Italian-style chicken with olives recipe

A delicious chicken dish in a flavoursome tomato and olive stew - and just 301 calories per portion.

This Italian-style chicken with olives is one of our favourite healthy chicken recipes. If you're cooking it for a big weekend lunch, it's lovely to make with a whole chicken jointed into 8 pieces. But for a simpler starting point, you can just use six chicken breasts or eight chicken thighs. You can cook it on the stove top in just 40 minutes, using one pan. Alternatively, if you have a slow cooker, toss everything in and leave it to summer for a few hours. (See Step 6 for the full slow cooker method). Either way, you will get tender chicken in a really lively sauce, beautifully seasoned with Italian herbs. It's low carb and low in saturated fat but doesn't feel like a diet dish in any way.

Ingredients

• 2kg free-range chicken, jointed, or 6 skin-on breasts
• 2 tbsp light olive oil
• 2 onions, peeled and sliced
• 1 stick celery, finely chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed
• Small glass white wine
• 1x400g tin chopped tomatoes
• 350g fresh tomatoes, skinned and chopped
• 1 tbsp sun-dried tomato paste
• 1 tbsp red wine vinegar
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 stalk fresh rosemary, leaves chopped
• 100g black olives, stoned

Method

1. Season the chicken. Heat half the oil in a large sauté pan and brown the chicken pieces on both sides. Transfer to a plate.
2. Add the remaining oil to the pan and cook the onions and celery for about 6-8 mins, until soft.
3. Add the garlic and wine and bubble for 2 mins. Then add the tinned and fresh tomatoes, sun-dried tomato paste, vinegar, herbs and olives; season.
4. Put the chicken back in, bring the sauce to the boil, loosely cover, then turn the heat down and simmer for 40 mins.
5. Serve up with your favourite pasta or potatoes and plenty of crusty bread to mop up all the saucy goodness.
6. Slow Cooker Method: If cooking in a slow cooker, follow steps 1 and 2 and add to the bowl of a slow cooker. Add in the remaining ingredients and cook on high for 3-4 hours, or up to 6 hours on low.

Top tips for making Italian-style chicken with olives

If the sauce becomes a little too thick or threatens to dry out, just add a splash of water, stock or wine to loosen it. If it runs a little thin, just let it bubble away for a few minutes longer until it thickens down.

This dish is lovely with just some vibrant greens which soak up some of the sauce - kale, cavolo nero or tenderstem broccoli. This keeps it super-healthy and low carb. If you do want a side dish, brown rice or a smooth, buttery mashed potato both work really well.

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