Chicken Marsala
Chicken Marsala is an easy Italian-American chicken dinner made with chicken breasts, mushrooms, and rich Marsala wine sauce. The whole dish will take about 30 minutes to make and the flavor is amazing.
Easy chicken dinners are perfect for weekdays so stock up on chicken and make Lemon Pepper Chicken Fettuccine and Instant Pot Chicken Parmesan as well.
Table of Contents
Why We Love This Recipe
Did you know that you can make a delicious Chicken Marsala right at home, even on a Monday, without having to go out to the restaurant? It’s truly an easy dish that’s packed with so much flavor, you will be making it over and over.
There are only a few simple ingredients that go into this amazing dinner like: chicken, mushrooms, butter, Marsala wine, chicken broth, and green onion. Within 30 minutes, your dinner will be served.
For the best flavors, use true Marsala wine. Marsala wine is a sweet sipping wine that’s usually made with addition of Brandy. It’s not as sweet as Sherry or Port and that’s why it’s perfect for cooking. This wine adds great deep flavor to the sauce, the chicken, and mushroom. This flavor can’t be replicated exactly with other wines or non-alcoholic cooking wine.
Ingredient Notes
Chicken– chicken breast is the most popular choice for this recipe. It’s lean and very easy to work with. Try to choose thicker/larger chicken breasts so that you can cut then into thinner cutlets. If you cut smaller breasts into cutlers, there is a greater chance of over-cooking.
Marsala wine – Marsala wine is a sweet sipping wine that’s usually made with addition of Brandy. It’s not as sweet as Sherry or Port and that’s why it’s perfect for cooking. This wine adds great deep flavor to the sauce, the chicken, and mushroom. If you have to avoid alcohol completely, use non-alcoholic, cooking Marsala wine but note that the flavor will not be the same.
Butter – it’s best to use unsalted butter to have full control of the saltiness and sodium amount of your dish.
Chicken broth – you can use either chicken stock or chicken broth. Chicken stock does tent to have a richer and deeper flavor, so use that when possible.
Mushrooms – cremini, aka baby bella, mushrooms are always simple and delicious choice. If you feel adventurous, you can always use a mix of your favorite mushrooms.
PRO TIP: If you’re worried about alcohol, note that most of the alcohol evaporates during the cooking process but not all of it. So if you’re trying to avoid alcohol completely for various reasons, then you will want to use non-alcoholic Marsala cooking wine.
See the recipe card below for the full list of ingredients and instructions.
How To Make Chicken Marsala
Using a sharp knife, slice each chicken breast in half, width-wise. You will end up with 4 chicken breast cutlets that are just thinner pieces of chicken breast.
Season each chicken cutlet with salt and pepper on both sides. Spread flour in a wide, shallow bowl and dip chicken into the flour on all sides. Gently shake off excess flour (1).
Preheat a large cooking pan over medium to medium-high heat and add butter. Once butter is melted, add battered chicken to the pan (2) and sear for a few minutes on each side, until chicken is almost done (3). Take chicken out of the pan and set it aside. Lower the heat to medium as well.
Melt butter in the same pan and add mushrooms (4). Sauté mushrooms until softened (5) and pour in Marsala wine (6). Let wine simmer for a few minutes and add chicken broth, salt, and pepper. Stir and let it simmer for a couple more minutes (7).
In a small cup, mix cornstarch with a splash of cold chicken broth and pour it into the sauce, while stirring. Stir until the mixture thickens and add chicken back into the pan (8). Sprinkle diced green onion over the top and cook for just a few minutes, until chicken is fully cooked.
Recipe FAQs
Chicken Marsala is very easy to make gluten free and no one will even notice the difference. You should substitute flour for gluten free all purpose flour when battering the chicken. The sauce is thickened with cornstarch so it is already gluten free.
As always, double check the packaging on all other ingredients to make sure.
Storing: make sure to store your leftover in an air-tight food storage container, in the refrigerator. Properly stored, it should be good for 3-4 days.
Reheating: this chicken is definitely not as good when reheated in the microwave so I would avoid that. For better results, reheat chicken marsala in a cooking pan, oven medium-low heat and covered with a lid. Reheat just until chicken is heated through so it doesn’t dry out.
Dry white wine is your go-to for this dish. Avoid sweet white wines! This chicken recipe already had some sweetness to it so you don’t want to increase it with a sweet wine. Dry and crisp white wine will provide a nice flavor balance.
