Chicken cacciatore is a rustic Italian chicken dish made with bell peppers and mushrooms slow-simmered in a rich tomato sauce with herbs.
Chicken Cacciatore
One-pot chicken cacciatore is great over pasta, polenta, or mashed potatoes. This is the version my Mom always made for us when I was a child, and I’ve always loved it. I modified Mom’s recipe to make it a bit leaner by removing the chicken skin and fat and using less oil. For more ways to cook this delicious dish, try my Instant Pot and slow cooker chicken cacciatore recipes.
Why This Homemade Recipe Works
Chicken cacciatore is one of those rustic dishes that instantly warms from the inside out. Even this lightened-up version is just as delicious and satisfying as I remember it! Here’s why my family loves it, and why I think yours will, too.
- All you need are simple pantry ingredients.
- Everything cooks in one pot, so it has lots of flavor and clean up is easy.
- Chicken cacciatore is hearty, comforting, and great to make ahead.
- It’s wonderful served over your favorite pasta, rice, or polenta for a cozy family meal. For a low-carb alternative, try it over spaghetti squash or zucchini noodles.
Ingredients for Chicken Cacciatore
Here’s everything you need to make classic Italian chicken cacciatore from scratch. See the full recipe card for measurements below.
- Chicken: Use bone-in chicken thighs or drumsticks, skin removed. Chicken breast on the bone will also work.
- Vegetables: Red bell pepper, mushrooms, onion, and garlic cloves.
- Crushed tomatoes: Canned and undrained.
- Chicken broth to thin the sauce.
- Dried and fresh herbs: Oregano, parsley, basil, salt and black pepper.
- Pasta: Enjoy this over your favorite shape of wheat or gluten-free pasta.
How to Make Chicken Cacciatore
Let’s break down this easy chicken recipe into a few steps. It does take some time to cook, but most of the time is hands-off while the sauce simmers. Plus, all that slow-simmered flavor is worth it in the end.
- Cook the chicken. Season the chicken thighs with salt and pepper and brown them in the pan or Dutch oven for a few minutes.
- Add the vegetables. Next, add in the bell pepper, onion, and garlic, and sauté until the onions are tender. Add in the mushrooms and cook for a couple of minutes. Season the veggies with salt and pepper.
- Make the sauce. Now, pour in the crushed tomatoes and broth, and add oregano. Cover the pan, and bring the sauce to a simmer. Simmer for 25 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked through.
- Finish with herbs. Lastly, sprinkle in the fresh basil five minutes before the sauce is done.
Variations
- If you don’t like mushrooms, add celery and carrots.
- Use baby bellas or white button mushrooms.
- Swap the chicken broth for dry white wine or red wine.
- Add olives or capers for flavor.
- If you prefer white meat, you can use boneless chicken breasts instead of thighs.
- Add a pinch of crushed red pepper flakes for spice.
What Does Cacciatore Mean?
“Cacciatore” means hunter in Italian, and alla cacciatora translates to a ‘hunter-style’ meal. So pollo alla cacciatora translates to chicken cacciatore. It’s a hearty tomato-based stew with chicken (sometimes rabbit), onion, garlic, bell peppers, and mushrooms. Chicken chasseur is the French version, braised with white wine and brandy.
What to Serve With Chicken Cacciatore
I like to top my cacciatore with some good grated Parmesan cheese or pecorino romano with a hearty piece of bread to soak up the sauce. You could also serve it with a salad or roasted veggies on the side.
Storage
- Refrigerate. Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days.
- Reheat. Reheat leftover chicken cacciatore in a saucepan on the stove or in the microwave.
- Freeze. Freeze the chicken and sauce in a freezer-safe container for up to 3 months.
More Italian Chicken Recipes You’ll Love
Chicken Cacciatore
Equipment
- Dutch Oven or large heavy pot
Ingredients
- 6 chicken thighs, (or on the bone) skinned and trimmed
- olive oil spray
- 1 large red bell pepper, chopped
- 1 cup chopped mushrooms
- 1/2 medium onion, chopped
- 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
- 1 28-ounce can crushed tomatoes, I love Tuttorosso
- 1/4 cup chicken broth, more if needed
- 1 tsp dried oregano leaves
- 1/4 cup fresh chopped basil leaves
- kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 6 cups cooked whole wheat pasta, egg noodles or gluten-free pasta
Instructions
- Season chicken with kosher salt and pepper.
