Skillet Chicken Cacciatore
We are finally in back-to-school mode with both kids. It was a great summer but my little guy wore me right out and I am very happy to be back into the regular routine. This routine, of course, includes weeknight cooking. Depending on our daily schedule I will sometimes prep food while they are at school. If I don’t have time to do that I’ll review some of my oldies but goodies, or the ingredients in our fridge, to come up with a quick and easy dinner recipe. Recently I made this easy skillet chicken cacciatore because I had the last couple of peppers from our garden in the crisper and a fresh packet of chicken to be eaten.
The key to getting this recipe from stove to table efficiently was chopping the vegetables and chicken in advance. I wanted the chicken to be bite-size so I did it all during the day and stored the ingredients in the fridge until dinner time. Once the mixture was cooked on the skillet I served it over a bed of egg noodles. (I think next time I might try it over a bed of rice to compare.) Either way, it is important to have a little starch to absorb the yummy sauce. You don’t want to miss a drop!
We adored the meal with the rich tomato vegetable sauce and tender chicken. I would recommend it for any busy parent looking for a healthy dinner recipe. Best of all, it is very adaptable and you could easily add into all sorts of vegetables in addition to what I’ve written below. The key is to let them soften before re-adding the chicken. The sky really is the limit. We hope you enjoy it as much as we did!
Ingredients
- 2 teaspoons olive oil
- 1 ½ lbs boneless, skinless chicken cut into 1" pieces
- 8 ounces mushrooms, sliced (buy them sliced to save time)
- 1 red bell pepper, seeded and sliced
- 1 medium onion, finely chopped
- 3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
- 1 14-ounce can diced tomatoes with juice
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- ½ teaspoon cracked black pepper
- Egg noodles for serving
Instructions
- Warm the oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add the chicken and stir until browned. Then remove it to a plate to cool.
- Add the mushrooms, pepper, onion, and garlic to the skillet and stir until everything is softened and translucent. Add the chicken to the vegetable mixture and cook for about 8 more minutes, or until the chicken is cooked through. Then add the tomatoes, salt, thyme, and pepper and stir for about 2 minutes, or until the sauce thickens.
- Remove the skillet from the heat and serve the chicken and vegetables over the cooked egg noodles or rice.
