In this video we’re bringing you a classic Italian comfort food with a healthy twist: low fat Chicken Cacciatore loaded with (hidden) veggies. This dish is not only easy to prepare but also has great macros – it’s low in fat and carbs, and high in protein.
🍅 What’s Special About This Recipe?
– We’re using simple, affordable ingredients like a jar of tomato sauce, fresh parsley, and a mix of nutritious veggies.
– Our choice of chicken is the affordable yet tasty frozen, boneless, skinless chicken thighs.
– This recipe is versatile: you can bake it in a Dutch oven, cook it on the stovetop, put it in a slow cooker, or even use an Instant Pot/pressure cooker.
– Because the veggies are shredded, they basically disappear in to the sauce and really add a nice texture without distracting from the tender chicken.
👨🍳 What You’ll Learn In This Video:
1) Step-by-step guide on how to prepare and layer your ingredients.
2) Tips on how to achieve the perfect flavor and texture.
3) Suggestions for garnishing and serving to enhance the taste.
⏲️ Cooking Time:
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cooking/Total Time: 2.5 hours
** Healthy Chicken Cacciatore Recipe **
Ingredients:
Tomato Sauce: 1 jar (choose a sauce with minimal added oil or sugar)
Fresh Parsley: ¼ cup (roughly chopped; can substitute with dried parsley, but fresh is preferred)
Garlic: 4 cloves (fresh and chopped)
Salt: ½ tablespoon (kosher or any available)
Black Pepper: 1 teaspoon
Shredded Vegetables: We use a mix of kale, brussels sprouts, broccoli, and cabbage (Trader Joe’s “cruciferous crunch” mix is great, but any available mix of store-bought or DIY shredded veggies is fine, even just a simple cole slaw mix will work!)
Chicken Thighs: Frozen, boneless, skinless (can use fresh chicken, but frozen is more affordable and there’s no difference once it is cooked).
Note: You can also use chicken breast to really make it low fat, but the taste and texture won’t be anywhere near what it would be if you use thighs. For me, the extra few grams of fat per serving is well worth it to use thighs and makes this meal so much more satisfying.
Instructions:
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C). Start with a thin layer of tomato sauce in a Dutch oven, then place the chicken thighs on top.
Add half of the salt, pepper, parsley, and chopped garlic onto the chicken, followed by the shredded vegetables.
Add the remaining seasoning and pour the rest of the tomato sauce over the layers veggies.
Bake, covered, for 90 minutes, then remove and gently flip the chicken pieces over. Make sure all of the chicken is in the braising liquid. Cover with a small gap for steam and bake for another 60 minutes.
Try to serve the chicken in large chunks (it will shred easily and we don’t want that).
Top with a sprinkle of Parmesan cheese for extra flavor
🔥 Cooking Tip:
Using a Dutch oven and the oven cooking method can make a significant difference in flavor compared to stovetop, instant pot, or slow cooker.
***
Whether you’re a cooking enthusiast or just looking for a quick and healthy meal, this Chicken Cacciatore recipe is sure to satisfy. It’s perfect for a cozy family dinner or meal prep for the week!
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Thank you for watching, and we hope you enjoy making and tasting this healthy Chicken Cacciatore recipe!
#recipes #italianfood #lowcarb #keto #chickenrecipe #comfortfood
Today on healthy meals, good, fast and cheap. I’m going to show you an easy way to make this delicious chicken cacciatore. The ultimate comfort food only takes a few minutes to prepare. It’s low in fat and carbs and packed with protein. Let’s get into it.
First, we need a jar of tomato sauce, any kind will do, but look for one that doesn’t have a lot of added oil or sugar. Next, we need a quarter cup of fresh chopped parsley. Just rough chop it. You could use dried parsley here, but fresh really makes a difference.
You need four cloves of fresh chopped garlic, half a tablespoon of salt. I’m using kosher, but whatever you have, it’s fine. One teaspoon of pepper, You’ll need some kind of shredded veggies. I really like this mix from Trader Joe’s that has kale, brussels sprouts, broccoli and cabbage, but use whatever you can find.
Now for the chicken. I’m using frozen chicken thighs, boneless, skinless. These are super affordable and taste great. You could definitely use fresh chicken here, but I don’t think it adds anything other than the cost. So start by putting a layer of sauce and then pack your chicken in the pot.
I’m going to bake this in a Dutch oven. But you could also cook this on the stove in a slow cooker or even an instant pot if you were in a hurry. I think for me, putting it in this Dutch oven and letting it sit
In the oven for a few hours brings out that rich deep flavor and caramelize the sauce in a way that the other options don’t. And so now we’ve got the chicken in there. Let’s go ahead and put about half of our salt or pepper, the parsley and the chopped garlic on the chicken.
Don’t need to mix it. Just put it in there. Don’t be fancy. Then we’re going to put our shredded veggies in there to sort of get those so they fit again. Don’t have to be fancy here. Just get them in the pot and then we’re going to add the rest of our seasoning.
So we’re going to add the parsley, The garlic, the salt, the pepper. And then we’re going to pour the rest of our sauce right on top. And again, we are not trying to be fancy. This is healthy meals, good, fast and cheap, not a michelin star restaurant.
So we’re going to dump the rest of that sauce on there and we are done. Put it in the oven at 350 Fahrenheit or about 175 Celsius. After about 90 minutes, we’ll take it out. Give it a gentle mix to flip the chicken over. You can see how much it’s already cooked down.
And so what we’re going to do now is just very gently flip these pieces of chicken over, trying not to break them in the process. And then after you flip them, make sure everybody’s back in the pool and in that great braising liquid. There we go.
And so at this point, you’re going to want to cover it, but you’re going to want to leave a crack for the steam to come out and put it back in the oven for another 60 minutes so things can really thicken up. So now you see just how thick and rich this gets.
If we turn this on the stove or in the instant pot or slow cooker, it still comes out great, but just doesn’t get this dark, rich color and flavor. And so that is why I really like the oven. And so at this point, the chicken will be fall apart tender.
So be careful when you take it out and do your best to try and dish out some big chunks of chicken. I like to top it with a little Parmesan cheese when I serve it. You can use this fancy stuff or the powder from a plastic shaker bottle,
Whatever you prefer, but it really does add to the taste. And there you have it. Another healthy meal. Good, fast and cheap. If you enjoyed this video, please consider subscribing so we can continue to grow the channel. Thanks so much for watching.