You'll love this hearty, rustic chicken cacciatore recipe with mushrooms and bell peppers in a flavorful tomato sauce. Fall apart tender chicken with all the comforting aromtics and Italian flavors the family loves. And you can make it stovetop or in your crockpot!
Be sure to watch the video below for how to make it.
When my family is in the mood for comfort food, I know it's time for something Italian. It could be anythying from a simple pasta with my homemade spagetti sauce, meatball soup, eggplant lasagna, or something for a lazy night like sheetpan chicken sausage and peppers.
But especially during the cooler months, I love to serve something rustic, extra saucy, stewed to tender perfection, like today's chicken cacciatore recipe! Add a side of crusty bread and call it good.
What is chicken cacciatore?
"Cacciatore" actually translates from Italian to "hunter." And chicken cacciatore is a rustic, hunter-style braised chicken with onions, herbs, tomatoes, and sometimes chopped vegetables.
It is one of those classics my Italian-American friends grew up with. And true to hunter-style cooking, almost every household has their own version of it. This is because you are meant to use what chicken (or rabbit), herbs and other items you have on hand to create this comforting one-pot meal.
Aside from the chicken, the basic ingredients in chicken cacciatore are: onions, herbs, tomatoes and sometimes mushrooms. Some variations will call for carrots and celery, while others call for bell peppers or other vegetables. Some even flavor the tomato sauce with anchovies, which I haven't tried yet.
Here's what's in this recipe:
I went with a combination of onions, bell peppers and mushrooms in this easy recipe. Here's what I used:
- Chicken. For the comforting, rustic finish it's best to use bone-in, skin on chicken pieces. I used 6 chicken thighs, but a combination of chicken thighs, legs, or breast will work (I would divide the breast into smaller pieces for even cooking).
- Extra virgin olive oil for browning the chicken.
- Vegetables & Aromatics: onions, celery, bell peppers (I used ½ red bell pepper and ½ green bell pepper, but any combination will work), garlic.
- Mushrooms. I keep things simple here by using either baby bella or white mushrooms (about 8 ounces), nothing fancy.
- Herbs and Spices. A combination of dry oregno with fresh thyme and parsley. A pinch of red pepper flakes, if you like a little heat (I think it adds something special)
- Red wine for the sauce. 1 cup of any dry red wine that you like, it does not need to be expensive.
- Crushed tomatoes from a 28-ounce can.
How to make chicken cacciatore
You'll need a big deep pan or braising pot with a lid for this stovetop recipe. Here's the step-by-step tutorial (scroll down for the print-friendly recipe and video):
- Season and brown the chicken. Give the chicken pieces a good sprinkle of extra virign olive oil (and get underneath the skin). In a large pan or braiser with a lid (I used this All- Clad One<- affiliate link), heat up some extra virgin olive oil and brown the chicken on both sides over medium-high heat (start with skin side down first). You might utlize a splatter screen for this part (affiliate link). Set the chicken aside for now so you can use the pan for the veggies and sauce.
- Cook the vegetables and mushrooms. Return the pan or braiser back to the heat. Now cook the onions, celery, peppers, mushrooms, and garlic, over medium heat. Season with salt and pepper and add in the herbs and spices ( 1 teaspoon oregano, 2 sprigs thyme, 2 tabelspoons fresh parsley, a pinch of red pepper flakes). Toss the veggies around until they soften nicely. Add in the garlic and cook a little bit more.
- Make the sauce. To the vegetables, now add the red wine and cook for about 5 minutes to reduce. Add the crushed tomatoes and let the sauce bubble gently for a bit (another 10 minutes or so).
- Add the chicken and cook. Nestle the chicken in the sauce and cook over low heat, covered, for 30 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through to tender perfection! Add a little garnish of parsley if you like.
Crock-Pot Chicken Cacciatore
If you want to make this chicken cacciatore recipe in your slow cooker, here is what you do:
- Brown the chicken in the extra virgin olive oil. Once browned, transfer the chicken to the slow cooker.
- Add the onions, celery, bell peppers, mushroom and garlic on top of the chicken. Season with kosher salt, black pepper and the rest of herbs and spices.
- Pour the wine and crushed tomatoes all over the chicken and vegetables.
- Cover and set the slow cooker to LOW for 8 hours or HIGH for 4 hours.
Serve it with
You can serve it on top of plain pasta, polenta, or even rice! Heck, I love it with just a good side of crusty bread to sop up the sauce. Can't go wrong with that!
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Easy Chicken Cacciatore Recipe
Ingredients
- 6 chicken thighs bone in, skin on, trimmed of excess fat
- Kosher salt and black pepper
- Extra virgin olive oil
- 1 small yellow onion chopped
- 2 celery ribs chopped
- ½ red bell pepper chopped
- ½ green bell pepper chopped
- 8 ounces mushrooms (white or baby bella) cleaned and sliced
- 3 garlic cloves minced
- 1 teaspoon oregano
- 3 sprigs fresh thyme
- 2 tablespoon fresh chopped parsley more for later
- Pinch red pepper flakes
- 1 cup red wine
- 28 ounce can crushed tomatoes
Instructions
- Pat the chicken dry and season with salt and pepper on both sides and underneath the sikn.
- In a large pan or braiser (with a lid), heat 2 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil over medium-high until shimmering but not smoking. Add the chicken, skin side down first. Cook until golden brown, then turn over to brown on the other side (about 8 minutes total). Remove the chicken and set aside on a plate.
- In the same braiser, add the onions, celery, peppers, mushrooms, and garlic. Cook over medium heat, tossing regularly. Add koserh salt, pepper, oregano, fresh thyme, parsley and red pepper flakes. Allow the vegetables to cook for 5 to 6 minutes or until tender.
