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.

how to make chicken marsala

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.

What You’ll Need To Make Chicken Marsala

Marsala ingredients including mushrooms, heavy cream, and chicken broth.

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

Person slicing a chicken breast with a large knife.

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.)

Sliced chicken breast on a cutting board.

Once you’ve got four flat filets,  pound them each to an even 1/4-inch thickness.

Person pounding a chicken breast with a meat mallet.

Place the flour, 3/4 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper in a ziplock bag.

Seasonings in a bag.

Add the chicken to the bag; seal the bag tightly and shake to coat chicken evenly. Set aside.

Seasoned chicken in a bag.

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.

Seasoned chicken in a skillet.

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.

Partially-cooked chicken in a skillet.

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.

Mushrooms in a skillet.

Add the shallots, garlic, and ¼ teaspoon of salt.

Cooked mushrooms with other ingredients in a skillet.

Cook for 1 to 2 minutes more.

Skillet of cooked mushrooms.

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.

Cream with mushrooms in a skillet.

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).

Skillet of creamy mushrooms.

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.

Skillet of chicken marsala.

Sprinkle with parsley, if using, and serve.

Plate of chicken marsala.

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.

Servings: 4
Prep Time: 15 Minutes
Cook Time: 30 Minutes
Total Time: 45 Minutes

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

  1. 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.
  2. 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.
  3. 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.
  4. 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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Comments

  • Can I substitute the cream for something else . I am lactose intolerant and stay away from cream or milk .
    Thanks

    • Hi Sonia, I’ve only made this with the heavy cream, but one reader Rich’s non-dairy coffee creamer (frozen) and another mentioned she was going to try it with Trader Joe’s unflavored non-dairy creamer. Hope that helps!

    • Sonia, I too am lactose interested. BUT,
      THE WHOLE LACTOSE MILK IS WONDERFUL & lasts close to 3 times longer. Dont know if they sell Cream,
      BFYI THIS THE BEST, DELICIOUS.
      FAYE

      • — FAYE BRIGHT BAILEY
      • Reply
      • absolutely delicious! i drained my mushrooms and added a few extra dashes of flour and extra butter to thicken!

  • Perfect recipe.

  • That is without a doubt the best way to cook chicken breasts. I’ve been meaning to cook this for about a year and just got around to making it tonight. My husband is a dark meat eater and doesn’t like wine so its perfect now that he’s out of town. Fabulous! Thanks Jen!

  • I have heavy whipping cream in the fridge. Is this close enough to heavy cream? Thanks!

    • Yes that’s fine, Tini. 🙂

    • I’ve never made this before and don’t consider myself to be an especially good cook. Also I like to visit with my guests rather than spend all of my time in the kitchen. Is it possible to prepare this dish and “keep warm” in an appropriate serving dish in the oven for about 1/2 hour?
      It looks delicious and I would like to keep this recipe in my “start entertaining” file.

      • Hi Elaine, Unfortunately, this dish is best made right before serving. Sorry!

  • Amazing!! Best Chicken Marsala ever!! I have used quite a few of your recipes and have never been disappointed. Thanks for all your delicious recipes!!

  • If I don’t have shallots on hand- should I increase garlic and add onions? Thanks

    • Sure, Marsh, that should work. Hope you enjoy!

  • so good! great recipe, and your photos helped me see what it should look like…
    I made 1 and 1/2 times, because that’s how much chicken I had, and did it all in my paella pan. My step-sons weren’t ready to eat at the right time, so I kept it warm over the penne pasta I had made. Rave reviews from husband and his boys!! I’m excited to try more of your recipes, thank you so much!!

  • This was amazing. Thank you for sharing your recipe. I followed it exactly. I will definitely be making this on a regular basis. My picky husband even said he liked it and that’s saying a lot!! The recipe was easy to follow. I served it over mashed potatoes and broccoli as a vegetable. This recipe is worth every bit of 5 stars!!

  • I made this with chicken thighs instead of chicken breasts and we loved it. I also didn’t have any shallots so I used some green onion instead (not sure if that was a good substitution to be honest) but overall this was delicious. My sauce also turned out lighter than the picture but thickened up fine, so I’m not sure if that is just from the order of when I put my ingredients in? But tasted amazing and definitely will be making this again. Paired this with some quinoa/brown rice mix.

  • This recipe is absolutely delicious.
    For the people whose sauce curdled – this will work better if you add the Marsala wine first, and burn off the alcohol, before adding the chicken stock, and then the cream. Mixing the cream in before the alcohol burns off may result in a curdled (though still tasty) sauce. I actually made this with whole milk, and then stirred in a mix of one tablespoon of butter mixed with a tablespoon of flour at the end, before adding the chicken. Handy if you don’t have cream, and somewhat lower calorie as well.
    Thanks for the recipe!

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