A delicious chicken puttanesca recipe that’s authentic, delicious, easy to make, and ready in just 30 minutes. Make this simple low carb chicken recipe with everyday pantry staple ingredients that your whole family will love.
Authentic puttanesca recipe 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 so full of flavor and easy to make. Have dinner ready in 30 minutes and enjoy this easy chicken dinner recipe with the family any day of the week. Serve with spaghetti, pasta, or a side of roasted veggies.
Why this puttanesca recipe is perfect
- 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 to serve the family.
- Healthy: This puttanesca is made with lean chicken breast and other clean and healthy ingredients to make a perfectly healthy meal.
- So delicious: so full of flavor, you will love this chicken 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 easy chicken puttanesca recipe. Full measurements will be found further down below.
boneless chicken breasts, cut in half lengthways to cook faster
olive oil
Kosher salt and ground black pepper
dried oregano
anchovy fillets, coarsely chopped (optional)
cloves garlic
one can (28 ounces) peeled tomatoes with juices
pitted Kalamata olives
capers
Fresh parsley, chopped for garnish
OPTIONAL:
Crusty bread, to serve
How to make this chicken with puttanesca sauce
- Prepare the chicken: rub the chicken with salt, pepper, and 1 tsp dried oregano on both sides. Heat 1 tbsp oil in a large 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 and substitutes
- 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 savory taste.
- Consider making the sauce ahead of time, or even the day before to save even more time.
- Store leftovers in the fridge for 3-4 days.
What to serve with this chicken puttanesca
- Grilled veggies
- Crusty bread for dipped or serving
- Spaghetti or any other pasta
- Zucchini noodles for low carb option
- Brown rice or quinoa
- Cauliflower rice: try my cilantro lime cauliflower rice recipe
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 in all the flavors into the dish.
It is not a great idea to switch anchovies with sardines. Anchovies have a slightly different taste and tends to melt into the sauce whereas sardines behave differently. Anchovies wont 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 due to the fact that anchovies are left lying in salt for months, which gives it that salty and briny powerhouse, with little to no fishy taste in the end, once cooked.
Other easy chicken recipes to try
- Chicken Pasta Puttanesca
- One-pot chicken Spaghetti
- Creamy Tuscan Chicken
- Creamy Mushroom Chicken
- Easy Creamy Garlic Parmesan Chicken
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Chicken Puttanesca Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 lb boneless chicken breasts cut in half lengthways to cook faster
- 2 tbsp olive oil divided
- Kosher salt and ground black pepper to taste
- 1 tbsp dried oregano plus 1 tsp
- 4 anchovy fillets coarsely chopped (optional)
- 3-4 cloves garlic finely chopped
- 28 oz 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 chicken with salt, pepper, and 1 tsp dried oregano on both sides.
- Heat 1 tbsp 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 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.
- 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 freshly chopped parsley 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.
Desiree Pinkerton says
This recipe is very delicious! I paired it with whole wheat spaghetti noodles. Thank you for sharing!