Chef Ally
Beef Bourguignon
Humble beef transformed by good red wine, patience, and the kind of slow cooking that fills a house with warmth and brings everyone to the table asking when dinner will be ready.
Culinary Explorer
A cooking platform built around craft, culture, and the stories behind what we eat.
Chicken Cacciatore
Created by
A rustic Italian braise of bone-in chicken simmered with ripe tomatoes, sweet peppers, briny olives, and garden herbs until the meat falls from the bone and the sauce tells you everything about summer.
Main Dishes
Italian
Weeknight
Make Ahead
Comfort Food
25 min
Active Time
1 hr 15 min cook•1 hr 40 min total
Yield6 servings
This is hunter's food. Cacciatore means just that: the kind of meal a hunter might prepare over a fire with whatever the day offered. Foraged herbs. A bird. Tomatoes from a nearby garden. The dish has survived centuries because it asks so little of technique and so much of ingredients.
Start with the chicken. Bone-in pieces braise better than boneless because the bones release gelatin into the sauce, giving it body. Ask your butcher for a whole bird cut into eight pieces, or buy thighs and drumsticks if you prefer dark meat. The skin should be taut and the flesh should smell clean, like nothing at all.
The tomatoes matter more than you might think. In late summer, use ripe ones from the garden or the market, peeled and crushed by hand. The rest of the year, canned San Marzanos are honest and good. Do not apologize for them. A farmer in Italy grew those tomatoes at perfect ripeness and preserved them within hours. That is integrity.
Every meal is a meaningful choice. When you braise chicken with tomatoes from a farm you trust and peppers you watched ripen at the market, the dish tastes different. It tastes alive.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
bone-in, skin-on chicken pieces
Quantity
3 1/2 pounds
thighs, drumsticks, and breasts
kosher salt
Quantity
to taste
black pepper
Quantity
to taste
freshly ground
extra-virgin olive oil
Quantity
3 tablespoons
divided
yellow onion
Quantity
1 large
sliced into half-moons
red bell peppers
Quantity
2
seeded and sliced into strips
green bell pepper
Quantity
1
seeded and sliced into strips
garlic cloves
Quantity
6
smashed
dry white wine
Quantity
1/2 cup
whole San Marzano tomatoes
Quantity
1 (28-ounce) can
crushed by hand
chicken stock
Quantity
1 cup
Kalamata olives
Quantity
1/2 cup
pitted
capers
Quantity
2 tablespoons
drained
dried oregano
Quantity
1 teaspoon
red pepper flakes
Quantity
1/2 teaspoon
bay leaves
Quantity
2
fresh thyme
Quantity
4 sprigs
fresh basil leaves
Quantity
for finishing
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| bone-in, skin-on chicken piecesthighs, drumsticks, and breasts | 3 1/2 pounds |
| kosher salt | to taste |
| black pepperfreshly ground | to taste |
| extra-virgin olive oildivided | 3 tablespoons |
| yellow onionsliced into half-moons | 1 large |
| red bell peppersseeded and sliced into strips | 2 |
| green bell pepperseeded and sliced into strips | 1 |
| garlic clovessmashed | 6 |
| dry white wine | 1/2 cup |
| whole San Marzano tomatoescrushed by hand | 1 (28-ounce) can |
| chicken stock | 1 cup |
| Kalamata olivespitted | 1/2 cup |
| capersdrained | 2 tablespoons |
| dried oregano | 1 teaspoon |
| red pepper flakes | 1/2 teaspoon |
| bay leaves | 2 |
| fresh thyme | 4 sprigs |
| fresh basil leaves | for finishing |
Equipment Needed
- •Large Dutch oven or braiser (5-quart minimum)
- •Tongs for turning chicken
- •Wooden spoon
Instructions
- 1
Season the chicken
Pat the chicken pieces completely dry with paper towels. Season generously on all sides with salt and pepper. Let them sit at room temperature while you prepare the vegetables, about twenty minutes. Dry skin browns. Wet skin steams. This is not negotiable.
- 2
Brown the chicken
Heat two tablespoons of olive oil in a large Dutch oven or braiser over medium-high heat until the oil shimmers and barely smokes. Working in batches to avoid crowding, add the chicken skin-side down. Do not move it. Let it sizzle undisturbed for five to six minutes until the skin releases easily and turns deep golden brown. Flip and brown the other side for three minutes more. Transfer to a plate.
