Chicken Cacciatore
Chicken Cacciatore is a rustic Italian main course of chicken thighs and drumsticks simmered in a rich tomato sauce with onions, carrots, celery and rosemary. The Thermomix TM7 chops the vegetables and herbs in seconds and stirs the sauce hands-free, so the chicken turns out tender and full of flavour every time.
About this recipe
Chicken Cacciatore on the Thermomix TM7 brings the soul of the Italian countryside straight to your kitchen table. This hearty hunter-style main course pairs boneless chicken thighs and skin-on drumsticks with a slow-simmered sauce of tinned chopped tomatoes, wine, rosemary, parsley and a fragrant soffritto of onions, carrots and celery. Searching for a cacciatore recipe for your all-in-one kitchen machine means no more standing at the hob stirring: the TM7 chops the parsley in a few seconds, prepares the vegetables uniformly so they melt into the sauce, and keeps everything moving while the flavours deepen. The result is tender chicken wrapped in a glossy, robust tomato sauce with just the right hint of wine and herbs. It is the ideal quick weeknight dinner when you crave something rustic yet effortless, and it reheats beautifully the next day for lunch. Extra virgin olive oil rounds out the flavour with authentic Mediterranean character.
Preparation tips
- Pat the chicken thighs and drumsticks dry with kitchen paper before adding them to the mixing bowl, as drier skin renders more flavour into the tomato and wine sauce during cooking.
- Reserve half of the chopped parsley and scatter it over the finished cacciatore just before serving, so the fresh herb aroma balances the long-simmered rosemary and tomato.
- Replace the wine with an equal splash of chicken stock plus a squeeze of lemon if you prefer an alcohol-free version that still keeps the sauce bright and tangy.
Recipe variations
- Make a vegetarian cacciatore by swapping the chicken thighs and drumsticks for chunky pieces of courgette, mushrooms and bell pepper, keeping the tomato, rosemary and soffritto base identical.
- For a festive autumn variation, add sliced chestnuts and a handful of black olives to the sauce and serve the cacciatore over creamy polenta for a hearty Sunday family dinner.
Thermomix TM7 Benefits
- Fresh parsley leaves are transformed into a fine garnish in seconds of chopping, saving you manual knife work with the TM7. [Multi-Function]
- Thanks to precise weighing directly in the bowl, the olive oil for the soffritto is measured to the gram with no extra cups to wash. [Precision Control]
- While the sauce simmers, the TM7 mixes the tomatoes, wine and vegetables hands-free so the cacciatore never catches on the bottom. [Hands-Free]
- Heating the onions, carrots and celery at a controlled temperature releases their sweetness gradually without any burning. [Precision Control]
- Grating a parmesan rind into the sauce gives this cacciatore extra savoury depth, done by the Thermomix in a single step. [Guided Cooking]
Ingredients
- fresh parsley leaves
- onions
- carrots
- celery
- extra virgin olive oil
- chicken thighs, boneless
- chicken drumsticks, skin on
- red wine
- fresh rosemary
- tinned chopped tomatoes