One-Pot Chicken Cacciatore

There are 3 million chicken recipes on the internet. We're here to show you the good ones. Win, win.

Today: A one-pot classic to get fall off to a cozy start.

I'm going to tell you a little behind-the-scenes Food52 secret. Know what our number one recipe search term is? It's chicken. It beats out all the other greatest hits -- cake, kale, quinoa, salmon -- handily. But like anything that's popular, it's awfully easy for chicken to get a bad rap -- it's boring, bland, basic.

But that's bad chicken. Good chicken is a beautiful thing. It's roasted simply with salt till the skin snaps and juices spill out. It's a crispy, herbed cutlet; or a pickled, pulled salad on toast; or a reason to drink broth from a bowl. To make good chicken, we just need to know the best ways to treat it, and keep finding dependable recipes to add to our files. That's where our new column Winner Winner Chicken Dinner comes in -- every week we'll be surfacing another stellar chicken recipe from the Food52 community, so we never have to suffer bad chicken again.

This week, it's inpatskitchen's take on a classic chicken cacciatore. You'll dredge and brown chicken thighs in seasoned flour, stir together a tomatoey stew in the same pot, then add the chicken back to finish braising. Get some pasta or polenta (or farro, or potatoes, or whatever speaks to you) ready at the same time, and dinner -- good, chicken, dinner -- is done.

Chicken Cacciatore by inpatskitchen

Makes 4 servings

1 cup all-purpose flour seasoned with 1 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
4 bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs
Olive oil to lightly coat the bottom of a large skillet with a lid
2 slices bacon, chopped
1 green bell pepper, seeded, cored, and sliced
1 red bell pepper, seeded, cored, and sliced
1 large onion, halved and thinly sliced
4 ounces white or brown button mushrooms, sliced
4 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon ground fennel seed
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1 teaspoon salt
One 14- to 15-ounce can whole plum tomatoes
8 ounces tomato sauce
8 ounces chicken broth
1/4 cup torn fresh basil leaves
1/4 cup torn fresh oregano leaves
Grated parmesan for serving
Cooked pasta or soft polenta for serving

See the full recipe (and save and print it) here.

Photo by Mark Weinberg

Is there an undiscovered Food52 chicken recipe you love? Send us a paragraph or two at [email protected] about why you love it, and it could be next week's Winner Winner Chicken Dinner.