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.
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.)
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 Parmesan
- Marry Me Chicken
- Chicken Piccata
- Linguini with Clams
- Chicken Fricassee
- 9 Best Pots & Pans For Your Kitchen
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.
Hi Jenn, I ’m thinking of making this for Christmas Eve dinner. Is there anyway to make it ahead of time, and then just warm up when ready to eat? Thanks for all the great recipes!!
Hi Angie, This dish is definitely best served right after it’s prepared. That said, if you’d like to give it a try, one reader commented that she made this ahead, stored the sauce & chicken separately, and reheated it briefly before serving. Please LMK how it goes if you make it!
Hello, I would like to try this recipe but I need to double it. I’m serving 6 people. I also would like extra sauce for pasta. Any recommendations? I was thinking double the chicken and triple the sauce.
Hi Suzanne, if you want to do the math, you could probably get away with making one and a half times the recipe. If you prefer to double it though, that’s fine. Keep in mind if you triple the sauce that the color of the sauce will be lighter (you’ll have fewer pan drippings to contribute to the darker color of the sauce). Hope everyone enjoys!
One of our house favs! Just for anyone who might benefit from this: I have made this for years and I always use sweet Marsala. It is scrumptious. If you want a little kick, add a little cayenne to the flour dredge, which I do. Lastly, serve over buttered wide egg noodles. Love you Jenn xo
💗
We loved your recipe, the flavor was exciting! Thank you for a beautiful dish. 🙂
CAN I MAKE THIS A WEEK EARLY AND FREEZE IT?
I wouldn’t recommend it — sorry!
I absolutely love this recipe! Any tips on how to have extra sauce to combine with pasta?
Glad you like it! You can double the sauce, but keep in mind that the color will be different (you’ll have fewer pan drippings to contribute to the darker color of the sauce). Hope that helps!
I made this for my family for Christmas Day. Wanted your recipe to shine. So I kept the sides simple; roasted potatoes and steamed green beans. The recipe was so good and did not disappoint. This will be my go-to Marsala recipe going forward.
the sauce is not thick enough and the chicken is too bland, followed the recipe to a T
Goodness! Of course you are entitled to your opinion! A bit of tact might be nice, though.
I made this last night for dinner. Easy recipe to follow and turned out excellently! I used chicken tenderloins instead of breasts and served over pasta. Will definitely make again! My husband said it was better than any chicken marsala he’s had in a restaurant!
Made exactly as written and it was perfect!
This was excellent. I have tried many Chicken Marsala recipes and this is definitely my favorite.
I followed the recipe and it was delicious. I appreciated the pictures and the instructions.
Very nice recipe. I’d call it, “the bomb and the diggity!!” Thanks for sharing. Thank you so much. Eddie
This was delicious! I made the chicken Marsala for my family and made a vegetarian style dish with the same sauce for myself. It all turned out so yummy!
Do you recommend a dry or sweet Marsala? Thank you!
Dry – hope you enjoy! 🙂
This was very delicious. I needed a little more liquid than was called for, but other than that, it was a hit. My kids hate mushrooms (they’re weird) and they were a little concerned, but practically argued about who got leftovers the next day.
Loved this recipe! Easy to do! I made it to take to friends for supper. I had to use dry sherry instead of Marsala wine but it was fine. I did the prep in the am, put everything in the fridge. Came home and cooked it in the afternoon! Chicken was so tender and the sauce was sssooooo good!
Oh em gee! I don’t normally follow recipes, but for some reason, decided to follow this one to a Tee. It’s out of this world! We are all on Keto, but I decided to still use the flour, since in the end I didn’t when use a scant TBS for all the chicken. What a great keto friendly dish, with the dry marsala.
Served with Haricot Vert with a browned garlic butter.
Thank you!!
My husband and I loved this dish it had great flavor and easy to make. Sharing this with family and friends!😇 I served with fresh green beans.
OMG! I made this for my husband’s birthday yesterday and we couldn’t even stop eating long enough to talk except to say “Oh, my God!” and “This is SO good!” between bites. I had totally screwed up the last three or four “special” meals I made for him – to the point at which he discouraged me from “going to any trouble” for. his birthday dinner and offered to pick up take out. Seriously, this is really good. I made a very good salad also and I didn’t touch mine and he only took a few bites from his. I made it as stated and didn’t make any changes and did opt for a decent marsala, as one reviewer suggested. This is my new “go to” special occasion dinner unless someone requests otherwise. Thank you for this one – it was the BOMB!!
No offense it I’ve made this dish a hundred times I tried this recipie and it’s not good.. tastes like watery gravy even if you add other items . Look up this recipe on epicurious there’s one on there that’s 20x better and has stronger flavors again I’m sorry but this recipe isn’t good.
This was amazing. I lost my long used recipe and this sounded so close….but easier. This is my new go-to recipe. Even better, I have a local store that puts meat into a discount bin the day it expires. Seems no one ever buys the thinly sliced chicken tenderloins….already pounded and I get them for about $2.50. So a great and easy meal that never will cost me much. Thank you!
