Chicken scarpariello, or Chicken Scarp as we Italian-Americans often call it, is a classic New York red-sauce-joint dish made with seared chicken and sausage, vinegar peppers, and onions in a rich, tangy pan sauce. It's perfect served over crispy potatoes, creamy polenta, or with a loaf of crusty bread for soaking up every drop of sauce.
If you love this Italian chicken dish, you will love these meals too: Chicken Pizzaiola, Restaurant-Style Chicken Marsala, or Restaurant-Style Chicken Saltimbocca.
A Quick Look at The Recipe
- ✅Recipe Name: Chicken Scarp
- ⏲️Ready in: 1 hour 15 minutes
- 👪Makes: 4 servings
- 🌶️Heat Level: Medium (adjustable)
- 📋Main ingredients: Bone-in chicken thighs, Italian sausage, hot cherry peppers, and white wine.
- ⭐Why You'll Love This Recipe: This is a rustic Italian-American one-pan dish with crispy bone-in chicken thighs and sweet Italian sausage, perfect for a Sunday afternoon served over rice or Crispy Garlic Parmesan Potatoes!
What is Chicken Scarpariello
This Chicken Scarpariello recipe combines two of my favorite things: sausage and crispy chicken skin. Everything cooks in one pan with peppers and onions before being finished in a sweet, tangy, vinegar-forward sauce that I could practically drink on its own.
Chicken Scarpariello is a classic NY Italian-American chicken dish, and depending on the type of peppers you use, it can have a bit of a kick! But it's not quite as spicy as my Spicy Chicken With Prosciutto And Cheese, but it does have the tanginess of Chicken Piccata.
It combines two of my favorite things: sausage and crispy chicken skin. It reminds me of other NY Red Sauce joint-type dishes, like Chicken Rollatini or Baked Cheese Manicotti.
I also like splitting the chicken thighs into smaller pieces, so they develop more crispy edges and are easier to serve to a crowd. Everyone can grab a little chicken, a piece of sausage, and plenty of peppers without having to commit to an entire thigh.
Ingredient Notes and Substitutions
- Vinegar- I like to use the vinegar from the cherry peppers. The recipe on Serious Eats does the same. It's a perfect vinegar for the sauce. It's a great way to eliminate waste, plus it adds extra heat to the dish, but if you're not looking for spicy, try using white wine vinegar instead.
- Hot Cherry Peppers- While going through the testing phase of this recipe, I tried using different peppers in vinegar, including hot and sweet cherry peppers, bell peppers, peppadew peppers, and even homemade pickled Italian peppers. I opted for hot cherry peppers and a green pepper because I like the balance of spicy with the softness of the green peppers. The green peppers also make the dish a bit more full.
- Bone-in Chicken Thighs. This dish calls for skin-on, bone-in chicken thighs. Bone-in chicken thighs have so much juice that when they braise in the oven, they add a ton of flavor to the sauce without becoming dried out. This is similar to Easy Chicken Cacciatore.
- Sausage. I like to use a combo of sweet(mild) and hot Italian sausage. It's a preference thing, and you could substitute whatever variety of sausage you prefer.
- White Wine. I like a white wine with some crispness to it, like a Sauvignon Blanc.
*Please see more information about ingredients below in the recipe card.
How to Make Restaurant-Style Chicken Scarpariello
Chicken Scarpariello is a really easy one-pan Italian-American dish. It is a quintessential red sauce joint NY-style dish that you'll find in a dimly lit hole-in-the-wall Italian restaurant.
Preparing Chicken Thighs
Step 1: Prepare the chicken thighs by trimming any excess skin hanging off. Then dry the chicken thighs well with a paper towel. Season both sides liberally with salt (1 tsp) and pepper, and rest for at least 30 minutes before cooking.
Pro-Tip: I like to split the chicken thighs in half. This gets crispier seared edges on more of the chicken thighs, and it lets people who aren't hungry for a whole chicken thigh and sausage try a little bit of both. I cut right along the bone using shears as shown in Image 1.
Searing Chicken Thighs and Sausage
Step 2: Preheat the oven to 400 F. Heat 2 tablespoon of olive oil over medium-high heat. Once the olive oil is shimmering, place your chicken thighs in with the skin side down. Sear the skin for 4-6 minutes or until the skin is golden brown. Sear the other side for 3-4 minutes and then remove and set aside. We will finish cooking the chicken through in the sauce.
