Italian Chicken Recipes – Italian cuisine has long captured the hearts and taste buds of food enthusiasts worldwide. From the vibrant streets of Naples to the romantic canals of Venice, Italy offers a rich tapestry of culinary traditions that never fail to amaze. And when it comes to chicken dishes, this Mediterranean gem certainly knows how to work its magic.
In this blog post, we’ll be exploring a variety of delectable Italian chicken recipes that will make your taste buds dance with joy. From classic favorites like Chicken Parmesan and Chicken Marsala to lesser-known gems like Pollo alla Cacciatora and Saltimbocca, we’ll cover a range of dishes that showcase the incredible diversity of Italian cuisine.
Whether you’re an experienced home cook or just starting your culinary journey, these recipes are designed to be approachable and easy to follow. We’ll provide step-by-step instructions, helpful tips, and ingredient suggestions to ensure your success in the kitchen. So, get your apron ready and prepare to unleash your inner Italian chef!
10 Favorite Italian Chicken Recipes
You can recognize how creative and skillful the Italians are on this list. They invented numerous ways to enjoy chicken with flavorful chicken soups and tender grilled chicken. And let’s start this journey.
1. Crockpot Tuscan Chicken
If you are a fan of soup and stew, you can’t skip your chance to try this yummy Italian slow cooker recipe. After several hours, all the essence of the food will merge with the soup, and that’s how you can actually feel the atmosphere of the Tuscany region in this soup.
To make this dish, you put everything in the pot, and after 4-7 hours, your soup is ready. Only add spinach in the last 20 minutes, so the veggie won’t become too soft or soggy.
People usually place parsley on top of that bowl of soup for garnish. But don’t forget to remove the rosemary before serving. This dish has a good combination of sweetness, savoriness, and sourness.
2. Pollo Alla Scarpariello (Shoemaker’s Chicken)
One of the best sub-branch of Italian cooking is Italian-American cuisine. This world-famous food culture was born after the Italians moved to the USA in the late 19th century. The cooking is under the heavy influence of Southern Italian cuisine.
Chicken Scarpariello has another name, shoemaker chicken, since “scarpariello” means “shoemaker-style” in Italian. The dish is a signature for the contribution of sautéed chicken, Italian sweet sausages, aromatic condiments, and herbal elements.
You can make this dish by sauteing these ingredients: seasoned chicken, sausages, veggies, and other condiments. After all the ingredients turn fragrant and brown, add chicken broth, butter, and lemon juice to the skillet.
The last step is to return the chicken and sausage to the pan and let them simmer with the broth for 2-3 minutes. You can have this dish with pasta and garnish the plate with grated cheese and parsley.
3. Chicken Parmesan Meatballs
Meatball is a legendary invention of the Italians, and it was first seen back in the ancient Rome era (753 B.C. – 476 A.D.). There are many variations of the dish, and you make meatballs out of any meat or even non-meat, like vegan meatballs.
You can easily make this recipe come into reality by whisking breadcrumbs, ground chicken, Parmesan, and other ingredients. And when the mixture is ready, you roll them into balls. Later, you can brown them on the skillet for about 6-7 minutes.
The final step of making this recipe is to pour the Marinara sauce and grated Mozzarella onto the skillet of meatballs and bake them for 15 minutes. The dish is pretty quick to make, and the flavor is super delicious. It’s also a good idea to sprinkle Parmesan and parsley on top.
4. Chicken Parmesan (Pollo Alla Parmigiana)
The birth name of Parmesan cheese is Parmigiano-Reggiano. This name implies the cheese originates in the province of Reggio Emilia. In this recipe, the Parmesan is part of the breadcrumbs and garnish layer of the chicken.
The chicken Parmesan is a notorious dish in Italian-American cuisine because the chicken has a thick coating of bread crumbs mixed with grated Parmesan and other condiments. You need to pouch the chicken firmly before the coating process.
To coat the chicken, prepare a whisked egg and alternatively dunk your chicken in the breadcrumbs and the egg two times. After that, you fry the chicken on the pan at low or medium heat for two minutes for each side.
The last move is to top the chicken with sliced Mozzarella and tomato sauce. You need to spend another 14 minutes baking the chicken. And then layer Parmesan cheese on top with one more minute of baking to melt that Parmesan.
It is important to learn about this fantastic Chicken Parmesan.
5. Chicken Cacciatore (Pollo Alla Cacciatore)
This dish is literally a folk dish due to its intrinsic nature. In Italian, “cacciatore” means “hunter”, so the recipe is like a combination of many vegetables found in the jungle. You can make the dish with either chicken or rabbit as the familiar prays of the hunters.
