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Chris Arellanes

Chicken Cacciatore
S43E5 Italian · 2026

Raised in a Buddhist monastery, trained in Michelin-level kitchens, now runs Addicted Hospitality. Cooked his late grandmother's cacciatore while Lori Greiner yelled "Crush Bobby!" from the judges' table. Bobby went so hard on raw garlic the judges staged an intervention. Scott Conant: "Bobby lost twice today."

Chris Arellanes was raised in a Buddhist monastery and cooked his way through Michelin-level kitchens before founding Addicted Hospitality, a restaurant consultancy. He challenged Bobby with his late grandmother's chicken cacciatore — a dish he says his whole life had been leading up to.

Both men plated cacciatore over polenta. Chris went creamy with milk; Bobby went toasted with water, then panicked at plating and stole Chris's chicken-skin garnish idea. None of it mattered next to the garlic: Bobby loaded the dish with so much raw garlic that judge Frank Prisinzano told him, mid-tasting, "you can't fly off the handle like this."

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Chicken Cacciatore

25 min Prep
1 hr 10 min Cook
6 Serves
Ingredients
  • 3 lbs bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs and drumsticks
  • 2 tsp kosher salt, plus more to season
  • 1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
  • 3 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 large yellow onion, sliced
  • 1 red bell pepper, sliced
  • 8 oz cremini mushrooms, quartered
  • 4 cloves garlic, thinly sliced — cooked, never raw
  • 1/2 cup dry red wine
  • 1 (28 oz) can whole San Marzano tomatoes, crushed by hand
  • 2 tbsp tomato paste
  • 1 tsp dried oregano
  • 2 sprigs fresh rosemary
  • 1/2 cup pitted Castelvetrano olives
  • 2 tbsp capers, drained
  • Fresh basil, torn, to finish
  • 1 cup polenta, cooked in whole milk, to serve
Instructions
  1. Season the chicken all over with salt and pepper. Heat the olive oil in a Dutch oven over medium-high and brown the chicken skin-side down 5-6 minutes until deeply golden; flip for 3 more. Work in batches; remove to a plate.
  2. In the same pot, cook the onion, bell pepper, and mushrooms with a pinch of salt for 6-7 minutes, scraping up the fond, until softened and browning at the edges.
  3. Add the garlic and cook 60-90 seconds until fragrant and just golden — cooked through, never raw.
  4. Stir in the tomato paste and cook 1 minute, then deglaze with the red wine and reduce by half, about 2 minutes.
  5. Add the tomatoes, oregano, and rosemary. Nestle the chicken back in skin-side up with any juices. Bring to a simmer.
  6. Cover partially and braise at a low simmer for 40 minutes, until the chicken reaches 175°F and pulls easily from the bone.
  7. Stir in the olives and capers for the final 10 minutes. Taste before adding any salt — both bring plenty.
  8. Meanwhile, simmer the polenta in milk per package timing, whisking often, until creamy. Serve the cacciatore over the polenta, finished with torn basil.
Inspired by Chris Arellanes’s winning chicken cacciatore. This is a plausible recreation, not the chef’s original recipe.
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