Italian · intermediate
Sicilian Braised Chicken Thighs With Sweet Pepper Caponata
Golden crisp chicken thighs gently braised in a vibrant agrodolce sauce featuring sweet red bell peppers, tangy capers, olives, and crushed tomatoes.
- PREP TIME
- 15 min
- COOK TIME
- 35 min
- SERVES
- 4
Good things
start in the kitchen.
LET’S MAKE IT
Step by step
- 01
Season the chicken thighs generously on all sides with salt and black pepper.
- 02
Heat olive oil in a deep skillet or Dutch oven over medium-high heat and sear chicken skin-side down for 6 to 8 minutes until golden brown, then flip and cook for 2 minutes before setting aside.
- 03
In the same pan, add the sliced yellow onion and red bell peppers, cooking for 5 minutes until softened.
- 04
Stir in the capers, pitted green olives, crushed tomatoes, and apple vinegar, bringing the mixture to a simmer.
- 05
Nestle the browned chicken thighs back into the vegetable mixture skin-side up, reduce heat to low, cover, and braise for 20 minutes until chicken reaches 165 Fahrenheit internal temperature.
- 06
Garnish with torn fresh basil leaves right before serving alongside the warm pepper caponata.
A LITTLE KITCHEN KNOW-HOW
Agrodolce Braising
Combining sweet peppers and vinegar to build a balanced sweet-and-sour foundation for slow pan-braising.
Notes from the kitchen
- Do not crowd the skillet when browning chicken thighs to ensure skin becomes properly crisp.
- Adjust sweetness or acidity by adding a pinch of raw sugar if the tomato caponata tastes overly tart.
- Original home-cooking adaptation inspired by Italian; regional versions vary.
- Use halal-certified meat, poultry, stock, sauces, cheese and other processed ingredients. Check labels and avoid cross-contamination. Recipe screening is not halal certification.
