Creamy Skillet Chicken Cacciatore

Hello, again! I am so sorry for the delay in posting my experiences with this recipe. Life has been absolutely crazy, which I plan on blogging about when I have a spare moment, but let's not waste any more time, and dive right into the food!

This Creamy Skillet Chicken Cacciatore hails from Alyssa of The Recipe Critic, and it was absolutely delicious. This tasted like the chicken cacciatore my family used to get from a local restaurant when I was a little girl, and my parents also seemed to really enjoy it since both their plates were spotless after the meal. Or maybe they were just hungry. Nevertheless, here's how to make it for yourself!

Ingredients:

Serves: 4-5

• 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts

• 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning

• salt and pepper

• 2 tablespoon olive oil, divided

• 2 cloves garlic, minced

• ½ red bell pepper

• ½ yellow pepper

• 8 ounce mushrooms, sliced

• ​My family does not like mushrooms, so I swapped this out for half of a medium-sized onion, which I sliced sliced into strips.

• 15 ounce crushed tomatoes

• ​I used a whole can (~28 oz) because I knew we wouldn't have any use for the remainders anytime soon and I didn't want to waste. It worked fine, but make sure your pan can fit it all and still have room to add and mix the chicken!

• ¼ heavy cream

• ½ cup chicken broth

• 1 Tablespoon italian seasoning

• ½ cup fresh basil, chopped

• ​I deemed this optional, and forged ahead without it.

• salt and pepper to taste

• freshly grated parmesan cheese for garnish

• ​I didn't include this because my family isn't used to lots of cheese or dairy in their pasta dishes, so I didn't want to overwhelm their palates since I had already added some heavy cream.

Preparation:

1. Season the chicken with Italian seasoning and salt and pepper. In a large skillet add 1 tablespoon olive oil and heat to medium high. Cook the chicken about 3 minutes on each side or until a thermometer reads 165 degrees and brown on each side. Set aside the chicken on the plate.

Holy moly, it took wayyyy longer than a total of 6 minutes to cook this chicken. 5 times longer than that, if you're curious. I don't know if that's because my chicken breasts were super thick or because I've never grilled a whole breast before and kept flipping the meat to prevent it from burning, but this took ages. I kept adding more drizzles of oil to the pan to prevent it from sticking, so I think next time I'd opt for a non-stick pan. I also used a meat thermometer and, towards the end of this arduous process, cut into the meat to check if it was white inside.

Note: Unless you enjoy food poisoning or have a stomach of steel, poultry should reach an internal temperature of 165 degrees Fahrenheit before consumption and should have no raw pink color remaining.

2. Add one tablespoon olive oil to the skillet and add the garlic, bell pepper, and mushrooms. Sauté until tender. Add the crushed tomatoes, heavy cream, chicken broth, Italian seasoning, and salt and pepper to taste. Let simmer until thickened.

This part didn't take nearly as long as the first step, though I wish it had because it was stressful trying to measure out my liquids while making sure the veggies didn't burn. I also had to drain my pasta at this point, so I was frantically running around the kitchen trying to do three things at once.

3. Add the chicken back to the skillet until heated through. Serve over hot pasta and garnish with fresh chopped basil and parmesan cheese if desired.

So, I added the chicken back and had a moment to breathe. And then I looked around my kitchen, which was a disaster zone. And I checked the clock, realizing I had spent an hour on what was advertised as a 30-minute dish. And my parents were sitting at the table, very hungry and ready to eat dinner. I don't know how people do this for a living or even every day.

But here it is!

There's only half a chicken breast in this picture because, like I said, they were massive.

My Conclusions:

1. If and when I make this again, I would slice the chicken breasts in half to make them thinner or chop them into bite-sized pieces, so they would cook faster and be easier to chew. Since the breasts were so thick, it took a bit of effort to cut them up once they were plated, which isn't a big deal, but I'd prefer to not have to work hard to eat my food after all the cooking I just did. Also, like I said up above, I would cook them in a non-stick pan to cut down on the amount of oil needed. However, as I'm writing this, maybe the oil helped keep the chicken moist even though I had to cook them for a while, so I guess it's up to you.

2. My mom's one complaint/suggestion was that there weren't enough onions, so I would add a whole onion next time, but you can switch up the veggies and their ratios to fit your own needs. I think I would also slice the veggies the way our old favorite restaurant did, which was in thicker chunks rather than the skinny strips that Alyssa had in her photos.

3. To make this dish a bit healthier, you could try swapping out the pasta for a whole wheat version or maybe even experiment with a spiralizer and use zucchinis noodles instead of pasta! That's been on my to-do list for ages, but I don't think it would appeal to my family. I also think you could try switching the heavy cream for other types of milk, but don't quote me on that.

Once again, I apologize for the delay in getting this recipe to you all! If you try this chicken cacciatore, tell me about it in the comments down below!

Happy cooking! -SUPPERGIRL