Chicken Marsala
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Chicken Marsala is an Italian-American dish of golden pan-fried chicken cutlets and mushrooms in a rich Marsala wine sauce.
Chicken Marsala is an Italian-American dish of golden pan-fried chicken cutlets and mushrooms in a rich Marsala wine sauce. It’s the most popular chicken recipe on this website, and though it’s a classic restaurant dish, it’s really easy to make at home. With just one pan, you can have it on the dinner table in 45 minutes. The recipe makes a lovely sauce that is delicious over pasta, polenta, rice, or Parmesan smashed potatoes.
If your family loves Italian food like mine does, once you master chicken Marsala, try your hand at other Italian restaurant favorites, such as chicken cacciatore, pasta e fagioli, eggplant parmesan, penne alla vodka, and lasagna.
Table of Contents
What You’ll Need To Make Chicken Marsala
Marsala is a brandy-fortified wine from Sicily that is 100% worth adding to your pantry, if only to make this dish time and again. It will keep in a cool, dry spot for months.
I buy boneless skinless chicken breasts and pound them thin myself, as opposed to using the ultra-thin sliced cutlets sold at the supermarket, since pounding tenderizes the meat. This adds an extra step but you can save time by using pre-sliced mushrooms. (Or you can skip all this hassle by using chicken tenderloins, which are naturally tender.)
How To Make Chicken Marsala
If your chicken breasts are large, like the ones in the photo above, it’s best to first cut them in half horizontally. (If you pound them without first halving them, they’ll be ginormous and oddly shaped.)
Once you’ve got four flat filets, pound them each to an even 1/4-inch thickness.
Place the flour, 3/4 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper in a ziplock bag.
Add the chicken to the bag; seal the bag tightly and shake to coat chicken evenly. Set aside.
Heat the oil and 2 tablespoons of the butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. (Use a stainless steel pan for the best browning. Nonstick will work too, but you won’t get that nice golden color on the chicken.) Place the flour-dusted chicken in the pan, shaking off any excess first.
Cook, turning once, until the chicken is golden and just barely cooked through, about 5 to 6 minutes total. Transfer the chicken to a plate and set aside.
Melt the remaining tablespoon of butter in the pan. Add the mushrooms and cook, stirring frequently, until the mushrooms begin to brown, 3 to 4 minutes.
Add the shallots, garlic, and ¼ teaspoon of salt.
Cook for 1 to 2 minutes more.
Add the broth, wine, heavy cream, thyme, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and 1/8 teaspoon of pepper; use a wooden spoon to scrape any brown bits from the pan into the liquid. Bring the liquid to a boil, then reduce the heat to medium.
Gently boil, uncovered, until the sauce is reduced by about half, slightly thickened, and darkened in color, 10 to 15 minutes (you’re going for a thin cream sauce; it won’t start to thicken until the very end of the cooking time).
Add the chicken back to the pan, along with any juices that accumulated on the plate. Reduce the heat to low and simmer until the chicken is warmed through and the sauce thickens a bit more, 2 to 3 minutes.
Sprinkle with parsley, if using, and serve.
Video Tutorial
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Chicken Marsala
Chicken Marsala is an Italian-American dish of golden pan-fried chicken cutlets and mushrooms in a rich Marsala wine sauce.
Ingredients
- 1½ pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts, pounded ¼-inch thick (see note), or chicken tenderloins
- 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- Salt
- Freshly ground black pepper
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided
- 1 (8-oz) package pre-sliced bella or button mushrooms
- 3 tablespoons finely chopped shallots, from 1 medium shallot
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- ⅔ cup chicken broth
- ⅔ cup dry Marsala wine
- ⅔ cup heavy cream
- 2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh Italian parsley, for serving (optional)
Instructions
- Place the flour, ¾ teaspoon salt, and ¼ teaspoon pepper in a ziplock bag. Add the chicken to the bag; seal bag tightly and shake to coat chicken evenly. Set aside.
