Slow Cooker Chicken Merlot is a hearty and delicious dish that requires very little prep time. After cutting up the vegetables for this tasty chicken stew, just set the timer and let the slow cooker do the rest.
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Using your slow cooker to make Chicken Merlot not only makes cooking this delicious dish easy, it also allows the flavors to build during the slow cooking process.
Another favorite chicken dish is Coq au Vin. It’s not a slow cooker recipe but its amazingly delicious.
Not a fan of Merlot? Use your favorite red wine to make this dish.
Ingredients for Chicken Merlot
Let’s start by gathering the ingredients we need to make Slow Cooker Chicken Merlot. In Chef Speak, this is called the “Mise en Place,” which translates to “Everything in its Place.”
Not only does setting up your ingredients ahead of time speed up the cooking process, it also helps ensure you have everything you need to make the dish.
Simple Ingredients
- chicken pieces
- onion
- mushrooms
- carrots
- celery
- cannellini beans
- garlic cloves
- tomato paste
- merlot or dry red wine of your choice
- chicken broth
- dried basil or fresh basil
- salt
- black pepper
How to prepare Merlot Sauce
- Add the tomato paste, red wine, chicken broth and spices to a small bowl.
- Whisk the ingredients together until well blended.
How to make Slow Cooker Chicken Merlot
- Add the chopped vegetables and cannellini beans to the slow cooker.
- Place the chicken pieces on top of the vegetables.
- Pour the red wine mixture over top of the chicken. Cover and cook on low-heat setting for 5 hours or high-heat setting for 2 ½ hours.
Remove vegetables and chicken when the cooking has completed. Cover both and keep warm while you finish the sauce.
- Pour all liquid from the slow cooker into a saucepan.
- Heat the sauce over medium-high heat until it begins to boil, then reduce the heat to medium, cooking long enough to reduce the sauce by half, until the sauce is thick and clingy.
Place the mushroom mixture on top of a serving platter, topped with the chicken pieces and ladle the sauce over the chicken.
Serve the Chicken Merlot with roasted potatoes, rice, or your favorite grain. You’re going to love this slow cooker recipe.
Recipe FAQ’s
If you are not wine drinkers and find yourself with leftover wine, freeze the wine in an ice cube tray. When the wine has completely frozen, pop out the wine cubes and store in a ziplock bag in the freezer. The next time you need a little wine for a dish you can defrost a few of the wine cubes.
When it comes down to slow cooking, dark meat is the chicken of choice. This recipes uses a whole chicken, but can be made using chicken thighs and chicken legs. Dark meat holds up better in a slow cooker. Chicken breasts will tend to dry out a bit from the extended cooking time.
More Slow-Cooker Recipes
Slow Cooker Chicken Merlot
Ingredients
- 3½ lbs whole chicken cut into pieces (or parts of your choice) skin removed
- 1 large onion rough cut into chunks
- 16 ounces mushrooms cut in half or quarters
- 3 carrots peeled and rough cut
- 5 stalks celery large slice
- 16 ounces cannellini beans drained and rinsed
- 4 cloves garlic peeled but left whole
- 6 ounces tomato paste
- 8 ounces merlot or red wine of your choice
- 8 ounces chicken broth
- 1 teaspoons dried basil
- ½ teaspoon salt more or less to taste
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper more or less to taste
Instructions
- Add the tomato paste, red wine, chicken broth and spices to a small bowl
- .Whisk the ingredients together until well blended.
- Remove vegetables and chicken when the cooking has completed. Cover both and keep warm while you finish the sauce.
- Add the chopped vegetables and cannellini beans to the slow cooker.
- Place the chicken pieces on top of the vegetables.
- Pour the red wine mixture over top of the chicken.
- Cover and cook on low-heat setting for 5 hours or high-heat setting for 2 ½ hours.
- Remove the vegetables and chicken from the slow cooker and cover to keep warm.
- Pour all liquid from the slow cooker into a saucepan.
- Heat the sauce over medium-high heat until it begins to boil, then reduce the heat to medium, cooking long enough to reduce the sauce by half, until the sauce is thick and clingy.
- Place the mushroom mixture on top of a serving platter, topped with the chicken pieces and ladle the sauce over the chicken.
- Serve the Chicken Merlot with roasted potatoes, rice, or your favorite grain. You’re going to love this slow cooker recipe.
Terri Steffes says
This would be fun to make for a date night at home. We love to cook, and this is fancy enough that we would love to make it and eat it together!
Catalina says
I love Slow Cooker meals! It’s definitely the best way to cook during these hot summer days!
Kathy says
I honestly don’t think I have ever had chicken merlot before. This sure does look amazing though. I love cooking in the slow cooker, so I’d love to try this.
Rena says
I have to try this immediately! I love recipes like this that you can throw in and forget it until dinner. It looks delicious.
Beth says
This looks delicious! I love using my slow cooker, I think it makes everything so much easier!
Melanie says
I am always on the lookout for more slow cooker recipes. I have not invested in an instant pot yet, so the slow cooker is still my go-to.
Melissa Dixon says
I was just looking into new crock pot recipes and I love the idea of using more chicken in our menu each week as well. This is a great combo of the two things I need to incorporate more. Thanks for the idea!
Theresa says
We were in France last summer, so I’d really love to make this dish and reminisce on our travels. It looks and sounds absolutely delightful!
Melissa says
I love to use my slow cooker in the summer! Thanks for this delicious recipe. It is one my entire family will enjoy!
Sarah Bailey says
Ok now this sounds absolutely incredible! I am blown away at the amount of things you can actually make in a slow cooker!
Natalie says
I haven’t whipped out the slow cooker in ages! Need to change that ASAP. I will be sharing this recipe with my family, they’d very much enjoy this.
Melissa Chapman says
Another winner of a recipe and so nice to use a slow cooker. I know that chicken cooked this way will be a favorite for so many.
Alexys says
Can it be made in a regular pot if theres no slow cooker ?
Chef Dennis Littley says
yes it can, or in the oven
RavieNomNoms says
That looks amazing Chef!!! Awesome recipes
Chef Dennis Littley says
Thanks Raven, it was a little taste of France!
Liz says
Thank you for the nice recipe.
Chef Dennis Littley says
you’re welcome Liz and thanks for stopping by!