Chef John's Chicken Cacciatore

I will usually never try a recipe unless there are pages of reviews but I was in the mood for this dish so I decided to go for it. I was NOT disappointed! The only thing I will change next time is to spice it up A bit. Maybe season the chicken with some adobo before browning and add a bit more salt and pepper to the sauce. It wasn't bland but It was "mild". If you are like me and need tons of flavor then add some extra spices otherwise the dish is delicious as is.

excellent and really easy i only like breast so i used breasts halved and i have made variations in this dish added some cherry tomatoes , to nights has carrots

Fantastic! My only variations are to use 8 large chicken thighs (skin on to reduce prep and cleanup time), substitute a dry red wine for the water, and use 1 ¼ cup of Barilla Marinara for the tomato sauce. NOTE: after browning all the thighs, it’s a good idea to drain most of the fat before proceeding. I serve over buttered wide egg noodles.

We loved this! Made it mostly as written. I used 6 boneless, skinless thighs I had on hand & followed a couple of the suggestions I saw here. I used Sangiovese wine to deglaze the pan (plus some more for flavor) & a 28 oz. can of 'crushed tomatoes with basil' in place of sauce. The grocery store was out of green peppers, so I used all red ones (sweeter anyway). It came out awesome! I served it over yellow, saffron rice. DON'T TRY IT! Although I love both, they don't "play well together". TOO MUCH! I'll save my yummy, yellow rice for less flavorful dishes & serve my Cacciatore over pasta or white/brown rice. Take 2: Tried this again, browning 2 S/B breasts, seasoned with S&P + Italian seasoning & 3 large cloves SLICED garlic (sweeter), in my smaller dutch oven. Removed breasts & deglazed pan with Cabernet Sovignon. Added: NO WATER; 2, 4 oz cans of mushrooms, drained (was out of fresh); 1, 8 oz can of tomato sauce; 3 T. chicken broth; more Cabernet; LOTS of white onion & NO WATER. Put breasts back in dutch oven with LOTS of thin-sliced red, yellow & orange mini-peppers on top. Cooked as instructed . Added halved grape tomatoes for the last 30 min. Served it over linguine with 'at-the-table' fresh-grated Parmesan. AWESOME! This goes on my 'Go-To' list! Thanks, Chef John!!!

Pretty much followed the recipe as is. The only difference was that I seasoned the chicken with Italian seasoning before browning and doubled the tomato sauce. Other than that, this came out so yummy and it was so quick and easy to do! Definitely a keeper! Thanks Chef John! : )

Very good! Used my homemade sauce. I always make a big batch & freeze it in 2 cup batches so I'm always ready when I get the urge to cook. I too spiced it up a little more. Had 2 zucchini that were just about ready for zucchini heaven so I threw them in too slced of course. I have a new electric pressure cooker so next time I'll make this in my P.C. and let you all know how it turns out.

I had been craving chicken cacciatore and had never made it myself. All my memories of this dish were from when my mom used to make it when I was a kid. So I found this recipe and decided to give it a try...it was delicious! And better than my memories! I made two changes... 1. I deglazed the pan using 1/2 cup white wine after I cooked the onions, mushrooms, garlic and spices.(instead of the water) 2. Then I added one 28 oz can of diced tomatoes (instead of the tomato sauce) The end result was tender, juicy, chicken that falls off the bone, in a rich and flavorful sauce that goes perfect over pasta. My family loved it!

I made this as written except I used chicken thighs. In the video, I thought he said to keep all the chicken run-off after browning. I wish I would have stuck with my mind and drained it. The meal was so greasy I couldn't taste anything else. If you make this with thighs, PLEASE drain it before putting everything else in. It was a waste of food in my house.

Very pleased with this recipe. I had thighs and drumsticks, skipped the oregano and used seasoned salt. I also added zucchini as another reviewer suggested. I used chicken broth instead of water.I cooked in my cassoulet and it came out great. We had with some fluffily rice. I have made this three times now. Thanks for the great recipe!

Fabulous! Even a beginner can master this recipe. I too used a jar of spaghetti sauce instead of the can of tomato sauce. My husband was out mowing when I started this dish the first time. When he walked in, he was overwhelmed by the delicious smell. I made this with chicken breasts and we had 2 leftover for the next day. He couldn't wait and had one for a midnight snack. Chef John should be commended for this recipe. Just wonderful!!

