Chicken Cacciatore — Hunter's Braised Chicken

Name: Chicken Cacciatore — Hunter's Braised Chicken
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 1 h 5 min
Total time: 1 h 15 min
Yield: 4 servings
Cuisine: Italian
Ingredients: 3 lb bone-in chicken thighs and drumsticks; 1 Tbsp olive oil; — salt and black pepper; 1 medium onion, finely diced; 4 cloves garlic, sliced; ½ cup dry white wine (Pinot Grigio or Vermentino); 14 oz whole peeled tomatoes, crushed by hand; ½ cup chicken stock; ½ cup Castelvetrano or Kalamata olives, pitted and roughly torn; 2 Tbsp capers, drained; 2 sprigs fresh rosemary; 3 sprigs fresh thyme; 1 tsp red chili flakes; handful fresh flat-leaf parsley, roughly chopped; drizzle extra virgin olive oil

Bone-in chicken thighs and drumsticks braised in white wine, crushed tomatoes, olives, capers, rosemary, and thyme. Sauce reduced until thick and glossy. Ligurian-style, not the Americanized bell pepper version.

ItalianServes 41h 15mentree

Servings4

Ingredients

Chicken

3 lb bone-in chicken thighs and drumsticks

1 Tbsp olive oil

— salt and black pepper

Soffritto & Liquid

1 medium onion, finely diced

4 cloves garlic, sliced

½ cup dry white wine (Pinot Grigio or Vermentino)

14 oz whole peeled tomatoes, crushed by hand

½ cup chicken stock

Aromatics

½ cup Castelvetrano or Kalamata olives, pitted and roughly torn

2 Tbsp capers, drained

2 sprigs fresh rosemary

3 sprigs fresh thyme

1 tsp red chili flakes

Finish

handful fresh flat-leaf parsley, roughly chopped

drizzle extra virgin olive oil

Method

1 — Sear

1
Pat chicken dry, season generously with salt and pepper. Heat 1 Tbsp oil in a wide heavy pot over medium-high. Sear skin-side down 5 minutes until deep golden without moving. Flip, cook 2 minutes more. Remove and set aside.
2
Pour off all but 1 Tbsp fat. Reduce heat to medium. Add onion, cook 5 minutes until soft and translucent. Add garlic, cook 1 minute.
3
Add white wine. Scrape up all browned bits from the bottom. Let wine reduce by half, about 2 minutes.

2 — Soffritto & Deglaze

1
Add crushed tomatoes, stock, olives, capers, rosemary, thyme, and chili flakes. Stir to combine.
2
Return chicken skin-side up, nestling into the sauce. Bring to a simmer, then reduce heat to low. Cover partially and cook 35 minutes.

3 — Braise

1
Uncover. Increase heat to medium. Cook 15-20 minutes more until sauce reduces and thickens enough to coat a spoon and chicken is pulling from the bone. Taste carefully before adding salt — olives and capers are already salty.
2
Finish with fresh parsley and a small drizzle of good olive oil. Serve from the pot.

4 — Reduce & Finish

Nutritionper serving · 1/4 of recipe, skin on

410kcal

36gProtein

10gCarbs

22gFat

5gSat Fat

720mgSodium

Nutrition estimate based on USDA FoodData Central data for bone-in chicken thigh and drumstick (cooked), whole peeled tomatoes, Kalamata olives, and capers. The skin-removed figures are a meaningful improvement on saturated fat — braising with the skin on preserves moisture and flavor, then removing before eating gives you the best of both approaches. Sodium is moderate; the majority comes from capers (~310mg/serving) and olives (~280mg/serving). MacroFactor note: log edible meat weight after removing bones, approximately 60–65% of raw bone-in weight.