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Halal-conscious recipe

Chicken cacciatore without bacon

Sarah Cook's chicken cacciatore with a jointed Halal chicken braised in plum tomatoes, onions and rosemary, using Halal turkey or beef rashers instead of streaky pork bacon.

  • Cuisine Italian
  • Meal Main
  • Difficulty Easy
  • Yield 1 jointed chicken, 8 pieces, in sauce
  • Time 1h 45m
  • Last updated

Each method follows published technique for the dish, and every Halal substitution is checked against the ingredient pages we cite. Photographs come from our ingredient library rather than the finished dish.

Printable view
Chicken pieces braised in tomato sauce with courgette and mushrooms in a red casserole dish on the hob
Photograph of a chicken cacciatore by Chris Bennett (CC BY 2.0), not the finished dish from this recipe.

Photo: Chris Bennett · CC BY 2.0

Why Halal checks matter here

This cacciatore is built on six rashers of streaky bacon, which is pork, the chicken needs Halal slaughter, the stock is a meat product, and the wine vinegar is a scholarly difference.

Cacciatore, Italian "hunter's style", is chicken braised in tomato with onion and herbs. The version this page follows starts by crisping streaky bacon, which is pork, so here Halal turkey bacon or beef rashers take its place.

It follows Sarah Cook's chicken and bacon cacciatore for BBC Good Food. The source also uses bought chicken stock, which needs a Halal or vegetable version (see stock cubes), and a little red or white wine vinegar, which the schools differ on.

A whole chicken is jointed into eight pieces, browned, then simmered covered for 40 to 50 minutes until the legs and thighs are tender.

Halal-critical ingredients

  • Streaky bacon The published recipe crisps six rashers of streaky bacon, which is pork. Turkey and beef bacon contain no pork but need Halal-slaughtered meat too. Use Halal-certified turkey or beef rashers, as here. See Bacon and Turkey bacon.
  • Chicken Chicken is a Halal bird, but slaughter decides whether the meat is Halal. Buy from a Halal butcher or in a certified pack. See Chicken.
  • Chicken stock Bought chicken stock is a meat product, and UK stock cubes such as OXO and Knorr contain meat fat that is not certified Halal. Use a Halal-certified stock or a vegan vegetable stock. See Stock cubes.
  • Red or white wine vinegar Wine vinegar is a scholarly difference: the Hanafi school, Indonesia's MUI and IslamQA permit it, while the classical Shafi'i rule and Malaysia's 2006 fatwa do not. Use it only if your school accepts it. See Red wine vinegar.

Safe substitutes

  • 6 rashers streaky pork bacon → 6 Halal turkey or beef rashers
  • 500 ml chicken stock → 500 ml Halal chicken or vegetable stock

Allergens

none

Ingredients

Cacciatore

  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 Halal chicken, about 1.8–2.2 kg, jointed into 8 pieces
  • 6 rashers Halal turkey or beef rashers, chopped (instead of streaky pork bacon)
  • 2 onions, sliced
  • 2 rosemary sprigs
  • 2 cans of plum tomatoes (the source does not give the can size)
  • 2 tbsp red or white wine vinegar (see the vinegar check below)
  • 1 tbsp sugar
  • 500 ml Halal chicken stock or vegetable stock
  • a small bunch parsley, chopped (optional)

Method

  1. Brown the chicken. Heat the oil in a large casserole dish. Brown the Halal chicken pieces a few at a time until the skin is golden on all sides, lifting each batch out onto a plate as it is done.
  2. Crisp the rashers. Turn the heat down, add the chopped Halal turkey or beef rashers and cook gently until crisp. Lift them out with a slotted spoon and put them with the chicken.
  3. Soften the onions. Add the onions and rosemary to the casserole and fry for 5 to 10 minutes until the onions have softened. Return the chicken and rashers with the tomatoes, vinegar, sugar, stock and seasoning.
  4. Braise. Bring to a simmer, cover and cook for 40 to 50 minutes until the chicken is tender; check a thigh or leg joint, as they take longest. Stir in the parsley if using, check the seasoning and serve with mash, pasta or rice.
  5. Make ahead. To keep it, cool and chill for up to 24 hours, or freeze for up to 3 months and defrost overnight in the fridge. Reheat covered at a gentle simmer until the chicken is piping hot; don't boil it, or the chicken may toughen.

How this recipe was researched

Method adapted from BBC Good Food's 'Chicken & bacon cacciatore' by Sarah Cook (serves 6: a 1.8 to 2.2 kg chicken jointed into 8 pieces and browned in batches in 2 tbsp olive oil; 6 rashers of chopped streaky bacon cooked gently until crisp; 2 sliced onions and 2 rosemary sprigs fried 5 to 10 minutes; the chicken and bacon returned with 2 cans of plum tomatoes, 2 tbsp red or white wine vinegar, 1 tbsp sugar, 500 ml chicken stock and seasoning; covered and simmered 40 to 50 minutes; parsley optional; chills for up to 24 hours or freezes for up to 3 months). The source gives the number of cans of tomatoes but not their size. We specified a Halal chicken, Halal turkey or beef rashers in place of the pork bacon, and a Halal or vegetable stock. Timings follow the published technique rather than a kitchen test.

Technique and ingredient sources

  1. Chicken & bacon cacciatore — BBC Good Food Retrieved:

    By Sarah Cook. Serves 6, prep 30 minutes, cook 1 hour 15 minutes: a jointed chicken browned, 6 rashers of streaky bacon crisped, onions and rosemary softened, then braised 40 to 50 minutes with 2 cans of plum tomatoes, wine vinegar, sugar and 500 ml chicken stock. We replaced the bacon with Halal turkey or beef rashers.

  2. Bacon analysis — isithalal.food Retrieved:

    Why pork bacon is Haram, and when beef and turkey bacon are Halal.

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