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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Sooo incredibly yummy this recipe is, thank you! Also great, if you want extra sauce but want to keep the fat content lower, to double the chicken stock and marsala wine while keeping the amount of cream the same as the recipe calls for. Fun to have another amazing dinner in the rotation. I also added some oyster mushrooms to the mix, yum!
Note: Amazing to serve over linguine. May just be the Italian in me, but YUM 🙂
Turned out great. Directions were easy to follow. Will make this again.
My husband, sister and my mom enjoyed this meal that I made for them! The recipe was simple to follow and quick!
Hi Jenn – I made this tonight and it was delicious! I could not use heavy cream or half/half but regular whole milk was just fine. I made sure the wine reduced a bit to avoid curdling. We served it with brown rice and steamed vegetables.
A tip on mushrooms – store them in a paper bag in fridge until ready to use. I had purchased a large box at Costco here and refused to let them go bad.
I messed up somewhere but it still tasted great. My sauce curdled at some point before I put the chicken back in. what did I do wrong??
Hi Maryann, Sorry you had a problem with the sauce curdling — is there a chance that your cream was spoiled?
That’s it! I’m buying ur book… this is beyond delicious and so is everything I’ve ever made off this site. Thanks Jen!
🙂 Thanks for your support with the cookbook!
Delicious!
I’m about as far from a chef as one can be. 5 or 6 staples I’ve cooked, basically, without recipes, I’ve put together by taste from what my mom fed us as children.
I’ve always been a “gravy man–” love gravy, the more concentrated the better.
After seeing all the reviews, with people asking how to make extra sauce, and wanting more myself, I had some mushrooms left over… and proceeded to give it a try.
It actually turned out very well… the key – – whenever I make brisket, or roast chicken, I cook with extra broth, then the extra gravy I freeze to use as a base for future cooking.
So, basically, I followed the recipe above with a couple of changes, after the cooked chicken step.
I put a tablespoon of butter, tablespoon of olive oil, in a saucepan. Once melted, I added the leftover mushrooms (about 2 oz), and about 2 oz of beef gravy (the real stuff). Then cooked the mushrooms, with one added diced clove of garlic. After 4 mins, I added 1/3 cup of Marsala, 1/3 of a cup of chicken bone broth & 1/3 cup of heavy cream. Then just let it reduce as in the recipe. I put in a small piece of the cooked chicken, for 2 minutes, once it thickened. And voila… some extra sauce for some pasta.
Thanks for the recipe… I hope my little addition is helpful for other wayward chefs!
Absolutely DIVINE. My husband and I both were floored by the rich flavor accomplished with relative ease! It is now our favorite at home dinner by far, what a treat! Thank you!
Best Marsala ever! My boyfriend have made this a few times and we love it. It’s actually very easy and simple !
Made this for the very first time and it turned out so delicious. I was worried since I have never made it before and thrilled when my husband ate it all up. I did match it with the French green beans and Parmesan smashed potatoes as noted and it all went so well together. Thank you Chef for another great meal.