Really good recipe. The only thing I changed was the amount of tomato sauce- i used 2 cans (14.5 oz each) instead of 1 cup. Also, I subsituted red wine for the water and simmered it on the stove top for about 3 hours. Would make this again.

Chef John-all the recipes that have your name attached to them have been wonderful! This is a keeper-I made it exactly and it had such wonderful flavor-the red pepper flakes gave it a nice little kick-not too spicy...just nice. Worth making for sure!

This was blander than I expected. I don't have a high tolerance for capsaicin, so I typically halve or quarter the amount of hot spices called for. In this I used 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes and couldn't taste it at all. Next time I'll use 1/2 tsp and more salt. I really don't understand why the recipe says to put the peppers on top of the chicken. You lose all the beautiful crispness that the chicken just got with the browning. The veggies released so much liquid, it completely covered the chicken. I would put the peppers under the chicken next time, which is what my instinct told me, but I ignored it.

Mmmmm good I made a few changes based on what others wrote. I used chicken broth instead of water. I also used one small can of tomato sauce and one can of crushed tomatoes. I added one tsp of dried basil, two bay leaves, and used one tsp of dried rosemary because I didn't have fresh on hand. I cut the bell peppers back to one each and added black olives. Served over brown rice and topped with parmesan cheese.

Wonderful. Used bone in chicken breast; skinless as I do not like the skin. Everything else same. Great flavor.

I too was disappointed that after baking it was sooooo watery !!

Allrecipes.com needs to give Chef John a raise for this one!

Sauce was too watery and thin.

This was quite tasty. I would recommend cutting up the chicken into smaller pieces than fourths, though. That would make it easier to brown, and you wouldn't have to cut up the pieces before serving. I made the recipe with only 3 bell peppers, and that was enough for us. I also doubled the red pepper flakes, and that gave the recipe a nice little kick. I made no other changes to the recipe, and served it over noodles. I deboned the leftie chicken, cut into bite-size pieces, and added back to the veggies and liquid. This will make a delicious hearty soup for lunch.

Had a hankerin' for some cacciatore tonight. I quartered a large chicken; splashed in a little white cooking wine early in the process and substituted chicken broth for water. This has that classic cacciatore flavor I was craving; delicious over angel hair with parm cheese.

We enjoyed this very much. The poker guys devoured it. I used boneless chicken breasts which I shredded after cooking and returned to the pan after cooking the veggies for 5 mins. I only used red peppers forgoing the green. Great recipe that is all done on the stove top. Served over Angel Hair Pasta with garlic bread. Terrific!

Excellent, everyone loved this recipe. Flavor was soo good, I did use thighs and drumsticks since I needed to use them up and added a little extra tomato sauce and water to make a little more sauce.

This recipe turned out amazing and I cooked it in my crockpot after browning the chicken, onions, mushrooms and garlic. I really appreciated the video as well. Thanks Chef John!

This was really good. I used McCormick's Montreal chicken spice when browning boneless skinless thighs,cracked pepper, frozen onion and peppers, mushrooms, one 8 ounce can of tomato sauce, no extra water, sprinkled with balsamic vinegar and a bit of parmesan. Didn't need to cook more than 45 minutes. Served with bow tie pasta. We loved it!

Everything was great until I put it in the oven then the sauce got thin!! i was so disappointed! Going to make it into a soup!

This dish is exceptional! I have made this more than a dozen times and always in my slow cooker. I always add 1 cup of spaghetti sauce and 1 - 28 oz can of stewed tomatoes just to have extra sauce. I use thighs with skin and bone in for the best flavour and serve with spaghetti. Red pepper flakes are omitted but otherwise recipe made as written. Meat practically falls off the bone cooking on high setting for 4 hours. Such a glamorous meal with such little effort.

One of my favorite recipes ever! Very healthy with low fat and lots of veggies. But it tastes awesome! I am not a huge fan of tomato sauces, but this recipe is so good! It takes a while, but totally worth it. And the red pepper adds a perfect amount of heat, not overly spicy or bland. And it's nice to slice instead of chop the veggies, great time saver.

Delicious! I used boneless skinless chicken thighs and chicken stock in place of water. also used dried Rosemary. It is super flavorful! I will definitely make this again!

I do this recipe over and over. I server it over Arborio rice. I don't use a whole chicken. I just buy a package of chicken thighs that I remove much of the skin from to reduce the amount of fat. I substitute Italian seasoning for rosemary and tomato paste for tomato sauce because it gives a lot more flavor. It turns out great every time and it really good the next day for lunch leftovers.

