Italian Rosemary Chicken Stew (2024)

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This Italian-style rosemary chicken simmered in a rich tomato sauce with white beans and olives is a great everyday dinner that the whole family will love. The stunning rosemary and tomato sauce is perfect with tender and moist chicken, with heaps of savoury and complex flavours on offer!

For more Italian recipes, check out my Chicken Marsala.

These chicken thighs, braised in savoury tomato sauce with beans and olives, are the type of comfort food that could be served for a casual weeknight dinner as well as a sit down dinner party.

It’s an easy, versatile recipe, and depending on what it’s accompanied by, could serve you well for a wide range of occasions. And if you are looking for something simple to prepare for your family dinner, this won’t take you longer than 30 minute of hand on time.

The rest is time in the oven when you could be doing anything else. A simple green salad or steamed vegetables will make a complete meal.

Why you’ll love it

A hearty, savoury stew is always a welcome addition to a dinner table. Like the best of Italian cooking, the list of ingredients might look simple but the stew is anything but boring. This is accomplished in classic Italian style – with tasty ingredients and thoughtful assembly!

The olives are definitely an Italian twist and a big part of what separates this recipe from a classic chicken stew, but I think you’ll be convinced if you give this one a try. They add a brightness to the dish, along with a salty kick.

And along with the rosemary, olives bring a complexity to what is, on paper, quite a simple dish. All together and you have a stew that is hearty without feeling a bit stodgy. Sounds good, right?

Ingredients

As most Italian and Italian inspired recipes, the ingredient list is not very long but the ingredient quality is high. All you need for this rosemary chicken recipe to be delicious are

chicken thighs or legs
fresh rosemary
garlic
anchovies or anchovy paste
canned crushed tomatoes or tomato passata
olives
and olive oil

The tomato sauce is a riff on my very popular Puttanesca sauce. This time I incorporated it into a one pot meal by cooking chicken thighs in this bold and rich sauce and adding white beans to round it off.

Garlic, rosemary, anchovies and sweet, ripe tomatoes make this meal a huge winner. It is inspired by Italian flavours but I wouldn’t claim it as authentic in fear of incurring the wrath of Italian food purists!! 🙂

The Sauce

What makes this rosemary chicken and white beans so special is the sauce. And the sauce owes its extraordinary taste to anchovies.

If you are not a fish lover, I would still try to persuade you to give anchovies a chance! Essentially, this sauce is the Puttanesca sauce, so serving this saucy rosemary chicken with pasta is an excellent choice.

Although anchovies in a tin smell fishy, the sauce itself won’t. But what they will do is give the sauce that indescribable savoury taste, that is not very easy to achieve without the anchovies.

And don’t worry, you won’t have fish chunks floating in your tomato sauce. As soon as anchovies hit a hot oil, they start to melt and turn into a paste! You can also use chicken breasts but reduce cooking time by a half.

Recipe tips and notes

Although chicken thighs will bring the best flavour to this dish, breasts can also be used. If you do use chicken breasts, reduce the cooking time in the oven to 30 minutes.
I prefer green olives for a recipe like this, but any olives are a good choice if they are what you have available. They will add a slightly different taste.
Anchovies might be controversial, but they really do add amazing flavour to a recipe. Although they can be skipped if you really don’t like them, when they are cooked and have the chance to break down in a dish, they add deep savoury flavour that can’t easily be found through other ingredients.
Not all crushed tomatoes are the same. Poor quality tomatoes are not as sweet as better types and don’t break down nearly as well. Find the best tomatoes you can afford, and especially keep an eye out for Italian tomatoes.

Serving suggestions

Authentic or not this rosemary chicken with white beans is always welcome at our dinner table. It’s delicious with crusty bread, rice or pasta!

And if you are avoiding carbs, you can enjoy this hearty chicken stew with a side of greens, broccoli or green beans. You name it!

You can also use this rosemary chicken recipe if you are throwing a multiple course dinner party the Italian way. Start with antipasti in the form of cured Italian meats like salami and prosciutto with breadsticks, vegetables and fresh mozzarella or go for our crostini recipe.

Follow up with a simple pasta dish for secondi. Then serve this rosemary chicken with white beans and olives. And finish up with Amaretti Tiramisu for dolce. Job done!

Storage and leftovers

Leftovers can be stored in a refrigerator for up to 4 days or freezer for 3 months in an airtight container.If you do freeze, let it thaw completely before reheating.

Although a microwave can be used for reheating, I prefer returning it to the stovetop in a pan over medium heat. A splash of water or stock can be used to keep the sauce loose, and covering it with a lid or foil can keep the chicken from drying out.

If you do use the stovetop, it will take at least 15 minutes, but check to make sure the chicken is hot throughout.

More delicious chicken recipes

Chicken Provencal
French Chicken Casserole
Chicken Chasseur Recipe
Rosemary Lemon Chicken and Potatoes