Chicken Cacciatore is a dish made in the Italian hunter's style. Chicken is braised with olives, garlic, tomatoes and wine to create a delectable stew. This is a generous dish with robust flavours, paired perfect with a glass of Sangiovese.
TO COOK
Season the chicken thighs on both sides with salt. Brown the chicken in a heavy saucepan over a medium heat. Add a tin of crushed tomatoes to the pan, transfer to an oven at 180C and roast for 20 minutes, until the tomato has cooked and slightly reduced.
TO SERVE
Our chicken cacciatore is best served on cold nights. Prepare a generous amount of crispy potatoes and serve at the table. Finish with a sprinkling of freshly chopped parsley, alongside roasted potatoes and a crisp salad.
Chicken cacciatore is an Italian style chicken stew fit for the whole family. Here’s how we make ours.
What is chicken cacciatore?
Chicken Cacciatore is a dish made in the Italian hunter's style. It comes from the Italian word cacciatore, which means ‘to hunt.’ There are many stories about the origins of the dish. Many legends follow the story of an unsuccessful hunter catching an escaped rabbit from his neighbour’s farm on his way home. He foraged wild herbs and mushrooms to cook up a delicious dinner for his family. Since these times, the dish has evolved (although rabbit is still widely used in Italy) to be made with free-range chicken. The chicken is braised with olives, garlic, tomatoes and wine to create a delectable stew. It is a generous dish with robust flavours, paired perfect with a glass of Sangiovese.
How to make chicken cacciatore?
Chicken cacciatore can be a quick and easy to make this dish with only a handful of ingredients. There are a variety of ways to make the dish, depending on what’s available to you in your kitchen. You can use black or green olives, depending on what you prefer. Some recipes call for white wine without tomato, whilst others use red wine. Use what you have available and what you like for the best results!
Chicken cacciatore recipe
This is our version of how to make chicken cacciatore in the oven. It is a great one to make for when you are low in time but after a hearty dish.
Method
Season the chicken thighs on both sides with salt.
Brown the chicken in a heavy saucepan over a medium heat.
Add a tin of crushed tomatoes to the pan, the garlic, olives and red wine.
Bring to the boil before transferring to an oven at 180C.
Roast for 20 minutes, until the tomato has cooked and slightly reduced.
How to store chicken cacciatore?
Often, the flavour of slow cooked stews and casseroles will improve over time. We sometimes find they are better the day after you’ve made them. It is possible to safely make this recipe ahead of time and enjoy the next day. To store, reheat or freeze, see our tips:
- Store - refrigerate leftovers in an airtight storage container for up to 4 days.
- Reheat - gently warm this dish in a small casserole over a medium to low heat.
- Freeze - freeze leftovers in an airtight freezer safe storage container for up to 3 months. Allow the stew to thaw overnight in the refrigerator before reheating.
Chicken cacciatore slow cooker
If you would like to take your time in making chicken cacciatore, why not slow cook it? Follow the bones of our above recipe but put in a big pot on your stove and cook at the lowest heat for 6-8 hours until the meat is falling off the bone.
Traditional chicken cacciatore recipe
Depending on the region in Italy, preparations of chicken cacciatore can vary. As the translation means “hunter's stew,” it is often made with rabbit, an easy protein to source. In the north, white wine tends to be used while in the south of Italy, red wine is favoured. Most interestingly of all, tomatoes are not necessarily used. The addition of a tomato sugo is a modern change. Instead, the meat was stewed only in aromatics and wine then served with crusty bread.
What to serve with chicken cacciatore?
Our chicken cacciatore is best served on cold nights. Prepare a generous amount of crispy potatoes and serve at the table. Finish with a sprinkling of freshly chopped parsley, alongside roasted potatoes and a crisp salad.
Other delicious side dishes include:
- Fresh pasta
- Rice
- Mashed potatoes
- Steamed vegetables
- Crusty focaccia
A great way to make the most of any leftovers, is to slice the meat up off the bones and enjoy it with fresh pappardelle the day after.
Meatsmith Free-Range Chicken
Use our delicious free-range chicken to make your cacciatore with. We only stock the very best quality chooks from Bannockburn in Geelong, Nomad Chickens from the Fleurieu Peninsula and Milking Yard Farm in Trentham. All our chickens are free range and hormone free, with the Nomad Farm and Milking Yard Farm birds pasture raised. We choose our chickens for quality, provenance and taste. Use our online butcher shop to place your order and enjoy delivery in a wide range of Melbourne suburbs Tuesday to Saturday. We offer free delivery for orders over $100 and a flat rate of $10 for orders under $100. We also have three inner city locations to choose from in Fitzroy, St Kilda and Brighton. Take advantage of our click and collect service when in a rush and place your order online beforehand. Find out more about it here.
More Chicken Recipes
Love to cook with chicken? Try out our other chicken recipes here:
- Coq au Vin: hearty French-style braised chicken with red wine, mushrooms, lardons and garlic.
- Chicken wonton soup: a comforting soup made with chicken stock and warming aromatics
- Chicken ballotine: a stuffed deboned chicken
- Roast chicken: A delicious centrepiece for sharing with friends.
If you liked this recipe, we would recommend numerous other Italian-inspired dishes on our website. Dario Cecchini’s brasato al midollo is a stuffed shin of beef slowly braised with vin santol Our recipe for carbonara is a delicious option for an Italian inspired recipe using simple local, quality ingredients.
