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 have made many of your recipes but I think you need to add another star to rate this recipe. Flavors are superb and they will beg for more sauce so just go ahead and double it ahead of time. My sauce took a little longer than the recipe said but possibly my simmer was a lower temperature. However it thickened up beautifully so be patient if it does happen in the time slot stated. Thank you for the best cooking site on the internet! I always look forward to your posts.
💕
I double the sauce too. My daughter drowns her plate in the sauce!
Chicken Marsala was delicious! I doubled the recipe for my big family. Everyone enjoyed it, will make it often.
This is a wonderful marsala recipe!!! I have made it exactly as written and once, in a pinch, used a whole chicken broken down into quarters and roasted and then finished in the sauce. Both were amazing!! I also double the sauce because I usually serve this dish with potatoes or pasta and love to pour it on everything. Try this recipe!! You’ll never need to go out for chicken marsala again. Thank you for such well written recipes that are tried and true!
Looks great but my sauce is NOT thickening. Stinks. Everything was going well til the very end.
Hi Erin, The sauce doesn’t thicken up until the very end of the cook time; just keep simmering. Hope it worked out.
I think the thickening of the sauce depends on your stove. It did take me a bit longer for my sauce to thicken than the recipe says but being patient with it is well worth the wait! 😊😊😊
If you want it thick just add a little cornstarch mixed with a little water and it will thicken but truly at a high end restaurant masala chicken sauce is not what I call thick but thin sauce and this recipe is perfect just like the high end restaurants in NYC!
Amazing! Best chicken marsala recipe I’ve ever tried. So decadent and savory. Keep the delicious recipes coming Jenn, no pressure 🙂
Hi Jenn,
This looks amazing! If making ahead of time for guests, should I keep the sautéed chicken and mushroom sauce separate and pair together when reheating? Any suggestions?
Thanks for sharing this recipe!
Veronica
Hi Veronica, 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!
I cook for my husband’s fly fishing outings. They go for a weekend and I make the food ahead and reheat or have him reheat for the trips… from Breakfast, lunch items, snacks, Dinners and Deserts. He has a minimum of 8 people to 21 people.
I made this ahead for the trip of 21 in a remote resort with separate cabins. I followed your recipe except I increased the wine/broth/Heavy Cream and decreased the thyme to 1 tsp. , increased the shallots to 1 onion and Garlic to 4 cloves. Anyways. Made everything ahead and stored the sauce separate from the chicken. IT was absolutely delicious and impressive . I made 5 recipes for this crowd. OMG this was so good.
Hi Jen, would I be able to use almond milk or a non dairy milk instead of cream? Thanks!
Hi Jessica, I’m concerned that using almond or another non-dairy milk wouldn’t give the sauce the thickness you’d be looking for. A few readers have commented that they’ve used 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!
I just made it last night with plain oat milk and it was delicious!
Just finished eating your wonderful Chicken Marsala, Jenn.
This was my first time following one of your recipes, but it won’t be the last! Your instructions were so easy to follow and the results were amazing. This dinner was better than any restaurant version that I have tasted. Thanks so much for sharing. I have subscribed to your site. I am looking forward to trying out more of your creations. Bon appetit!
This recipe is a keeper!! I substituted boneless thighs and everyone raved about it. I will definitely be making it again.
I’ve made this several times and it has always been delicious. Thank you! It’s on the menu again for this evening, but unfortunately I’m just realising I forgot to buy the cream. How should I expect the sauce to behave if I use sour cream instead?
So glad you like this, Jess! I’ve never used sour cream here. While I think it’s possible, I would suggest waiting to add it until after you’ve reduced the remainder of the sauce. Please LMK how it turns out this way!
It did separate on first addition, which looked unappealing. Had I followed your advice and added it later, I’m sure I wouldn’t have had this problem. Mercifully, the sauce came together as it reduced and tasted as wonderful as ever. Thanks again!
So glad – thanks for the follow-up! 🙂
My family raved over the chicken Marsala- this is a keeper! I used Sauvignon Blanc because I didn’t have Marsala- it was still delicious.