Chicken Cacciatore

Chicken cacciatore is an authentic Italian classic comfort food! Tender chicken thighs, mushrooms, onions, peppers, and garlic simmering in a rustic stew-like tomato sauce will create the most amazing aromas in your kitchen. Pour yourself a glass of wine and enjoy a plate of cacciatore for Sunday dinner and save the leftovers for a delicious weeknight meal.

5 from 2 votes

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Course: dinner

Cuisine: Italian

Keyword: chicken cacciatore, chicken cacciatore recipe, grandma's chicken cacciatore

Prep Time: 25

Cook Time: 1

Total Time: 1 55

Servings:

Calories: 397kcal

Author: Tammy Overhoff

Ingredients

2 tablespoons olive oil
2.5 - 3 pounds boneless chicken thighs
1 medium white onion chopped
4 - 6 garlic cloves minced
2 large green peppers seeded and chopped
8 ounces fresh sliced white mushrooms
1 28-ounce crushed tomatoes can substitute canned whole peeled tomatoes
1 15-ounce can tomato sauce
2 bay leaves
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 cup dry red wine
salt and pepper
cooked egg noodles
shredded parmesan optional

Instructions

Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a 5 1/2 - 6 quart Dutch oven or pot.
In batches, add chicken thighs and brown on both sides. About 3-4 minutes on each side. Place the cooked chicken in a bowl and set aside.
In the same pot, heat another tablespoon of olive oil and add in onion and cook until soft and translucent. Add the garlic and cook for another 30 seconds or until fragrant.
Add in the peppers and mushrooms and cook until softened, about 3-4 minutes. Stir in the thyme and cook for another 30 seconds.
Pour in the wine and let it cook for 2-3 minutes or until reduced. While the wine is simmering, scrape the brown bits from the bottom of the pot.
Add the tomatoes, tomato sauce, and bay leaves. Give the sauce a few stirs and then return the chicken to the sauce.
Bring to a boil and then immediately reduce the heat to a simmer. Let the sauce simmer on low for an hour, stirring occasionally. The chicken thighs should be tender, moist, and falling apart. Break the chicken into chunks. The sauce should be a deep red color. Remove the bay leaves.
Season with salt and pepper, then serve hot over pasta, polenta, or your favorite side. If the sauce becomes too thick add in a splash of chicken broth and stir.
Serve over your favorite pasta, with shredded parmesan cheese

Notes

How to Store

Chicken cacciatore tastes even better the next day! It’s the perfect recipe to meal prep for the week or freeze.

To store

Place the leftover cacciatore sauce into glass storage containers and refrigerate. It will last for up to 3 - 4 days. After that, I recommend freezing it.

A meal prep tip is to portion it out with pasta into individual containers. Keep the pasta separate from the sauce, so it doesn’t get mushy. During the week, heat it in the microwave for 3-4 minutes. Mix the pasta and sauce, and dinner is ready!

To freeze

Chicken cacciatore is one of the best recipes to freeze. There are a few different ways to freeze this recipe.

First, you can put the sauce into a labeled freezer bag, flatten it out, and freeze it. After it’s frozen, place it wherever you want in the freezer. Flattening out the bag helps if there’s not a lot of room in the freezer.

My favorite way to freeze sauce recipe is to use silicone trays to freeze into one or 2-cup portions.

To warm up, add the sauce to a pan and heat over low to medium temp until hot.

You can also create a freezer meal using 2-cup silicone trays. Add 1 cup of sauce to the bottom, 1-cup of cooked pasta on top of the sauce, and freeze. After it’s frozen, remove it from the tray and put it into a large freezer bag to freeze.

Warm the freezer meal up in the microwave for 4-5 minutes or until hot. Stir the pasta and sauce together, then enjoy!

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