Our Best Chicken Scarpariello Recipe

There are plenty of Italian-American dishes that just about anybody would know – chicken Parmesan, lasagna, and pizza, just to name a few — but beyond the iconic tomato-heavy dishes are lesser-known favorites that are every bit as comforting. One such dish is chicken scarpariello, which is said to have been created in New York City by early Italian immigrants. The word scarpariello is Italian for "shoemaker," which hints at the dish's humble origins — it's a dish "cobbled" together out of ingredients affordable to shoemakers and beyond.

Unlike many Italian-American dishes, chicken scarpariello doesn't use tomatoes; instead it takes on elements of traditional Northern Italian cuisine with white wine, garlic, and sweet peppers. The combination is a light and tangy braised chicken dish with just a hint of heat and meaty flavor. The chicken, whose exposed skin bakes under the oven's heat, is the perfect balance of crispy skin and buttery, fall-off-the-bone tender meat. What makes scarpariello the most recognizable, though, is its uniquely tangy, silky broth, thickened just slightly from the braised bone-in chicken. Best served with roasted potatoes or extra bread for dipping, this is the Italian-American comfort food you didn't know you needed.

Making chicken scarpariello requires a few specific ingredients, but otherwise makes use of inexpensive pantry staples. You'll first need Italian sausage, which can be hot, sweet, or mild (my preference is mild), chicken thighs and drumsticks, dry white wine, and both sweet and hot cherry peppers, which are both found jarred with brine. While similar in appearance, cherry peppers are different from peppadews, which are often found in the fresh section or salad bar of some grocery stores. Cherry peppers, which are spicier and more tart, are what give this dish its specific flavor. Peppadews can be used in a pinch, but will result in a sweeter, less tangy, less spicy sauce. From there, you'll need olive oil, garlic, onion, red and yellow bell peppers, chicken stock, salt, pepper, and parsley.

Preheat the oven to 350 F.

Heat the oil in a braising pan, deep cast iron skillet, or Dutch oven.

Add the sausage to the skillet and brown it on all sides, about 8 minutes. Remove from the skillet, reserving the grease.

Season the chicken on all sides with salt and pepper.

Add the chicken to the pot and brown it on all sides, about 10 minutes total. Remove from the skillet and reserve with the sausage.

Add the onion and bell peppers to the pot and saute to soften, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and stir.

Add the white wine and let it simmer for 2 minutes. Add the sweet and hot peppers, the brine, and the chicken stock, and bring to a simmer.

Nestle the chicken and sausage back into the broth.

Place in the oven and bake for 40 minutes, until the chicken is golden brown and cooked through.

To serve, garnish with chopped parsley.

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This recipe is specific in calling for bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs and legs, which may seem like something you can easily swap for other cuts of chicken, but it's not that simple. Using bone-in chicken is necessary for injecting the broth with collagen, which thickens the liquid in a uniquely silky way that can't be replicated with other thickening agents. Skin-on is traditional for this dish, as well, both for adding flavor to the broth and for creating a crispy, golden-brown top on the chicken. Without the skin, the chicken won't be quite as golden brown, and you'll be missing the craveable crispy texture.

While you'll get the best results using bone-in, skin-on chicken, you don't necessarily have to use chicken thighs and legs. It is also common and arguably traditional to use a whole chicken broken down into smaller pieces, which would include pieces like wings and breasts. You can find many options in the grocery store, though the best will still be chicken thighs, which offer the best balance of tender meat and crispy skin.

Depending on your grocery store, you may have some trouble finding all of the peppers necessary for cooking scarpariello. I went to a few different stores to hunt down cherry peppers, which I found among the jarred pickles, olives, and peppers. The cherry peppers I found first were whole, sweet pickled peppers, which are exactly what you'll want for this recipe. What I found next were the hot, sliced version of the pepper, which are technically optional, and though they add a nice touch of heat to the silky broth, they're not strictly necessary in this recipe.

While I recommend using a sweet pickled pepper, the hot version can be omitted if a milder broth is needed for serving to people who can't tolerate heat. If you aren't sure, try it without the hot peppers first. You can also add the hot peppers when you're serving the dish to add heat to specific servings, which will yield a more tangy result and be a little hotter than if the peppers are braised directly in the liquid. Hot cherry peppers aren't too spicy, though; you can expect a mild, fruity heat similar in spice level to a jalapeño.

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