This is my mother's spicy chicken riggies. She would make this recipe anytime my brothers or I were having a big group of friends over or our teammates for a pasta night before a game. It is so spicy but tempered with a heavy creamy, which makes it the perfect spicy and creamy pasta.
Later on, in college, I found out that chicken riggies is a whole thing in upstate New York. Each restaurant makes its own recipe. People in that area love chicken riggies and Utica greens. There is a considerable population of Italian-Americans that migrated to that area and made it one of the greatest areas in New York for Italian food.
Either way, I still credit my mom with this recipe, because she's the one who taught me. My mom taught me a lot about cooking. One of her famous quotes though is, "everybody out of my kitchen!" Because we'd all congregate in the kitchen while she was cooking. Whether it was standing in front of the refrigerator trying to pick out a snack, sitting on her stool, or trying to steal some of the food she was cooking.
Ingredients you'll need for Spicy Chicken Riggies
- 3 chicken breasts cut into 1½-inch pieces
- 1 lb rigatoni
- 2 shallots, chopped
- ¾ cup hot cherry peppers, chopped
- ½ cup cherry pepper juice
- 2 tbsp calabrian peppers
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 can crushed tomatoes
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- 2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp pepper
- 1 tsp cayenne pepper
- ½ cup heavy cream
How to make spicy chicken riggies
Spicy chicken riggies isn't a difficult recipe. In fact, it's pretty simple and there aren't any difficult techniques. Overall, you can be done with this recipe in an hour and fifteen minutes.
Season and Sear the Chicken
Start by chopping the chicken breast into 1-and-a-half-inch chunks. Add them to a bowl and season with a teaspoon of salt, pepper, and cayenne pepper. The amount of cayenne pepper used can be increased or decreased depending on the level of spice you want.
In a large saucepan bring a tablespoon of olive oil to medium-high heat. Sear chicken with space in between each piece of chicken. If you try to do it all at once, it will not sear. It will just steam and become very tough. With 3 chicken breasts, it will probably take about 4 batches to sear the chicken. Add more olive oil as necessary. Sear each side for 2 minutes or until golden brown. Then set the chicken aside.
Creating the Base
Lower the heat to medium in the same pan. Add another tablespoon of olive oil. Saute the shallots for 5 minutes or until soft and translucent. Then add the garlic and saute for 1-2 more minutes until the garlic is fragrant. Stir in the cherry peppers and the calabrian peppers until everything is well combined.
To finish the base, pour in the cherry pepper juice and bring to a simmer. Simmer for 3-5 minutes until the sauce has thickened slightly and reduced. This part of the recipe is what gives the sauce its intense spicy flavor.
Adding the crushed tomatoes
Once the base has reduced, add in the crushed tomatoes. Stir well until everything is homogenous. Bring the tomato sauce to a simmer. Add 1 teaspoon of salt. Then add the chicken back in and simmer the sauce for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.
In the meantime, get ready to boil the rigatoni. Add the rigatoni to the salted boiling water when you have about ten minutes left on the sauce.
After 30 minutes, remove the sauce from the heat and add the heavy cream. Stir well until the sauce develops a pinkish hue. Add more if you want to temper the heat.
Strain the pasta and add it to the pot with the sauce. Stir everything carefully to not break the pasta. Serve chicken riggies with extra parmesan and plenty of crunchy Italian bread to sop up the extra sauce!
What can I substitute for calabrian peppers?
You can substitute crushed red pepper for calabrian peppers. 1 teaspoon of crushed red pepper for every tablespoon of calabrian peppers.
What if I don't like it spicy?
You can leave out the calabrian peppers and substitute sweet cherry peppers for the hot peppers!
If you love spicy, then chicken riggies are for you. It can be intensely spicy if you want it to be. Add more calabrian peppers and hot cherry pepper juice if you really want to crank up the heat. It can definitely make you sweat.
I tempered this recipe down to not kill anyone. But add more calabrian peppers or crushed red pepper to increase the level of spiciness. The heavy cream at the end makes any level of spice tolerable by adding a creamy texture to the pasta.
If you loved this spicy pasta, you may love some of our other pasta! Especially, our Spicy Vodka Sauce.
Or check out one of these!
Shrimp Fra Diavolo with Linguine
Classic Linguine Alla Puttanesca
Let us know what you think of this recipe by leaving a review below. We'd love to know what you think. You can also follow us on Instagram @vindelgiudice.
📖 Recipe
Spicy Chicken Riggies
Ingredients
- 3 chicken breasts cut into 1½-inch pieces
- 1 lb rigatoni
- 2 shallots, chopped
- ¾ cup hot cherry peppers, chopped
- ½ cup cherry pepper juice
- 2 tablespoon calabrian peppers
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 can crushed tomatoes
- 3 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon pepper
- 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- ½ cup heavy cream
Instructions
- In a bowl, combine chicken and 1 teaspoon salt, pepper, and cayenne pepper. Combine well. Bring a large saucepan to medium-high heat. Add 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Sear chicken in 3-4 batches until each side is golden brown. Add more olive oil when necessary.
- Set chicken aside. In the same saucepan, lower the heat to medium. Add 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Saute shallots until soft and translucent, about 5 minutes. Add garlic and saute for 1 minute. Add in the cherry peppers and calabrian peppers and stir until well combined. Pour in the cherry pepper juice and simmer until reduced by half.
- Add the can of crushed tomatoes and slowly bring to a simmer. Add the chicken back in and simmer for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from the heat and stir in heavy cream until sauce is slightly pink.
- Boil rigatoni until al dente. Combine rigatoni with the sauce while the pasta is still hot. Serve with parmesan cheese.
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