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If you’re stuck in a rut of stew, curry, and more stew when it comes to using your slow cooker, then try a chicken chasseur instead. And although chicken chasseur is technically another meat and gravy dinner, it’s a completely different flavour.
While the French would traditionally braise chasseur in a stovetop dish, chucking everything in a slow cooker isn’t too far off. And since our version isn’t completely traditional, we’re not overly concerned about cooking it traditionally either.
The quantity we use below is enough to feed five adults, so if you’re making dinner for yourself, two, or a family, you’ll have plenty leftover for lunches or freezing.
This chicken chasseur recipe is ideal for batch cooking: make it, portion it up, freeze, and defrost when needed.
So let’s have a look at the ingredients, how much it’ll cost you, and some ideas on what to do with your leftover ingredients.
Shopping list (with prices)
- 750g chicken breast pieces – £5.85, from Tesco
- 1 onion – £0.12, from Tesco
- Tomato passata (£0.55) or chopped tinned tomatoes (£0.47)
- 1 Chicken stock pot (£1.50 for four) or 1 stock cube (£1 for 10)
- White wine stock pot (at £1.85 for four it’s cheaper than a bottle of wine)
- 3 tablespoons of chicken gravy granules (we had beef gravy so we used that instead) – £0.73, from Tesco
- Teaspoon of garlic – 200g Very Lazy Garlic for £1.95, from Tesco
- 2 tablespoons of mixed herbs – £1, from Tesco
- Pinch of salt and pepper
Total = £13.55
To make it more budget-friendly, you could opt for the more traditional bone-in chicken. As we covered in our ‘how to create a weekly meal plan‘ article, the less butchering required, the lower the cost. For chasseur, that cheap alternative is bone-in chicken thighs.
We’ve also varied from tradition by leaving out the mushrooms; since no one in our house likes them, it’d be a waste to add them. If you’re a fan, then by all means, add mushrooms – slice them roughly to add to the dish’s rustic charm. Adding mushrooms will help you bulk the chasseur out and will increase the number of meals it produces.
As we say in all of our cooking articles, the best way to save money is to use what you’ve already got in your cupboard, so check those first before you go shopping.
Method
Step 1
Place the chicken breast into the slow cooker. If you’re using bone-in, skin-on thighs, it’s recommended you sear them first before adding to the slow cooker.
Step 2
Roughly chop the onion and add it to the slow cooker.
Step 3
Add the passata, chicken stock cube, wine stock pot, garlic, mixed herbs, gravy granules, and pepper.
Step 4
Stir all the ingredients and put on Low for four hours. If you’re making yours with mushrooms, put them in around an hour before you plan to serve up.
Step 5
After four hours, check to see if the chicken is cooked, and if it is, turn the slow cooker to Keep Warm. If not, give it another half an hour.
Step 6
Depending on what you’ve got in your cupboards, prepare rice or potatoes (you can serve them new, roasted, mashed, whatever you fancy). You can also cook up some fresh vegetables, if you’ve got any in the fridge.
Step 7
Plate up: serve your rice or your potatoes and then top with chicken (or serve to one side). Enjoy!
Notes
- If you have a multi-cooker, like the Ninja Foodi Max 9-in-1 we use, then you’ll be able to use that to slow cook chasseur. If you don’t have a slow- or multi-cooker, then stick to tradition and braise it in a stovetop pot.
- There’s a lot of variation when it comes to chicken chasseur, so don’t panic if you don’t have all the ingredients. Just switch what you don’t have to what you do have. The key ingredients are chicken, wine, and onion.
- With the jar of gravy granules, you could (quite obviously) use it to make gravy to pour over a roast dinner. You can also use gravy granules to thicken sauces (like chilli con carne, bolognese), put it in shepherd’s pie, or just make a mug full and sit and dunk buttered bread.
