Chicken Cacciatore
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Tender chicken simmered in a rich red wine and tomato sauce with plenty of vegetables—this chicken cacciatore recipe is just the thing for a cozy dinner.
Chicken cacciatore, or “hunter’s chicken,” is a rustic Italian dish of chicken braised with tomatoes, wine, vegetables, and herbs. Traditionally, it’s made with a whole chicken cut into pieces, but for my chicken cacciatore recipe, I use only bone-in thighs. They’re inexpensive, cook evenly, and stay incredibly tender as they simmer in the rich red wine and tomato sauce.
Mushrooms, bell peppers, garlic, and fresh herbs round out the sauce, and the whole dish is even better after the flavors have had some time to mingle. Serve it over creamy polenta, Parmesan smashed potatoes, or pasta to catch every bit of the sauce. It’s old-fashioned Italian comfort food at its best.
“Followed the recipe exactly as written and served over polenta. Outstanding!!!”
What You’ll Need To Make Chicken Cacciatore
- Bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs: Ideal for a long braise because they stay juicy and tender. The skin helps flavor the sauce as the chicken cooks; you’ll remove it before serving.
- Flour: A light coating helps the chicken brown nicely and also gives the sauce a bit of body.
- Onion, garlic, mushrooms & red bell peppers: Form the vegetable base of the cacciatore. The mushrooms add savory depth, while the peppers bring sweetness and color.
- Dry red wine: Adds depth and acidity to the sauce. Use an inexpensive wine that’s still good enough to drink, such as Pinot Noir, Chianti, Merlot, or Cabernet Sauvignon, and avoid cooking wine.
- Chicken broth, diced tomatoes & tomato paste: Create the rich, savory braising sauce. Fire-roasted or regular diced tomatoes both work well.
- Sage, rosemary & oregano: Give the sauce its woodsy, Italian flavor. Fresh sage and rosemary are especially nice in a long-simmered dish like this.
- Honey: Just a tablespoon rounds out the acidity of the tomatoes and wine without making the sauce taste sweet.
- Jump to the printable recipe for precise measurements
How To make Chicken Cacciatore
Prep and brown the chicken: Pat the chicken dry, season it, and lightly dredge it in flour. Brown the thighs in batches until golden and crisp. Transfer to a plate and pour off all but a couple tablespoons of the rendered fat. Don’t rush the browning—it builds the foundation of flavor for the sauce.
Once it’s browned, move it to a plate and set it aside while you build the sauce.
Cook the vegetables: Add the onions and cook until softened and just beginning to brown, then add the garlic and cook briefly without letting it brown. Add the mushrooms and bell peppers and continue cooking until they begin to soften.
Add and reduce the wine: Pour in the red wine and bring it to a boil, scraping up all the flavorful browned bits from the bottom of the pot. Let the wine cook down until it has mostly evaporated; reducing it concentrates the flavor and cooks off its raw edge.
Build the sauce and braise the chicken: Add the chicken broth, diced tomatoes, tomato paste, herbs, honey, and remaining salt, and let the sauce simmer briefly so the flavors begin to come together. Return the chicken and any accumulated juices to the pot, spoon some of the sauce over the top, then cover and gently simmer until the chicken is tender and cooked through.
Finish the sauce: Transfer the chicken to a plate and simmer the sauce uncovered until it thickens to your liking. Remove and discard the chicken skin, then return the chicken and any accumulated juices to the pot and spoon the thickened sauce over the top. Garnish with parsley, if you like, and serve.
Serve: Spoon the chicken and plenty of sauce over creamy polenta, mashed potatoes, or pasta. Garnish with fresh parsley, if you like, and serve hot.
