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 1/2 red bell pepper and 1/2 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 tsp oregano
- 3 sprigs fresh thyme
- 2 tbsp 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 tbsp 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 1/2, 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
I think your website is well set up.
Lot’s of good info and recipes.
Your recipe mentions a video, which I couldn’t find.
I changed some of the quantities, more veggies, less meat.
I made I’d a little fusion: coconut oil, hot paprika, ginger powder, and I didn’t have mushrooms. Also less wine (but good quality Beaujolais)
This type of dish is usually better the following day, all the flavours blended in well. We’ll see tomorrow.
So sorry you couldn’t see the video. Unfortunately some web browsers block pop ups which, for some reason, also blocks instructional videos. You may need to adjust your browser settings, or try a different browser on your end in order to see them.
Hi, I keep a supply of your easy chicken cacciatore frozen for surprise visits by kids or friends. It is very hard to get wrong but I advise against substituting mushroom with reconstituted shitake. It was fine as this cook was just for the two of us, but not as smooth and balanced as usual. (That did not stop us going in for seconds though.)
Thanks for that tip, Margaret!
I enjoyed this dish as a kid growing up in NY and haven’t made it in a long time. So, I had to try it; easy and delicious just as written, except I used four chicken thighs as there are only two of us, so having enough for a second meal. I’ll definitely make this again. Thank you for another wonderful recipe.
Awesome! Thanks, Jacqueline!
This is soooooooooo good! Easy – it just takes a little bit of time to chop the veggies, but it was a big hit tonight in our house! And you really don’t need a side dish – it truly is a one pot meal. I just did a baguette as suggested to soak up all that tasty sauce. Just try this!
Sounds perfect! Thanks, Belinda!
I have been making chicken cacciatore for years and it was my family’s favorite dish. I tried this one and threw the old recipe away. This is absolutely delicious and is now our favorite dish.
What a compliment! Thanks, Michelle!
I would give it a3 1/2. Needed to be a little bit thicker
Made last night, using mushrooms and carrots as that’s what I had. It was absolutely delicious, richly flavoured and even my veg hating husband enjoyed every mouthful. Thank you!
Yessss! Love it when we can even impress the “veggie hating” crowd, lol!! Thanks for the great review, Sarah!
Did not turn out very flavourful :/
Tried this recipe in the slow cooker and was disappointed. The sauce was too watery for me and of course took away a lot of the taste. Maybe the recipe is best on the stove. I am going to try and save my dish tomorrow with a little tomato paste to thicken the sauce and add a little more seasoning. Would love to know what went wrong to make it so watery or other ideas to thicken it.
Don’t want to use the red wine so what can I use instead or could I just leave it out.
You can use cooking wine, that has no alcohol. But the wine adds the flavor, so use a wine you would drink.
Don’t want to use the wine in the recipe, what is a good substitute? TY
Hi, Jan! You can use a bit of broth in place of the wine. Not quite the same flavor profile, but still tasty!
You can use chicken/beef broth and a tablespoon of red wine vinegar.
What red wine did you use?
Hi, Jan. Any inexpensive dry red wine would work here. Something like a Pinot Noir or Merlot.
I love all your recipes and have never been disappointed. That said, I am using this recipe for Sunday dinner. I love mushrooms, but don’t have them and don’t feel like going out for them. Maybe I’ll add some cannellini beans?
I’m feeling lazy today, and although I prefer braising in the oven, I may use the crock pot.
Just wanting to say thanks for a recipe that I know I can rely on.
I love this recipe! My one suggestion is that instead of using pepper flakes to add a little heat, I use a morita chile (from which I have removed most of the seeds) to add a touch of smokey flavor!
Wonderful recipe! My daughter and I have it weekly! Also stores well for leftovers or lunch.
Thanks!
Bill
I would give ten if I could! This was delicious! Your recipes are the best!
Thanks so much, Frank!