What is Chicken Giambotta?
Chicken Giambotta is a quick and flavorful one pan meal with juicy chicken thighs, spicy sausage, crispy potatoes, and sweet caramelized onions and peppers that comes together quickly, and can be used as a midweek meal.
I have fond memories of this dish from my childhood. My Mom made hers in a cast iron skillet on the stove, but I like to start this on the stove in an oven proof casserole pan, then finish it off in a hot oven to ensure the chicken skin crisps up.
There have been many variations of this dish over the years.
When Italian immigrants emigrated to the United States in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, they adapted traditional recipes based on availability and affordability of ingredients. Meat, which had been used sparingly in Italy, became more accessible in America, resulting in the addition of chicken, transforming it into a more protein-rich, one-pot meal, that was still budget friendly by using thighs. This evolution reflects the broader shift in Italian-American cuisine, where dishes became heartier and more abundant.
The original Southern Italy recipe that can be traced back to Camania and Calabria (where it was also spelled ciambotta) was rooted in Southern Italian peasant cooking, where cooks relied on simple, seasonal ingredients to create hearty, flavorful meals.
The original ciambotta was a vegetable stew made with eggplant, zucchini, peppers, tomatoes, and potatoes, produce that was abundant in the Mediterranean climate. It was considered “cucina povera,” or poor man’s cooking, designed to stretch ingredients and minimize waste.
Today, this one pan meal remains a beloved comfort food, especially in Italian-American communities in the Northeast. While recipes vary by family, the dish consistently highlights bold flavors, simplicity, and a connection to both Old World traditions and New World adaptations.
Tips for Cooking Chicken Giambotta
You can also use a whole chicken breast, but thighs will cook faster
Use any leftover potato, onion, and peppers to make Italian hot dogs, or for omelette filling
This dish reheats beautifully if you want to make ahead and store in the frig
Other herbs can be swapped, like thyme or rosemary
If using dried herbs instead of fresh, use about 1 tbsp for each quarter cup fresh
If time allows, boil and cool the potatoes ahead of time*
If time is not allowed to precook the potatoes, cut raw potatoes to ½” dice to ensure they will be cooked through along with all other ingredients
*Boiling and cooling the potatoes ahead of time creates a resistant starch. This type of starch is not digested, and is fermented by your gut microbiome, offering a whole host of benefits, and is a smart way to enjoy your carbs without getting big blood sugar spikes.
What are the Benefits of Resistant Starch?
-Boosts Gut Health – Gut microbiome makes short chain fatty acids that fuel the gut lining and keep it healthy
-Improves Insulin Sensitivity – The better your body responds to insulin, the better your body can handle carbs and control blood sugar, helping to protect against type 2 diabetes, Alzheimer’s disease, and heart disease
-Helps Curb Appetite – Since resistant starches take longer to digest, you stay full longer
-Helps With Weight Loss – Besides curbing hunger, resistant starches use more energy and calories to process
-Helps Keep you Regular – Along with regular exercise and drinking plenty of fluids, resistant starches help prevent constipation
Where Can I Find Resistant Starches?
Resistant starches are also found in uncooked oats, such as in overnight oats, cooked, then cooled brown rice, quinoa, plus beans and lentils
Chicken Giambotta
The whole family will love this one pan, quick and budget friendly meal!
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp good olive oil
- 2 spicy sausages cut in half crosswise
- 4 chicken thighs preferably organic, skin on
- Salt and Pepper
- 2 Vidalia onions sliced in half moons
- 4 large cloves garlic chopped
- 2 Cubanelle peppers or long hot peppers sliced
- 1 each red and yellow bell peppers sliced
- 1 cup mixed fresh herbs – e.g. parsley basil, oregano
- 2 medium Russet potatoes preferably cooked in advance, then cooled and cut into 2” cubes
Instructions
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Preheat oven to 425 degrees convection roast with rack set below middle of oven
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Add oil to an oven proof skillet, brown sausage, then set sausage aside on plate
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Salt and pepper chicken thighs, then sear skin side down until skin begins to brown, about 3 minutes
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Turn chicken thighs, repeat on bottom side, and set aside on plate with sausage
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Add onions and garlic to skillet, and sauté over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until onions are softened, about 5 minutes
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Add Cubanelle, and bell peppers, tossing to combine, and sauté until peppers begin to soften, about 5 minutes
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Add herbs and potatoes, stirring to combine
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Add a generous pinch of salt and pepper, taste and adjust seasoning
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Place chicken and sausage on top of vegetables, evenly distributed, with skin side up on the thighs
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Place skillet in oven, and roast until chicken thighs achieve an internal temperature of 165 degrees F, and skin is crispy
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Serve with a simple green salad
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