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Grandma’s Easy Chicken Cacciatore recipe is authentic and delicious! This classic dish is simple to make with accessible ingredients like tomato sauce, peppers, garlic and chicken. It’s also pretty healthy and goes great with pasta or a big hunk of crusty Italian bread!
If you do a lot of cooking, you’re likely familiar with Le Creuset. But in case you’re not, Le Creuset makes extremely high quality cookware made from a variety of materials, most famously their enameled cast iron. Long story short they’re the Holy Grail when it comes to cookware.
When I was a young adult and really started getting into cooking, I secretly dreamed of getting a Le Creuset Dutch Oven. In my mind, if I had that, I could cook anything. And all those bright, happy colors called to me!
After J and I got married and moved to Las Vegas, I had a rough day at work. While I no longer remember the details, it was one of those days where everything seemed to go wrong. And to top it off, I was missing my family and friends who didn’t live in Vegas.
Once work was done that day, I remembered that I had a few gift cards for a popular kitchen store that were gifted to us from some very generous guests at our wedding. I knew what I had to do.
Needless to say, before the night was over I was the proud owner of my very first Le Creuset Oval Dutch Oven, in Kiwi (which is a bright and cheery lime green color!). It was big and heavy and absolutely beautiful.
Though I don’t generally believe in love at first sight, this was one time where love at first sight is totally applicable. And I’m not talking about the new-love-honeymoon-phase. No, I’m talking about the long-lasting, completely committed, ’til-death-do-us-part kind of love. Bear with me here, friends. I know I’m talking about cookware, but this is the real deal.
I only fell deeper in love once I actually got it home and began cooking with it. In general, cast iron conducts heat so beautifully. I find that everything cooks really evenly and sears off beautifully to lock in moisture. The enamel allows for super-easy clean up, not to mention how pretty these pieces are! It’s been almost 8 years, and my dutch oven and I are still going strong!
Over the years since then, I’ve been fortunate enough to accrue a nice collection of various baking pieces made by Le Creuset. Lets just say my husband knows exactly what kinds of gifts to get me!
Today’s recipe is perfect for Le Creuset’s 5 Quart Braiser. I’ve coveted the braiser for a long time. Since many of my quick and delicious dinners start in a pan of this size and shape, I knew I had to eventually get one of these! And that gorgeous Caribbean blue color was calling out to me!
These pieces are a true investment. The extreme care that they’re made with and high quality is obvious the moment you get the package into your hands. These are meant to last a lifetime, and they’re also very easy to care for! At this point, my braiser is living on my stove because I use it so often- it’s just so versatile!
So when I was brainstorming which recipe to share for this post, my Grandma’s Chicken Cacciatore kept popping into my head. This is comfort food at it’s finest.
Tender chicken pieces, braised in a savory tomato sauce with sweet bell peppers and garlic, until they’re fall-apart-tender. As a kid I wasn’t really a fan of peppers (they still aren’t my favorite, although I’m much more open to eating them now). But when Grandma made this, you couldn’t keep me away from it!
Now you could easily serve this over pasta- I left the sauce part of the ingredients open to 1-2 cans so that if you want plenty of extra sauce you have the option. My family enjoyed this for dinner last night over spaghetti! But back when Grandma would make this, we never served this over pasta. Instead we had tons of crusty Italian bread to sop up every drop of that fantastically flavorful sauce.
This recipe really is the epitome of simple, straight-forward cooking. There are no unnecessary, difficult-to-find ingredients. Because there is no need for anything extra. Just a few accessible ingredients that are commonly found in most people’s pantry and fridge. But trust me on this- you will not miss all the bells and whistles!
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Here are some other recipes that would be great to use this:
Smothered Pork Tenderloin in Apple Cider Gravy
Bangin’ Sausage and Peppers Pasta
Grandma's Easy Chicken Cacciatore recipe is authentic and delicious! This classic dish is simple to make with accessible ingredients like tomato sauce, peppers, garlic and chicken. It's also pretty healthy and goes great with pasta or a big hunk of crusty Italian bread!
10 minPrep Time
1 hr, 15 Cook Time
1 hr, 25 Total Time
Yields 4-6 Servings
Save RecipeIngredients
- 2-3 Tbsp. olive oil
- 6 cloves of garlic, lightly poke them with the tip of your knife to allow the juices to release more during cooking
- Salt and pepper
- 6 bone-in chicken pieces of your choice, skin removed (I went with drums and thighs, just like Grandma did!)
- 2 large green peppers diced into large chunks
- 1-2 28 oz. cans of tomato sauce (depending on if you want extra sauce for pasta)
Instructions
- Heat the oil in a 5 qt. Le Creuset Braiser over medium heat (remember, cast iron conducts heat very well, so I always go a little lower than I would in a non-cast iron pan to prevent burning). Begin to saute 3 garlic cloves until they're lightly golden brown.
- Salt and pepper the chicken on all sides to taste and then brown them in the pan until all sides are lightly golden. Then remove them to a side bowl. If the garlic is getting too dark remove it as well, burnt garlic is never a good thing.
- Add the peppers into the oil from the chicken and the other 3 pieces of garlic and saute for a few minutes until they soften. Once again don't let them burn!
- Add the sauce and then fill one of the cans half way with water (if you're using two cans, wash the water through both cans to get all the excess sauce off of them) and pour it into the braiser.
- Add the chicken back into the pan and bring to a boil and then reduce the heat to medium low and let it simmer for around an hour or until the chicken is fall-apart-tender.
- Taste it and if it needs more salt and pepper, add some to your taste.
- Enjoy!
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