- In a large heavy saute pan, heat the pan over a medium-high flame and spray with cooking oil.
- Add the chicken pieces to the pan and saute just until brown, about 3-4 minutes per side. Set aside.
- Add the peppers, onion and garlic to the pan and saute over medium heat until the onion is tender, about 3-4 minutes, then add mushrooms and cook another 2-3 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.
- Add the tomatoes, chicken, broth, and oregano. Cover the bring the sauce to a simmer.
- Continue simmering over low heat until the chicken is tender, about 35 to 45 minutes.
- Add the chopped basil 5 minutes before sauce is done.
- Serve over 1 cup cooked pasta.
Last Step:
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Notes
- If you don’t like mushrooms, use extra bell pepper.
- Use baby bellas or white button mushrooms.
- Swap the chicken broth for dry white wine.
- If you prefer white meat, you can use boneless chicken breasts instead of thighs.
Boy oh boy … soooo yummy! I didn’t make the pasta, since I had gastric sleeve surgery several years ago (changed my life!) and there is just no room at the inn! So, more onions, peppers, and garlic. Divine! Thanks, Gina!
For the most part I follow the recipe. I season the chicken with Kickin’ Chicken and double the sauce as we are saucy people! So good!
This is on our monthly rotation, if not bi monthly. My spouse loves this dish. It an easy, peasy for me to make for her as well. It works well with bone in or de boned thighs, which I trim off the fat. Here in Tx we have HEB’s grocery stores and the thighs are huge! It seems easier to put 6 boneless in my large 12.5 high rimmed saucepan. I like to mix all the ingredients in the pan to bring them together and then nestle the thighs back in, cover and simmer. I add a nice wodge of tomato past from the tube, more garlic and use Barilla Protein + pasta for an extra pop of Protein. Freezes very well for leftovers.
Excellent recipe! Served it with linguine. Delicious!! We loved it! I will definitely make it again!
I have to double the recipe because my kids fight over leftovers! It’s really good!
Like all of Gina’s recipes, this one was a winner. I substituted celery for the bell pepper, and I used white wine instead of chicken broth. The sauce was phenomenal! I highly recommend this recipe.
Thanks Candi!
Omg!!! This is so good!!! I originally made it for dinner yesterday, but ended up having dinner brought to me, so I ate it today. It was ok yesterday, but the flavors came together so much better when I let it sit overnight. I will absolutely make this again! Thank you!
Excellent recipe for the whole family to enjoy!!! I have made this recipe numerous times with egg noodles, large shells or white rice.
My family love this!
This was so yummy and easy!
This was a very good recipe me and my husband enjoyed it very much
This is fantastic! I used a little bit of white cooking wine instead of the chicken broth, and Italian seasoning because I ran out of oregano. I also added some green pepper. Easy and delicious and tender chicken, with great flavor. This is going on to my regular rotation!
This recipe is a favorite of ours! I make it in the Instant Pot using bone in chicken thighs. The sauce is watery which is easily fixed by adding a little tomato paste. The dish is full of flavor and the chicken falls off the bone. Delicious!
I’ve made this dish so many times. We love it. I’ve made it in the instant pot and on the stove top. I do use more garlic but I do that with any recipe that calls for garlic. We enjoy it with spaghetti squash. YUM!
Can i make this in the instant pot?
https://www.skinnytaste.com/instant-pot-chicken-cacciatore/
Thanks so much for the reply! I absolutely love all of your recipes.
Thank you!
Served for company, and it was well liked. I added capers and 1/2 cup white wine to deglaze the pan and reduced to half before adding broth. Thanks for creating WW friendly recipes. Saves me a lot of work!
Easily done, very nice, tasty, and a filling beautiful dish. Served it with hit rolls and caprese salad. Everyone loved it.
Fabulous, just fabulous. The one thing I add to give it a little kick is crushed red pepper. Red wine, such as a Chianti is also good in the sauce.
Awesome sauce Skinnytaste!!
Thanks Matty!
Really good meal with plenty of leftovers for lunch the next day.
It was a little soupy, I’ll boil it down more, or use less liquid next time.
Used chicken breasts and chickpea pasta. So good.
Is the calorie count for just the chicken cacciatore without the pasta? Love this recipe, we have made this and so many others!
Pasta is included 🙂
How many calories for the pasta as I would switch it out for zucchini noodles or nuPasta? 😊
Can this be made a little ahead of time for a dinner party?