Chardonnay
Pinot Gris
Chablis
Pinot Grigio
Sauvignon Blanc
Serving Suggestions
Roasted Potatoes or Mashed Potatoes – roasted potatoes is the most perfect side dish to serve with chicken Marsala and mashed potatoes is a close second. You can prepare roasted potatoes in the oven at the same time as cooking the chicken but start potatoes first.
Vegetables – Green vegetables like asparagus, green beans, or broccoli will be a delicious lighter side dish.
Roasted Vegetables – mix of zucchini, squash, bell pepper, and onions tossed with olive oil and seasoned with Italian seasoning mix will be a delicious addition as well. Use this recipe for Italian vegetables but spread vegetables in a baking sheet and roast in the oven at 425° for 15-20 minutes.
Pasta – many people enjoy Chicken Marsala with pasta as well. Serve it over spaghetti of fettuccine tossed in the Marsala sauce.
Tools For This Recipe
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Digital Instant Read Thermometer
Cutting Board – use plastic cutting board when working with raw meats! If working with a lot of meat, this large cutting board is great. Wooden Cutting Board
Some More Recipes To Try
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Chicken Marsala Recipe
Ingredients
Chicken:
- 2 large chicken breasts
- 1/2 cup all purpose flour
- salt
- black pepper
- 2 tbsp unsalted butter
Sauce:
- 3 tbsp unsalted butter
- 8 oz baby bella mushrooms
- 1/2 cup Marsala wine
- 2/3 cup chicken broth
- 1/2 tsp marjoram
- salt
- black pepper
- 1/2 tbsp cornstarch
- 2 tsp chicken broth
- 1/4 cup diced green onion
Instructions
- Using a sharp knife, slice each chicken breast in half, width-wise.
- Season each chicken cutlet with salt and pepper on both sides. Spread flour in a wide, shallow bowl and dip chicken into the flour on all sides. Gently shake off excess flour.
- Preheat a large cooking pan over medium to medium-high heat and add butter. Once butter is melted, add battered chicken to the pan and sear for a few minutes on each side, until chicken is almost done.
- Take chicken out of the pan and set it aside. Lower the heat to medium.
- Melt butter in the same pan and add mushrooms. Saute mushrooms until softened and pour in Marsala wine.
- Let wine simmer for a few minutes and add chicken broth, marjoram, salt, and pepper. Stir and let it simmer for a couple more minutes.
- In a small cup, mix cornstarch with a splash of cold chicken broth and pour it into the sauce, while stirring. Stir until the mixture thickens and add chicken back into the pan.
- Sprinkle diced green onion over the top and cook for just a few minutes, until chicken is fully cooked.
Video
Notes
- Need more sauce? Feel free to double the sauce recipe to make more sauce. It’s great to double it if you’re planning of serving this dish with pasta.
- Gluten free: Chicken Marsala is very easy to make gluten free and no one will even notice the difference. You should substitute flour for gluten free all purpose flour when battering the chicken. The sauce is thickened with cornstarch so it is already gluten free.
- Marsala wine tip: Marsala wine is a sweet sipping wine that’s usually made with addition of Brandy. It’s not as sweet as Sherry or Port and that’s why it’s perfect for cooking. This wine adds great deep flavor to the sauce, the chicken, and mushroom. If you have to avoid alcohol completely, use non-alcoholic, cooking Marsala wine but note that the flavor will not be the same.
- Need non-alcoholic version? If you’re worried about alcohol, note that most of the alcohol evaporates during the cooking process but not all of it. So if you’re trying to avoid alcohol completely for various reasons, then you will want to use non-alcoholic Marsala cooking wine.
Nutrition
Originally published on Will Cook For Smiles on March 24, 2011.
Categories:
30 Minute Meals, Chicken Dinner Recipes, Dinner Recipes, Gluten Free Recipes, Italian Dinner Recipes,All images and text ©Lyubov Brooke for ©Will Cook For Smiles. Please do not use my images without prior permission. If using my posts in collections and features, please link back to this post for the recipe.
Disclaimer: Nutrition information shown is not guaranteed to be 100% accurate as most ingredients and brands have variations.
This is the best chicken marsala recipe my family really loves it!
It’s always wonderful when I hear one of my recipe becomes a family favorite! Thanks for stopping by to let me know!
Chicken Marsala is my favorite and I loved this recipe!
I’m sure you made your husband feel VERY special with this dinner. It looks really good. I love Chicken Marsala!I’m hosting my first link party Cast Party Wednesday and would love it if you came by and shared this tasty recipe with us.http://www.ladybehindthecurtain.comThanks,I hope to see you there!