Chicken Cacciatore — "hunter's chicken" in Italian — is the rustic, slow-cooked, tomato-and-olive chicken stew that's been feeding Italian families for centuries. The good news: it's a perfect camp oven dish. Brown the chicken, build the sauce, cover, and let the coals do the work for 30-40 minutes.

Serve over polenta, pasta, mashed potato, or just with crusty bread to mop the sauce. Restaurant-quality dinner from a black iron pot over a campfire.

Photo by Árpád Czapp on Unsplash

Serves: 6 · Prep: 20 minutes · Cook: 45 minutes · Equipment: 9 or 12-inch camp oven (or large heavy frying pan with lid)

Photo: Zulfahmi Al Ridhawi / Unsplash

• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 6 chicken drumsticks
• 6 chicken thighs (bone-in, skin-on)
• 1 large brown onion, chopped
• 2 celery stalks, sliced
• 2 carrots, peeled + chopped
• 150g sliced pancetta (or streaky bacon), chopped
• 3 garlic cloves, crushed
• 125g button mushrooms, sliced
• 100ml dry white wine (sauvignon blanc / pinot grigio)
• 1 x 800g tin chopped tomatoes (or 2 x 400g)
• ½ tsp brown sugar
• 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
• 1 tbsp fresh rosemary, chopped (or 1 tsp dried)
• 1 bay leaf
• 150ml chicken stock
• 1 cup pitted Kalamata olives
• Salt + pepper to taste
• Fresh parsley, chopped, to serve

To serve: soft polenta, pasta (pappardelle is traditional), mashed potato, OR fresh sourdough.

1. Heat the camp oven over medium-hot coals. Add 2 tbsp olive oil. Once shimmering, brown the chicken pieces in batches — skin-side down first for 4 minutes (until properly golden), then flip 3 minutes. Don't crowd the pan. Set browned chicken aside on a plate.

2. Reduce heat. Add the remaining oil to the camp oven. Add onion, celery, carrot and pancetta. Cook 5-6 minutes, stirring, until the onion softens and pancetta starts to render its fat.

3. Add garlic + mushrooms. Stir for 1-2 minutes until fragrant.

4. Return the chicken pieces to the pan along with any juices. Pour in the wine and let it bubble for 1-2 minutes — this deglazes the pan + lifts all the brown bits stuck to the bottom (that's flavour).

5. Build the sauce. Add the chopped tomatoes, sugar, balsamic, rosemary, bay leaf and chicken stock. Stir to combine. Bring to a gentle simmer.

6. Cover + slow cook. Lid on. If using a camp oven, place 8-10 hot coals on top of the lid + maintain a coal bed underneath. Simmer for 20 minutes — stir occasionally so nothing catches.

7. Add olives + cook another 10 minutes uncovered (this thickens the sauce slightly).

8. Lift chicken to a serving dish, keep warm. Reduce the sauce over high heat for 5-6 minutes (uncovered) until it coats the back of a spoon.

9. Pour sauce over chicken. Garnish with fresh chopped parsley. Serve immediately with polenta, pasta or sourdough.

• Bone-in skin-on chicken is essential — gives the sauce depth and richness. Boneless skinless thighs make a watery, lifeless cacciatore
• Don't use chicken breast — it'll dry out in the long cook. Stick to thighs + drumsticks (or whole chicken Marylands)
• Wine swap: dry red works fine if no white available — gives a slightly heavier flavour
• No pancetta? Streaky bacon, prosciutto, or even chorizo work. Each gives a slightly different character
• Olive variations: Kalamata is traditional. Green olives + capers also brilliant. Skip if you don't like olives
• Add capsicum — 1 sliced red capsicum with the carrots adds sweetness
• Make it spicy: 1 tsp dried chilli flakes with the garlic
• Camp-friendly version without wine: use extra stock + 1 tbsp lemon juice for the acidity
• Tastes BETTER the next day. Make a double batch, eat half tonight, reheat tomorrow over rice or pasta
• Freezes brilliantly — divide into ziplock bags, freeze flat. Defrost on the next trip

One of those one-pot dishes that turns a campsite into an Italian trattoria. The smell of slow-cooked chicken, tomato, herbs and olives drifts through the camp and brings everyone over with their plates. Rich, savoury, generous — the kind of meal that makes the trip.

Master the camp oven cacciatore and a whole world of slow-braised dishes opens up: osso buco, beef bourguignon, lamb shanks, pulled pork. The technique is the same — sear, sauté, deglaze, simmer with the lid on, finish, serve.