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 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, 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
Ingredients
- 1½ pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts, pounded ¼-in (6-mm) 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.
Notes
Pair with
Nutrition Information
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:
Add a Comment
This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.
This was amazingly good. Served with mashed potatoes and green beans with caramelized shallots. It took me longer than 40 minutes but SO worth it.
My husband and I make so many of Jenn’s recipes. Tonight we made the chicken Marsala. It was absolutely delicious, perfect as written
Hi Jenn,
Without a doubt, this is the best chicken Marcella ever made. That sauce is absolutely amazing. Next time I am going to double the batch of that. I’ve added this to the giant binder that I made of your recipes. I’ve easily made over 100 of your recipes and I’ve never been disappointed. Thanks again Jen, I can always count on you to make me look good. Can’t wait to serve it to company.
This was delicious. I didn’t have shallot, so I used finely diced red onion. My husband and I really enjoyed this dish.
Recipe looks awesome! Want to make it for a friend who just had surgery. Can I make it, and then have a simple way for them to reheat? So, kind of like, how do you reheat leftovers question.
I saw freezing isn’t a method.
Hi Linda, this is best if eaten right after it’s cooked, but a few readers have commented that they’ve made this ahead, stored the sauce & chicken separately, and reheated it briefly (on the stove) before serving. Hope your friend enjoys it!
I’ve made this recipe for the 1st time a couple of weeks ago and according to my partner this is the best dish I’ve ever made for us. Only problem is that now he wants this almost every week but it’s so time consuming I’m getting burned out of making it.
Anyone has ever tried making this recipe in the Instant Pot? And if yes, what in the instructions would be different? I looked for another recipe but they don’t cover the chicken with flour, only seasoning and use cornstarch to thicken the sauce, and I’m not sure I’m willing to risk changing the texture of the sauce to be able to cut down on the total time to make this recipe. Anyone more experienced in the kitchen has any advice for me in this regard? I’m not that experienced in the kitchen and so far have never “ruined dinner” before, so afraid of that potentially happening for the first time haha.
Every recipe on this site has been amazing. And this recipe is no exception. I highly recommend it using the recipe as is.
Hi Jen–All the recipes of yours that I’ve tried are simply scrumptious! This chicken marsala recipe was listed as a “freezer friendly” recipe. Is that true? I’m cooking for a large birthday party in about three weeks and would love to make this if indeed it freezes well. How best to freeze this dish if I can? Thank you so much for all you do!
Hi Leslie, I’m sorry for the confusion, but this dish isn’t freezer friendly. If you remember, can you tell me where you saw it categorized that way so I can correct it? Thanks in advance! 😊
Hi Jenn,
From the homepage, I clicked on Recipes/Freezer Friendly. At bottom right, when I scrolled down, I saw the Chicken Marsala recipe. In looking at that page again now, I see a little heading that says “Popular Recipes.” I didn’t see that heading when I first searched so thought that the Chicken Marsala might be Freezer Friendly. It was just confusing to me. Thank you for asking.
One other quick question, when you reply to a comment, are we supposed to get an email notification? Just wondering.
Looking forward to trying your new “Chocolate Bundt Cake” recipe when we celebrate my mother-in-law’s 91st birthday at the end of this month. :-))
Hi Leslie, It sounds like you were looking at recipes that I put on the sidebar – I apologize for any confusion! No, you won’t receive an email when I’ve replied to a comment, so just give it about 24 hours and then check back. Hope your MIL enjoys the chocolate Bundt when you make it!
I love this recipe! I have celiac disease, so I make it gluten free by substituting Bob’s Red Mill 1-to-1 Gluten Free flour blend for the AP flour, and it is absolutely delicious. Thank you!
I’ve followed this recipe about 3 times and it’s delicious!
Make sure to buy some real Marsala wine (like Paolo Lazzaroni & Figli). There is some imitation stuff at the grocery store that’s just awful.
This tastes WAY better than the chicken marsala I’ve had at a popular Italian restaurant! I can’t believe something that tastes so decadent is so easy to make. I doubled the sauce as I like to serve it over spaghetti pasta. Thanks Jenn! I look forward to trying out your other recipes.