Chicken riggies is a big skillet of rigatoni, chicken, and hot cherry peppers tossed in a creamy pink tomato sauce. It's spicy, it's rich, and it's about to become your new favorite pasta dish.
I love a pasta dish with a bit of a kick, my friends, and chicken riggies brings that kick with hot cherry peppers.
We first ran into this one in Saratoga Springs, on our way up to Lake Placid, where we stay on the lake every other year with great friends. Riggies started in Utica, but has spread out through upstate New York. Once you've tried it, you'll get why it's a local favorite.
If you haven't heard of it before, you're in for deliciousness! Rigatoni and chunks of chicken served in a tomato sauce with a splash of cream and lots of tangy pickled pepper heat. The sauce turns a gorgeous rosy pink. You get the vinegar bite first from the peppers and the tingly warmth second.
It comes together in about 45 minutes in one pan, and it scales up nicely for a crowd.
I had lots of fun testing this recipe. I cooked it with sherry and with white wine, with cream and without, and played with the heat. The recipe below is the winning version, and I already know you're going to love it.
Let's talk about how to make chicken riggies, shall we?
What Are Chicken Riggies?
Chicken riggies is an Italian-American pasta dish from Utica, New York, where "riggies" is local shorthand for rigatoni. It's hugely popular in Central New York, where they put on an annual festival for it, with restaurants competing for the title.
The core of the dish is always the same - chicken, rigatoni, and hot cherry peppers in a spicy tomato sauce. Everything else is up to the cook. Some cooks add mushrooms and black olives. Some swear by sherry, some white wine instead. Some finish with heavy cream, and some insist the pink color should only come from wine and lots of grated cheese.
I'll discuss all of that below. For my version, I use sherry and keep the mushrooms and olives, though they are optional. I also go a touch creamy, which is similar to the earliest Utica versions.
Chicken Riggies Ingredients
The full ingredients list with measurements is listed in the printable recipe card at the bottom of the post.
- Hot Cherry Peppers. Key ingredient. Use jarred pickled cherry peppers, not fresh, because that vinegar tang is half the flavor. Use 4 to 5 peppers, or a half cup chopped.
- Cherry Pepper Brine. Three tablespoons from the jar, plus more to taste. It adds extra tangy flavor and brightness to the dish.
- Chicken. Boneless skinless thighs, cut into 1-inch pieces. They stay juicy through the simmer. Chicken breasts are good, too, but you may need to pull them a touch earlier.
- Rigatoni. Hence the name. The big ridged tubes grab the sauce. Penne or ziti work perfectly well, but then you're missing out on the "riggies".
- Tomatoes. One 28-ounce can of crushed. You can use whole tomatoes and crush them by hand for a chunkier sauce, which is more old-school.
- Dry Sherry. Deglazes the pan and adds a nuttiness. Dry white wine works as a substitute, but doesn't have that nutty flavor.
- Heavy Cream. Two-thirds of a cup. It balances the acid, and turns gives the sauce its distinctive pink color. I've included a no-cream section below for the more traditional way.
- Pecorino Romano. Parmesan works as well.
- Mushrooms and Black Olives. Optional, but we enjoy them. The dish is fantastic without them, but common with Utica home cooks.
- Bell Pepper and Onion. For building the overall base.
If you've made my Chicken Scarpariello, you already know how pickled cherry peppers make the dish. They go into the pan with some of the brine, and the vinegar becomes part of the sauce for a flavorful dish.
How to Make Chicken Riggies - the Recipe Method
Brown the Chicken. Season your chicken chunks with salt and pepper. Heat olive oil and butter in a large skillet or Dutch oven over medium-high heat and brown the chicken in batches, about 4 to 5 minutes. Don't crowd the pan or it steams instead of browning. Set the chicken aside. You don't need to cook them all the way through, as they will simmer in the sauce later.
Cook the Vegetables. Same pan, medium heat. Add the onion, bell pepper, and mushrooms. Cook 7 to 8 minutes, until everything softens and the mushroom liquid cooks off. Stir in the garlic and tomato paste and cook another minute.
Deglaze. Pour in the sherry and scrape up the browned bits stuck to the pan. Big flavor builder. Reduce it by half, about 2 minutes. Start your rigatoni boiling in water now and cook it 1 minute shy of al dente.
