Chicken Cacciatore

Chicken Cacciatore is one of those rustic dishes that turns simple ingredients into a delicious meal!

Juicy pieces of bone-in chicken, bell peppers, mushrooms, and onions are simmered in a rich and zesty tomato sauce. I serve this saucy dish over pasta for a great meal.

Why I Love This Dish

This hearty and rustic stew is a filling meal, it turns basic ingredients into an amazing meal.It’s easy to prepare, and most of the cooking time is hands-off while it slowly simmers on the stovetop.Since the chicken is bone-in, it comes out extra tender and flavorful.Adding extra veggies or sauce to serve over pasta can stretch this meal to serve a crowd. This chicken cacciatore recipe can be made ahead of time and freezes well.

Ingredients for Chicken Cacciatore

Chicken – For the best results, use bone-in chicken. Dark meat like chicken thighs or drumsticks won’t dry out so they are my first choice.

What is chicken cacciatore?

Cacciatore means “hunter” in Italian. This dish is traditionally a tomato-based stew made with root vegetables, garlic, red wine, some herbs and spices, and chicken (or rabbit).

Hunter-style recipes often include braising the meat. While this sounds fancy, it is easy and it consists of crisping the skin and then slow cooking in liquid. In this recipe, the chicken is browned and simmered in tomato sauce.

Vegetables – Bell pepper, onion, mushrooms, and garlic combine to make such a flavorful sauce (and are healthy too)! Add extra veggies to stretch the meal even further.

Sauce – The browned chicken is braised (or simmered) in a tomato based sauce. Italian spices like rosemary, oregano, and red pepper flakes are added with capers (or kalamata olives) to create a classic Chicken Cacciatore flavor.

Wine – Adding red wine to recipes adds a flavor that is hard to beat with other liquids. If you don’t have red, you could try dry white wine. The alcohol is burned off during cooking, but if you prefer to skip the wine, add some low-sodium chicken broth (this will change the flavor of the dish somewhat).

How to Make Chicken Cacciatore

While this traditional Italian recipe takes some time to cook, it is super easy to prep:

Season & brown the chicken (per the recipe below) in a dutch oven or deep skillet.Soften the veggies. Add the remaining sauce ingredients & simmer, covered.Add the browned chicken to the pot (skin side up) & simmer until tender and cooked throughStir in the capers and serve over spaghetti.

Garnish with fresh herbs like basil or parsley and parmesan cheese if you’d like.

Try These Sides with Chicken Cacciatore

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