Great recipe
Used a large onion and 6 cloves garlic for 2lbs of boneless chicken thighs . Sprinkled red pepper flakes and black pepper. Fire roasted tomatoes15oz and chicken broth . Was very good !!!
Thank you for sharing your recipe
Made this tonight. Used bone in skinless chicken thighs and substituted zucchini zoodles for the pasta, and bought crushed tomatoes with basil already added.
It was delicious. My husband agreed!!
Made this delicious recipe last night and the only sub was my homegrown and home frozen basil in olive oil for the fresh basil leaves. I used boneless/skinless thighs and one boneless/skinless breast and I have leftovers…..yay!
Thank you, Gina!
love this recipe, however dislike mushroom so I substitute with roasted eggplant cubes!! YUMMY!
This is delicious! And so easy to make!
This was really delicious. I used bone-in, skin-on thighs and breasts (halved). The only change I might make in the future would be to add some tomato paste to thicken the sauce a bit. Will definitely make again.
I’m sad to say that this recipe was just flat, despite all the great vegetables and seasoning (I added an extra clove of garlic), it just lacked flavor. I should mention that I am salt free, maybe that was the problem.
It can be quite difficult to make food flavorful without at least some amount of salt. Common options are to add something acidic, such as vinegar, citrus or tomato, or to add sweetness in the form of sugar, honey, fruit, etc. As this recipe is already in a tomato based sauce and does not lend itself well to adding sweetness, the best remaining option is to add salt until the flavors taste balanced but not salty.
Delicious!! I made it with polenta that I air fried instead of pasta. My very picky Italian husband loved it!!
I made this last night using only chicken breasts, delish!
I entered the recipe into my WW and with the new point system it was only 3 – THREE points.
Best compliments from non-WW family members who hate hearing about points, so I didn’t tell them. 😉
Thanks for sharing your recipe
Delicious!!!!
Thank you. I love your recipes! I put this in the WW app and it comes in as 5Sp blue, not 7. Maybe pay attention to how you track the chicken thighs?
Made this last night -it was delicious! I used fresh crushed tomatoes i had made earlier this month and had frozen in place of canned and served over 1 cup cooked farro as I didn’t have any whole wheat pasta.
Can you make this in a slow cooker?
Yes! 🙂
https://www.skinnytaste.com/crock-pot-chicken-cacciatore/
I had thawed chicken breasts in preparation for tonight’s dinner, but didn’t know what to do with them, AND I had a craving for mashed potatoes, so this recipe was a life saver. I cut the chicken breasts into pretty big pieces and cooked this on the stove. I replaced the onion with 1/2 a red onion, since that was what I had at home, and I used canned mushrooms. I love it when the dinner cooks itself and this dish didn’t disappoint. It was really tasty and I will put this recipe into my rotation of tasty, fast, easy dishes that cook themselves.
make it even skinnier and substitute pasta for riced cauliflower
Easy and something that my whole family will eat (including my 5 year old!). I added chopped carrots to the sauce to up the veggies. The sauce was a little watery, so I simply bumped up the heat and let it simmer longer – simple fix! This will go into the rotation for a weeknight meal.
First, this is 8 Blue WW points, not 4.
The dish was bland and the sauce was watery. Would not make again for 8 WW points.
The only accurate way to determine any recipe’s SmartPoints® value is to plug the ingredients into the recipe builder on the Weight Watchers website (Click on “My Foods,” select “Recipe,” and click “Create a recipe.”) which does not count fruits and vegetables in recipes in the calculations as they are now 0 points.
The SmartPoints® calculator isn’t meant for recipes and will often give you the wrong points (usually higher) because it’s counting the fruits and vegetables. So if you see a recipe with a SmartPoints® value that’s different from what the calculator tells you, now you know why.
Any time you find a sauce is too watery, add a flour/water or or cornstarch/water paste to thicken. It won’t change the taste and will thicken nicely. Add a little bit at a time. Too bland? Spice it up any way you like; add more of what is called for, add Herb de Provence, Cajun spices or whatever to your taste!
In addition to the corn starch trick, you can reduce the sauce by letting it simmer uncovered until more of the water has evaporated as well. Many recipes on this blog tend to be more conservative with the salt and spices so I always add more!
Neither my son or husband like cooked tomatoes….would you have a suggestion for a substitution?
Thank you. ….and major thank you for your posts!
Are the chicken thighs boneless?