Video Tutorial
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Chicken Cacciatore
Ingredients
- 8 bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs (about 4 lbs/1.8 kg), trimmed of excess skin (see note)
- 2½ teaspoons salt, divided
- ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- ½ cup all-purpose flour
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1 large yellow onion, halved and thinly sliced
- 6 cloves garlic, minced
- 8 ounces bella or cremini mushrooms, sliced
- 2 red bell peppers, cut into ¼-in (6-mm) strips
- ¾ cup dry red wine (see note)
- 2 cups chicken broth
- 1 (14.5-oz) can fire-roasted or regular diced tomatoes
- ¼ cup tomato paste
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh sage
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 tablespoon honey
- Fresh chopped parsley, for garnish (optional)
Instructions
- Blot the chicken with a paper towel to remove any excess moisture. Season the chicken all over with 1½ teaspoons salt and the pepper. Place the flour on a large plate. Dredge the chicken pieces in the flour, coating all over.
- Heat the oil in a large (5-qt/5-L) Dutch oven or heavy-bottomed, high-sided large skillet over medium-high heat. Brown half the chicken in a single layer, skin side down, until golden and crispy, 5 to 7 minutes. Flip and brown on the other side for 1 to 2 minutes more. Using tongs, transfer the chicken to a large plate; set aside. Repeat with the remaining chicken. Pour off all but about 2 tablespoons of the fat.
- Return the pot to the stove and reduce the heat to medium-low. Add the onions to the pot and cook, stirring occasionally, until they are softened and just starting to brown, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook, stirring constantly, until fragrant, about 1 minute. Do not brown. Add the mushrooms and peppers and increase the heat to medium. Cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally until the veggies just begin to soften.
- Add the wine and bring to a boil over high heat. Cook, stirring to scrape the brown bits from the bottom of the pan, until the wine has mostly evaporated, 5 to 6 minutes.
- Add the chicken broth, diced tomatoes, tomato paste, sage, rosemary, oregano, honey, and the remaining 1 teaspoon salt. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to medium-low and gently simmer, uncovered, for 10 minutes.
- Add the chicken and any accumulated juices from the plate back to the pot, and spoon some of the sauce over it. Bring to a simmer, then cover and cook over medium-low heat for about 35 minutes, until the chicken is cooked through or registers 165 to 170°F (74 to 77°C) on a meat thermometer.
- Using a slotted spoon, transfer the cooked chicken to a plate. Gently simmer the sauce for a few minutes, or until it is thickened to your liking. Taste and adjust seasoning, if necessary.
- Using a fork and knife, pull the skin off of the chicken and discard. Add the chicken and any accumulated juices back to the pot and simmer, uncovered, for a few minutes, spooning the thickened sauce over the chicken. Garnish with parsley, if using, and serve.
Notes
- Sometimes chicken thighs have excess skin and/or fat. Before cooking, using kitchen shears, trim any skin that extends farther than the edges of the chicken thigh, and snip off any excess fat.
- For the wine, use any red (Pinot Noir, Chianti, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, etc.) that is inexpensive but still good enough to drink. Avoid “cooking wines,” which are salty and contain additives.
- Make-Ahead/Freezing Instructions: Let cool to room temperature and then store in the refrigerator for up to 3 days, or freeze in an airtight container for up to 3 months. Before serving, defrost in the refrigerator for 24 hours if necessary, and then reheat on the stovetop over medium-low heat until hot.
Pair with
Nutrition Information
This website is written and produced for informational purposes only. I am not a certified nutritionist and the nutritional data on this site has not been evaluated or approved by a nutritionist or the Food and Drug Administration. Nutritional information is offered as a courtesy and should not be construed as a guarantee. The data is calculated through an online nutritional calculator, Edamam.com. Although I do my best to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures should be considered estimates only. Varying factors such as product types or brands purchased, natural fluctuations in fresh produce, and the way ingredients are processed change the effective nutritional information in any given recipe. Furthermore, different online calculators provide different results depending on their own nutrition fact sources and algorithms. To obtain the most accurate nutritional information in a given recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe, using your preferred nutrition calculator.
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Second time making this Cacciatore recipe. This is a keeper for sure. I subbed white wine for red and served with pappardelle. So good!
Have you ever added olives to this recipe? I have a recipe that I enjoy and is similar but has olives which my family loves but Id like to try this recipe. If I add the olives do you think it would add too much acidity with the peppers already present?
I think it would be perfectly fine to add some olives to this. Hope you enjoy!
