As the temperature drops, there is nothing better than getting home to a delicious cooked meal simmering away in the slow cooker. This hearty chicken casserole recipe will leave your family begging for seconds and is so quick and easy to prepare. After some quick prep, all you need to do is throw the ingredients into the slow cooker and let it do all of the hard work for you.

Try serving the casserole with some fresh, crusty bread for a really filling meal.

Ingredients

• Knob of butter 
• ½ tbsp rapeseed or olive oil
• 1 large onion, finely chopped
• 1 ½ tbsp plain flour 
• 650g boneless, skinless chicken thigh fillets
• 3 garlic cloves, crushed
• 400g baby new potatoes, halved
• 2 sticks celery, diced
• 2 carrots, diced
• 250g mushrooms, quartered
• 15g dried porcini mushrooms
• 500ml stock made with 2 very low salt chicken stock cubes (we used Kallo)
• 2 tsp Dijon mustard
• 2 bay leaves

Method

1. Heat the butter and oil in a large frying pan, cook the onion for 8-10 mins until it is softened and starting to caramelise. Meanwhile, put the flour and a little salt and pepper in a bowl and toss the chicken in it.
2. Next, add the garlic and chicken to the pan and cook for 4-5 mins more until the chicken is starting to brown.
3. Transfer to your slow cooker, along with the rest of the ingredients, including the soaking water from the porcini mushrooms. Give it a good stir.
4. Leave it to cook on Low for 7 hours or High for 4 hours. Remove the bay leaves and serve.

Feel free to add in any extra vegetables if there is something your family particularly likes.