- Heat the oil and 2 tablespoons of the butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. (Use a stainless steel pan for the best browning. Nonstick will work too, but you won’t get that nice golden color on the chicken.) Place the flour-dusted chicken in the pan, shaking off any excess first, and cook, turning once, until the chicken is golden and just barely cooked through, about 5 to 6 minutes total. Transfer the chicken to a plate and set aside.
- Melt the remaining tablespoon of butter in the pan. Add the mushrooms and cook, stirring frequently, until the mushrooms begin to brown, 3 to 4 minutes. Add the shallots, garlic, and ¼ teaspoon of salt; cook for 1 to 2 minutes more. Add the broth, Marsala, heavy cream, thyme, ¼ teaspoon salt, and ⅛ teaspoon of pepper; use a wooden spoon to scrape any brown bits from the pan into the liquid. Bring the liquid to a boil, then reduce the heat to medium and gently boil, uncovered, until the sauce is reduced by about half, slightly thickened, and darkened in color, 10 to 15 minutes (you’re going for a thin cream sauce; it won’t start to thicken until the very end of the cooking time). Add the chicken back to the pan, along with any juices that accumulated on the plate. Reduce the heat to low and simmer until the chicken is warmed through and the sauce thickens a bit more, 2 to 3 minutes. Sprinkle with parsley, if using, and serve.
- Note: If your chicken breasts are large (like the ones in the photos that are about ¾ lb. each), it’s best to first cut them horizontally to form four flat fillets, then pound them to an even ¼-inch thickness. If you pound large chicken breasts without first halving them, they’ll be huge. Of course, you could also pound them thin first and then cut them in half vertically; the only drawback is that they’ll lose their natural shape (which, admittedly, is not a big deal!).
Pair with
Nutrition Information
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- Calories: 537
- Fat: 32 g
- Saturated fat: 16 g
- Carbohydrates: 12 g
- Sugar: 4 g
- Fiber: 1 g
- Protein: 43 g
- Sodium: 877 mg
- Cholesterol: 203 mg
This website is written and produced for informational purposes only. I am not a certified nutritionist and the nutritional data on this site has not been evaluated or approved by a nutritionist or the Food and Drug Administration. Nutritional information is offered as a courtesy and should not be construed as a guarantee. The data is calculated through an online nutritional calculator, Edamam.com. Although I do my best to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures should be considered estimates only. Varying factors such as product types or brands purchased, natural fluctuations in fresh produce, and the way ingredients are processed change the effective nutritional information in any given recipe. Furthermore, different online calculators provide different results depending on their own nutrition fact sources and algorithms. To obtain the most accurate nutritional information in a given recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe, using your preferred nutrition calculator.
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I really, REALLY did not follow the recipe exactly (sorry!), but I just wanted to stop by and tell the chef and her readers that these are probably the clearest, best-written *instructions* I have ever found on the Internet.
I used to love cooking but, due to chronic bad health, I have been out of commission. This was my first time in the kitchen in over a year! I was initially determined to “wing” a Chicken Marsala, but at the last possible moment I decided I’d feel more confident “following” this particular recipe instead, just because the steps are so well written: not too perfunctory, not overly detailed, not overly clinical, not too ephemeral or loosey-goosey.
The recipe was SO easy to follow, and the suggested techniques (dredging in a ziplock bag! So smart!) made me feel like a pro. The ingredients’ measurements and cook times were right on. The whole thing did take me longer than the projected 45 minutes to make, but not by very much.
Because the decision to make Chicken Marsala was so, so last-minute, I found myself making increasingly audacious ingredient substitutions. I didn’t even HAVE the titular ingredient–Marsala wine!–so I put white wine, a bit of brandy, some filtered water, and a dollop of chicken-flavored Better than Bouillon into a canning jar before cooking (next time I will add a splash of gluten-free soy sauce for umami). I microwaved the jar and shook it up right before the recipe calls for wine + broth to be added to the saucepan.
