Recipe
🍽️ DINNER
Pollo alla Cacciatora
Bone-in chicken browned and braised the hunter's way with rosemary, sage, red wine, a little tomato, and black olives.
Italian (Tuscan) · easy · serves 4
prep 20 min · cook 55 min
~616 cal · 73g protein · 16g carbs · 21g fat · 4g fiber · 7g sugars · 5g sat fat (estimated, per serving)
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Pollo alla cacciatora, chicken cooked "hunter's style," is one of the great rustic of central Italy, born of cucina povera, the resourceful cooking of the farmhouse kitchen. It was the meal a hunter's wife would prepare after a long day in the woods, and while every region has its version, the Tuscan one leans on the woody herbs and red wine of that landscape of vineyards and olive groves.
Unlike the tomato-drowned versions found abroad, the authentic Tuscan cacciatora uses only a little tomato. The chicken is seared until golden, then slowly with a soffritto of onion, carrot, and celery, plenty of rosemary and sage, a robust splash of Chianti, and just enough tomato to bind the sauce, which dark and savoury around the meat.
Black olives, a nod to the omnipresent Tuscan olive trees, go in near the end. Served with bread, , or a simple green, pollo alla cacciatora is the kind of unhurried Sunday that fills the kitchen with the scent of rosemary and wine and tastes like the Tuscan hills.
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Make it yours
✓ Naturally gluten-, dairy-, nut-, egg- and pork-free. No swaps needed.
Toggle a diet and the ingredients rewrite themselves with regional substitutes.
🥕 Vegetarian
🌱 Vegan
🌾 Gluten-Free
🥛 Dairy-Free
🥜 Nut-Free
🥚 Egg-Free
🐖 Pork-Free
Dietary labels are a cooking guide, not allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we count coconut as a tree nut, following FDA labeling), fish, and shellfish; we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, read the label on every product you use, and note that a kitchen can cross-contaminate in ways a recipe cannot control.
Ingredients
US
Metric
Serves 4
2.5 lbs bone-in chicken thighs and drumsticks
3 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, finely chopped
1 carrot, finely chopped
1 stalk celery, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 sprig and 4 leaves fresh rosemary and sage
1 bay leaf
1 cup red wine (Chianti or other dry red)
1 tbsp in 1/2 cup tomato paste dissolved in warm water
3/4 cup black olives (Gaeta or Taggiasca)
to taste salt and black pepper
Instructions
1
Pat the chicken dry, season it, and sear it skin-side down in the olive oil until deep golden on both sides, then set it aside.
2
Soften the onion, carrot, and celery in the same pan, then add the garlic, rosemary, sage, and bay and cook a minute until fragrant.
3
Return the chicken, pour in the wine, and let it bubble a few minutes so the alcohol cooks off and the sauce concentrates.
4
Stir in the diluted tomato paste, cover, and simmer gently for about 40 minutes until the chicken is tender, adding a splash of water if it dries.
✎ Chef’s note
The Tuscan version stays herb-and-wine forward with only a little tomato, so resist drowning it in sauce; it should coat the chicken, not swim it.
5
Stir in the black olives for the last 10 minutes, adjust the seasoning, and serve with bread or polenta.
Tuscan farmhouse tradition, Italy.
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🌏 While it simmers, know your destination
📍
Tuscany. The bistecca is a specification rather than a recipe. A T-bone cut five or six centimetres thick from a young Chianina steer or heifer, grilled over wood, turned once, served rare and carved at the table. Asking for it cooked through is treated as a misunderstanding rather than a preference.
🗺️
Italy. Italy is twenty regions of fiercely local cooking, where a sauce or pasta shape can define a single city. Built on superb ingredients treated simply, olive oil, tomatoes, cheese, cured pork, and wheat, it prizes tradition, seasonality, and the sanctity of the shared table.
🌍
Europe. Europe has written a great deal of its food into law. A regulation of 1992 created the protected designation of origin and the protected geographical indication, tying a name to a place and a method, and an EU evaluation published in 2021 counted more than three thousand registered names across those schemes, from cheeses and hams down to particular shapes of bread.
The story behind this dish is up top, worth a read while the pot works.
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Good to know
Storing it: Stews and braises keep 3 to 4 days refrigerated and often taste better the next day. Reheat gently, adding a splash of water if it has thickened.
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Frequently asked questions
What is Pollo alla Cacciatora?
Bone-in chicken browned and braised the hunter's way with rosemary, sage, red wine, a little tomato, and black olives.
Where does Pollo alla Cacciatora come from?
Pollo alla Cacciatora is a Italian (Tuscan) dish from Tuscany, Italy.
Can Pollo alla Cacciatora be made vegan, gluten-free, or dairy-free?
This Pollo alla Cacciatora recipe includes substitution suggestions for vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, nut-free, egg-free, and pork-free versions, including several at once such as gluten-free and dairy-free together. Treat them as a starting guide rather than a guarantee, and see the allergen note below.
Is Pollo alla Cacciatora safe for people with food allergies?
Our dietary labels and substitutions are a cooking guide, not medical or allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we count coconut as a tree nut, following FDA labeling), fish, and shellfish, but we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, always read the label on every product you use, and remember a home or commercial kitchen can cross-contaminate ingredients in ways a recipe cannot control.
How long does Pollo alla Cacciatora take to make?
About 75 minutes total (20 minutes prep, 55 minutes cooking), serving 4.
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