Thank you this is a really quick and easy recipe and it’s really good too.
Pulled your recipe up, got busy with prep, cooked it; got a touch of curdle with cream but it disappeared….best flavors. Easy simple to follow recipe. Definitely added it to my recipe book for nightly dinners
Amazing!!!! Not too hard to make, absolutely delicious
Absolutely delicious! We added a couple more cloves of garlic and a tiny more Marsala wine but otherwise followed the recipe. Chicken marsala is my favorite dish and this recipe was sooo satisfying!! Yum!!
I was able to make this wonderful meal for my wife this evening. The recipe was spot on. I added a dash of salt and a dash of pepper more to it just for my taste buds. Super simple recipe that knocked it out of this world in my opinion! Served with sticky rice and broccoli crowns to finish it off!
Chicken Marsala. This is the second time I cooked this dish – and it was even better today. Investing in a better Marsala wine is the difference. The recipe is PERFECT! The ingredients are readily available, the portions you provide are correct and and the directions are clear and easy to follow! I also made fresh pappardelle to go with the chicken and all worked out well. Thanks very much.
I am no Chef for sure but even I made it and it was absolutely a 5 STAR meal!!!! WE will save this one and definitely do it again and again!
The easiest and best Chicken Marsala recipe I have tried. Just excellent.
We just finished dinner and that was the best Chicken Marsala we’ve ever had. PS I didn’t have shallots so I used finely chopped onion otherwise I followed the recipe to the letter.
My family loved this recipe!!! My question is my sauce was not as dark as your picture and did not thicken too much. I added a little bit of cornstarch and water and it thickened nicely. Any ideas why my sauce did not darken? I did not add too much heavy cream. Thank you!
Hi Michelle, Glad you liked it! Regarding the sauce the end result is not supposed to be really thick – so you may not have done anything wrong. And did you by any chance double the recipe? (That would account for the sauce being lighter in color.)
Tried this last night and it was an absolute winner! So gratifying when a recipe comes out as described. Love the step-by-step photos and explicit directions–no guesswork, no unexpected surprises! Just added a touch more marsala to suite my taste and it was absolutely perfect. Happened upon this blog by accident and now I am a fan.
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.
I rarely write a review on-line but have to say that this is the best recipe for Chicken Marsala that I have ever come across in books or on-line by far! Other than substituting half and half for heavy cream I followed the recipe as written. I know that I have cooked up something good when my wife tells me that “this could be served in any fine dining restaurant”. Thanks for this Jenn. This is a WINNER!.
What can I substitute the cream and butter with? Looking for alternatives without the saturated fat.
Hi Lea, I’ve only made this with heavy cream so I can’t say from experience, but a few readers have commented that they’ve used full-fat coconut milk successfully. Also, some people have used Rich’s non-dairy coffee creamer (frozen) and Trader Joe’s unflavored non-dairy creamer. And you could try substituting the butter with margarine. (Please keep in mind that I haven’t tried it with any of these options.) Please LMK how it turns out if you try it with these substitutes!
Thanks for the info!
I made this dish this evening, over “home made pappardelle” (made by me!). The dish was excellent! I omitted the thyme – neither my Honey nor I like that flavor – and I used one 14 oz chicken breast that I sliced and “pounded” as required. The sauce was delicious and thickened as expected without adding any thickeners other than the flour used for the dusting. Excellent and “spot on” instructions that were easy to follow. Thank you for an excellent result.
Fabulous! Served over linguine and paired with the green beans with shallots (suggested side). I’ve made several other versions of this dish, but this one is the best. Company worthy!
Good recipe
Yummy!
Hey! Will Marsala cooking wine work here? Unsure if that’s the same thing as dry Marsala wine or not. Thanks for the help!
Hi Jess, I wouldn’t recommend anything labeled as cooking wine. You’ll have to get this Marsala at a liquor store as opposed to the grocery store. Hope that helps!
Excellent recipe. As good as I have had in any restaurant. I used chicken tenders straight out of the package without tenderizing.
Thank you, Jenn, for another outstanding recipe. I made this last night for my husband and it was so good I made it again tonight because we both wanted it again. I can’t remember EVER having the same dinner two nights in a row simply because it was so good. Only thing I changed was dried thyme instead of fresh but decreased the amount. Marsala and the cream make it to die for.
Hi Jenn, I wanted to share that I have made this before and it was delicious. I decided to make again last night for an outdoor dinner party for 10. I made the recipe that morning but as I removed the browned chicken from the skillet ( I made it in 2 separate large skillets) I put the chicken on a wire rack on a cookie sheet and let it cool. I finished the sauce and also let that cool . I covered both chicken and sauce and put in the refrigerator. About 15 minutes before serving, I brought the sauce to a simmer and put the chicken back in for about 5 minutes to rewarm in the sauce. It might not be as perfect as when I have made it and immediately served it, but it was still very good and all the guests raved about it and asked for the recipe 🙂