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This Easy Authentic Chicken Cacciatore is an Italian classic that is the ultimate comfort food that the whole family will love!
Chicken Cacciatore is an Italian classic recipe. It's often thought of as a hard dish to make because it can be hard to pronounce for some. Cacciatore, which is pronounced (kah-chuh-taw-ree), just means the word hunter in Italian.
So it's just a hunter-style chicken, which is traditionally a type of stewed chicken (or rabbit) cooked with an arrangement of vegetables like tomatoes, peppers, and onions. Of course, a little splash of wine helps to make this dish even more classically Italian.
Why you will love it!
- It's gluten-free!
- It's dairy-free!
- It's classic Italian Comfort food!
Classic Italian Ingredients
Chicken Thighs - I like to use bone-in skin-on chicken thighs for this recipe. This dark meat is tender, juice, and extra flavorful. You can use boneless breasts, but the flavor just won't be the same.
Arrowroot Starch - Dredging the chicken thighs lightly before searing helps with flavor in the final dish and helps to thicken the sauce as it cooks.
Classic Italian Trio - Bell Peppers, Onions, and Garlic - is it really an Italian dish without them? You can use which ones you like, but I tend to stick with the red, yellow, and orange peppers for this dish.
Mushrooms - These add a depth of flavor to the final dish with their earthiness. I like to use baby bellos, but you can use which ones you like.
Carrots - These add more color and depth of flavor with just a tad of sweetness to the final dish.
Crushed Tomatoes - I like using crushed tomatoes for this recipe because it helps bring the sauce together much better than just using tomato sauce.
Tomato Paste - It brings in more depth of flavor.
Kalamata Olives - I use the pitted ones and cut them in half. They add a nice little briny taste to the final sauce.
Balsamic Vinegar - Adds more depth of flavor as it simmers.
Dry White Wine - You can leave this is out if you prefer not to cook with wine. Just sub in equal parts chicken stock. If you will use a wine, make it a wine that you enjoy drinking, not just a random cooking wine that might not be to your liking.
Spices - Italian flavors are known for their fragrant spices that help to bring the flavors all together. You can use your own, or you can whip up a batch of my favorite go-to to keep on hand for not only this recipe but whenever the Italian cooking bug hits you.
My Go-To Italian Seasoning Blend
Making your own Italian seasoning blend at home is quick and easy to do and way more affordable than some of the options at the store.
It also has: No Additives/ Anti-Caking Ingredients – These ingredients could contain gluten.
Ingredients:
-
- 4 TBS Basil
- 2 TBS Oregano
- 1 TBS Rosemary
- 2 TBS Thyme
- 1 TBS Ground Sage
- 2 TBS Garlic Powder
- 1 TBS Salt
- 1 TBS Pepper
- 2 teaspoon Dried Lavender Optional but delicious!
Mix everything in a small food processor and pulse a few times until all the spices are about even in size.
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Classic Comfort Dinner
I promise this recipe comes together in no time, and then letting it sit and cook means you have more time hands-free to do what you need to do and still have all the comfort food when it's time to eat.
- Dredge the chicken thighs lightly with arrowroot starch and season with salt and pepper.
- Warm-up a heavy bottom stockpot (I use my favorite le Creuset for this dish.) over medium heat and preheat the oven to 325 degrees.
- Sear the chicken in the olive oil until it is nice and golden, then set them aside.
- In the skillet, saute the onions, carrots, mushrooms, and bell peppers with half the seasoning until they start to soften and get a little bit of color.
- Add in the minced garlic and then let it cook for 1-2 more minutes.
- Then add the crushed tomatoes, the wine (or chicken stock), balsamic vinegar, kalamata olives, and the remaining spices and give it a stir to combine.
- Place the chicken thighs back into the sauce.
- Cover and transfer the dish to the oven and cook for 45 minutes to an hour or until the sauce has thickened and the chicken falls off the bone tender.
Best Side Dishes to Serve
This dish is so full of flavor I like to keep its serving a little more simple. My go-to sides are typically things like mashed potatoes, rice, or some of our favorite gluten-free pasta. You can even keep it more simple with some more roasted veggies or zucchini noodles. It's totally up to you.
However, I often find myself making sure to make a batch of my Grain-free French Bread to go with this dish to dip into the sauce.
More Classic Italian Comfort Dishes
Million Dollar Spaghetti Squash Bake
📖 Recipe
Easy Authentic Chicken Cacciatore
Equipment
- Large Dutch Oven
Ingredients
- 2 TBS Olive Oil
- 2 LBS Bone-in Chicken Thighs
- 1 Medium Yellow Bell Pepper sliced
- 1 Medium Red Bell Pepper sliced
- 1 Medium Orange Bell Pepper sliced
- ½ C Baby Portobello Mushrooms sliced
- 1 Medium Yellow Onion sliced
- 1 ½ C Carrots sliced
- 4 cloves Garlic minced
- 1 28 oz Can Crushed Tomatoes
- 2 TBS Tomato Paste
- 1 C Kalamata Olives pitted
- 1 ½ C White Wine or chicken stock
- 1 ½ teaspoon Salt
- 1 teaspoon Pepper
- 2 TBS Italian Seasoning
- ¼ C Balsamic Vinegar
- ¼ C Fresh Parsley to garaish
Instructions
- Dredge the chicken thighs lightly with arrowroot starch and season with salt and pepper.
- Warm-up a heavy bottom stockpot (I use my favorite le Creuset for this dish.) over medium heat and preheat the oven to 325 degrees.
- Sear the chicken in the olive oil until it is nice and golden, then set them aside.
- In the skillet, saute the onions, carrots, mushrooms, and bell peppers with half the seasoning until they start to soften and get a little bit of color.
- Add in the minced garlic and then let it cook 1-2 more minutes.
- Then add the crushed tomatoes, the wine (or chicken stock), balsamic vinegar, kalamata olives, and the remaining spices and give it a stir to combine.
- Place the chicken thighs back into the sauce.
- Cover and transfer the dish to the oven and cook for 45 minutes to an hour or until the sauce has thickened and the chicken falls off the bone tender.
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