Chicken Cacciatore, an Italian-American comfort food meal, also known as Hunter's Chicken, is made from a whole, cut up chicken, lightly dusted in flour and browned in hot oil, then slow braised in a light tomato sauce with onion, sweet bell pepper and mushrooms.

Chicken Cacciatore

Also known as Hunter's Chicken - or chicken in the style of the hunter - and said to have typically been a dish made using whatever wild game had come from the day's hunt - though today chicken is king.

There is no doubt that Chicken Cacciatore, or Pollo alla Cacciatora, is an authentic Italian dish, though in my Italian cookbook, The Silver Spoon {affil link}, it contains plain unfloured chicken, seared in butter and oil, includes onion, celery, carrots and tomatoes, and is finished with a toss of some fresh parsley. It also states that in some regions of Italy it is heavier in celery and carrots than their recipe, in others white wine is added and in others yet, sliced mushrooms.

Although there is variation in our American versions, we typically toss the sauce with some kind of pasta, or serve it spooned over pasta and then topped with the chicken, none of which is authentic to the original Italian dish, where it appears to be eaten mostly as a stew.

Traditionally, cacciatore is made with a whole cut up chicken, but can be made with any pieces. While it is typically made with skin-on chicken, you may also wish to remove the skin to reduce the accumulated fat if you'd rather, and that is recommended for slow cooker cooking. Home canned or store-bought tomatoes make an excellent sauce, although if you're in the heat of summer, definitely use deep red, and very ripe and juicy fresh tomatoes.

Here's how I make my Chicken Cacciatore. As always, the full ingredient list, including measurements and directions, along with a printable document can be found further down the page. Just swipe or scroll past the step by step pictures to the bottom of the page.

Combine flour, salt and pepper in a bag and give it a toss to mix; add chicken and shake to coat on both sides. Brown in hot oil, remove and set aside, reserving drippings. Add the onion and bell pepper to the drippings and cook over medium until tender, about 4 minutes.

Add garlic and cook another minute. Stir in the mushrooms and all remaining ingredients, except for the noodles, and bring the mixture to a boil. Reduce heat to low simmer, add chicken back to pan, add olives, if using, and cook, covered, for 1 hour, turning and stirring occasionally.

Remove chicken and set aside; discard bay leaves. Taste and adjust seasonings as needed. Toss cooked spaghetti noodles into the sauce and turn onto individual serving plates. Top with chicken and serve.

We Need Your Help! There's no paywall here on Deep South Dish - recipes, step by step photos and printables are free and available at no cost to our readers, however, advertising featured on the blog helps to pay for the groceries. If you enjoy the blog but you're using an ad blocker, please consider whitelisting Deep South Dish so I can keep the blog going!

For more of my favorite chicken recipes, check out the collection on my Pinterest page!





Unable to view the printable below on your device? Tap/click here.

Thank you for supporting my work! Please note that Images and Full Post Content including photographs and recipe ©Deep South Dish. Recipes are offered for your own personal use only and while pinning and sharing links is welcomed and encouraged, do not copy and paste post or recipe text to repost or republish to any social media (such as other Facebook pages, etc.), blogs, websites, forums, or any print medium, without explicit prior permission. Unauthorized use of content from ©Deep South Dish is a violation of both the federal Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) and copyright law. All rights reserved.

Material Disclosure: Unless otherwise noted, you should assume that post links to the providers of goods and services mentioned, establish an affiliate relationship and/or other material connection and that I may be compensated when you purchase from a provider. You are never under any obligation to purchase anything when using my recipes and you should always perform due diligence before buying goods or services from anyone via the Internet or offline.

150717

.