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Chicken Cacciatore sounds fancy and complicated but it is actually really easy to make and SO delicious! You are going to love this Italian pasta recipe!
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Chicken cacciatore recipe is a fancy dinner that is so simple to make and comes together quickly and easily. Cacciatore is an Italian dish with long noodles, chicken, and an abundance of seasoning and fresh herbs. Impress your family and friends with this beautiful dinner next time you have guests over!
This is one of those dishes that you just have to try and find out just how delicious it is. This dish is a classic recipe filled with chicken, vegetables, and seasoning, all wrapped in a creamy red sauce with noodles. Looking at it doesn’t do this amazing dish justice. It has the most incredible taste and flavor all mixed together!
Chicken Cacciatore Ingredients
This classic Italian dish is always a go-to family dinner when we have family and friends joining us. It looks extra fancy but is so simple to make. Each ingredient brings a special flavor to the table!
- Chicken thighs – Thighs are a more tender and juicy meat on the chicken. It gives this chicken that extra flavor and softness when taking bites.
- Flour – Coat the chicken thighs before adding to the oil. This will help the chicken have a crispy outside but continue to have that soft and tender inside.
- Olive oil – This will heat up in the skillet adding flavor to the chicken while cooking.
- Red bell peppers – Slice the bell peppers and chop them to
- Onion – Slice onions and add them to the sauce mixture.
- Garlic – Minced garlic adds an extra flavor of savory and raw combined to balance out the flavors.
- Marinara sauce – This sauce is cooked and simmered with other ingredients added to it. Take your marinara sauce or tomato sauce to the next level in this cacciatore recipe.
- Mozzarella cheese – Melt the cheese over top to give it that Italian touch!
- Fresh basil – Garnish with a beautiful green basil leaf right on top of the sauce.
How to Make Chicken Cacciatore
This is a super simple version of Chicken Cacciatore where you just use your favorite canned spaghetti sauce or marinara and add some peppers and onions. If you want to get fancy and use your own homemade marinara or spaghetti sauce, be my guest! I actually used my homemade canned spaghetti sauce in this recipe and OH. MY. It was delicious!
- Coat – Sprinkle each chicken thigh with salt and pepper then dredge in flour.
- Cook chicken – Heat oil over medium-high heat in a large skillet and cook for about 4-5 minutes on each side or until chicken is golden-brown. Transfer chicken to a plate and set aside.
- Saute – In the same skillet, saute peppers, onion, and garlic until the onions become soft and transparent.
- Cooking sauce – Reduce heat and slowly add marinara/spaghetti sauce to the skillet.
- Simmer – Add chicken back to the skillet and bring sauce to a simmer over medium-low heat. Simmer for about 25 minutes or until chicken thighs are cooked through.
- Garnish – Before serving, top with mozzarella (optional) and fresh basil.
- Serve – Can be served with pasta, zucchini noodles, steamed vegetables, or roasted potatoes.
What to Serve Homemade Cacciatore with
- Garnish – It almost looks like it could be chicken Parmesan because I added a little mozzarella cheese to top it off (which is probably not traditional) but I couldn’t help myself!
- Noodles – Some people serve Chicken Cacciatore with egg noodles, but when I was preparing this recipe I was in the mood for fettuccine noodles, so I used those instead.
- Serving – Of course, you don’t even need to serve this over pasta, you can serve it alongside some steamed veggies or roasted potatoes and it will still be great!
- Protein choices – Chicken thighs are wonderful in this recipe because they are SO tender and delicious but chicken breasts will work fine too. Just do everything the same– maybe just cut each chicken breast in half so it doesn’t take as long to cook through.
“Chose a recipe from a web search for its 5-star rating, and I am SO GLAD I did. The recipe was easy to follow, quick, and very delicious. I didn’t use flour, but i did deBone and DeSkin my chicken thighs which made the dish easier to eat. Thank you so much!”
-Latasha
Frequently Asked Questions
Cacciatore actually means “hunter” in Italian. This is a meal that is prepared “hunter style” with protein, veggies, and a beautiful red sauce.
It is made of onions, tomatoes, bell peppers, herbs, and sometimes red wine or white wine. This was a popular dish during the Renaissance.
Chicken parmesan is usually a baked dish with boneless, skinless chicken breasts whereas chicken cacciatore is a more of stew made from chicken thighs and/or drumsticks. In chicken cacciatore, you do not need cheese or parmesan cheese melted on top.
Once known as Hunter’s Chicken cacciatore originated in central Italy. Chicken cacciatore is one of the vast popular dishes when served in Italy.
More Delicious Italian Recipes
How to Make Chicken Cacciatore
Easy Chicken Cacciatore
Ingredients
- 6 chicken thighs
- kosher salt and black pepper to taste
- 1/2 cup flour for dredging
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 1-2 large red bell peppers chopped or sliced
- 1 onion sliced
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 1 quart marinara sauce
- 1/2 cup mozzarella cheese optional
- fresh basil for garnish
Instructions
- Sprinkle each chicken thigh with salt and pepper then dredge in flour.
- Heat oil over medium-high heat in a large skillet and cook for about 4-5 minutes on each side or until chicken is golden-brown (it doesn’t need to be completely cooked through).
- Transfer chicken to a plate and set aside.
- In the same skillet, saute peppers, onion, and garlic until onions become soft and transparent.
- Reduce heat and slowly add marinara/spaghetti sauce to the skillet.
- Add chicken back to the skillet and bring sauce to a simmer over medium-low heat.
- Simmer for about 25 minutes or until chicken thighs are cooked through.
- Before serving, top with mozzarella (optional) and fresh basil.
- Can be served with pasta, steamed vegetables, or roasted potatoes.
I just made this! Great way to use the garden peppers. Thanks for the option to increase the servings.
Ch5ose recipe from web search for its 5 star rating, and I am SO GLAD i did. Recipe was easy to follow, quick, and very delicious. I didn’t use flour, but i did deBone and DeSkin my chicken thighs which made the dish easier to eat. Thank you so much!
This was so easy to make. I had all of the ingredients on hand and the kids and husband loved it.
It was so god and so delicious.. Awesome!!! A fancy meal within minutes. I used drumsticks, chicken is chicken and it was soo good. Love this web site.
I am pinning this. Sounds delicious. I have had it with no flour on the chicken as well and tastes great. Thanks for the recipe.