This is a great, easy recipe and I can't believe how good it is for how relatively healthy and low fat it is! I made minor changes. I used chicken broth instead of water. Half way through the cooking process I noticed the sauce had almost dried up, so I added the remaining cans of chicken broth and tomato sauce (each had about 1/2 a can left) with some flour for thickening. Served over angel hair pasta as suggested by others with some parmesan cheese. Soo good, will make again! Thanks Chef John.

Absolutely amazing! I seasoned the chicken with Northwoods Seasoning before browning, and I reduced the peppers to 1 red and 1 green. My husband doesn't eat peppers, and is picky with onion, but he ate this up, and asked me to make it a regular dish!

To spice it up I used a jar of ragu marinara and a jar of ragu w/mushroom with 15 pcs of chicken. I did use the salt and pepper and only tbls of Italian seasoning. Onions and peppers I still followed. Covered in Dutch oven at 350deg for 1 1/2 hrs. Froze 3 meals for 2 of us. simple and taste great.

Very tasty! The only thing I did different was I added yellow and green zucchini and a tad more red pepper flakes. I did drain some of the chicken grease.

As this is an American recipe I wasnt sure if tomato sauce meant ketchup. (It does to us Brits). I took it to mean tomato/pure/water. It wasnt that good. I think its supposed to be like a marinara sauce????? It was a bit bland to be honest but I will try again, this time using marinara sauce.

came out delicious next time I'll use less sauce was a bit too watery.

Wow! Chef John nailed it, and I did too! This is a foolproof recipe for an absolutely SCRUMPTIOUS single pot meal. There weren't many leftovers, but the bit that was left was doled out to the three of us evenly, everyone made sure their share was not lacking~!

Used skinless thighs and breasts for this. I was stellar! Lovely robust flavors. I used a delicious red wine and some fresh squeezed orange juice that added a lovely depth and sweetness that played of the rosemary and Italian seasonings beautifully.

A few small changes: Since I'm cooking for two I used four bone-in thighs with skin rather than a whole chicken, and I reduced the quantities of other ingredients appropriately. Also since we have fresh thyme in our garden I added a couple of sprigs and since I had some chicken stock on hand I used that rather than water. I used canned diced tomatoes instead of homemade tomato sauce (forgive me!). And I don't think it mattered, but it was too hot in our house to cook in the oven, so I put the dutch oven in the gas barbeque outside and tried to keep it at about 350F. According to my customer (my wife) it was excellent. I'll definitely do it again.

So easy. I used legs and thighs. Drained all but two tablespoons of the fat before adding the onions & mushrooms. Increases garlic to the entire head. Served over rigatoni so I used 14.5 ounce can of tomato sauce to which I added 1 tablespoon of sugar, Italian seasoning, & oregano to taste as well as some Asian 5 spice seasoning. Also added a 14.5 oz can of diced tomatoes. Baked in a large non stick fry pan covered for 1 hour. Make some garlic bread with parmigian cheese for lapping up the sauce and get ready fo receive the accolades your guests will send you way.

This was amazing and so easy. A new favorite in our home. Thanks for sharing.

Fabulous just as written!

I recently bought a dutch oven and this was the first time I used it. Great recipe. Will be making this again. Thanks!

I like this recipe. It is a well balanced, flavorful and filling meal. The last time I made it I realized that I was out of tomato sauce so I used tomato soup. It turned out really well and now I always use tomato soup instead of tomato sauce.

This is really good, but here are the changes I made: used just thighs (that's what I had available) added black and green olives, add 1 C. wine instead of the water, skip the rosemary, added double the garlic and 2 onions, added double the red pepper flakes and chopped fresh tomatoes (drained juice) rather than the tomato sauce. I have never started it on the stove and finished in the oven but I love this idea-sounds like less tending! Thanks!!

Great recipe. So very easy to make. I used fresh peppers from the garden and since I didn't have tomato sauce on hand, I used a small can of Rotell tomatoes and a teaspoon of raw sugar. Your family will love this.

I agree with the person who said it needed some spice. The red pepper flakes gave something to the sauce, but the chicken was a little bland. Next time, I think I'll marinade the chicken overnight in olive oil and Italian seasonings.

This was pretty good, but it's way too easy to end up with soggy skin when making this dish. It makes me gag. Next time the skin comes off before browning. Otherwise, the tomato base is seriously good!

