Hearty and satisfying, Chicken Cacciatore is a rustic Italian classic. Serve it on its own or with crusty sourdough bread, creamy polenta, rice or pasta. An easy, comforting meal the whole family with enjoy! Video. Plus 35+ Must-Try Chicken Thigh Recipes!
Chicken Cacciatore is a classic Italian meal made with tender falling-off-the-bone chicken braised in a flavorful, rich tomato sauce with mushrooms, olives, capers and rosemary. The flavor is tangy, rich and briny. So savory and wholesome. The best part? This Chicken Cacciatore recipe comes together in about an hour, with only 30 minutes of hands-on time- a delicious, Italian Comfort food meal, that is easy enough for weeknights.
Chicken Cacciatore Recipe Video
Table of Contents
- Chicken Cacciatore Recipe Video
- Why you’ll love this recipe for Chicken Cacciatore
- Chicken Cacciatore Traditional Ingredients
- How to Make Italian Chicken Cacciatore
- Chicken Cacciatore Recipe Tips
- How to Store Italian Chicken Cacciatore
- Best Chicken Cacciatore Recipe FAQs
- What to serve with this Traditional Chicken Cacciatore Recipe
- More favorite chicken thigh recipes!
- Best Chicken Cacciatore Recipe
Why you’ll love this recipe for Chicken Cacciatore
- This recipe is incredibly flexible! Use chicken thighs, chicken breast, or even the whole bird. Leaving the skin on can create a more tender moist meat, but really it is quite delicious with skinless chicken breast as well. If going for the whole bird (parted out) you will want to wait to add the breasts near the end to avoid overcooking and drying out.
- It is easy to make! Just about 30 minutes hands on time.
- Everyone loves it! Chicken Cacciatore is a dish that appeals to most people, young and old!
- It is gluten free! The meat is seared in olive oil. (You can dredge in flour to help crisp up the meat, we skip this step, opting for gluten-free friendly and we didn’t miss a thing. But feel free to do it your own way!)
Looking for more? Check out our 40+ Best Chicken Breast Recipes and our 50+ Easy Dinner Ideas! ✨
Chicken Cacciatore Traditional Ingredients
This is a very forgiving and adaptable recipe. Make it your way!
- Chicken: bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs (or deboned also can use breasts, legs and wings).
- Vegetables: yellow onion, garlic, mushrooms, and bell pepper. Add celery, carrots or zucchini.
- Fresh Herbs: rosemary, parsley and basil. Use fresh thyme or sage in place of rosemary.
- Spices: red pepper flakes, dried oregano.
- Wine: Use white wine instead of red or skip the wine and use 2 tablespoons sherry or red wine vinegar.
- Olives and Capers: Green, black, any combo of your favorite variety and small capers.
- Mushrooms: Add dried porcini mushrooms, or any variety of fresh forest mushrooms- chanterelles, morels, oysters to name a few.
See the recipe card below for a full list of ingredients and measurements.
How to Make Italian Chicken Cacciatore
Step One– Pat the chicken dry. Season with salt and pepper.
Step Two– With a high heat oil, sear chicken on high heat for 3 minutes on each side, until a golden crust forms. Set chicken aside. (If using chicken with the skin on, it will produce more oil, you can drain oil from the pan, if needed, leave about a tablespoon or two in the pan.)
Step Three– In the same pan, sauté onions, mushrooms in olive oil (or use leftover chicken oil) for 3 minutes over medium heat. Add garlic, bell pepper and red pepper flakes, saute for 1 minute more.
Step Four– Lower the heat and add wine, crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, oregano, rosemary, olives, capers, salt and pepper. Stir to fully combine.
Step Five– Place seared chicken in the sauce. Simmer 15 minutes, uncovered. Test the internal temperature of the chicken, we are going for 165F. Simmer longer if needed. Bone-in thighs may take up to 35 minutes. The chicken breast will cook faster, 15-20 minutes.
TIP: Use a splatter screen while simmering as the sauce will sputter a bit.
Step Six– Stir in fresh parsley and scatter fresh basil leaves over the top.
Serve over pasta, polenta or just enjoy with a crusty loaf of bread!
Chicken Cacciatore Recipe Tips
- Use chicken thighs, breast, or even the whole bird.
- Leaving the skin on can create a more tender moist meat, but really it is quite delicious with skinless chicken breast as well.
- If going for the whole bird you will want to wait to add the breasts near the end to avoid overcooking and drying out.
How to Store Italian Chicken Cacciatore
Leftovers will keep in the refrigerator for up to 4 days in an airtight container, or seal and freeze for up to 3 months.
Best Chicken Cacciatore Recipe FAQs
Chicken Cacciatore is a rustic Italian chicken dish made with mushrooms and bell peppers simmered in rich, robust tomato sauce, enhanced with wine, capers and herbs. Cacciatore means “hunter” in Italian and this stew was often cooked over an open fire with whatever the hunter caught, such as rabbit, game birds, or pheasant. All parts of the animal would be used. Often a long cook time to tenderize the wild meat. This is another classic Italian dish that has a lot of variations.
