This Chicken Scarpariello Recipe is absolutely mouthwatering, and will have you coming back for seconds, maybe even thirds! The meaty flavors of the chicken and sausage complemented by the acidity of the peppers, texture of the potatoes, and freshness of the bell peppers, onions and parsley make it such a fantastic, balanced dish by itself or with a side of your favorite pasta.
Now I know this isn’t exactly the classic Chicken Scarpariello… Traditionally I would use sweet and hot whole cherry peppers (and their juice) instead of banana peppers, larger pieces of garlic (both chopped and sliced) instead of minced garlic, and white whine to deglaze the pan, but this version is my favorite variation of the dish. To be honest, I really feel like Chicken Scarpariello has no “proper” way of being made, as every family does something different with theirs, almost like Sunday sauce. You’ll also notice I do a few things different than most other recipes you’ll see online, and for specific reasons (like not dusting my chicken in flour).
Chicken Scarpariello MUST have a few main ingredients – Chicken, Italian Sausage, Potatoes, Bell Peppers, and some type of Pickled / Vinegar Peppers. In my version, I like to use chicken wings as I feel they provide the best flavor, texture, and amount of chicken in the dish overall. Using boneless / skinless chicken breast is definitely a no-go in my book for Chicken Scarpariello, but if I for some reason couldn’t use wings, my second choice would be bone-in chicken thighs with the skin on.
As you can tell, I’m going for flavor here, but you can use whatever you prefer, just be sure to adjust cooking times for the cuts of chicken you decide to use. I also like to cube my potatoes on the smaller side, because when they are too big, they don’t soak up all of the flavorful juices as nicely. Another thing you’ll notice in this recipe is that I go pretty light on the seasonings, just a little salt, pepper, and granulated garlic. I really feel that all of the ingredients in this dish offer incredible flavors in themselves, and adding too much seasoning takes away from their natural tastiness.
I named this version of the dish Gino’s Chicken Scarpariello after our beloved puppy Gino, who loves to stand next to me in the kitchen as I cook, waiting to catch any extra ingredients that may fall his way. He especially loves the smell of this dish, and is always first in line to taste test it with us, hence why we named it after him!
How to Make Chicken Scarpariello
Making Chicken Scarpariello is not difficult by any means, but is done in a few separate steps. I like to brown all of my meat in the same pan, and then sauté my vegetables in that delicious butter, olive oil and meat juice mixture left behind. This is also why I don’t flour my chicken before browning, because I still get a beautiful color and crispiness on the chicken without flouring and I don’t add any burnt flour taste to the rest of the ingredients afterward.
Cook the Chicken
- Start by putting butter and olive oil in a pan on medium-high heat. Allow the butter to completely melt and begin to bubble.
- Place your chicken wings in the pan and allow them to brown for about 2 minutes on each side. The chicken will still be undercooked in the center, but that is fine as they will finish cooking in the oven. We just want to get a golden brown color on them. I also season the chicken with salt, pepper, and granulated garlic at this time.
Cook the Sausages
- Once the chicken has a golden brown color on each side, remove from the pan. Next, place your Italian sausages into the pan. As you did with the chicken, just brown for about 2-3 minutes on each side. After the first flip, I poke the sausages with a fork to start releasing some of their juices into the pan.
Cook the Vegetables
- After the sausages are browned on each side, remove them from the pan and add in your sliced onions and bell peppers. Sauté for a few minutes in the leftover butter, oil, and meat juices left behind, allowing them to soak up all of those delicious flavors.
- When the onions and bell peppers start to become slightly tender, add in your minced garlic, banana peppers, and the banana pepper juice. Sauté everything for a few minutes allowing the ingredients to come together. Then remove from the heat and pour all of it into a baking dish large enough to fit the chicken and sausage as well.
Put It All Together
- Now is when I slice up my browned sausages. I slice them on a 45 degree angle, into 1/2 inch thick medallions. I also cube my gold potatoes at this time as well, into roughly 1/2 inch x 1/2 inch small cubes.
- Add the cubed gold potatoes, Italian sausage medallions, and the chicken wings into the baking dish, and mix everything together until evenly distributed. Drizzle a generous amount of olive oil over the top.
