Italian · Dinner

Chicken cacciatore

Name: Chicken cacciatore
Prep time: 25 min
Cook time: 1 h
Total time: 1 h 35 min
Yield: 6 servings
Cuisine: Italian
Ingredients: 3 1/2 pounds bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs and drumsticks; 2 teaspoons kosher salt; 1 teaspoon black pepper; 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil; 12 ounces cremini mushrooms, quartered; 1 medium yellow onion, diced; 1 medium carrot, diced; 1 celery rib, diced; 4 garlic cloves, thinly sliced; 1 tablespoon tomato paste; 1 cup dry red wine; 1 28-ounce can whole peeled tomatoes, crushed by hand; 2 rosemary sprigs; 1 bay leaf; 3/4 cup pitted green olives; 1/4 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley

Bone-in chicken braised hunter-style with browned mushrooms, soffritto, red wine, tomato, rosemary, and briny olives.

About 1 hr 35 minTotal

About 1 hr 25 minActive

$$Cost

ModerateDifficulty

Makes 6 servings

Equipment

Use a hot sheet pan under an inverted oven-safe metal bowl for the covered phase.
Best value covered pot
Lodge Essential Enamel 6-Quart Dutch Oven · EC6D43
View at Amazon
Another workable path: Use a hot sheet pan under an inverted oven-safe metal bowl for the covered phase.
Paid links. As an Amazon Associate, Kwilt earns from qualifying purchases.
How we chose
Research-backed · reviewed Aug 2026
We matched capacity, lid fit, oven rating, heat retention, maneuverability, care, stable model identity, and usefulness outside bread baking. Kwilt has not baked with this pot.
Lodge Essential Enamel 6-Quart Dutch Oven · EC6D43: The six-quart capacity, heavy cast-iron body, and fitted lid create the enclosed high-heat environment used by these bread methods while remaining useful beyond baking. Trade-off: At more than thirteen pounds it is demanding to move when hot, and the enamel needs gentler utensils and hand washing.
Another workable path: Bake on a preheated heavy sheet pan under an inverted oven-safe metal bowl, keeping face and hands clear when removing the hot cover.
Sources
Lodge six-quart Essential Enamel specifications
Amazon exact product listing

Ingredients

1× recipe · Makes 6 servings

3 1/2 pounds bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs and drumsticks
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
12 ounces cremini mushrooms, quartered
1 medium yellow onion, diced
1 medium carrot, diced
1 celery rib, diced
4 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 cup dry red wine
1 28-ounce can whole peeled tomatoes, crushed by hand
2 rosemary sprigs
1 bay leaf
3/4 cup pitted green olives
1/4 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley

Instructions

Season chicken with salt and pepper. Heat oil in a over medium-high and brown chicken skin-side down in batches until deeply golden, 6 to 8 minutes; brown the second side 3 minutes and reserve.
Pour off all but 2 tablespoons fat. Brown mushrooms without crowding, 6 minutes, and reserve separately. Lower heat and cook onion, carrot, and celery until soft, 8 minutes. Add garlic and tomato paste and cook until the paste darkens, 2 minutes.
Add wine, scrape up the fond, and reduce by half. Add tomatoes, rosemary, and bay; nestle chicken skin-side up with accumulated juices. Cover partly and simmer gently 25 minutes.
Uncover, add mushrooms and olives, and continue simmering until sauce thickens and the thickest chicken pieces reach at least 175°F, 15 to 20 minutes. Rest chicken 10 minutes.
Discard rosemary and bay, skim excess fat, and adjust seasoning. Return resting juices, fold in parsley, and spoon sauce around the chicken so some browned skin remains exposed.

ItalyItalian regional home cooking

From the table

About this recipe

Cacciatora means hunter-style, but Italy has no single national chicken formula: tomato may be absent, while wine, herbs, olives, mushrooms, and cured pork vary by region. This recipe openly chooses the familiar red branch rather than presenting its ingredient set as universal.

Cacciatora means hunter-style, but there is no single national formula: Umbrian versions may omit tomato, and wine, herbs, mushrooms, olives, and cured pork vary by region. This authors the familiar red branch and identifies it as such. Bone-in dark meat reaches a more tender texture around 175°F than at its lower safety threshold. This Kwilt version follows the reviewed household adaptation: Select the household-familiar red cacciatore branch, retain regional transparency, and combine reliable browning and dark-meat endpoints with a restrained olive finish.

Sources

Dinner does not stop at the recipe