Slow Cooker Chicken Ratatouille

Here’s a meat version of the famous vegetarian stew. Your slow cooker does all the work and keeps your kitchen cool.

Use That Zucchini Or Courgettes As They Say In UK

This time of the year, many people are looking to use zucchini.  Zucchini plants generally give abundant yields if you grow your own. Personally, I’ve never had much success when I’ve grown it, but many friends have and I usually end up with more than I could use.

Ratatouille is one of my favorite dishes so I will use most of my zucchini in it. And yes UK peeps, you can substitute marrow for the courgettes if that’s what you have.

Don’t Faint But This Is Healthy

I admit that I’m far from a health nut anymore. Funny enough, years ago I was one and as unorthodox as it sounds, I pretty much gave a lot of that up once I reached my senior years. Eating is a pleasure for me and in my so-called “golden years” I decided I was just going to enjoy myself and die happy. But a lot of things I like, and ratatouille is one of them, just happens to be healthy. This meal doesn’t have anything processed in it, well, maybe the can of diced tomatoes does because I didn’t have enough fresh tomatoes. The flavor comes from the delicious veggies, the chicken and herbs.

Set It And Forget It

Many of my crock pot recipes involve more than just “dump and go.” I have found you will get more flavor in the recipe if you brown the meat first, then deglaze the pan and use that liquid. This recipe, however, is genuinely a dump, set-it-and-forget-it meal and it turns out perfectly. Because it’s the veggie combination that is responsible for the flavor, it’s not necessary to brown the chicken.

I generally just serve this in a bowl by itself, but serving over rice, especially jasmine rice, would taste really super!

The Recipe

Slow Cooker Chicken Ratatouille

 

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Prep time

10 mins

Cook time

6 hours

Total time

6 hours 10 mins

 

Author: Judith Hannemann

Serves: 4-6

Ingredients

• 1 medium zucchin (courgettes)i, sliced
• 1 medium yellow summer squash, sliced
• 1 large red bell pepper, sliced
• 1 small eggplant (aubergine), cut in chunks
• 4-5 large tomatoes, diced -OR- 1 can (15 oz) petit diced tomatoes, drained
• 1½ tsp basil -OR- ¼ cup fresh chopped
• 1 tsp oregano
• ¼ tsp thyme -OR- 3-4 sprigs fresh
• 2 large cloves garlic, crushed
• 2 medium boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut in 1-inch chunks

Instructions

1. Place all ingredients in a 4-6 quart slow cooker.
2. Cover and cook on high 3-5 hours, low 4-6 hours (this always seems to cook fast for me, hence the times given for low)

Notes

There's no hard-and-fast measurements for the veggies. Use as much or as little of each as you like of each. I love eggplant so that's the predominant veg in mine, but if you like zucchini better for instance, use a majority of that.

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