Chicken Cacciatore
Chicken Cacciatore – a quick, delicious, and easy Italian recipe! Made with chicken thighs, peppers, and a sweet tomato white wine sauce.
What is chicken cacciatore sauce made of?
The sauce is typically made of onions, peppers, tomatoes, herbs, and some sort of wine. I use white wine in this recipe for extra brightness. The sweetness of a white wine pairs great with the tomatoes.
Then all those ingredients get braised together and infuses all that flavor in the chicken.
Recipe modifications…
Feel free to add some mushrooms if you love them. They would be great in this sauce.
I used all bone in drumsticks legs. But you could use boneless, skinless chicken thighs or even chicken breasts. But I love the thighs for extra flavor and because they never dry out no matter how long you cook them!
What is traditionally served with chicken cacciatore?
A creamy risotto would be wonderful to soak up all the sauce.
White or brown rice would work if you are looking for something simple.
Crispy roasted potatoes or hasselback potatoes would be great if you are looking for something to impress!
Chicken Cacciatore
Ingredients
- 6 chicken drumsticks (or chicken thighs)
- 2 teaspoons salt plus more to taste
- 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper plus more to taste
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 red bell pepper thinly sliced
- 1 yellow bell pepper thinly sliced
- 2 carrots sliced
- 1 onion thinly sliced
- 5 garlic cloves minced
- 3/4 cup dry white wine
- 1 28-ounce can diced tomatoes with juice
- 3/4 cup reduced-sodium chicken broth
- 2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1/4 cup coarsely chopped fresh basil leaves
Instructions
- Sprinkle the chicken pieces with 1 teaspoon of each salt and pepper.
- In a large heavy saute pan, heat the oil over a medium-high flame. Add the chicken pieces to the pan and saute just until brown, about 5 minutes per side. If all the chicken does not fit in the pan, saute it in 2 batches. Remove chicken and set aside.
- Add bell peppers, carrots, onions, garlic, salt and pepper to taste, and saute over medium heat until the onion is tender, about 5 minutes.
- Add the wine and simmer until reduced by half, about 3 minutes. Add the tomatoes with their juice, broth, balsalmic vinegar, and oregano. Return the chicken pieces to the pan and turn them to coat in the sauce.
- Season with remaining salt, pepper and chopped fresh basil.
- Place the chicken back into the pan and sink into the juices.
- Bring the sauce to a simmer. Continue simmering over medium-low heat until the chicken is just cooked through, about 30 minutes for the breast pieces, and 20 minutes for the thighs.
- Serve with cooked pasta, polenta warm crusty bread, or quinoa.