Boneless Chicken Cacciatore Recipe

If you're looking for something to love about this boneless chicken cacciatore recipe from chef and recipe developer Christina Musgrave of Tasting with Tina, let's start with the numbers — more specifically, the numbers five, 13, and 20. Five is the number of minutes the prep takes for this recipe, as all you need to do to prep for it is slice onions and mushrooms, measure some spices and fluids, and maybe trim a bit of fat off of your chicken thighs. Thirteen minutes is the total amount of hands-on time you'll spend actively cooking during this recipe, which is pretty minimal. And finally, 20 is the number of minutes you'll be completely hands-off (well, okay, maybe check once) as the chicken simmers away to perfection. "This recipe is fairly easy and really straightforward," Musgrave says. "As long as you follow the directions it should turn out great."

Looking for something else to love? Well how about the taste of this dish after said quick and easy prep and cooking — that's always a good thing to think about while cooking! Chicken cacciatore is one of those dishes that pretty much everyone will love, and that's true whether you serve it over a bed of rice or pasta, beside a baked potato, or skip the carbs entirely with a great green salad. Now, let's get into the recipe!

This dish comes together so delightfully thanks to both classic ingredients as well as some unexpected ones. As for the classic ingredients, we have boneless, skinless chicken thighs, salt, black pepper, olive oil, sliced white mushrooms, a sliced white onion, garlic cloves, garlic powder, onion powder, a big can of crushed tomatoes, and oregano. Then, in the less-expected ingredients category, we have a cup of dry red wine and a tablespoon of capers. Put it all together and add some fresh basil for serving, and you have one delicious meal.

Start the recipe off by trimming any fat or gristle off of each chicken thigh, then season them with ½ a teaspoon of salt and ½ a teaspoon of black pepper. Next, heat a tablespoon olive oil a large skillet over medium heat. Once the oil is warm, carefully add the chicken to the skillet and cook it for four minutes on each side, or until the exterior is uniformly golden brown. Now remove the chicken from the pan and set it aside.

Into the same pan that you used to cook the chicken, add in the sliced white mushrooms, the sliced white onion, and two cloves of chopped garlic. Set the pan on the stove over a medium-low heat and sauté these ingredients for about five minutes, stirring occasionally. After five minutes have passed, add the cup of red wine, the can of crushed tomatoes (including the liquid), the garlic powder, onion powder, oregano, and capers to the pan. Stir all of these ingredients thoroughly to ensure that the seasoning and red wine coats all of the veggies evenly, thus creating the sauce for your chicken cacciatore.

With your thick, savory sauce ready to go, return the chicken to the pan, making sure the pieces settle down into the fluid enough to be submerged. Now cover the pan loosely with a lid, turn down the heat, and let the chicken cacciatore simmer for 20 minutes. When the time is up, you may want to check the largest piece of meat using a food thermometer just to make very sure it hit at least 165 F in temperature. Serve the chicken with fresh basil and your favorite starch or salad and enjoy. "This is definitely paired best with pasta," Musgrave suggests. And on the off chance you have leftovers, you can store them for up to four days, simply reheating the dish on the stovetop.