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Tender chicken with crispy skin served with hearty vegetables, pancetta and creamy cannellini beans. This is a cosy and comforting dish that’s perfect for those cold evenings when you crave something warming and delicious.
Quick recipe overview
- Flavour and texture – Crispy chicken skin, tender vegetables and creamy and beautifully beans packed full of umami-rich flavour.
- Perfect for – a cosy and comforting dinner for cold evenings.
- Serve with – you can serve this as a complete meal or add a green veg like broccolini.
This is one of those cosy and hearty dishes that also feels a little special. It’s perfect for slow weekends when you have a little more time to prep and are craving some delicious home-cooked food.
If you love braised chicken, then our Pollo in Potacchio is another favourite that’s incredibly simple, full of flavour and well worth trying too.
Ingredients notes
Pin this now to find it later
Pin It- Pancetta – you could also use guanciale or bacon lardons.
- White wine – I recommend using a dry Italian white such as Pinot Grigio, Vermentino, Pecorino or Gavi. You can skip the wine if you prefer.
- Herbs – I love the combination of bay, rosemary and sage. Thyme would also work really well (woody herbs work best in this recipe).
- Chicken stock – I highly recommend using low-sodium stock; otherwise, the dish will be overly seasoned.
- White beans – good quality beans make a world of difference here and are well worth spending a little extra on, in my opinion. The beans should be smooth and creamy in texture and not grainy or tough. I love Bold Bean Co or M&S’s own jarred beans if you are in the UK (such good quality). Impulse Beans seem to be very similar and are available in the US. There should only be 3 ingredients: beans, water and salt.
Visual walk-through of the recipe
This is a visual walk-through with step by step photos to assist you. Scroll to the bottom for the full written recipe.
Step 1 – season the chicken with salt front and back (photo 1). Heat a large saute pan and add the olive oil. Once hot, place the chicken skin side down and brown for 10 minutes. Turn it over and brown for another 10 minutes on the other side (photos 2 and 3).
Step 2 – Remove the chicken to a plate and set aside. Next, add the pancetta to the pan and let it turn slightly golden. Add the vegetables with the herbs and saute for 10 minutes until softened then add the garlic for another minute (photos 4 and 5).
Step 3 – Once soft, add the wine and scrape any brown bits at the bottom of the pan. Let the wine reduce by half (photo 6).
Step 4 – Add the chicken back to the pan and pour in the stock. Let it simmer gently for 40 minutes. Remove the chicken to a clean plate and add the beans to the pan. Stir them into the juices for 5-10 minutes until hot and slightly creamy, then serve with the chicken (photos 7 and 8).
Top tip!
- Prep before starting – finely chop the veg, make up your stock and season your chicken in advance. It’s so much easier to cook when everything is prepped.
More Italian chicken recipes to try
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Step By Step Photos Above
Most of our recipes come with step by step photos, helpful tips and tricks to make it perfectly first time and even video!
Braised Chicken Thighs with Pancetta, Sage and Beans
Ingredients
- 8 chicken thighs, skin on and bone-in
- 1 Carrot
- 1 Celery
- 1 Onion
- 2 Garlic, cloves
- 3.5 oz Pancetta, (100g)
- ⅓ cup dry Italian white wine , (80ml) can omit if preferred
- 5-6 Sage leaves
- 1-2 sprigs Rosemary
- 1 Bay leaf
- 3.5 cups white beans, (855g/30oz total undrained weight)
- 2 and ¼ cups low-sodium chicken stock, (500ml)
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- Salt
Instructions
Prep
- Finely chop the carrot, celery and onion and place in a bowl, set aside. Finely chop the garlic and keep it separate. Make up your stock and season the chicken on both sides with salt.
- Heat a large saute pan (with high sides) until hot. Add the olive oil, then place the chicken skin side down. Brown the chicken skin side down for 10 minutes, then turn it over and brown for another 10 minutes. Set the chicken aside on a plate.
- Next, add the pancetta to the pan and fry until slightly golden. Add the vegetables and herbs and saute for 10 minutes. Add the garlic and saute for another minute until fragrant.
- Add the white wine and let it reduce by half, scraping any brown bits from the bottom of the pan. Once reduced, add the chicken back in and pour over the stock. Let it simmer gently, uncovered, for 40 minutes.
- Note: If the liquid reduces too much, add ½ cup (125ml) of water to top it up.
- After 40 minutes, remove the chicken to a clean plate. Add the cooked beans with a little of their cooking liquid (I like to rinse the beans but keep about 2 tablespoons of their starchy water to add to the sauce, which helps thicken it) and stir into the pan.
- If you would like the consistency a little saucier, you can add a splash of water. Cook the beans for about 5-10 minutes until hot and slightly creamy, then serve with the chicken.
Notes
- Chicken – I serve 2 chicken thighs per person, but if your chicken thighs are large, you may only need 1.
- Note on beans – the quality of the beans makes a big difference. Look for beans slowly cooked and stored in jars; there should only be 3 ingredients listed: beans, water and salt. My go-tos if in the UK are Bold Bean Co or M&S’s own jarred white beans. If you are in the US, then Impulse Beans look very similar, although I haven’t tried them myself.
- Note on bean cooking water (stock) – good quality beans have excellent cooking water, which is starchy and has a jelly-type consistency. This is gold for thickening sauces and adding flavour. You can either drain the beans but don’t rinse them or reserve some of the cooking liquid (around 2 tablespoons) and rinse the beans. I prefer to do the latter when I don’t want an extra-thick sauce.
- Storage and reheating – leftovers will keep well in the fridge for 2-3 days. I like to reheat the chicken on a tray in the oven at 180C/350F for about 15 minutes (or until hot all the way through) and reheat the beans in a pan on the stove. Add a splash of water to adjust the consistency and loosen.
Helpful Info for All Recipes
- I always use extra virgin olive oil in all of my recipes unless stated otherwise
- When I use canned or jarred tomatoes of any kind I always use Cirio or Mutti brands for the best results and flavour.
- All vegetables are medium sized unless stated otherwise
- All recipes are tested and developed using a fan (convection) oven
- Find out more about how nutrition is calculated.
- Check out our must have Italian Pantry Staples.
- You can also find all our Essential Kitchen Tools for Italian Cooking.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
