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This is the archived version of the Milk Street website and is no longer up to date.

Please visit 177milkstreet.com to see the current website with all of the latest recipes!

Roman-Style Chicken Cacciatore

4 to 6 Servings

50 minutes 30 minutes active

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Cacciatore, it turns out, is not always a chunky, tomato-heavy braise. At Piatto Romano in Rome, we learned how to make the Roman version—an elegant, minimalist dish bright with the acidity of white wine and vinegar and heady with rosemary, garlic and anchovies, not a tomato in sight. We adapted Piatto Romano’s rabbit cacciatore, opting for chicken and making a few simplifications. With so few ingredients, deeply searing the bone-in, skin-on pieces is necessary for developing rich flavor. A quick sauté of aromatics followed by a deglazing with a full bottle of a light, dry white wine forms the cooking liquid that becomes the sauce. To preserve the chicken’s browning during braising, the pieces are only partially submerged in liquid and cooked, uncovered, to completion in a 450°F oven; the dry heat keeps the skin crisp and caramelized even as the liquid simmers in the bottom of the pan. (You will need an oven-safe 12-inch skillet for this recipe.) A good measure of white wine vinegar and minced rosemary finishes the dish, adding a surge of tartness and herbal notes to keep the flavors vibrant. We like this cacciatore with a starchy side, such as crusty bread, polenta or mashed potatoes.

4 to 6

Servings

Tip

Don’t forget to lower the heat before adding the wine. This helps prevent fiery flare-ups if the wine splashes out of the skillet.

50 minutes

30 minutes active

Ingredients

  • 2½ - 3

    pounds bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs or breasts, trimmed and patted dry

  • Kosher salt and ground black pepper

Directions

Reviews
Tim R.
May 21, 2025
Delicious!
Our family loves the acidity. Saw where others had an issue. Didn't have bone in, skin on chicken thighs. Used boneless thighs. worked well. Used champagne vinegar at the end. Paired the dish with Milk Street's Cheesy White Beans and Kale; Nov-Dec 2024 issue, page 6. It's another winner!
Tim M.
March 25, 2025
Great
I used balsamic white vinegar came out great, served on polenta delish
Maria F.
February 26, 2025
Roman style
Delicious Chicken and so easy to make, so juicy and all ingredients so easy to find. One of the best chicken dishes I’ve made.
Joseph V.
August 19, 2024
Perfect as Written!
Wow, simple, quick, and very pantry-friendly. What a tremendous weeknight meal that can just as well be the feature of an intimate dinner party. Adding the final zip of vinegar is just the right balance of acid. I could see lemon juice and zest coming into play as another option, too. I've browned and braised chicken in this way many times with different spice profiles but this combo is really magic! Maybe it's the umami from the anchovies?
Keith T.
February 28, 2025
delicious!
Cacciatore? Maybe not, but a very good weeknight skillet chicken with pan sauce. Other reviewers are right: the sauce is acidic. We like acidic, but it was helpful to add a drizzle of sweetness (whatever you might have -- date syrup, honey, sugar, whatever) at the end stage. And a couple pats of butter to round it out. The method is good.

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