Chicken cacciatore is the ultimate weeknight dinner that brings the comfort of Italian cuisine right to your table. This classic dish features tender chicken simmered in a rich tomato sauce, bursting with flavors from fresh herbs and vegetables. Whether you serve it over pasta or rice, it’s sure to be a hit with the whole family. The best part? You can have this hearty, flavorful meal ready in just 30 minutes. Perfect for those busy nights when you want something delicious without spending hours in the kitchen.
Why Our Recipe
- Adding heavy cream gives the sauce a rich and creamy texture.
- White wine adds depth and sophistication to the dish, but you can also substitute chicken broth.
- Ready in just 30 minutes, perfect for busy weeknights.
Ingredient Notes
- Chicken Thighs: Ideal for their juiciness and flavor. Substitute with chicken breasts or drumsticks if preferred.
- Bell Peppers: Adds sweetness and color. Feel free to use any color bell pepper.
- Mushrooms: Button or cremini mushrooms are great options.
- Tomato Sauce & Paste: If you need to omit the tomato paste, increase the tomato sauce to 12 ounces.
- Italian Seasoning: A key flavor component so don’t skip it!
- Flour: Can be substituted with a cup-for-cup gluten-free flour blend if needed.
- Butter: Can be substituted with extra olive oil.
- Wine: You can always replace the wine with chicken broth in the same amount.
- Heavy Cream: Adds richness, but can be substituted with half and half.
Tips from the Chef
Brown the chicken well to enhance its flavor and add depth to the sauce.
Use high-quality canned tomatoes for a consistent and rich flavor in the sauce.
Cook the vegetables until just softened to avoid mushiness.
Let the dish simmer gently to meld and intensify the flavors.
Add a Parmesan rind to the sauce while it simmers to impart an additional layer of savory depth (remove the rind before serving).
Serving Suggestions
Chicken cacciatore pairs beautifully with pasta, rice, or crusty bread to soak up the delicious sauce. It’s a versatile dish that fits well in a casual family dinner or as a comforting meal for special occasions. A light salad or veggies make great side dishes to balance the hearty flavors.
Storage & Reheating Instructions
Refrigerate any leftovers in an airtight container as soon as they’ve cooled down to room temperature. Properly stored, chicken cacciatore will last in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
Reheat in a skillet over medium heat, stirring occasionally until the dish is heated through, about 10-15 minutes.
More delicious chicken dinners…
Watch the video below where Rachel will walk you through every step of this recipe. Sometimes it helps to have a visual, and we’ve always got you covered with our cooking show. You can find the complete collection of recipes on YouTube, Facebook Watch, or our Facebook Page, or right here on our website with their corresponding recipes.
It took longer than I anticipated to cook due to using bone in skinless chicken thighs but once done it was very good and my extremely picky husband, who was a bit annoyed with dinner being so late, raved about it. Will make again!! ?
Can you use orange peppers, instead of red
Yes
Rachel, at the beginning of the video you referred to the chicken as boneless skinless chicken breasts . But thereafter, you called them “thighs” and the written recipe says thighs. Can you use breasts instead of thighs? Thanks…😊
Thighs will produce the best flavor, but technically you could always sub them out for chicken breasts.
This was an excellent recipe! We prepped/measured all the ingredients in advance, then set about to follow the cooking steps. We will make this often!
Rachael, In the beginning of this recipe you say use chicken breast but later you refer to the chicken as chicken thighs. I always use chicken thighs, which is what I’m seeing in the video. Just FYI
Brilliant! Your recipes are making me a hero.
Delish! I am cooking this up now and will let simmer for awhile. Will serve over egg noodles. Making homemade focaccia to go with it! Little wine here, little wine there ? Thank you!
This dish was delicious! My husband prefers the breast meat, but even with white meat, the sauce was so flavorful. And the best part was that it was easy. We made it together and it was fun. When I realized how flavorful that sauce was going to be, I didn’t want to waste it, so I served the whole thing over some pasta. Sunday delicious, but quick and easy enough for weeknights. We’ll definitely make this one again and again!
Wow!!! Really good recipe, thank you!
I’m not a fan of bell peppers, I used celery instead. I doubled the garlic, chicken broth instead of wine. And bone in thighs. Yum!!
I could just put the sauce over rice and I’d be a happy camper!
I come from Italian immigrants, my best friend is a 88 year old Italian immigrant and I can say this very good recipe. Bob, great adjustments. Try serving over polenta (cooked corn grits), 1 part corn grits to 5 part boiling water and some salt, soak one hour in crock pot on warm, turn on to high and cook about 3-4 hours, you can stir it once in a great while, near the end remove lid to cook out the moisture to the thickness you want, them mix in butter. Some people will mix in their favorite cheese. Polenta always took a lot of patients and hot grit spit burns near the end. This is a no fail recipe. Left overs can be sliced to desired thickness and baked or sauted. Slicing it thin and baking makes it nice and crisp. Polenta does thicken when cooled just like cream of wheat does. That is how people desire it when they pour their desired sauce over it. Sauce to choose, marinara, white cream, cacciatore,..you name it, you create it!
….excuse me, I normally use 1 part corn grits to 5 parts water but tonight the water did not absorb good, I used a different grit so maybe that is why. Try 4 parts water to 1 part corn grits. You can always add more water later if you think it did not cook soft. Sorry about that.
I made this recipe tonight for my family. It was a big hit. I’ll definitely will make this again
We really enjoyed this recipe! It’s easy to make and delicious! Thanks for sharing!
Look forward to making it again. 🙂
Made this yesterday and it was a HUGE hit! Used leftover red wine and doubled the amount to one-cup (I also had 9 thighs instead of 6 so I needed more sauce). I also did not have heavy cream or crushed tomatoes on hand (shame on me) so I improvised and used a jar of spaghetti vodka sauce instead. But did everything else the same. Absolutely delicious.