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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Comments
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This is a fantastic recipe. It comes together quickly, smells and tastes delicious ! I had extra chicken tenders(2 1/3 pound) so I doubled the broth and marsala wine. I served it over polenta and it was quickly gone from the table. Thank you Jenn for a great recipe.
Absolutely delicious. Very easy, straightforward instructions. Highly recommend
This tasted so yummy and the instructions were spot on. Definitely adding this to my dinner rotation!
This is an awesome recipe!! Easy AND delicious!! Very similar to my favorite Italian restaurant! Followed the recipe to the T~ perfect!
Jenn, you’re famous in our house with all these fantastic recipes! Another winner here. My little kids ate this up and my husband went back for 3rds. I just wish I made more. Delicious! Thank you!
My family has never eaten so well with all the fabulous recipes I’ve found on OnceUponAChef.com. We had Jenn’s chicken marsala last week and it was delicious. With the exception of the cream, I doubled the ingredients for the sauce to make sure there was ample to go over the pasta I served with it. I added some extra flour (about 1/4 cup) when browning the chicken and the mushrooms to make sure the sauce would thicken, and it turned out perfectly. My family loved it and the next night when I grilled steaks, there was enough extra sauce to go over the steaks. Fabulous! I’ll definitely make this again.
I made this recipe to a T and used chicken tenderloins and real Marsala wine. It was so delicious, definitely restaurant quality. My boyfriend said it was the best chicken Marsala he’s ever had. I served with steamed green beans and mashed potatoes. I can’t wait to make this again!
OMG it was so good and so easy! Just make it, you wont be sorry!
I tried this recipe for my first time making chicken marsala. Fantastic and easy. Better than the restaurants where I have had this dish.
we (I) made this recipe for the first time because we were bored with our normal stuff. this was a winner and the recipe printed and added to our normal rotation. I did add a large dollop of sour cream because the sauce was not thickening quickly enough, I know I read the caution about the time it takes to thicken. This was a home run, even though following my mentors advice that you should continue to pour the wine until they are starving and they will LOVE IT! Thank you so much for this post we will repeat this often.
I was looking for new Chicken Marsala recipe and I am so glad I tried yours. I’ve made a lot of different Chicken Marsala because all of my family love it. So I made it for dinner tonight. I followed the recipe to a T but I couldn’t get the sauce thickened. I had to add flour to thicken it. I served it over penne. My picky food critic son said it was the best Chicken Marsala I’ve ever made. That’s a big complement coming from him. I guess my search for perfect Chicken Marsala is over. I Can’t wait to try your other recipes. Thank you for sharing your wonderful recipe.
Same I put flour as well but awesome recipe thank you!
this recipe is honestly unreal. i’ve never felt the need to comment on an online recipe before, because they’re usually so-so but this is one of the best things i’ve ever cooked, it is an instant add to my rotation. so so so tasty!
I found myself a nice man and he said he loved chicken marsala. I didn’t even know what that was or what it was supposed to taste like. But momma didn’t raise a dummy – I know the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach. So fast-forward to a month in and I decide I’m going to lock it down. Thank God for this recipe. I think this man might marry me just for the Chicken Marsala. He said it was the best he’s ever had. He asks me to make it… repeatedly. It was easy to follow the instructions and came out perfect! It might have taken 20 minutes of simmering to get the marsala boiled down but it was great! Thank you so much for this! I HIGHLY RECOMMEND and I owe ya one!
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