I cannot wait to make this tomorrow night for my family, We love chicken thighs and I am always looking for new recipes. We LOVE your recipes!:) Since we are gluten free I am going to serve over zucchini noodles. I am sure this will be another 5 star meal! My kids think I am an awesome chef…Thanks 🙂
I made this on the stove. Used boneless and skinless chicken breasts, cut into thirds.
I am really pleased with the way this dish turned out , Chicken was moist and very tasty.
Excellent recipe! I added a few more thighs, 1/2 cup broth, only 14.5 oz can of tomatoes, and subbed carrots for mushrooms. I let it simmer for an hour and served with rice. Amazing! Thanks Gina!
Are the points accurate? I thought a cup of pasta was 4 points and a chicken thigh was 4 points too. Making it 8.
Excellent and super healthy
Fantastic. Easy quick and delicious. Very hardy.
Love your recipes!! My only question is whether the chicken thighs should be cooked whole or cut into pieces first.
Cut. 🙂
Hi Gina … just want you to know I often make your recipes and they never disappoint. Thank you for allowing them to be out there for everyone. And for sending to our inboxes each week! Your chicken Parmesan is so delicious and easy to make and I’m sure this chicken cacciatore is too. Just wanted to send a giant “THANK YOU” your way! Much appreciated, Patrice
Thank you Patrice!
This looks awesome, but I am confused by the point value. You have a slow cooker chicken cacciatore recipe that is 5 points per serving, EXCLUDING the pasta. How can this one be 4 points INCLUDING the pasta? (But either way, I can’t wait to make it!)
Can you please tell us if the Freestyle Points should be 8 instead of 4? Like previously mentioned, the pasta alone is 4 SP’s. Thank you, Gina. I love your recipes! I have all 3 cookbooks!!
I used the recipe builder and it comes out as 8 points once you add the pasta….this is not 4 points.
I will look into it!
I would like to know if this is 4 points or 8. It doesn’t seem like it could possibly be 4 points with the pasta.
Excellent, next time I will try with chicken breasts to lower the points, I make your recipes all the time , they are all so tasty & my husband loves them ! Thank you
You’re welcome Diane!
This was DELICIOUS! Only thing I changed was that I don’t like mushrooms so I left those out and added more bell pepper.
Will definitely be adding this to my rotation.
I put mine over asparagus and a little bit of pasta.
HI Gina if I make this recipe with white meat….will it be 0points on the new WW Freestyle?
Anyone know the Freestyle Points? I can put the recipe in the app, but just wondered.
4
How is this 4 SP when the pasta alone is 4 points??? Am I missing something?
I would like to know the same thing! Chicken thighs are not 0 points. I got 13 points when I put this in the recipe builder. I’m not sure what I’m doing wrong here…
(Okay, now I got 9 points upon recalculating with uncooked, bone-in thighs. I didn’t realize that makes such a difference!)
This looks delicious but I have a question about the Smart Points. From my calculation, 1 chicken thigh without skin is 5 points and 1 cup of whole wheat pasta is 5 points, so how do you calculate 4 points for a serving of both with sauce? Thanks for clarifying.
Did you use the recipe builder?
My husband is type 2 diabetic. Can you help me with the type of plan to follow?
Gina, another winner! My son gave me the “stink eye” when he asked what I was making with the mushrooms. He liked it, as did my 3 1/2 year old grandson. Only change I made was to use baby bellas instead of shiitake mushrooms. We had pasta last night so I served it with mashed potatoes. Delicious! Will definitely make again. Thanks!
Do you cook the thighs whole? Or cut them into pieces?
I doubled the recipe so I had to brown the meat in batches. Once the chicken was brown on all sides I took it out of the pan. I added all of the chicken back in after the broth and tomato sauce were mixed in. I also added some red pepper flake for depth of flavor. This was delicious and my kids enjoyed it as well.
This is a fantastic recipe… lot’s of texture and just the right amount of seasoning. Makes being on Weight Watchers easy to adhere to.
Glad you enjoyed it!
I have been making your recipes for three years. I have made many and never once been disappointed. They are now staples in my families eating plan and because I follow weight watchers it's an added bonus. Thank you for your time spent perfecting these recipes. You are amazing!
I put 2 cans of fire roasted diced tomatoes in the blender to substitute for crushed tomatoes. Yummy as always, Gina!!
You rock & deserve a fan club!