This recipe is a keeper! I used 4 chicken thighs! I browned them in my Dutch oven on the stove and pretty much followed the recipe from there with the following exceptions: I deglazed the pan with a little white wine (Chardonnay), added a couple of spoons of capers, a can of hunts sauce, and chicken stock instead of water. Then I transferred the chicken to a casserole dish on top of the onions, garlic and mushrooms and poured the sauce on top and added the peppers. After baking for an hour and 15 min in the convection oven, this was served over pasta. YUM!

Really good and easy recipe. I made a couple of small changes by adding some chopped tomato, used chicken breasts that I seasoned, and broth instead of water. My only complaint is that the gravy is very watery. I may try to thicken it up some next time. I'll be making this again. It was perfect over angel hair.

WONDERFUL... this will become a go to recipe !!!

I did not follow this to a "T" but instead used it as a general guideline. I grew up having cacciatore every other month or so (at least twice a month in winter) over spaghetti. Instead of a whole chicken i had about 4 lbs of chicken legs. I substituted a jar of Classico Pizza sauce (about 2 cups), added a large can of diced tomato, a medium can of tomato paste - my tomatoes are dying and i love tomato - and waved a beer in its general direction. Also used fresh oregano - about equal to the rosemary -, 8 cloves of garlic and a extra generous splash of red pepper flakes. At the end I threw in a bit of Parmesan and stirred everything together. I would add a photo but I am ashamed at the state of my dutch oven. It is empty.

tasty but sauce could be a little thicker

Won’t make it again — at least without changes. This recipe was a little bland for me.

I made this exactly but without mushrooms since I didn't have them on hand. We loved it! Also, we used only chicken legs since that is all I had on hand. Go ahead and try this one!

We had chicken cacciatore for our wedding reception. So for our anniversary I decided to try and make it myself. So glad I did. It was very easy to do and as delightful as it was at our wedding reception. Thank you chef John for always making great informational videos that are entertaining to watch. A five star recipe for sure!

Excellent. I especially like how it is all pulled together and finished in the oven.

I didn't use the red pepper flakes because I'm not a fan of them. Great recipe and easy to make.

One of our favorite dinners. Try browning a couple of Italian sausages cut in 1" pieces with the chicken - adds so much flavor. I also add red wine instead of water, and cook it down a bit.

Great recipe. I replace water with wine and add tomatoes as well.

This was so delicious I'll be making this for the rest of my life! thank you chef john! I followed it exactly with thighs awesome!

Absolutely delicious and very easy to make. Served it with spaghetti noodles. Was even better the second day!

Excellent results. Tender, moist chicken. Spiced right. Will do again.

A bit mild, I will try again with more seasoning.

Absolutely beyond fabulous. Followed recipe exactly! Do not change a thing! After 6 years of cooking, my hubby said this is the BEST dish I have EVER made! Thank you Chef John!!!!

Yummy! Needed to be baked for way longer than 1hr15min though.

Great recipe! I always add dry white wine after adding the veggies then cook altogether. So yummy!

It's a great recipe. I never have wine so I left that out and used chicken bouillon. I added a few veggies u had in the fridge and u think it made it spectacular! My only advise is to thicken the stew like mixture. Easy on the orange juice but put it in cuz it is really good!

This was a very easy dish to make. It had lots of flavor from the peppers. I did use bottled pasta sauce instead of the tomato sauce , which worked just fine!

We love this. I used diced tomatoes instead of tomato sauce and it was perfect.

Wow....this was really good!!! I used one large orange and one large red pepper. I also used a whole jar of prepared sauce and boneless chicken breasts. The poultry was so moist and the peppers made it taste fresh and yummy. I served it over noodles. This is a definite keeper and a great way to use peppers when they go on sale. Thank you Chef John for another stellar recipe.

This was an easy dish to recreate in my kitchen. I did make an adjustment or two. I used skinless, boneless chicken thighs (8 of them)seasoned them with Mrs. Dash original and a light dusting of garlic powder, then put them in the frying pan (coated with EVOO) and let them brown on both sides. I removed them to a plate and added the onions, mushrooms, garlic, hot pepper flakes (only about 10), oregano and a pinch of salt (I omitted the rosemary, as I did not have any). I let this cook about 8 minutes and added the tomato sauce (with 2 chopped up plum tomatoes in it) and a full cup of low sodium chicken broth. I added back the chicken cutlets and laid the pepper strips on top of them. Since it is summertime and very warm, I opted cover the fryer and simmer the recipe on top of the stove, checking on it every 20 minutes to make sure nothing was sticking to the bottom of the pan. It came out yummy . I lowered the total fat content as there was no chicken skin, and yet it was tender and juicy because I used thighs and not breasts.