My pantry had a lot of other limitations, too. I didn’t have flour, heavy cream, OR the aforementioned Marsala wine (!!) and a lot of my other ingredients, like thyme, were dry or canned, not fresh. I also used some “Italian seasoning,” which presumably contains some dried oregano. But, hey!
It turns out, dried shallots come back to life in water! After that, they sauteed beautifully.
I substituted arrowroot for the flour–not a good decision on my part–and I used whole milk in lieu of cream. The sauce thickened up very nicely (two pinches of arrowroot DID help my cause that time), and I served dinner over riced cauliflower.
So I took a fair number of liberties, and my “take” probably wouldn’t ever be mistaken for a legitimate Chicken Marsala. But wow! It was delicious!! I think my substitutions resulted in a dish that tasted like a really, really good Chicken a la King. Everyone agreed with my assessment, and loved it–there were no leftovers!
My husband even got a little misty-eyed and said it was neat to see I was having so much fun in the kitchen. And this recipe is SO fun to make, especially the chicken cutlets. You get to pound the chicken flat and then shake it in a bag! What a fun rainy-day recipe for the whole family!
I’ll be attempting this recipe again in earnest, next time substituting cassava flour and coconut milk for regular flour and heavy cream. (It’s risky, I know. But I’ve found that you can “hide” coconut milk in a quiche if you add enough onion powder to it, so… we’ll see.)
Thanks to this website’s author for such a delicious and easy-to-follow recipe. It was a hit with my husband and our guest, and I felt like I learned a lot! (Sorry if this review is so long!)
I made this for my husband, Chicken Marsala is his favorite thing to order at Italian restaurants. He declared this to be better than any restaurant! Made it exactly as written, thanks for all the great recipes!
So so so good! Even my husband and 4 year old who do not like mushrooms gobbled it up. Can’t wait to make this again. Thanks for such an easy and fantastic recipe! I wish I could add a photo 👩🏻🍳
Tripled the recipe as meal prep for the week for me and my husband. So amazing!
If you do this, I recommend wiping the pan after each chicken round except the last one because it starts to burn.
The best chicken marsala recipe ever. But switched some ingredients instead of heavy cream I used coconut milk ( it is healthier fat) and instead of green onion ( didnt have any) I used celery chopped up in little pieces. It was delicious.
Made it exactly per the recipe and it was delicious. So good that my 22-year-old grandson, who is currently getting some basic cooking lessons from me, said that now that he has learned to sauté, he wants this recipe. He plans to use it to impress his friends with his new- found cooking talents.
I LOVE this recipe and want to serve it at a dinner party for 8 people . What, if anything, can be prepared in advance? Maybe browning the chicken? Sauteing the mushrooms? Any suggestions will definitely help! Many thanks.
Hi Bill, for the best results, I really wouldn’t suggest making any of the components in advance. You could brown the chicken and refrigerate it, but you’d need to keep the pan with the frond (the browned, caramelized bits) dirty to make the sauce because the frond adds much of the flavor. If anything, I’d suggest preparing the whole dish ahead and reheating it (although I think it’s best right after cooking). Hope that helps!
Help: Just getting ready to make this for guests
I can only find a good Italian Marsala – but it is sweet Do I need to do anything to cut the sweetness or leave it… It almost tastes like a cream sherry Opici Marsala
Hi Linda, I think it will be fine as is but if the sauce tastes a bit sweet, you could always add a wee bit of soy sauce to balance it (sounds weird, I know).
Wow! I typically read through the reviews and make suggested changes while trying out new recipes but every review said this was fantastic as is so I followed it precisely and am glad I did. It was fabulous! My husband, 7 year old, 5 year old, 2 year old and myself housed this meal! Thank you for a great new addition. I will be making this regularly!
This is the first chicken marsala recipe that I have made at home that came up to restaurant quality. Delicious. Do not avoid pounding out the chicken – it makes a big difference. I would suggest increasing the sauce its that good. I usually serve this with wide egg noodles and either a salad or peas with shallot and pancetta.