Susan Pena-Salisbury
Meadows Place, TX 77477
can I do diced tomatoes
LOVE THIS RECIPE!!! Sooooo tasty, it was hard to keep it to one serving. Only problem is I can't figure out how to add it to my Recipe Box, as it's a DEFINITE keeper. But then again, every recipe I've ever tried from your site is a keeper! 🙂
Delicious! And SOOOO easy!
Are the chicken thighs supposed to be bone-in or boneless?
I have the same question. Boneless or bone-in?
I like it with the bone for more flavor but up to you.
Gina, what is the calorie count if you use boneless, skinless chicken thighs instead? And also, if you have two thighs per person (boneless, skinless)? Thank you.
Would you suggest cooking this in the slow cooker on low or high? For how long?
Like a crock pot? She has a recipe for that. Search it on her page.
this was very good and tasted light and healthy!
Hi Gina – Do you use the recipe builder on the WW to calculate the points? I LOVE your recipes and I find when I make them exactly as you have them my pts are always higher. I use the recipe builder… any tips?
Points of serving depends on weight of chicken. Besides pasta, everthing else has zero points unless you use olive oil or too much olive oil spray.
Would the points value change if you use skinless chicken legs instead?
I just made this for my chicken cacciatore-loving husband and he LOVED it! Had seconds even, which he rarely does. This recipe is EXCELLENT! I even used boneless thighs because that's all I had. I added a green pepper and kept out the mushrooms because neither of us like them. I added a splash of olive oil, but not enough to add any point values to it. This recipe will definitely go in the regular rotation!
So yummy! one of my families most favorite dishes made better! 🙂 I too think you can skip the chicken broth, which I did and added 1/4 cup of white wine. YUM!
Wine of course is always better, but also increases the points if you are on WW so keep that in mind.
Really yummy Gina! The sauce wasn't as thick as the picture but I think I may have added too much broth but it was still really flavorful and delish!
How many chicken breasts do you think I would need? I'm all out of thighs.
What is the calories for just the chicken and sauce without the pasta?
This was DELICIOUS! I added about a 1/4 C of red wine and a little tomato paste. I don't think it needs the chicken broth. Will certainly make it again and double the mushrooms and peppers! Not sure why people are asking when to remove the chicken – NO NEED to remove the chicken. Brown it and then add everything as directed. One pan cooking! Perfect!
I agree that the directions need to be corrected to reflect that when the chicken needs to go back in.
I made this tonight and it was delicious and easy, but a couple of thoughts. I see absolutely no reason for the 3/4 cup chicken broth. There was enough juice after browning the chicken, plus more from cooking it in the sauce that I don't think you need to waste a can of broth to take out 3/4 cup. I would adjust to taste and probably add more garlic (we are garlic lovers) and maybe more herbs.
Point taken, I just reduced it to 1/4 cup. You could always add more if needed.
Love Love this recipe. Never made my own sauce before, this was nom nommy goodness
what should you do instead if you accidentally put too much chicken broth and the mix is soupy??
I'm going to make this tonight – Gina your recipes are fantastic and make weight watchers so much easier!
You have once again made my husband think I'm a great cook 😉 I left out the mushrooms and added some red pepper flakes (both modifications to make it husband friendly) and we both loved it! I especially love that it is easy and uses stuff I tend to have on hand, but still has great flavor. Thank you!
I used rice instead of pasta! Wonderful!
The peppers are a must, it won't taste the same without.
Can I make this without peppers and mushrooms? I'm fresh out.
It will be fine without the mushrooms. White meat is great, just don't cook it as long. A chicken breast takes 15 minutes to cook, any longer and it will get rubbery.
Gina, I ran out of mushrooms from making the shepherd's pie. Do you think this would be OK without? Also, chicken breasts ok?
Trying this in the crock pot for tonight…I had chicken thighs left over from making the chicken and wild rice soup last night. It sounds so good! You are the best, Gina!
Yummy!! My husband is asking for it again!
It's one cup of cooked pasta per serving.
Sure! This would work great in a crock pot.
Instant Pot?
https://www.skinnytaste.com/instant-pot-chicken-cacciatore/
can you do this in the crock pot?
is this one cup of pasta BEFORE it is cooked? or one cup AFTER cooked? big difference!
After, 2 oz dry.
No need to remove the chicken from the pan.
Glad you all liked it, I love it!
Just made this for my roommates… it was a big hit!
when do you REMOVE the chicken from the pan? after you first brown it?
You don't remove it at all.
Indeed, all the remaining ingredients, layer by layer, flavor the chicken – so you don't remove chicken at all.