Added diced tomatoes and garlic, family loved it .

The flavor was fantastic as it beat my wife's other recipe for chicken cacciatore which I always thought was the best. This recipe beat it 2 to 1.

delic! Cannot find where to put notes on a recipe, so I started rating them for my own use later: used barilla pasta sauce, only 2 chicken breasts cut into 1" pieces, added olives at the very end. Maybe more liquid - 1/2 cup water or cook less time?

I didn't make any changes to the recipe and it was fantastic. We had over linguine. Will definitely make this again.

This is an awesome, easy recipe. I highly recommend it. Although I have to be honest for some reason I didn't read the directions and I just put everything in my Dutch oven and put it in the oven. It turned out great! - thank you Chef John

Very good eats, I substituted white wine for water and used baby Belle mushrooms.

I made this recipe using chicken thighs and it was really good! Easy enough to do and very impressive with all the colors! Would definitely make again!

It needs more seasoning, flavor.

An excellent dish - would definitely make again. I used all thighs and drumsticks - about 11 pieces in total, and next time I will make more as they did shrink during cooking. It was so good that there was not a single piece of chicken left. The only changes I made was adding two more garlic cloves, doubling the red chilli flakes and using one and a half cans of tomato sauce with NO water to ensure a thick and delicious sauce.

This was awesome!! I added zucchini but followed the rest of the recipe. It was easy to prepare and the house smelled wonderful when everyone came home for dinner.

The chicken was tender and delicious. The sauce was a little watery. I would leave out the extra water from the recipe and add more tomato paste.

This was one of the best recipes I have prepared. This Chef know his biz. I did change a couple of small things. I used Rao's basil and tomato sauce; added a bit more red pepper flakes and chicken broth in lieu of water. I used Spanish rice on the side of the plate. My wife just loved this; the house smelled wonderful and I am a "believer". Chef John - thank you!

It turned out great

Absolutely delicious and rustic taste.

Amazing of course.

Chef John Rocks! Easy to follow, tasty recipe. I doubled the amount of chicken and veggies so I added a can of whole tomatoes and tomato paste. Next time I'll add some more spice.

I added some white wine to deglaze the fond just before I added the tomato sauce and I also added just a touch of balsamic vinegar while it was simmering. My chef said it was awesome! Thanks Chef John!!!

Added 1 oz of black olive pearls sliced and combined the liquid from the can to complete the 1/2 cup of water. Loved the taste and ease of preparation. It gives a nice kick to over greasy tomato taste of the tradition cacciatore recipes.

Definitely will make it again

Great and easy to pull together as long as you have a Dutch oven. Instead of the half cup of water I added half cup of red wine and it made a huge difference. Much richer and more depth of flavor, would highly recommend that alternative.

This recipe was very good. I cut up a whole chicken and next time I will just use thighs or breasts so we don't have to deal with small bones falling into the mixture. I will also reduce the red pepper flakes to a quarter teaspoon as a half teaspoon made it too spicy for my families liking.

Absolutely delicious. The only changes I made were that I used all dark meat, because that's our prefernce, and I doubled the amount of tomato sauce. Otherwise, I followed the recipe exactly. My whole family loved it and I already gave the recipe to a coworker who gave it rave reviews too.

The family loved it!

Made it with chicken breasts they were so tender. I thought the sauce was a little thin next time I make it I will add some cornstarch during the last 15 minutes of cooking to thicken the sauce.

Wow this was excellent. The husband really, really liked this one. Will be making this again. Yum. >^..^

It's easy to prepare and taste good.

modified this a bit by using 1/4 cup sherry after onions, garlic and shrooms soft. added fresh basil, oregano, and 1/2 tbs ground chili peppers. simmered and reduced. added sauce, and large can crushed tomatoes. brought to boil. placed chicken with peppers and baked for 45 min, covered in mozzarella and baked for 15 more minutes. served over vegetable pasta. spice was just right, just enough heat to bring a bead on the forehead without sacrificing the flavor. a keeper of a recipe.

Will make it again as is. Delicious and easy.