Hi Jen,
I made this and it was a huge hit with my family. I have a potluck coming up with friends and wonder if you have a crock pot version. Thanks!
Susan
Hi Susan, Yes, I think you could make this in a slow cooker. I’d add everything to the slow cooker after you’ve browned the chicken and sauteed the veggies. I don’t have a slow cooker so I’m not sure how long it will take. (You may want to do a little research about that.) I’d love to hear how it turns out if you try it!
I’ve made other recipes on this site that my family has really enjoyed. Because of all the great reviews, I decided to give this one a try. While this recipe was good, I didnt think it was worth the time it took to make it. I probably won’t make this again but I’m glad others have enjoyed it.
Made this for dinner this evening and have to say it was great – very tasty and looks amazing too. It was easy to follow the recipe and well worth it for the result. We had with rice, but I’d love to try making Polenta.
Another dish I will definitely add to repertoire. Thank you, Jenn!
I’m planning to make this recipe tomorrow for Sunday dinner. Just wondering, why do you remove the skin on the chicken thighs (after trimming and all so nicely)?
Also recipe says eight chicken thighs (3.5-4 lbs of chicken). I have eight thighs but combined they are about 2.6 lbs of chicken. Should I use a couple more thighs for this recipe?
Hi Jane, I think I’m weighing in too late to help, but if for some reason you didn’t make the dish last night, the skin protects the meat while cooking and also adds flavor, but it gets kind of flabby and unappealing during cooking, so that’s why I suggest removing it. And, sure, I’d add thighs to the recipe.
Made this for my mother’s birthday dinner last night. It was spectacular! Everyone from the 2 yr old to the birthday girl said it was delicious. I added zucchini per her request, delicious. I will definitely make this again!
can i use bone in chicken breasrs?
i have 4 that i thawed… and i could buy a few extra dark meat pieces
Sure – just be careful to not overcook them. Enjoy!
As always, an excellent recipe!!
I made this dish tonight for dinner, with a few challenges; I only needed a half recipe, and my wife has a thing about dark meat (so sad…). I also did not hace quite the right pan, which impacted my process and results. I halved all ingredients.
I cooked 1 breast and 3 thighs. I had a 4 qt dutch oven and a 7 qt dutch oven. the base of the smaller one would not even allow 2 thighs to lay flat, so I opted for the 7 qt one. Over all, this presented an issue because the large surface area and my smaller number of pieces of meat meant that liquid evaporated off during the simmer much faster than it probably should have.
I watched the meat with a thermometer, and the breast had to come out about 15-20 minutes before the thighs reached temperature, so when Jenn warns against overcooking breasts in this recipe, take heed!
At the end, I had a *very* thick sauce…too thick, and a lot of really brown bits on the bottom of the pan (probably due to the lack of moisture). I ended up adding probably another 1/3 cup of wine (it slipped 🙁 ) and 1/2-3/4 cup of chicken broth just to loosen it up. It came out pretty good, pretty intense flavors, but very dark.
Next time I will use my 6qt stainless soup pot or something.
This dish is phenomenal. I’ve been wanting to make it since you featured it in a recent newsletter, and it was even better than I imagined. I would be proud to serve it to guests, but it’s also easy enough to make a big batch and put some portions in the freezer for later. The flavors are so deep and balanced, but it’s not heavy. We loved it! I’m so grateful that any time I’m looking for a recipe, I know your version will be outstanding. Thank you!!
💜
Hi Jen. Do you “have to” brown the chicken first? I’m making this for 18 people so that’s a time consuming first step lol. If you take the skin off before serving, why bother browning in the first place? Is it just to add some flavour to the sauce? Just looking for a shortcut if possible!
Hi Kerrie, the browning is a pretty important step here for a couple reasons. It creates flavorful fat in the pan that the veggies will cook in, adds flavor to the skin (that will get infused into the liquid while the dish cooks), and creates browned bits on the bottom of the pan/skillet that create a ton of flavor. Sorry!
This recipe was fantastic! The chicken turned out incredibly tender and juicy. The first night, I paired it with a Caesar salad and some crusty French bread. For leftovers, I served it over pasta, and it was just as delicious. What a treat!