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A delicious chicken puttanesca recipe that’s authentic, delicious, easy to make, and ready in just 30 minutes. Make this simple low-carb chicken dinner recipe with everyday pantry staple ingredients that your whole family will love.
You may also like my Mediterranean chicken recipe or my easy chicken chili.
My kids and I love this puttanesca that’s made with lean chicken breast and drenched in a delicious tomato-based sauce made with tomatoes, herbs, anchovies, garlic, kalamata olives, and capers. This chicken puttanesca is so full of flavor and easy to make. Have dinner ready in 30 minutes and enjoy this dish with the family any day of the week. My kids prefer when I serve with spaghetti, pasta, or a side of roasted veggies like these air fryer broccoli.
Recipe Highlight
- Quick and easy: you will only need 30 minutes to make this recipe. Perfect for those busy weeknights you need to make a fancy chicken recipe for a weeknight dinner to serve the family.
- So delicious: so full of flavor, you will love this easy puttanesca recipe, and will soon be a family favorite.
Ingredients you will need
These are only a list of ingredients you will need to make this recipe. Full measurements will be found further down below in the recipe card.
- Boneless chicken breasts, cut in half lengthways to cook faster: if you prefer using boneless and skinless chicken thighs you can
- Extra virgin olive oil: or you may use avocado oil
- Kosher salt and ground black pepper
- Dried oregano
- anchovy fillets, coarsely chopped (optional): gives it a nice taste though
- fresh garlic cloves: use fresh garlic if possible
- one can (28 ounces) peeled tomatoes with juices, or you may use crushed tomatoes or tomato sauce
- pitted Kalamata olives or green olives
- capers: could be skipped if you do not like capers
- Fresh parsley, chopped for garnish so if you do not have this ingredient no worries.
- Optional: Crusty bread, to serve
How to make chicken puttanesca
- Prepare the chicken: rub the chicken with salt, pepper, and 1 tsp dried oregano on both sides. Heat 1 tbsp oil in a large cast iron skillet over medium heat.
- Cook the chicken: add chicken and cook, until cooked through and golden-brown on both sides, about 10-12 minutes. Set aside on a plate. You might have to cook the chicken in batches to avoid overcrowding the pan, so divide the oil if so.
- Make the puttanesca sauce: add the remaining 1 tbsp of oil to the hot skillet, and sauté the garlic and anchovy for 1 minute. Add in the tomatoes and oregano. Use the back of a wooden spoon to crush the tomatoes into small pieces. Stir in the capers, olives; Simmer over low heat partially covered, for 8-10 minutes, until the sauce thickens.
- Re-add the chicken back into the sauce: Taste the sauce and season with salt and pepper, if needed. Return the chicken to the pan and spoon over the sauce. Allow it to cook for a bit more into the sauce, until hot.
- Serve: Garnish with freshly chopped parsley and enjoy. Serve with warm crusty bread.
Tips from my kitchen
- Chicken: If you want to use seafood, any fish would work. A great substitute would be cod or salmon.
- You may make your own homemade peeled tomatoes instead of using canned
- Save on time, make the puttanesca sauce ahead of time. Even a day before.
- Anchovies can be optional but will add a great savory taste.
- Consider making the puttanesca sauce ahead of time, or even the day before to save even more time.
Storing and reheating
- Storing: Store leftover chicken puttanesca in the fridge for 3-4 days in a sealed container. You may freeze for up to 2 months.
- Reheating: it would be best to reheat leftovers in the microwave at 30-second increments.
What to serve with chicken puttanesca
- Grilled veggies: try our oven-roasted veggies or garlic-roasted vegetables
- Crusty bread for dipped or serving or this homemade dinner rolls recipe.
- Spaghetti like this garlic mushroom spaghetti or any other pasta
- Zucchini noodles for low carb option
- White rice, Brown rice, Couscous, or quinoa
- Cauliflower rice: try my cilantro lime cauliflower rice recipe
Frequently asked questions
Puttanesca is an authentic Italian dish commonly known as pasta puttanesca. The puttanesca sauce has a bold, sweet, savory, and occasionally spicy taste and packs all the flavors into the dish.
It is not a great idea to switch anchovies with sardines. Anchovies have a slightly different taste and tend to melt into the sauce whereas sardines behave differently. Anchovies won’t make the sauce taste fishy compared to sardines.
No. Despite the addition of anchovies, puttanesca does not taste fishy at all. The anchovies melt into the sauce to give a nice savory taste. This is because anchovies are left lying in salt for months, which gives them that salty and briny powerhouse, with little to no fishy taste in the end, once cooked.
More chicken recipes
- Chicken Pasta Puttanesca
- Baked Harissa Chicken
- One-pot chicken Spaghetti
- Healthy Chicken Enchiladas
- Creamy Tuscan Chicken
- Creamy Mushroom Chicken
- Easy Creamy Garlic Parmesan Chicken
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- Air Fryer Buffalo Chicken Wings
- Creamy Tuscan Salmon
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- Lemon Garlic Baked Cod
- Chicken Fajita Pasta
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Chicken Puttanesca Recipe
Equipment
- Cast Iron Skillet
- Chef's knife
Ingredients
- 2 pounds boneless chicken breasts, cut in half lengthways to cook faster
- 2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
- Kosher salt and ground black pepper, to taste
- 1 tablespoon dried oregano, plus 1 tsp
- 4 anchovy fillets, coarsely chopped (optional)
- 3-4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
- 28 ounces peeled tomatoes with juices, one can
- 1 cup pitted Kalamata olives, coarsely chopped
- 1/4 cup capers
- Fresh parsley, chopped for garnish
OPTIONAL:
- Crusty bread, to serve
Instructions
- Rub the 2 pounds boneless chicken breasts with Kosher salt and ground black pepper, and 1 tsp of the 1 tablespoon dried oregano on both sides.
- Heat 1 tbsp of the 2 tablespoons olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat.
- Add chicken and cook, until cooked through and golden-brown on both sides, about 10-12 minutes. Set aside on a plate. You might have to cook the chicken in batches to avoid overcrowding the pan, so divide the oil if so.
- Add the remaining 1 tbsp of oil to the hot skillet, and sauté the 3-4 cloves garlic (minced) and 4 anchovy fillets (chopped) for 1 minute.
- Add in the 28 ounces peeled tomatoes with juices and the rest of the oregano. Use the back of a wooden spoon to crush the tomatoes into small pieces.
- Stir in the 1/4 cup capers, and 1 cup pitted Kalamata olives; Simmer over low heat, partially covered, for 8-10 minutes until the sauce thickens.
- Taste the sauce and season with salt and pepper, if needed.
- Return the chicken to the pan and spoon over the sauce. Allow it to cook for a bit more into the sauce, until hot.
- Garnish with Fresh parsley (chopped) and enjoy. Serve with warm Crusty bread.
Video
Notes
- Chicken: If you want to use seafood, any fish would work. A great substitute would be cod or salmon.
- You may make your own homemade peeled tomatoes instead of using canned
- Anchovies can be optional but will add a great taste.
- Nutrition facts are obtained using an online calculator and may not be 100% accurate.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Made it after seeing a cooking show making it. It is sooo tasty. I never heard of it before and it is so easy to make on a week night. I definitely will be adding to my rotation of chicken dishes.
Yay. What cooking show?
This recipe is very delicious! I paired it with whole wheat spaghetti noodles. Thank you for sharing!