Slow Cooker Chicken With Hot Sausage And Rice

Spice is nice, especially, when it is cold and snowy outside. This slow cooker chicken dish might take practically a day to cook, but the payoff is big. Call it chicken cacciatore meets jambalaya; we call it perfection. If you like it hot and (somewhat) healthy, this is for you!

Ingredients

  • 3 Skinned organic chicken breasts
  • 2 Skinned plum tomatoes and 3 tablespoons of juice from the can.
  • 5 Garlic cloves
  • 1 Box of chicken broth (or bone broth) This Pacific Bone Broth is great because it is allergen free and adds a richer flavor. 
  • 1/4 Chopped red pepper
  • 1/4 Chopped red onion
  • Bottle of dry red wine
  • 5 Hot Italian sausage – we were recently tipped off to local Walden Farms. Their fresh meat delivery is the best! Look at the ingredients on the sausage label – simple and healthy. Don’t let the simple ingredients fool you, these little numbers are ON FIRE! Oh, besides being fresh, local, and hot these babies are also melt in your mouth de-lish-us!
  • 3 tablespoons of molasses (for sauce)
  • Fresh cilantro
  • Small sprinkles of sea salt, Italian spices, and chili pepper

Instructions

  1. Put slow cooker on low and place that plump chicken inside.
  2. Top chicken with spices and juice of plum tomatoes. (Plop those red little tomatoes in as well.) TIP: If you don’t want things to get too hot, you can forgo any of the spices (besides the salt). The sausages give a superhero punch of flavor to the dish. 
  3. Saute onions, garlic, and red peppers in a few dashes of sizzling hot olive oil. 
  4. Toss into the slow cooker the the chicken broth, red wine, and sauteed veggies. Make sure the cooker is on low and set the timer for 3.5 hours and forget about it for a while.
  5. After you’ve cleaned, worked out, or binged watched TV, once that timer goes off add those hot little sausages to the mix.
  6. Get busy or lazy while the dish cooks for another 3 hours.
  7. Once that timer goes off again, use the rice of your choice (or any starch as a side dish). When we cooked our rice, we used a good portion of the juice from the slow cooker to soak and cook the rice.
  8. Push the remaining sauce from the slow cooker through a sieve or fine mesh colander into a saute or saucepan. This really isn’t necessary. It’s just to keep the final sauce nice and smooth without any lumps. 
  9. Let the sauce reduce while the rice cooks.
  10. Someone we love told us if the sauce is too spicy, you should add a little bit of molasses to even out the flavor. These sausages are mighty spicy, so, we used that little cooking tip. But, we liked the earthy and sweet flavor it added to the sauce.
  11. Continually stir with a whisk to keep the sauce from burning. It should reduce to a nice syrupy consistency. 
  12. Once the rice is complete, mold it using a small bowl or just plop it onto a plate.
  13. The chicken will shred easily. Place the shredded chicken and sliced sausage on the plate.
  14. Top with sauce and fresh cilantro.
  15. Drink with a lovely red wine and get ready to turn down the heat. This dish is on fire!!!!

Enjoy this hearty and spicy meal with good company! Keep the wine flowing as easily as the conversation and make sure no one leaves without a full belly.:)