First, prepare many vegetables and herbs. And with the chicken, you chop it into pieces and fry them until golden. After that, toss the other ingredients in the pan except for the tomatoes.
And an Italian stew is so incomplete without red wine, so it’s a must to add this red fermented liquid over the chicken before the tomatoes. After 30 minutes of simmering with a lidded pan, all you have left is to decorate your Cacciatore with parsley.
6. Italian Fried Chicken With Sour Sauce (Piccata De Pollo)
Here’s another specialty of Italian-American cooking. Piccata in Italian cuisine indicates the cooking technique of thinly slicing the meat. Therefore, the chicken Piccata is basically a thin, deep-fried chicken piece. There are various dishes to go with chicken Piccata.
The chicken is simple since it only needs some seasonings: pepper and salt. After that, you fry the chickens with butter and olive oil. This process takes you around eight minutes in total. When the chicken turns brown, it’s time to remove it from the skillet.
To make the sauce, drain the leftover oil from the pan and add lemon juice, chicken broth, garlic, and capers to the pan. The sauce delivers a sour and mildly savory taste to buttery chicken. The combination that exists in the Chicken Piccata is surely worth a try.
7. Chicken With Mozzarella, Basil, And Tomato (Pollo Caprese)
Caprese denoted a signature Italian salad composed of Mozzarella cheese, tomatoes, and basil and dressed with salt and olive oil to the Italians. Later, people invented other Caprese dishes like the Caprese sandwich, which has the filling being Caprese salad.
In the recipe for Caprese Chicken, people keep the same concept with all of these ingredients and add chicken breast to the dish. To make this dish, you season the chicken and then grill it with high heat until it has an internal temperature of 155°F (68°C).
At that moment, it’s the time when the Caprese ingredients come into play. You then put Mozzarella cheese on top of the chicken and bake them until the cheese melts and the chicken reaches a degree of 165°F (74°C). The whole process takes 3 minutes to complete.
The final step is to serve the chicken with cheese on the plate and top it with sliced tomatoes, basil, salt, and pepper. This famous Italian starter goes well with balsamic vinegar. It is also not a bad idea to have this while enjoying a glass of wine.
8. Italian Chicken Sandwich (Muffaletta)
Muffaletta is a special sesame white bread coming from the Sicily region of Italy. And when the Italian immigrants moved to New Orleans, they brought the bread along and invented the notorious Muffaletta sandwich here.
A standard concept of this sandwich from Italian cuisine includes vegetables, cheeses, herbs, and a lot of dry-cured pork. However, in this Chicken Muffaletta recipe, you will replace this protein source with chicken thighs.
To corporate a Chicken Muffaletta, you start with spreading a layer of chopped Creole olive on the bread. Then add the provolone cheese, thinly sliced chicken, and ham. The top of the sandwich will be the other piece of bread.
The notable point of this recipe is the usage of Ciabatta bread instead of the original Muffuletta. It is easier to find Ciabatta than the other one in the supermarket. Also, people prefer having chicken substitutes for ham whenever they want to reduce their calorie intake.
Let’s eat a healthy Muffaletta with this low-carb chicken recipe.
9. Fried Chicken Coated With Breadcrumbs (Pollo Alla Milanese)
Milan is the second-most populous city in Italy, and its culinary longevity is undeniable with a lot of signature and remarkable recipes. Veal Milanese is one of them, and the favorite variation of the recipe is Chicken Milanese.
To make this dish, you can start by breading the chicken with a mixture of Parmesan cheese, basil, thyme, and breadcrumbs. After coating your chicken thickly, you pan-fry until it turns golden brown. This step might take you 3-4 minutes.
Prepare the sauce with fennel, cherry tomatoes, thyme, Mascarpone cheese, and other condiments. The sauce will later be spooned on top of the chicken.
The sauce delivers a combination of fresh tomato sourness, Mascarpone creaminess, and herbal aroma. Mixing the sauce with the tenderized chicken, Chicken Milanese is such a good option for your next dinner.
10. Margherita Chicken Cannelloni
Cannelloni is a notable Italian pasta with a big tube form where you can stuff ingredients. In a way, Cannelloni is like the Italian spring roll.
On the other hand, the Margherita style is a culinary decoration of the Italians with three colors from their flag: green, white, and red. The colors are relatively represented by fresh basil, melted Mozzarella, and tomato sauce.
With the same notion, Margherita Chicken Cannelloni contains these three ingredients. You must prepare other elements like chicken breast, Ricotta, Parmesan, and additional condiments.
The dish is signature with vivid Italian colors and mouth-watering fragrance. With tender and creamy stuffed Cannelloni and savory tomato sauce, the recipe can give you the satisfaction of Italian cuisine.