Make the Sauce. Add the crushed tomatoes, chopped cherry peppers, brine, Italian seasoning, and hot paprika. Simmer 8 to 10 minutes to develop the flavor. You can simmer longer, but be sure to time your pasta cooking accordingly.
Add Cream and Chicken. Reduce the heat so the sauce barely bubbles. Stir in the cream, then return the chicken along with any juices on the plate. Simmer 5 minutes, until the chicken cooks through and the sauce coats a spoon.
Finish It. Remove from heat, stir in the Pecorino a handful at a time so it melts smoothly instead of clumping. Add the olives and the drained rigatoni. Toss together until everything is coated. Loosen with reserved pasta water a splash at a time until the sauce clings to the rigatoni.
Serve. Taste for salt now, not before - there are a lot of salty ingredients. Tlop with torn basil, extra Pecorino and red pepper flakes.
Boom! Done. Chicken riggies, and it looks awesome. Big skillet of pasta in pink sauce, dashes of red pepper, ready in 45 minutes.
Recipe Tips & Notes
- Watch the salt. There is a lot of salt from the pepper brine, Pecorino, olives, and the pasta water. Season the chicken lightly, if at all, in the beginning, then taste and adjust at the end.
- Core the peppers, or don't. Cherry peppers can have a lot of seeds, and most of the pepper heat (capsaicin) is in the inner white pith with the seeds. Leave them in for more of a spicy kick. You can remove the seeds and innards if you don't want them floating around in your sauce, but that will remove some of the heat.
- Simmer longer for more developed flavor. You can easily simmer your pasta sauce longer to develop more flavor. If you do, add the cream and browned chicken in the last 8 to 10 minutes, and add a bit more brine at the end to make sure you get the tanginess.
Heat Factor: How Spicy Are Chicken Riggies?
Most restaurants I've tried run fairly mild, despite the cherry peppers. Great flavor, plenty of tang, almost no burn.
You can easily adjust this at home, my friends. Here is how.
- Mild. Use sweet cherry peppers (under 500 SHU), use sweet paprika, and leave out the red pepper flakes. Still great flavor, just friendlier.
- Medium. The recipe as written. Hot cherry peppers, seeded, plus the brine and hot paprika.
- Hot. Use a full cup of cherry peppers, 8 to 10 of them, and do not core. Add a teaspoon of red pepper flakes to the simmering sauce. You can also add extra pepper brine at the end and garnish with extra chopped or sliced cherry peppers for garnish. Add a few dashes of my cherry bomb hot sauce, too.
- Wild. Everything above, plus 2 tablespoons of Calabrian chili paste with the tomato paste and 1 minced habanero with the garlic. Now you've got some heat.
Chicken Riggies Without Cream
In my research, I've found that many old school New York restaurants do not include cream in their sauce, and instead get the pink color from wine and lots of grated cheese. However, many home cooks have been finishing with cream for decades, and newer restaurants are following suit.
Honestly, it's a simple short cut that not only saves time, but adds easy flavor. Both styles are good, just with a slightly different flavor profile.
No-cream version. Skip the heavy cream entirely. Bump the Pecorino to 1 cup and reserve a full 2 cups of pasta water. Pull the pan off the heat, add a half cup of pasta water, then stir in the cheese gradually, tossing constantly so it thickens into a glossy sauce. Keep tossing and adding water until it looks right. You get a sharper, more tomato-forward dish and a deeper red color.
I've made both and we enjoy both. I'd love to hear which one you prefer.
What to Serve with Chicken Riggies
Serve with garlic bread for sure. A green salad on the side is nice. Set out bowls filled with extra grated pecorino, red chili flakes for the spicy food lovers, maybe some of your favorite vinegary hot sauces to enhance the briny pop.
For wine, I asked my friend Anne from FoodWineandFlavor.com, who's a sommelier. Her top pick is Etna Rosso from Sicily, with bright acidity for the tomatoes and earthy notes that work with the mushrooms and olives. Barbera is easier to find and its high acidity makes it a classic tomato-sauce wine. Dry Lambrusco is a fun pick, since the bubbles cut through the cream. And if you've taken this up on the hotter side, go white with an Albariño. As Anne put it, sometimes the best pairing isn't matching the color of the sauce, it's matching the energy of the dish. I love that.
