Rustic, fragrant and soooo delicious, when you make our chicken cacciatore recipe, get ready to feast like you’re at your favorite Italian restaurant! Chicken thighs become meltingly tender in a rich, classic cacciatore sauce with red wine, tomatoes, mushrooms and peppers in this surprisingly easy, classic Italian dinner. Grab your favorite Dutch oven and let’s make the greatest one-pot chicken recipe of your life! Need classic Italian chicken dinner ideas? Try our old-school Chicken Parmesan or our slightly newer-school Chicken Meatballs with Polenta.
What Is Chicken Cacciatore?
Chicken cacciatore originated in Italy, where it’s called chicken alla cacciatora, meaning “hunter’s chicken.” Marcella Hazan—we always turn to Marcella when we need to know the history of an Italian recipe—writes “there has always been a hunter in nearly every Italian household” and each household, therefore, has their own riff on ‘chicken cacciatore.’ Because of this, there’s no one perfectly authentic way to make chicken cacciatore — instead, lots of versions could be considered “authentic”. Still, chicken cacciatore recipes usually include tomatoes, usually mushrooms, onions, and other vegetables, and we think our chicken cacciatore recipe is pretty darn classic.
Chicken Cacciatore Ingredients
Chicken thighs. We’re calling for bone-in, skin-on thighs for this recipe.
Bell pepper. We like red bell peppers because they meld into the redness of this dish, but it’s OK to use what you have.
Shallots. A little sweeter and gentler than onions, shallots are divine in cacciatore.
Cremini mushrooms. White button mushrooms are OK if that’s all you’ve got, but we think creminis are a little richer and more flavorful.
Garlic. Fresh garlic, ALWAYS. This is Italian food, after all.
Chicken stock. The base of our cacciatore sauce.
Canned crushed tomatoes.
Red wine. We like to use an inexpensive (but still yummy) light red wine, like a Pinot Noir. A note about cooking with wine: Yes, the alcohol in the wine cooks off, so chicken cacciatore is completely fine to serve to kids.
Italian seasoning. Italian seasoning is an herb blend, that usually includes basil, rosemary, marjoram and oregano.
Jazz up your cacciatore with additional, optional ingredients:
Black olives. We love the addition of olives, but they’re not a must.
Red pepper flakes. We like our chicken cacciatore with a little kick, but you may prefer a milder version.
Fresh basil. To finish the dish, and brighten it up, fresh basil!
Parmesan. Italian food just isn’t finished until there is a dusting of Parm, in our opinion.
How to Make Chicken Cacciatore
Season the chicken thighs and dredge them in flour if you want to. The flour will make the cacciatore sauce a little thicker, which we like. But if you want to keep this recipe gluten-free, skip the flour.
Brown the chicken thighs to get a nice crisp on the skin.
Sauté the mushrooms with the shallots, garlic and peppers in a Dutch oven.
Make cacciatore sauce! Pour in the stock, wine and herbs. Simmer it until the sauce thickens a bit and reduces by half.
Add the tomatoes and browned chicken thighs and gently simmer your chicken cacciatore whole pot until the thighs are fall-apart tender and you cannot resist the smell any longer and MUST dive in. (Also, if you want to be technical about it, the chicken is done when it registers 165°F on an instant read thermometer.)
Mangia! That means eat up!
How To Serve Chicken Cacciatore + Tips
Clearly, this is a hearty meal as-it, maybe served with just a basic green salad and some crusty bread or over noodles or even homemade pasta like Pappardelle. We also love to serve with chicken cacciatore with:
If you have leftover chicken cacciatore (and that’s a big if!) you can reheat it in the oven or microwave until warmed through. It’ll keep for at least 3 days in an airtight container in the fridge.
More Classic Italian Restaurant Dishes
More Dinner Ideas Ahead!
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