This Italian chicken and pepper stew, Pollo Alla Romana, is an easy one-pot dish perfect for a yummy weeknight dinner or weekend family gathering!
Although this dish is not as well known as some other Italian favorites, pollo alla Romana is a favorite in the capital city. The meat is simmered to perfection making it flavorful and tender, and the vibrant tomato, onion, and pepper sauce is an outstanding complement.
Pollo alla Romana is a straightforward recipe to make, that while it takes some time to cook fully, it does not require a significant amount of preparation or hands-on cooking time. If you’re ready to cook, scroll past these next few questions to get to the ingredients and be ready to cook.
We did want to share a few tips about our pollo alla Romana, so we address ingredient choice, serving suggestions, and more below. If you want a better sense of the recipe before you start cooking, read these five quick points and then get cooking!
What type of chicken should I use in this recipe?
We used Bell & Evans boneless, skin-on chicken thighs to make our pollo alla Romana. These convenient cuts of chicken can be hard to find, so you can also use bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs.
You can use boneless skinless chicken thighs if you don’t like chicken skin, but we do recommend skin-on thighs for this recipe.
The dark meat and skin from these chicken thighs add extra flavor to the dish, but you could use chicken breasts instead of chicken thighs if you don’t like dark meat. We recommend using a skin-on chicken breast to get the extra flavor from the chicken skin if possible!
How do I serve pollo alla Romana?
We served our pollo alla Romana in a shallow bowl, spooning some of the delicious sauce in first, then adding a chicken thigh and cooked peppers to the bowl. We had a loaf of crusty Italian bread alongside the stew for sopping up the delicious juices and garnished with fresh parsley.
This stew could also be served over pasta, rice (or risotto), or even mashed potatoes if you like!
Can I skip the wine in the pollo alla Romana?
If you are living an alcohol-lifestyle, you can substitute a mixture 1/4 cup water and 1/4 cup white vinegar instead of the wine in this recipe.
Are there any twists I could use to add more flavor to this recipe?
Here are three suggestions on how you could deviate from the traditional pollo alla Romana recipe we outlined in this post and add a bit more flavor!
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Pollo alla Romana with Creamy Lemon Sauce: after the sauce is done cooking, remove the chicken and cover to keep warm. Add the juice and zest of 1 lemon and 2/3 cup of heavy cream. Stir together and let simmer for five minutes until the sauce is creamy and the flavors meld.
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Pollo alla Romana with Olives and Capers: before adding the chicken, add in 1/2 cup of pitted and halved mixed olives, and 2 tbsp. of drained capers. Proceed with the recipe and enjoy a briny Mediterranean kick to your pollo alla Romana!
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Spicy pollo alla Romana: Add spicy paprika or chili flakes to the stew halfway through the cooking time. Add according to your taste and tolerance for spice. We recommend using authentic Calabrian hot chili flakes like these!
Personally, I did add a few Calabrian chili flakes to my dish because I like spice. I recommend the product at the link above, and if you make a purchase using that link, we’ll get a small commission. Thanks for the support!
Could I make this in a slow cooker?
Yes, you could adapt this pollo alla Romana to make in a slow cooker. If you are looking for set-it-and-forget-it convenience, making this recipe in a slow cooker would be simple. Just follow these steps:
- Season and brown the chicken in a frying pan before putting it in the slow cooker. This is optional but will help the flavor of the chicken. If you’re using skinless chicken, you can definitely skip this step.
- Add all of the vegetables and white wine to the slow cooker and season with salt and pepper. Place the chicken on top.
- Cook on low for 4 hours, or until the chicken reaches 160ºF and the vegetables are cooked through.
Do you have any more Italian recipes that I can try?
We love Italian-seasoned and Italian-style foods, so we have lots of recipes that bring those elements to your table. If you’re looking for something Italian that isn’t pollo alla Romana, here’s a partial list of some of our favorite LGCM Italian recipes:
We hope we have answered your questions about our pollo alla Romana recipe. You can watch our recipe video to get a step-by-step walkthrough, or leave us a comment if you have more questions. Thanks for reading – we’ll see you soon at Lake Geneva Country Meats!