For beer, a crisp pilsner or a Peroni balance the spicy notes quite nicely.
Storage
Refrigerate in a sealed container for up to 4 days. Reheat gently on the stovetop with a splash of water or cream stirred through. Stir it while it heats to bring any separated sauce back together.
You can freeze it up to 3 months, though the pasta texture may suffer a bit. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator before reheating.
Plenty of people swear it tastes better the next day. It usually does. We think so.
That's it, my friends. I hope you enjoy this recipe for chicken riggies. I'd love to hear how it turned out for you, and if you decided to spice it up your way.
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Got any questions? Ask away! I’m happy to help. If you enjoy this recipe, I hope you’ll leave a comment with some STARS. Also, please share it on social media. Don’t forget to tag us at #ChiliPepperMadness. I’ll be sure to share! Thanks! — Mike H.
Chicken Riggies Recipe
Ingredients
Chicken
- 2 pounds boneless skinless chicken thighs cut into 1-inch pieces
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 tablespoons butter
Sauce
- 1 medium yellow onion diced
- 1 large red bell pepper diced
- 8 ounces cremini mushrooms sliced
- 6 cloves garlic minced
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste
- 1/2 cup dry sherry
- 28 ounce can crushed tomatoes
- 1/2 cup chopped jarred hot cherry peppers stemmed and seeded, about 4-5 cherry peppers, roughly 4 ounces drained
- 3 tablespoons cherry pepper brine from the jar + more as desired
- 1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
- 1 teaspoon hot paprika
- 2/3 cup heavy cream
- 3/4 cup grated Pecorino Romano plus more for serving
- 1/2 cup sliced black olives
Finish
- 1 pound rigatoni
- 1 1/2 cups reserved pasta water
- 1/4 cup fresh basil hand torn
- Red pepper flakes for serving
Instructions
- Bring a large pot of heavily salted water to a boil. Season the chicken pieces with the salt and black pepper.
- Heat the olive oil and butter in a large skillet or Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Brown the chicken in a single layer, working in batches, about 4 to 5 minutes. It does not need to cook through. Transfer to a plate.
- Reduce the heat to medium. Add the onion, bell pepper, and mushrooms to the same pan. Cook 7 to 8 minutes, until softened and the mushroom liquid cooks off. Stir in the garlic and tomato paste and cook 1 minute more.
- Pour in the sherry and scrape up the browned bits from the pan. Reduce by half, about 2 minutes. Add the rigatoni to the boiling water now and cook 1 minute shy of al dente.
- Stir in the crushed tomatoes, cherry peppers, cherry pepper brine, Italian seasoning, and hot paprika. Simmer 8 to 10 minutes. You can simmer longer if you'd like, 20-30 minutes (adjust pasta cooking time as needed).
- Lower the heat so the sauce barely bubbles. Stir in the heavy cream, then return the chicken and any accumulated juices. Simmer 5 minutes, until the chicken cooks through and the sauce thickens enough to coat a spoon.
- Remove from the heat. Stir in the Pecorino a handful at a time until melted and smooth. Add the olives and the drained rigatoni, tossing to coat. Add reserved pasta water a splash at a time until the sauce clings without pooling.
- Taste and adjust salt and pepper brine. Top with torn basil and serve with extra Pecorino and red pepper flakes.
Notes
Nutrition Information
FAQs
What are chicken riggies?
Chicken riggies is an Italian-American pasta dish from Utica, New York, made with rigatoni ("riggies"), chunks of chicken, and hot cherry peppers in a spicy tomato sauce, usually finished with cream. It's a Central New York staple with its own annual festival.
What can I use instead of hot cherry peppers?
Pepperoncini or pickled banana peppers are the closest substitutes, though both run milder. Jarred Calabrian chilies give you more heat with a fruitier flavor. Whatever you pick, use something pickled, because that vinegar tang is essential to the dish.
Can I use a different pasta shape?
Rigatoni is traditional, but penne, ziti, or fusilli all work. The dish gets its name from the rigatoni, so purists will give you some grief.
Can I make it ahead?
Yes. Make the sauce up to 2 days ahead and refrigerate it, then reheat and toss with freshly cooked pasta. Cooking the rigatoni fresh keeps it from going soft.
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