If the chicken sticks, it is not ready to flip. Wait. The skin will tell you when it is done. - 3
Build the base
Pour off all but one tablespoon of fat from the pot. Add the remaining tablespoon of olive oil and reduce heat to medium. Add the onion and a pinch of salt. Cook, stirring occasionally, until soft and beginning to turn golden at the edges, about eight minutes. Add the bell peppers and cook until they soften and their sweetness concentrates, another six to eight minutes.
- 4
Add garlic and deglaze
Push the vegetables to the sides and add the smashed garlic to the center of the pot. Let it sizzle until fragrant, about thirty seconds. Pour in the wine and scrape up all the browned bits from the bottom. These fond particles are flavor. Let the wine bubble until it reduces by half, two to three minutes.
- 5
Add tomatoes and aromatics
Pour in the crushed tomatoes with their juices. Add the chicken stock, olives, capers, oregano, red pepper flakes, bay leaves, and thyme sprigs. Stir to combine. Taste the sauce and adjust salt. It should be bright from the tomatoes, savory from the olives and capers, with gentle heat in the background.
Crush the tomatoes by hand directly over the pot. The uneven texture is part of the dish's character. - 6
Braise until tender
Nestle the browned chicken pieces into the sauce, skin-side up. The tops should peek above the liquid. Bring to a gentle simmer, then reduce heat to low. Cover and cook for forty-five minutes to one hour, until the chicken is tender and cooked through. The meat should want to fall from the bone when you nudge it with a spoon.
- 7
Finish and rest
Remove the lid and let the dish rest off heat for ten minutes. The sauce will thicken slightly as it settles. Remove the bay leaves and thyme stems. Taste once more and adjust seasoning. The flavors will have deepened and married during the braise.
- 8
Serve
Transfer chicken pieces to shallow bowls or a large serving platter. Spoon the sauce and vegetables generously over and around. Tear fresh basil leaves over the top. Serve with crusty bread for mopping up the sauce, or alongside polenta or pasta. Let things taste of what they are.
This dish improves overnight. Make it a day ahead, refrigerate, and reheat gently. The flavors deepen beautifully.
Chef Tips
- •In late summer when tomatoes are at their peak, substitute two pounds of ripe Roma or San Marzano tomatoes for the canned. Core them, score an X on the bottom, blanch thirty seconds, peel, and crush. The dish will taste different, brighter, more alive.
- •If you can find a pasture-raised chicken, use it. The flavor is noticeably deeper, and the fat renders with more complexity. Ask at your farmers market.
- •The wine you cook with should be wine you would drink. A dry Pinot Grigio or Sauvignon Blanc works well. Avoid anything labeled cooking wine.
- •This is a forgiving dish. If your peppers are a bit past their prime or your onion has sprouted, the braise will transform them. But start with good chicken and good tomatoes. Those cannot be disguised.
Advance Preparation
- •The complete dish can be made two days ahead and stored refrigerated. The flavors improve significantly overnight.
- •Reheat gently over low heat, covered, adding a splash of water or stock if the sauce has thickened too much.
- •The sauce without chicken freezes well for up to three months. Braise fresh chicken in the thawed sauce for a quick weeknight version.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 380g)
Calories
495 calories
Total Fat
26 g
Saturated Fat
6 g
Trans Fat
0 g
Unsaturated Fat
18 g
Cholesterol
140 mg
Sodium
690 mg
Total Carbohydrates
15 g
Dietary Fiber
4 g
Sugars
7 g
Protein
43 g
Where cooking meets culture.
Culinary guides, cultural storytelling, and the editorial depth that makes cooking meaningful.
Discover Culinary ExplorerMore from Marvelous Main Dishes
Browse the full collection
Chef Ally
Bistecca alla Fiorentina
The iconic Tuscan steak: two inches of well-marbled beef, seared over a roaring fire, rested until the juices settle, then sliced and dressed with nothing but olive oil, rosemary, and sea salt.
Chef Ally
Blackened Fish Tacos
Wild-caught fish rubbed with smoky spices and seared until the crust crackles, then piled into warm corn tortillas with bright slaw and cool lime crema. Tuesday dinner that tastes like a vacation.
Chef Ally
Braised Lamb Shanks with Red Wine
Lamb shanks surrendered to red wine and aromatics until the meat falls from the bone, yielding a sauce so rich and glossy it makes the case for slow cooking better than any words could.