Chicken cacciatore is a wonderful dish to serve anytime, but especially when those crisp autumn evenings come around. I like to use a combination of chicken thighs and breasts for this dish. Keeping the chicken skin on and the bones in gives this dish extra flavor. But remember, the chicken thighs will cook a bit faster than the breasts so make sure to take them out of the simmering sauce after about 20 minutes. The breasts will need another 10 minutes or so to cook through.
Chicken Cacciatore
Chicken cacciatore is a wonderful dish to serve anytime, but especially when those crisp autumn evenings come around. I like to use a combination of chicken thighs and breasts for this dish. Keeping the chicken skin on and the bones in gives this dish extra flavor. But remember, the chicken thighs will cook a bit faster than the breasts so make sure to take them out of the simmering sauce after about 20 minutes. The breasts will need another 10 minutes or so to cook through.
Yield
4-6 Servings
Prep Time
20 minutes
20 min
Cook Time
45 minutes
45 min
Total Time
1 hour 5 minutes
1 hr 5 min
Ingredients
Instructions
Using a paper towel, dry off the skin of the chicken thighs and breasts. Sprinkle the chicken pieces with salt and pepper. Place the flour on a plate. Dredge the chicken pieces in the flour, coating all sides of the chicken.
In a large heavy sauté pan place enough olive oil to just coat the bottom of the pan. Heat on medium-high heat. When hot, reduce heat to medium and carefully add the chicken breasts and thighs. Cook on all sides until evenly browned. Depending on the size of your pan, you may need to do this in batches, adding additional olive oil as needed. As pieces are browned, remove them and place on a paper-towel lined platter or sheet pan.
Sauté the onion, garlic, bell pepper, celery, and carrot in the same pan used for the chicken, adding additional olive oil as needed. Sauté over medium heat until the vegetables soften, about 3 minutes. Add the white wine and simmer to reduce by half. Add the tomatoes, with the juice, along with the broth, capers, dried oregano, and dried basil. Mix gently to combine the sauce ingredients.
Return the chicken pieces to the pan, placing them snuggly but evenly in the pan. Bring mixture to a simmer and cook until chicken pieces are done. The chicken tthighs will cook through in about 20 minutes and the breasts in about 30 minutes. I remove the thighs after they are cooked through to allow the chicken breasts to continue cooking.
Transfer the chicken to a serving platter. Taste the sauce and adjust the salt and pepper as needed. Spoon the sauce over the chicken and garnish with the slivered fresh basil leaves.
Chicken cacciatore is a wonderful dish to serve anytime, but especially when those crisp autumn evenings come around. I like to use a combination of chicken thighs and breasts for this dish. Keeping the chicken skin on and the bones in gives this dish extra flavor. But remember, the chicken thighs will cook a bit faster than the breasts so make sure to take them out of the simmering sauce after about 20 minutes. The breasts will need another 10 minutes or so to cook through.
If you’ve been reading my blog, you know that I am a big fan of San Marzano tomatoes. These special Italian tomatoes have less acidity and a slightly sweeter flavor than a traditional plum tomato. If you can’t find diced San Marzano canned tomatoes, simply buy the whole tomatoes in juice and use your hands to break them up before adding them to your chicken cacciatore sauce.
This recipe is featured in my cookbook, A Gift of Cookies. With over 200 cookie recipes (including an entire chapter just on macarons!) my cookie cookbook makes the perfect holiday gift. Or if you love cookies as much as I do, buy one for yourself and get a jump start on your holiday baking
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