Spaghetti mixed with a tomato sauce and chunks of tasty chicken thigh. This recipe is great for making a big batch of food to feed lots of people. Most of the time spent on this recipe is spent simmering the chicken in tomato puree to get it nice and tender.
Chicken Thighs, Tomato and Spaghetti
Chicken thigh and tomato spaghetti is an Italian style dish. The recipe uses very few ingredients, but that only makes the ones that are used very important. I recommend using the best quality tomato puree, chicken thighs and spaghetti available to you.
You can very easily make the tomato chicken sauce ahead of time and use it when needed. I like to make a big batch of it, use half of it for dinner and then freeze the other half for an easy dinner another night.
It is easiest to use a large saucepan for this recipe. This will be helpful when mixing the spaghetti together with the sauce and will help reduce mess. Alternatively, use a large bowl to mix everything together if your saucepan is not large enough.
After the chicken has finished cooking it should be nice and tender. It should easily break apart in the saucepan by pressing down against the chicken pieces with a wooden spoon. If it is not easily breaking apart then it probably needs to be cooked for longer.
Substitutions
You can substitute tomato puree for canned crushed tomatoes or even canned whole tomatoes. They should all break down pretty similarly as they cook.
The spaghetti can be substituted out for a different type of pasta. Or you can choose some sort of lentil or gluten-free spaghetti. Leaving out the chicken thighs will result in a nice tomato sauce, which would make the meal vegan and plant based.
If you have access to fresh rosemary it can be used instead of dried. You can also add different dried or fresh Italian herbs, such as thyme.
Tomato Chicken Thigh Pasta bake
You can quite easily make a pasta bake based off of this recipe. Make the tomato chicken sauce the same way as in the normal recipe. However instead of mixing it together with spaghetti, mix it with pasta and empty into a baking dish.
Top with cheese and place in an oven preheated to 390°F/200°C. Cook in the oven for 20-30 minutes or until cheese is nicely browned.
Once cooked let the pasta bake cool for 20 minutes or so. Not only will this make the pasta a more tolerable temperature, it will also help the pasta hold its shape when serving.
Storing the Tomato Chicken Thigh Sauce
The tomato and chicken thigh sauce will last up to 4 days in the fridge, whether mixed with spaghetti or by itself. Store in an air tight container.
If you are going to freeze it then do so before mixing with spaghetti. Stored in an air tight container it should last up to 4 months. Let it cool before storing in the fridge or freezer.
For an appetizer try my Garlic and Oregano Pizza.
Chicken Thigh and Tomato Spaghetti
Ingredients
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- 2 medium onions diced
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 1.5 lb / 700 g chicken thighs whole, boneless, skin off
- 3/4 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 24 oz / 700 g tomato puree or crushed tomatoes
- 1/2 cup (125 ml) water
- 2 tsp dried rosemary
- 2 dried bay leaves
- 26 oz / 750 g spaghetti
Instructions
- Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium high heat. Add in diced onion and cook for 4 minutes or until onion translucent. Add in garlic and cook for another minute.
- Prepare chicken thighs by seasoning both sides with salt and pepper. Add chicken to the saucepan, cook for 8-10 minutes, flipping to brown both sides,
- Add in tomato puree, water, rosemary and bay leaves. Stir to combine.
- Bring to a simmer then reduce heat to low. Cover saucepan and let cook for 1 hour, stirring occasionally to prevent burning. Remove the lid and cook for a further 10-15 minutes.
- Break up chicken into bite size pieces. The chicken should easily break apart when pressed down with a wooden spoon or tongs. (Note 1)
- Cook spaghetti according to packet instructions, minus 1 minute. Drain spaghetti and add to saucepan that has the tomato and chicken sauce. Mix together and serve immediately.
Notes
- Breaking up chicken – You can also let the sauce cool, pick out the chicken thighs and break them apart with forks. Add them back into the sauce after broken apart.
