Chicken Marsala
This post may contain affiliate links. Read my full disclosure policy.
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
You May Also Like
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
Powered by 
- 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.
See more recipes:
Comments
Add a Comment
This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.
Hey Jenn, I’ve made a few of your dishes and every single one is amazing! Absolutely loved this chicken marsala, just served it with a parm mashed (not your recipe but thanks for the idea), and the French string beans. Will definitely make this again! I made this as written but I didn’t have a mallet so I just cut the chicken in half and then finished the cook in the sauce. The best advice I could give to someone is to precut and measure everything beforehand so it’s easy to put together. Thanks for a great recipe!
Delicious. Easy to make.
I have made this recipe twice in the past two weeks. First time, I made it with the Marsala wine I had on time – it was good. Second time, I bought DRY Marsala wine and that made all the difference. My suggestion is to skip the Gallo or whatever American Marsala you will find and search for the Italian dry Marsala. It is a deeper color and the resulting sauce is much more delicious.
Shout out to the reviewer who said to up the amount of sauce – I used 1 cup each: wine, chicken broth and cream and extra mushrooms! And I did not pound the chicken breasts – I took frozen breasts, thawed for about 30 minutes and then using a very sharp boning knife (a 6 inch utility knife would also work) and cut them fairly equally in half. Took a minute or two to cook.
Finally, I made the dish and hubby was still outside working so I covered the stainless steel fry pan with the thickened sauce and chicken and put it in a 275 degree oven to hold until dinner was ready. Still delicious. Based upon the holding in a warm oven, I think this could be a way to make ahead and serve for company. 🙂
I agree about the Dry Marsala wine. It makes all the difference! I got Cribari and it is wonderful. I’ve tried the Holland House Marasala Cooking “Wine” in the past and it didn’t taste the best but buying Marsala from the wine aisle truly makes all the difference.
Great to hear because I’ve been trying to figure out how to make a bit ahead of time. Having dinner guests that I don’t know very well and don’t want to be standing there cooking while entertaining. I have a warming drawer. How long did you keep it warmed?
This is seriously delicious! I’m making it again tomorrow night just as written. Thanks Jenn!
Easy to follow and absolutely delicious. Whenever I’m in need of a recipe I look for one here first because each and every single time I have used one of your recipes, it’s been an absolute dream.
I wish I could post pictures of every single dish you have helped me make. Thank you so much for making me a better cook. I think my family loves me a little more 😉
This was AWESOME and easy! I served it with egg noodles and my whole family loved it. I can’t tell you what a relief it is to know that any recipe I try will turn out perfectly. Thank you Jenn!
Jen we really enjoyed this meal. My question is there a substitute seasoning for Thyme? Some thought it a little to strong.
Sure, Scott – you could try sage or just leave the herbs out entirely.
Yum!! This recipe was fabulous just like all the others on this site! Probably my favorite! (Next to the Enchiladas!)
I served this over white cheddar cheese grits with a roasted aspearagus as a side! So yummy!!
I would double the sauce and mushrooms next time!
I have to say that I can COOK!!! Only because of you and your recipe for Chicken Marsala! I just finished two helpings myself!! My teenage daughter said, Mom this belongs in a restaurant!! I have never heard that before. Thank you so much for this flavorful and easy recipe. I will definitely make it again.
Jenn – Another winner! I made chicken Marsala for our Valentine’s Day dinner. It was a huge hit and I will be making it again I’m sure. It took a little longer to prepare than I had thought it would but it was so worth it. Now that I’ve done it once, next time will be a breeze. And next time I am going to double the amount of mushrooms – totally yum!!