Step 3: Reduce the heat in the Dutch oven to medium. Add the sausage and sear, turning it every minute or so, to brown all sides. Once all sides are browned, remove and set aside. We will finish cooking the sausage in the sauce.
Sautéing the Peppers and Simmering
Step 4: Add your green pepper and onions to the pan. Season with ½ teaspoon of salt. Do not wipe the pan clean. Sauté until peppers and onions begin to soften, about 5 minutes.
Step 5: Add the garlic and cherry peppers and sauté for another minute, stirring often.
Step 6: Stir in the cherry pepper juice, 2 tablespoon lemon juice, and the white wine. Bring the sauce to a simmer. Use a wooden spoon to scrape the brown bits from the bottom of the pan. Simmer for 3-4 minutes until the sauce reduces by ¼.
Braising Chicken Scarpariello
Step 7: Return the chicken and sausage to the sauce, burying them halfway into the sauce. Leave the skin of the chicken out of the sauce so it doesn't become soggy. Cover and place in the oven for 10 minutes. Then remove the cover and cook for another 10 minutes until the chicken reaches 180℉. (The sausage only needs to reach 160℉, but will likely follow the temp of the chicken).
*Restaurant Tip: Cooking chicken thighs to 180℉ is perfectly fine and usually preferable. Dark meat will be more tender and less chewy at 180℉ than when cooked to 165℉.
Step 8: Remove the chicken and sausage from the sauce. Add 3 tablespoon of cold unsalted butter to the sauce and stir until it is completely emulsified. The sauce will thicken and become opaque. Return the chicken and sausage to the sauce to coat.
Step 9: Serve chicken scarp over Crispy Garlic Parmesan Potatoes as shown in Image 9, or serve them over creamy Garlic Parmesan Mashed Potatoes. Garnish with chopped fresh parsley.
Serve with crusty Italian bread over Classic Creamy Polenta or Grilled Polenta to make it a Sunday meal! It's also delicious with a Zucchini Risotto.
Try our delicious Italian Cast Iron Pork Tenderloin or Authentic Veal Marsala if you're looking for another one-pan meal!
Pro-tips
- Pat the chicken thighs thoroughly with a paper towel to remove all of the water before searing. Any remaining moisture will create steam. When searing the chicken thighs, it is best not to move them at all during the process to develop the best crust. Be mindful of the smoking, though. If the chicken appears to be creating a lot of smoke, it is likely burning. Lower the heat and check the chicken.
- I like to split the chicken thighs in half. This gets crispier seared edges on more of the chicken thighs, and it lets people who aren't hungry for a whole chicken thigh and sausage try a little bit of both.
- The sauce can be very spicy if you use the hot cherry pepper juice. If your family does not like spicy, I HIGHLY recommend using white wine vinegar or sweet cherry peppers. It gets spicier on day two, especially the meat. As the meat sits in the juices overnight, this dish takes on more flavor and spice, which is great but not ideal for kids. Be mindful of the level of spice.
- Cooking chicken thighs to 180℉ is perfectly fine and usually preferable. Dark meat will be more tender and less chewy at 180℉ than when cooked to 165℉.
- This is a dish better on day 2! It's a sauce that develops more overnight! Prepare for delicious leftovers!
- Always add cold butter to the sauce. Cold butter will melt a lot slower and emulsify to make a true sauce and balance the spicy and sour flavors.
How to Make Chicken Scarpariello for a Crowd
For a larger batch, sear the chicken and sausage in batches and set them aside. Prepare the sauce in the Dutch oven as directed, scaling it up in volume as needed.
Arrange the browned chicken skin-side up with the sausage in a roasting pan or aluminum tray. Pour the sauce and peppers around the meat.
Bake at 400°F for 15-20 minutes, until the chicken reaches about 180°F and the sausage reaches 160°F. Transfer the sauce back to the Dutch oven and combine with the cold butter.
Transfer everything to a serving tray and spoon the sauce over the meat.
FAQs about Chicken Scarpariello
Scarpariello means shoemaker's chicken, for which the true reason is unknown, but if you ask any Italian, they'll give you an answer as they read it out of a dictionary. Some believe it has something to do with the dish being thrown, or cobbled, together, like a shoemaker or cobbler.
The spiciness all depends on the peppers you choose. If you don't like spicy, make this with sweet cherry peppers instead of hot.
