Weeknight Chicken Cacciatore

As a young girl,  cacciatore (Italian for "hunter") was a staple in my house.  My father's background is predominantly Italian and my mother is from the Phillippines so we always had a great meal on the table no matter what night of the week it was.  Though the following recipe isn't my mother's cacciatore, it's still darn good for a quick weeknight meal.  Hubs and I had it over my fave jasmine rice but it's fantastic with pasta too.  Ma's recipe didn't use balsamic but she did use chicken pieces with skin on that were dredged in flour first to help thicken the dish. I made this using what I had in the fridge so you're not going to see mushrooms which are traditionally part of this dish also.  My measurements are estimates but you can totally tweak it to utilize what you have to work with or to make it gluten free! :)

Weeknight Chicken Cacciatore

Weeknight Chicken Cacciatore

3 skinless chicken breasts, cut into bitesize pieces
1 bag of frozen onion, red and green pepper mix ( but use fresh veggies if you got em!)
2 minced garlic cloves
2 tbs olive oil
1 tbs butter
salt & pepper to taste
2 tbs fresh basil
1 tsp dried oregano
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
Half jar of your fave marinara (about 12 ozs)

Sear the chicken in the oil and remove.  Add the butter to the pan and garlic, veggies, salt, pepper to the pan and cook about halfway.  Add the oregano, basil, vinegar and cook a few more minutes.  Add the sauce then the chicken.  Keep on med/med high heat (little bubble in the sauce) and until the chicken is cooked through.  I cooked mine about 20 more minutes but it will depend on the size of the chicken pieces.  Taste sauce and salt & pepper to taste.


Tweaked from a Family Recipe :)