Chicken Cacciatore is such a classic, rustic and comforting Italian stew. Made with juicy chicken thighs in a beautiful tomato sauce flavoured with hearty vegetables, herbs, pancetta and olives. Comfort food doesn't get much better than this, serve with creamy polenta or Italian roast potatoes.
Pollo alla Cacciatora - alla cacciatora in Italian refers to dishes cooked 'hunter's style' although what hunter's style is, varies all over Italy.
This dish no matter where you are in Italy, is always simple, rustic and wholesome made with few ingredients but packed with beautiful hearty flavours.
Any dish made alla cacciatora always contains either meat, game or poultry. The other ingredients vary by region but carrot, celery and onion are a must.
Sometimes mushrooms are added and although you'll often find tomatoes and wine in your stew they're not always added. Bell peppers are often added in the south of Italy but we prefer our stew without them.
This recipe is absolutely delicious and really easy to prepare, it's the perfect way to warm up and stay cosy when it's cold out. Serve it with some crusty bread and your favourite sides for a perfect comfort food meal.
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Ingredients - what you need
Our Chicken Cacciatore recipe is super simple all you need is; chicken thighs (free-range if possible), carrot, celery, onion, pancetta, olives, chicken stock (low sodium), tomatoes, white wine, fresh rosemary, bay leaf and garlic. See the photo below that shows all the ingredients you need.
Step by step photos and recipe instructions
Heat olive oil in a large deep-sided skillet until hot. Sprinkle the chicken with salt then brown the chicken skin side down for 5-7 minutes until golden.
Turn the chicken around and brown on the other side for 2 minutes then remove and set aside on a plate. Drain the excess fat from the skillet but don’t wipe it clean (photos 1 & 2).
Add the pancetta to the hot skillet and fry for 2-3 minutes. Next add the finely chopped carrot, celery and onion and saute until soft but not browned around 5 minutes (photos 3 & 4).
Once soft, add the garlic, rosemary and bay and saute for another 2 minutes. Add the white wine and simmer for 1-2 minutes or until you can no longer smell the alcohol (photos 5 & 6).
Add the tomatoes and stock and stir everything together. Finally, add the chicken back to the pot, cover and simmer for 45 minutes (photos 7 & 8).
Uncover add the olives and simmer for a further 10 minutes to reduce the sauce slightly. While the sauce is reducing you can remove the chicken to a tray and place under a broiler (grill) for a couple of minutes to crisp the skin up, this is optional but gives you delicious crispy skin (photos 9-12).
Add the chicken back in and serve.
Serving suggestions
In Italy, hearty stews like this or Peposo (a Tuscan red wine beef stew) are often served with creamy polenta, it's smooth, creamy and buttery and perfect for soaking up all the juices.
You could serve this with some rustic crusty bread, Italian roasted potatoes or your favourite veggies.
Or just like Ossobuco Milanese (Braised Veal Shanks) you could serve this with a delicious saffron risotto.
Top tips and recipe FAQs
- Chicken - Use bone-in and skin on chicken thighs so they stay juicy and are full of flavour. I always use free-range chicken.
- Tomatoes - as with all Italian dishes the highest quality ingredients are important. Buy a brand of tomatoes you trust and won't leave you with an acidic flavour. I use Mutti or Cirio ad I've also heard good things about Cento tomatoes in the US.
- Carrot, celery and onion - also known as soffritto, it's the base for many Italian soups, sauces and stews. This is a must for adding flavour!
- Chicken stock - you can use chicken or vegetable stock but make sure to buy low sodium so you can control the amount of salt you add.
- Wine - You can use a dry red (e.g Chianti or Barbera) or white wine (e.g Vermentino or Gavi) to make this recipe. If you don't want to cook with wine then you can replace it with extra stock.
In Italian, when something is cooked or prepared alla cacciatora it means hunter's style. It refers to rustic and simple home-cooked dishes made with meat, game or poultry and simple vegetables.
You can use thighs or drumsticks to make this dish but make sure they have the skin on and bone in for best flavour. Dark chicken meat stays nice and juicy even when cooked for a long time whereas chicken breasts will dry out quicker and won't add a lot of flavour to the stew.
Yes, like all stews chicken cacciatore tastes even better the next day. You can make everything in advance and re-heat it until the chicken is piping hot throughout then serve the next day.
Absolutely, this freezes really well. Store it in suitable containers or bags then thaw completely before reheating.
More Italian comfort food recipes you might like
- Veal Saltimbocca with Prosciutto and Sage
- Steak Pizzaiola – (Carne alla Pizzaiola)
- Italian Beef Braciole (Braciole al Sugo Pugliesi)
- Creamy Tuscan Chicken with Garlic & Pancetta
- Eggplant Parmigiana (Parmigiana di Melanzane)
If you’ve tried this Chicken Cacciatore Recipe or any other recipe on the blog please let me know how you got on in the comments below, I love hearing from you! You can also FOLLOW ME on FACEBOOK, TWITTER, INSTAGRAM and PINTEREST to see more delicious food and what I’m getting up to.
📖 Full Recipe
Chicken Cacciatore (Pollo alla Cacciatora)
Ingredients
- 8 chicken thighs , skin on and bone in
- 1 large carrot , finely chopped
- 1 stick celery , finely chopped
- 1 onion , finely chopped
- 2 cloves garlic , finely chopped
- ½ cup pancetta (80g)
- ½ cup olives green or black (50g)
- 1 cup chicken stock low sodium
- 14.5 oz crushed tomatoes (400g)
- ½ cup white wine (125ml)
- 1 large sprig rosemary
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Heat olive oil in a large deep sided skillet until hot. Sprinkle the chicken with salt then brown the chicken skin side down for 5-7 minutes until golden. Turn the chicken around and brown on the other side for 2 minutes then remove and set aside on a plate. Drain the excess fat from the skillet but don’t wipe it clean.
- Add the pancetta to the hot skillet and fry for 2-3 minutes. Next add the finely chopped carrot, celery and onion and saute until soft but not browned around 5 minutes.
- Once soft, add the garlic, rosemary and bay and saute for another 2 minutes. Add the white wine and simmer for 1-2 minutes or until you can no longer smell the alcohol.
- Add the tomatoes and stock and stir everything together. Finally, add the chicken back to the pot, cover and simmer for 45 minutes.
- Uncover add the olives and simmer for a further 10 minutes to reduce the sauce slightly. While the sauce is reducing you can remove the chicken to a tray and place under a broiler (oven-grill) for a couple of minutes to crisp the skin up, this is optional but gives you delicious crispy skin.
- Add the chicken back in and serve.
Notes
- Chicken - Use free-range chicken if possible for best flavour.
- Tomatoes - as with all Italian dishes the highest quality ingredients are important. Buy a brand of tomatoes you trust and won't leave you with an acidic flavour. Crushed tomatoes are best for this recipe or chopped tomatoes in thick tomato juice such as Cirio Polpa.
- Chicken stock - you can use chicken or vegetable stock but make sure to buy low sodium so you can control the amount of salt you add.
- Wine - You can use a dry red or white wine to make this recipe. If you don't want to cook with wine then you can replace it with extra stock.
- Storage - leftovers will keep well in the fridge for 2-3 days and can be reheated. You can also freeze leftovers, thaw completely then reheat as needed.
Nutrition
- 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 this brand 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.
Florence
Mmm this looks delicious! I can almost smell it! Definitely going to try it with polenta. A big batch of this would be perfect for having the whole family round for Sunday lunch!