Let It Bake
- Cover the baking dish with foil, and place in a pre-heated oven at 375°F for 1 hour, or until the chicken and sausage are fully cooked, and the potatoes are fork tender.
- Once the Chicken Scarpariello is ready, remove it from the oven, and carefully remove the foil (remove the foil away from you, as there will be lots of hot steam). Sprinkle chopped parsley over the top and enjoy!
After taking the Chicken Scarpariello out of the oven and removing the foil, I like to pull the chicken wings and sausage medallions to the surface of the dish and put it back in the oven uncovered at 425°F for about to 5-10 minutes to crisp them up before serving!
Common Questions About Chicken Scarpariello
The word Scarpariello translates from Italian to “Shoemaker” or “Shoemaker Style.” There is no official story as to how this dish got the name Chicken Scarpariello, but it is most likely because shoemakers were not rich by any means, and this would likely be dish consisting of leftover food from other meals thrown together to not waste anything.
In my variation of the recipe, I prefer to use hot Italian sausage, since the banana peppers are not spicy, the spice from the sausages make up for it. If you don’t like spicy, feel free to use sweet Italian sausages, or even a mix of both hot and sweet tastes great!
You can use whichever part of the chicken you prefer, however I feel that chicken breasts lack the flavor and moisture that wings provide.
Gino’s Chicken Scarpariello Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp butter
- 6 tbsp olive oil
- 1 ½ lbs chicken wings
- 5 italian sausages large
- 3 white onions small, sliced
- 4 bell peppers mixed colors, sliced
- 4 gold potatoes small, cubed
- 2 tbsp garlic minced
- ¼ cup banana peppers jarred rings
- ¼ cup banana pepper juice
- ¼ cup italian parsley chopped
- 2 tsp salt
- 2 tsp black pepper crushed
- 1 tbsp granulated garlic
Instructions
- Add the butter and 3 tbsp of olive oil to a pan on medium-high heat. Once the butter is fully melted and begins to bubble, add in your chicken wings to brown them. Be sure not to overcrowd the pan, and cook in 2 batches if necessary. Cook the chicken for about 2 minutes on each side, or just until they develop a golden brown color on each side. We don't want to fully cook the chicken in this step, as they will finish cooking in the oven. Be sure to season each side with a pinch of salt, black pepper, and granulated garlic. After browning, remove the chicken from the pan.
- In the same pan, add in your Italian sausages. Cook for about 2-3 minutes on each side, or just until they are browned. After the first flip, poke the sausages with a fork to begin releasing some of their juices into the pan. Again, we are not fully cooking them, we are just getting color on them. Once the sausages have been browned, remove them from the pan.
- In the same pan, add in your sliced onions and bell peppers. Sauté the vegetables in the mixture of olive oil, butter, chicken and sausage juices. We want them to soak up all of the flavors left behind from the previous steps.
- When the onions and peppers start to become slightly tender, add in your minced garlic, banana peppers, and the banana pepper juice. Mix and sauté everything for about 1-2 minutes, allowing all of the ingredients to come together, then remove from the heat and pour into a baking dish.
- Slice your browned Italian sausages into 1/2 inch thick medallions. It is best to cut sausages on a 45 degree angle, but you can cut them in whatever direction you feel most comfortable. This is also when you will want to cube your gold potatoes, unless you have already done so when prepping your onions and bell peppers.
- Add your cubed gold potatoes, Italian sausage medallions, and chicken wings to the baking dish. Mix everything together until each ingredient is evenly distributed throughout. Drizzle about 3 tbsp of olive oil over the top.
- Cover the baking dish in foil, and bake in a pre-heated oven at 375°F for 1 hour, or until the chicken and sausage are fully cooked, and the potatoes are fork tender. Once done, remove from the oven and carefully remove the foil cover (remove the foil away from you as there will be a lot of hot steam). Sprinkle chopped parsley over the top of the entire dish.
- Allow the Chicken Scarpariello to cool to your preferred serving temperature, garnish with more chopped parsley and enjoy!
This is THE Best Scarp recipe I ever tried!!
Next time I will double the batch because my family just loves this dish!!
Thank you for sharing and please keep the recipes coming . They are all amazing!!!
exactly how we make chicken scarp in our house also!! love banana peppers and even pepperoncinis too!!