Sure! The sauce is so good that you could leave the chicken out, double up on the mushrooms and serve over roasted or grilled eggplant.
Polenta, pasta, rice, potatoes, and risotto.
What to serve with this Traditional Chicken Cacciatore Recipe
More favorite chicken thigh recipes!
- Coq Au Vin
- Cuban Mojo Chicken
- Berbere Chicken with Ethiopian Lentils
- Gorgonzola Chicken with Mushrooms & Sage
- Chicken Marsala
- Rosemary Chicken with Roasted Grapes and Shallots
- Chicken Katsu (or Tofu Katsu!)
- Chicken Mole
- One Skillet Creamy Orzo Chicken
- Grilled Chicken Caprese
❤️Tonia
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Best Chicken Cacciatore Recipe
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour
- Yield: 4-6 servings
- Category: main, chicken
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: Italian
- Diet: Gluten Free
Description
Hearty and satisfying, Chicken Cacciatore is a rustic Italian classic. Serve on its own with crusty sourdough, pair with creamy polenta or over your favorite pasta. An easy comforting, meal the whole family with enjoy!
Ingredients
- 6 bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs (or 4 large chicken breasts, or whole chicken parts: legs, wings, breast, and thighs, feel free to use skinless.)
- 1 yellow onion, sliced in half-moon slices with the grain
- 10 ounces mushrooms, sliced thin
- 6 cloves garlic (about 1/2 of a medium garlic head), coarsely chopped
- 1 bell pepper, cut in approximate 2-inch strips
- 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 1/2 cup red wine (or skip the wine and use 2 tablespoons sherry or red wine vinegar)
- 28 ounces crushed tomatoes
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 2 teaspoons fresh rosemary, chopped
- 1/2 cup mixed pitted green olives and kalamata (swap out with your favorite kinds
- 1 teaspoon capers, unrinsed
- 1 teaspoon sea salt (more or less to taste)
- 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 2 tablespoon fresh parsley, roughly chopped
- a few fresh basil leaves
Instructions
- Pat the chicken dry. Season with salt and pepper. With a tablespoon of olive oil sear chicken on medium high heat 3 minutes each side, until a gold crust forms. Set chicken aside. (If using chicken with the skin on, it will produce more oil, you can drain oil from pan, if needed, leave about a tablespoon or two in the pan.)
- In the same pan, sauté onions, mushrooms in olive oil (or use left over chicken oil) for 3 minutes over medium heat. Add garlic, bell pepper and red pepper flakes, saute for 1 minute more.
- Lower the heat and add wine, crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, oregano, rosemary, olives, capers, salt and pepper. Stir to fully combine.
- Place seared chicken in the sauce. Simmer 25 minutes. Leave uncovered, though splatter screen is nice as it will sputter a bit. Test the internal temperature of the chicken, we are going for 165F. Simmer longer if needed. Bone-in thighs may take up to 35 minutes. Chicken breast will cook faster, 15-20 minutes.
- Stir in fresh parsley and scatter fresh basil leaves over the top. Serve over pasta, creamy polenta or just enjoy with a crusty loaf of bread!
Notes
Leftovers keep well in the fridge for 3 days.
Use chicken thighs, breast, or even the whole bird. Leaving the skin on can create a more tender moist meat, but really it is quite delicious with skinless chicken breast as well. If going for the whole bird you will want to wait to add the breasts near the end to avoid overcooking and drying out.
Nutrition
- Serving Size:
- Calories: 472
- Sugar: 9.7 g
- Sodium: 697.6 mg
- Fat: 26.6 g
- Saturated Fat: 4.5 g
- Carbohydrates: 18.4 g
- Fiber: 4.6 g
- Protein: 41.6 g
- Cholesterol: 167.9 mg
I made the chicken cacciatore for dinner and it was one of those comfort dishes that just feels good to eat. I used thighs & breasts, left our red pepper flakes during cooking, sprinkled them on my serving. Served with GF pasta and side salad.
We had watched the movie “Nonnas” and needed to make Italian food. Thank you, enjoying reading through your recipes.
Love the movie/ dinner theme! So glad you enjoyed this, appreciate your review!
Great recipe. Turned out amazing, just like my grandma’s.
So happy to hear this Abbey! Thanks for taking time to review. 🙂
This is a well-presented and tasty recipe. Instructions, notwithstanding punctuation errors, are quite coherent.
I find that adding 4 ounces of fresh spinach complements the taste and texture. Serve with Southern style cornbread or polenta.
Glad you enjoyed this Chase! And that you were able to tolerate our grammatical errors, I know that’s annoying- creativity with recipes is more our strong suit. 🙂
This is such a delicious recipe…I started it on the stove and finished it in the oven…will be making it regularly now!
Good to hear Colleen!
I made this last night and it was absolutely delicious! Do you think the leftovers would freeze well?
Yes should freeze fine! Glad you enjoyed.
Thanks for another great recipe! Made it exactly as written, and it was a huge hit with the family. They could not stop talking about how delicious it was!
Yay! Great to hear Heather.
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Shoot Sara, could you have your ad blocker turned on? It is playing for me in both safari and chrome.