Oh, I must advocate for the mushrooms - they take on the flavor of the wine in the sauce and are indescribeably good. Chicken Cacciatore (which can be made a thousand different ways and every single one is delicious) is the first dish I learned how to make without a set recipe. I used to make it for my Mom's birthday as a kid. Thanks for the reminder, this will be showing up on my table very soon.

Will boneless skinless chicken breast work?

Note from Elise: A lot of the flavor comes from the skin. I would recommend cooking the chicken with the skin on, and if you don't want to eat the skin, removing it before you eat the chicken.

That looks wonderful. Thanks again for another great recipe with incredible photos. I like mushrooms in cacciatore but don't always use them. I'll have to try serving the chicken with polenta, as one commenter suggested. I've just always served with pasta.

My father made this for us on special occasions.

He never used mushrooms.

and he often used basil to flavor it.

Still brings back memories.

Hi Sarah,
You might want to read through the comments on this recipe, lots of suggestions given about wine substitutes. Note that most of the alcohol from wine gets cooked off in the cooking process, if you are avoiding alcohol. If you don't have any wine in the house and you don't want to buy any just for this recipe, you could try substituting a mix of white wine vinegar and white grape juice for the white wine.

I made this last night per the recipe and it was DElicious! I'm already planning another go at it with my own revision including the addition of bell peppers, mushrooms, and maybe some root veggies. I'm also going to serve it over rice from now on.

Oh, and this went perfectly with your garlic bread recipe! Garlic bread is always nice to have for tomato juice soppings. :)

I'm careless today - would white vermouth work in a pinch?

Note from Elise: I think white vermouth would work fine.

This may be a stupid question - I don't have a skillet that big, so can I just cook everything in a large shallow pot? The picture looks more like a pot then a skillet. Thanks!

Note from Elise: Yes, a large, shallow pot would work, if you have a cover for the pot.

Can you use white cooking wine?

Note from Elise: Recipes that call for wine are only as good as the quality of the wine. Use good drinking wine with this recipe. Please do not use cooking wine if you can avoid it.

I tried this tonight as is. I didn't make any additions as others did.We didn't like it. Very bland.

I'm sorry you found the chicken bland. Sounds to me like you didn't season enough with salt and pepper. Chicken, prepared practically any way, that is properly seasoned, especially with salt, is not bland. ~Elise

Another great , simple easy recipe to make . This will become another one I will be making regularly! I LOVE YOUR BLOG! It has become the first place I go to when when I search for recipe ideas.

I made this tonight with leg quarters. It was really yummy! I did add mushrooms and half a red bell pepper, and I doubled the wine too. This is a wonderfully flexible recipe. My husband was very impressed. Thank you!

This recipe looks delicious and easy. I've been looking at other recipes, though, and they always dredge the chicken in flour before frying. Is it ok to do that with your recipe?

Sure, if you want. ~Elise

I have been making something similar to this for a long time in my Slow Cooker....as I am affectionately called the "Crock Pot Queen" by friends and family.

My version uses my leftover homemade spaghetti sauce, mushrooms are a must and if I am feeling "funky" I add in thick slices of zuchini. Layer like Elise does, but in your slow cooker and put on low setting. In 4-6 hours you have a great smelling house and a ready made main dish!

We usually serve it with a green salad and hard rolls. AND, any leftovers are used to make a great italian-style chicken veggie soup the next day in...yep you guessed it, the Slow Cooker!

I only own 6 of them! LOL XD

I just did this in the dutch oven on the stove, and it turned out quite wonderful (YUM!). I paired it with freshly made bread out of a breadmaker. I did have a few variations though. Let see...

-Half a chicken cut up (2 lbs)
-One can Fire Roasted Diced Tomatoes instead of fresh (all I had)
-pre-diced garlic (2 Tbsp)
-One Cup Dried Shiitake Mushrooms
-3/4 Cup Wine instead of 1/3 (to compensate for dried mushrooms)
-One can chopped up black olives
-Sea Salt instead regular (decent amount)

This is definitely a keeper. I might try a few things in the future: Sauvignon Blanc instead of Chardonay for a bit more kick, green olives instead of black (although black was awesome), tossing in some wild rice and more liquid, and maybe sun dried tomatos, bacon or prosciutto, and of course the bell pepper mentioned above. There are so many fun variation on this dish that can make it new each time.

What a great way to finish a blustery November winter day in Alaska.

Hmm not sure why, but this didn't taste that great to me. It is missing some 'richness'.. I found it to be quite bland and liquidy. Maybe it was the wine I used?

I think it would have been a lot better with some butter or cream added, to fill out the sauce a bit.

Chicken Cacciatore was a dish my mother made frequently when I was growing up. Your version looks similar, but my mom used thinly sliced celery, chopped green pepper, zucchini (when in season), lots of fresh mushrooms, and sliced green olives in it as well. Since we had no wine in the house, she used straight vinegar (cider, white, or red wine???)in place of the wine, and we loved that sharp tang it gave the dish. Cacciatore was served over leftover mashed potatoes, rice, or pasta. Thanks for the trip down memory lane. (Have to try it over the polenta, and now you've got me thinking of trying it over gnocci.)

My mom taught me to do this with tons of onions, mushrooms, bell peppers and canned crushed tomatoes with basil. First we'd chop the onion in to a medium dice and set that cooking then add in the mushrooms, peppers and garlic and then the chicken to get some color on the skin and then the tomatoes. I gotta recommend Tutto Rosso and Sole d'Italia because they are the tastiest. Then we let it all stew until the meat falls off the bone and serve over pasta.

Re: wine
You can always just leave it out. It adds a nice depth of flavor, but it isn't essential. I'd argue towards adding a splash or two of red wine vinegar for the same sort of tang. Plus, it's your house. The recipe police is not going to come after you if you don't follow a recipe exactly.

My H2b made me hunters chicken last night and it was fantastic, he added a pinch of smoked paprika to it and it made it taste warm and excellent. Give it a go!

Really delicious! I used all dark meat and included chicken back in the dish. I think that lots of bones and dark meat are key for getting depth. It really is finger licking good.

Just made your recipe in a pressure cooker (my new favorite piece of kitchen equipment) and it came out delicious!!! Thank you for another great recipe!

Tried this recipe for the first time for my husband and his family. They loved it. Just wanted to thank you for your recipes. Everything I make from this website comes out amazing. Keep them coming, Elise. I did follow the advice of Big Mike posted on Nov. 2009. Added 3/4 cup of white wine, Spanish olives, mushrooms,zucchini, and bell peppers. Loved it and thank you again.

Wow. This was surprisingly good. The changes I made included adding mushrooms, a quarter of a red bell pepper (left over from another recipe), a dash of cinnamon and a dash of paprika. Oh, I also sprinkled some rosemary and thyme just as it finished cooking. This was incredibly liquidy as some other people mentioned and I cooked it uncovered for far longer than the recommended 40 minutes. This was not at ALL bland though, I seasoned the chicken with salt prior to browning and I did not need to add anymore salt to the recipe. The wine adds depth to the sauce and I loved the paprika and cinnamon and will definitely add it again next time. Oh, and after this finishes cooking you really can't taste the wine in it at all. I will definitely always include mushrooms in this dish as well. Even my very picky fiance enjoyed this...he usually doesn't have seconds and he just had a second helping of this! Thanks so much for such a tasty recipe!