“Cacciatore,” meaning “hunter” in Italian, refers to an earthy Italian chicken dish with vegetables. Every Italian may make it differently, but Bobby Flay’s chicken cacciatore has loads of fresh mushrooms and his signature touch of spicy chile.
| Level: | Easy |
| Total: | 1 hr 20 min |
| Prep: | 30 min |
| Cook: | 50 min |
| Yield: | 4 servings |
Ingredients
- 4 tablespoons olive oil
- One 3 1/2- to 4-pound chicken, cut into 8 pieces (breasts halved)
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 1 pound cremini mushrooms, quartered
- 1 large red onion, halved and thinly sliced
- 1 large yellow bell pepper, thinly julienned
- 3 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
- 1 serrano or jalapeno chile, finely diced
- 1/4 teaspoon red chile flakes
- 1 cup dry red wine
- 2 cups homemade or canned low-sodium chicken broth
- One 28-ounce can plum tomatoes, with juices, pureed
- 3 small sprigs fresh rosemary
- 3 sprigs fresh thyme
- Honey
- 1/4 cup chopped fresh basil, plus sprigs for garnish
- 2 tablespoons brined capers, drained
- 1 pound spaghetti, cooked al dente
- Thinly shaved Parmesan
Instructions
- Heat 2 tablespoons of the oil in a large Dutch oven over high heat. Sprinkle the chicken pieces on both sides with salt and pepper. Working in batches, place the chicken in the pan, skin-side down, and cook until golden brown, 3 to 4 minutes. Turn the chicken over and cook until golden brown, 2 to 3 minutes. Remove the chicken to a large plate.
- Add another tablespoon of the oil to the pan and heat until almost smoking. Add the mushrooms, season with salt and pepper and cook, stirring occasionally, until they are golden brown and their liquid has evaporated, about 10 minutes. Remove to a plate.
- Add the remaining 1 tablespoon oil, the onions and the bell peppers to the pan and cook until soft, about 4 minutes. Add the garlic, serrano chiles and red pepper flakes, and cook for 1 minute. Stir in the wine and cook until almost completely reduced. Add the chicken broth, tomatoes, rosemary and thyme, and bring to a simmer. Return the dark meat and mushrooms to the pan, reduce the heat to medium-low, cover the pan and cook until the chicken is tender, about 30 minutes.
- Add the white meat to the pan, cover and continue cooking for 10 minutes. Remove the chicken with a slotted spoon to a large shallow bowl and tent it loosely with foil.
- Raise the heat under the pan to high and cook the liquid, stirring occasionally, until thickened to a sauce consistency, about 15 minutes.
- Season with salt, pepper and honey. Stir in the basil and capers, and pour the sauce over the chicken. Garnish with fresh basil sprigs. Serve over spaghetti and sprinkle with shaved Parmesan.
Reviews
I used white wine instead of red. It was amazing. This is now a family favorite.
Great flavor! Sauce was thick and flavorful, especially with the fresh basil added just before serving. I will keep this recipe close; I don’t need another!
was absolutely delicious!
This was delicious and did not think it was too spicy! Just the right amount of heat with the honey balancing the flavors out. If you like a sauce with a bit of a kick to it this is the recipe for you!
There are so many chicken cacciatore recipes on the Food Network site, it was hard to know which one to pick. I chose this one because of the diced hot pepper and red pepper flakes in the sauce. 5 stars for the techniques to follow and cooking times but you can definitely adapt this for the ingredients you have on hand.
I had 3 bell peppers I needed to use, white mushrooms, and a sweet onion. Bone-in chicken thighs only. This all worked perfectly. White mushrooms cook faster than crimini so just set them to the side once they look golden brown. Other reviewers seemed to prefer dry white wine so I used that instead of red. I used 6 minced garlic cloves total and added about ~2 Tbsp of tomato paste to thicken the sauce and let the sauce simmer at the end a bit longer than what the recipe said.
This was my first time making chicken cacciatore from scratch and I’ll definitely follow this recipe to make it again! Very happy with how it turned out and loved all the basil in the sauce.
My husband absolutely loved this dish! I was surprised because 1) it seemed over kill on the red wine, ruining the color and 2) the sauce tasted very, very spicy to me. Since I am a vegetarian, I wasn’t sure how this was going to turn out. I thought the heat was way too much and that it would ruin the whole dish. When my husband tasted the sauce he agreed it was way too spicy. (I did season with honey and vinegar at the end.) However, after eating 2 SERVINGS, he said it all worked really well together and it was the best chicken cacciatore he’s ever had! I was amazed. It’s always so great to find a solid recipe that you can add to the dinner rotation!
My husband loved this, I didn’t. The extra spiciness was fine but the red wine made for a dark, muddy flavor. I may try it again with white wine – any recipe that uses a full pound of ‘shrooms can’t be all bad!
I love this recipe!!!! I did put all the ingredients in a crock pot and I used a bed of rice. I’ll definitely be cooking this again.
I love this recipe. Comes out perfect every time!
It was delicious ! Super tender chicken ! I used the white wine because that’s what I had ! We always put Capers and olives a must !!
Instead of regular tomatoes I used fire roasted and I seared the chicken and then threw everything in a crock pot! The capers really impart deliciousness!