week that transforms the leftovers into a new dinner with minimal extra work.

The slow cooker is a magical tool for home cooks: Just toss a handful of simple ingredients in and let it do the hard work of turning them into a flavorful meal. It can churn out everything from chili and pulled pork to stews and never-dry braises, like saucy chicken cacciatore. The rustic dish of juicy chicken thighs, earthy mushrooms, and sweet bell peppers, all swimming in rich tomato sauce, is a guaranteed family favorite. Enjoy it as-is on the first night, then use the leftovers to make light work of a whole new dinner the second night.

Credit: Photo: Ghazalle Badiozamani; Food Styling: Brett Regot

Up First: Slow Cooker Chicken Cacciatore

Rollover Recipe Number 1: Slow Cooker Chicken Cacciatore

Cacciatore means “hunter” in Italian, which means chicken cacciatore is intended to be a rustic, homey dish. It’s that and more thanks to Prego Farmers’ Market® Classic Marinara Sauce. The jar is packed with sweet vine-ripened tomatoes, olive oil, and oregano, and it bolsters the flavor of this slow cooker dinner tenfold. It’s a practically hands-free meal that will satisfy your family any night of the week.

Credit: Photo: Ghazalle Badiozamani; Food Styling: Brett Regot

Roll It Over: Weeknight Minestrone

Rollover Recipe Number 2: Weeknight Minestrone

You’ll have plenty of leftovers from your chicken cacciatore dinner. Turn them into an equally comforting family dinner by shredding some of the leftover chicken and tossing it into a pot with white beans, pasta, veggies like sweet potatoes and spinach, and leftover sauce. The result is a steaming pot of feel-good minestrone soup that comes together with barely any effort.