- Add the red wine and cook for a few minutes until the wine has reduced by about ½, then add the tomatoes. Cook 5 to 10 minutes over medium heat, stirring occasionally.
- Now add the chicken pieces back to the pan. Reduce the heat to medium-low. Cover and allow the chicken to cook for 30 minutes or until cooked through.
- Garnish with parsley.
Video
Notes
- Crockpot option. If you need to make this in your slow cooker or corckpot, brown the chicken first, then transfer it to the slow cooker. Add the rest of the ingrients to the slow cooker. Cover and set the corckpot on LOW for 8 hours or on HIGH for 4 hours.
- Leftovers & Storage. Bring cooked chicken cacciatore to room temprature before then store in tight-lid containers in the fridge for up to 4 days. You can also freeze it for up to 3 months. Thaw in the fridge overnight before reheating.
- Visit Our Shop to browse quality Mediterranean ingredients inclduing extra virgin olive oils and spices.
Nutrition
Suzy, what is the size of each serving? It says it serves 6, and you have listed the calories, but what is the serving? 1 cup, 2 cups? I am dieting and counting calories but without knowing the serving size, I cannot count these. Thank you!
Hi, Deb! This particular recipe can be divided 6 get the approximate "serving size", so that would be one chicken thigh with a bit of sauce. The nutrition info here is our best effort and we use a program that calculates that for us based on the ingredient list. The exact serving size measurement (by grams, cups, etc) is another layer that's harder for us to precisely calculate at the moment.
Deb I understand how hard it is to diet, but the majority of the gals that have been eating this food have suddenly begun to loose weight. It is almost as though their metabolic process was kicked into high gear. They may not eat this food at every meal but at least every other day. I have literally watched them melt away. My daughter from a 14/16 down to an 8 in 4 months without trying. Good Luck
I make chicken cacciatori at least once a month, if not more in the winter time!! We love that food and I can't wait to try your version of it, although it does look very similar to mine!! Thanks again for another fabulous recipe!!
Suzy, Thank you for this recipe. My wife doesn't like mushrooms, so I typically substitute Roland chestnuts, or toasted pine nuts. I liked your idea of adding the heat; I use Delallo Calabrian peppers for that. I didn't have anchovies on hand, but I did add anchovie paste, thanks for that thought. Perfect recipe, Thank you!
Yum! Thanks for sharing your adaptations here, David!
This is absolutely amazing! So simple and delicious. My 7-year old grandson would have eaten it all if we'd let him. I've made it with bone in and boneless.
I tried this recipe, Mediterranean chicken cacciatore for our youngest son. Just divorced, his son visits Wednesday for supper and needed something to serve. Easy to make, warm, and serve over spaghetti.
I'll let you know if it's successful.
Thanks for the recipe!
This was easy to make, I used an entire green and yellow pepper and added black olives for more vegetables and it turned out great. Loved it
Yes, I agree; black olives! I did the same, added a carrot but didn't have olives in the pantry.
I plan on using fresh basil instead of the parsley. About how much should I use?
Thank you so much for this recipe. Totally a favourite with my family. I cook your meals at least 4 nights in the week and feel bad that with a busy life, I do not always leave a comment. I have a NEVER been disappointed. Always flavourful, clear and with such variety. Delicious - best and easiest website to navigate!!
Easy and delicious! I used boneless chicken breasts, and they came out moist and tender. Next time, I’m going to make this in the slow cooker. There was enough sauce left over to save for a pasta lunch.
Will this still work without the mushrooms? My husband is allergic to them.
Sure! You can just omit them. Hope you enjoy the recipe!
Sounds like a great recipe, and I'm looking forward to trying it. However, my husband doesn't like dark meat chicken. How much chicken breast should I buy instead?
Hi, Helen. 1.5-2 lbs. would probably work here if you want to replace the thighs. Hope that helps!
Absolutely amazing! So glad to have found the Mediterranean Dish and all of your wonderful recipes. I didn’t have bone in chicken thighs but I did have boneless skinless and it was still WOW!!! I will most definitely be making this again and again. The flavors were incredible to say the least . Thanks for sharing the recipe with us.
So glad you enjoyed it, Greg!
So happy to find a recipe using skin-on, bone-in chicken. Love that I have all of the ingredients in my pantry and/or fridge. I know my family will love this meal. Do you recommend spaghetti or fettuccine, or a short, round pasta to accompany. Thanks for a lovely recipe! Can't wait to try it.
Hi, Beverly! I love this recipe with a pasta with nooks and crannies (like rotini), but really anything would work!
Can you use chicken breast instead of thighs not a fan of dark meat. Is the cooking time more or less?
Thank you
Belinda Downes
Hi, Belinda! Sure, you can use chicken breasts. They will cook a bit faster, so keep a close eye on them.
As always, this recipe was very well-received by my family! It was hearty, it was flavorful - the mix of flavor makes it the best chicken cacciatore I have ever done! Thank you Suzy for sharing your recipes! Since I didn't have so much parsley, I added a little bit of sugar, haha! I hope I didn't fail you, Suzy, with this added ingredient. Thanks so much and will try the Shawarma next! (IG: _Charm1022)
Awesome! Can't wait to hear what you think of the shawarma.
Excellent! My husband loved it. He thought it was restaurant quality (so did I) and thanked me 4 times for making such a delicious meal! Thank you!
Yay! I love hearing that! Thanks, Geri!
As soon as the pandemic is over, I am planning on having lots of company. I’m practicing lots of one pot meals as I want to interact with my guests as much as possible and not spend so much time in the kitchen. This chicken cacciatore is delicious and I can’t wait to share it with my friends and family.
Wonderful! I can't wait either!!!