Easy chicken cacciatore. Tender chicken fillets and sautéed mushrooms simmered in a rich tomato sauce. This is comfort food at its finest. It’s a fuss-free and super delicious recipe with fantastic Italian flavors that’s ready in about 30 minutes. Serve with some crusty bread or pasta for a real treat.
Cacciatore means hunter in Italian, and alla cacciatora means hunter-style, so this dish is a rustic chicken meal with earthy mushrooms and herbs, all simmered in a rich tomato sauce. There’s no exact recipe, you’ll find variations in just about every version of this traditional Italian dish. It’s an old time classic for home cooking that’s simply tasty with mind blowing flavors.
To keep it simple and quick, this version is made chicken fillets. What’s even better is that it comes together in a single skillet. Plus, it’s super versatile too! Add white beans, bell pepper or spinach. Not a fan of olives? Leave them out! Or swap chicken broth for red wine.
Let me guide you through the recipe with this step-by-step VIDEO.
What to Serve With Chicken Cacciatore?
There are so many ways to serve chicken cacciatore, depending on your mood.
- It’s pretty perfect on its own, with some crusty bread on the side and a leafy salad.
- Serve over your favorite pasta noodles.
- Steamed or roasted vegetables.
- Mashed potatoes.
- Steamed potatoes.
- Or with creamy polenta.
The Ingredients You Need
- Chicken: You can use chicken breast fillets or boneless/skinless chicken thighs.
- Carrots, shallot and garlic: To build depth of flavor. You can substitute shallot for onion or add more garlic.
- Mushrooms: You can use cremini mushrooms, brown mushrooms or (dried) porcini.
- Seasoning: Salt, black pepper and sweet paprika.
- Herbs: Dried rosemary and fresh parsley. You can use fresh rosemary or Italian seasoning.
- Crushed tomatoes and tomato paste: For a rich tomato sauce.
- Chicken broth: You can swap chicken broth for vegetable broth. Or use white or red wine.
- Black olives: They add a buttery taste, but if you’re not an olive fan, simply leave them out.
RECIPE NOTES
- Make this recipe your own! There’s no wrong way.
- Add more veggies! Red bell peppers, spinach, celery stalks, …
- You can also stir in white beans or capers.
- Storage: Store leftovers refrigerated in an airtight container for up to 3 days.
TRY THESE NEXT
Chicken Cacciatore
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tbsp unsalted butter
- 4 chicken breast fillets
- 2 tsp salt divided
- 2 tsp black pepper divided
- 1 tsp sweet paprika
- 9 ounces cremini mushrooms thinly sliced
- 1 shallot finely chopped
- 2 garlic cloves minced
- 2 carrots diced
- ½ tsp dried rosemary
- ½ cup chicken broth
- 2 tbsp tomato paste
- 1 can 1(4 oz/400 g) crushed tomatoes
- ¼ cup black olives
- 2 tbsp chopped parsley more for serving
- chili flakes for sprinkling optional
Instructions
- Get your prep done before you start cooking. Slice the mushrooms, finely chop the shallot and parsley, mince the garlic and dice the carrots. Roughly chop the olives.
- Season both sides of the chicken fillets with paprika and 1 teaspoon each of salt and pepper.
- Heat oil and butter over medium in a large skillet. Add chicken and cook for about 5-8 minutes per side or until fully cooked and browned on both sides. This can vary with the size of your chicken. Remove from skillet and place on a clean plate.
- Add mushrooms, cook until browned. Remove from skillet.
- To the same skillet, add shallot, garlic and carrots. Cook for 3 minutes until soft and fragrant. Stir in rosemary and the remaining salt and pepper. Cook for 2 minutes more. Deglaze with chicken broth, simmer for 2 minutes. Stir in tomato paste and add crushed tomatoes. Bring to a boil.
- Add mushrooms, olives and parsley. Return chicken to the skillet and simmer for 3 minutes or until heated through. Top with chili flakes and extra parsley. Serve!
Video
Nutrition
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I am planning to make this for a dinner party tomorrow night. If I were to make it early in the afternoon would it re-heat well?
Thanks for any tips you might share. I am so happy I came across your Instagram account and was lead to this site.
Hi Darcy, you can make this recipe ahead of time. Just follow the steps as written, at the end, add chicken back to the skillet and turn off the heat, don’t let it cook further, as the chicken might turn out too dry. When you’re ready to serve, bring the sauce and the chicken to a boil, reduce the heat to medium low and simmer until the chicken is heated through and fully cooked.
Please let me know if you have any more questions. Happy cooking! x
Thanks for your reply!! Your instructions are what I suspected but I wanted expert advice.
My pleasure! Have a wonderful weekend!