It's filled with a delicious combination of ingredients, including wine, vinegar, homemade chicken broth, and butter.
Restaurant-Style Italian Classics
Please leave a comment and star rating below in the recipe card! I love to hear what you think of our recipes. Feel free to tag us on Instagram @vindelgiudice.
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Chicken Scarpariello
Equipment
- 1 dutch oven
- 1 kitchen shears
Ingredients
- 4 bone-in skin-on chicken thighs
- 4 Italian sausage, mild or hot
- 2 green bell pepper, sliced
- 1 medium onion, sliced
- 4 cloves garlic, sliced
- 4 hot cherry peppers
- 1 cup white wine
- 2 tablespoon lemon, juiced
- 2 tablespoon parsley, minced
- ¼ cup vinegar from the cherry peppers
- 1.5 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon pepper
- 2 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 tablespoon butter
Instructions
- Prepare the chicken thighs by trimming any excess skin hanging off. Then dry the chicken thighs well with a paper towel. Season both sides liberally with salt (1 tsp) and pepper, and rest for at least 30 minutes before cooking.
- Preheat the oven to 400 F. Heat 2 tablespoon of olive oil over medium-high heat. Once the olive oil is shimmering, place your chicken thighs in with the skin side down. Sear the skin for 4-6 minutes or until the skin is golden brown. Sear the other side for 3-4 minutes and then remove and set aside. We will finish cooking the chicken through in the sauce.
- Reduce the heat in the Dutch oven to medium. Add the sausage and sear, turning it every minute or so, to brown all sides. Once all sides are browned, remove and set aside. We will finish cooking the sausage in the sauce.
- Add your green pepper and onions to the pan. Do not wipe the pan clean. Sauté until peppers and onions begin to soften, about 5 minutes.
- Add the garlic and cherry peppers and sauté for another minute, stirring often.
- Stir in the cherry pepper juice, 2 tablespoon lemon juice, and the white wine. Bring the sauce to a simmer. Use a wooden spoon to scrape the brown bits from the bottom of the pan. Simmer for 3-4 minutes until the sauce reduces by ¼.
- Return the chicken and sausage to the sauce, burying them halfway into the sauce. Leave the skin of the chicken out of the sauce so it doesn't become soggy. Cover and place in the oven for 10 minutes. Then remove the cover and cook for another 10 minutes until the chicken reaches 180℉. (The sausage only needs to reach 160℉, but will likely follow the temp of the chicken).
- Remove the chicken and sausage from the sauce. Add 3 tablespoon of cold unsalted butter to the sauce and stir until it is completely emulsified. The sauce will thicken and become opaque. Return the chicken and sausage to the sauce to coat.
- Serve chicken scarp over Crispy Garlic Parmesan Potatoes as shown in Image 9, or serve them over creamy Garlic Parmesan Mashed Potatoes. Garnish with chopped fresh parsley.
Video
Notes
- Pat the chicken thighs thoroughly with a paper towel to remove all of the water before searing. Any remaining moisture will create steam. When searing the chicken thighs, it is best not to move them at all during the process to develop the best crust. Be mindful of the smoking, though. If the chicken appears to be creating a lot of smoke, it is likely burning. Lower the heat and check the chicken.
- I like to split the chicken thighs in half. This gets crispier seared edges on more of the chicken thighs, and it lets people who aren't hungry for a whole chicken thigh and sausage try a little bit of both.
- The sauce can be very spicy if you use the hot cherry pepper juice. If your family does not like spicy, I HIGHLY recommend using white wine vinegar or sweet cherry peppers. It gets spicier on day two, especially the meat. As the meat sits in the juices overnight, this dish takes on more flavor and spice, which is great but not ideal for kids. Be mindful of the level of spice.
- Cooking chicken thighs to 180℉ is perfectly fine and usually preferable. Dark meat will be more tender and less chewy at 180℉ than when cooked to 165℉.
- This is a dish better on day 2! It's a sauce that develops more overnight! Prepare for delicious leftovers!
- Always add cold butter to the sauce. Cold butter will melt a lot slower and emulsify to make a true sauce and balance the spicy and sour flavors.
Chuck says
Made this tonight and it was terrific. I wish the chicken had a little more flavor. Seemed a bit bland. The sauce was amazing so any tips are much appreciated.
Vinny says
This sweet and spicy chicken dish is one of my family's favorite rustic meals. Please enjoy!