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 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
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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.
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I’m a big fan of delicious, simple, and restaurant style meals. This recipe succeeds on all aspects.
What would you substitute for cream and butter if I can’t use dairy?
Hi Andie, you could try margarine for the butter. And for the cream, some readers have commented that they’ve used Rich’s non-dairy coffee creamer (frozen), Silk’s heavy whipping cream alternative, and Trader Joe’s unflavored non-dairy creamer. (Please keep in mind that I haven’t tried any of these.) I’d love to hear how it turns out with these substitutes!
Wish this recipe had an ingredients list
Hi Ben, It sounds like you are just looking at the portion of the page that has the pictures with some instructions above. If you scroll down a bit to under the pictures, you’ll find the full recipe. Alternatively, at the very top of the page, to the right of the recipe name, you’ll see an orange/red button that says Jump to Recipe – if you click on that, it will take you directly to the recipe. Hope that clarifies!
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)
I’ve been making Chicken Marsala for over 53 years and this recipe, by far, is the most amazing one. My family says it’s better than restaurant quality! Thank you for making me shine!
Yep this is the winner Marsala of all Marsala recipes turned out amazing thank you. Now this dish will go well with my weight loss journey.
Is this dish kids friendly since it has wine(alcohol) in it? I really want to try it but my youngest one is three years old and I don’t know if he can eat it.
Thanks!
Hi Liz, yes, the alcohol essentially burns off so it’s perfectly safe for a toddler to eat it.
This is absolutely my favorite Chicken (or Veal) Marsala. Your recipes, along with Garten’s, are my most trusted. Thank you!
I made this recipe as is, after researching MANY Chicken Marsala recipes. It was absolutely DELICIOUS! I invited my best friend and her SO for dinner that night. It was my first time making it, and their first time trying it. I’m soooo glad I chose this recipe. Thank you for sharing!! It was so amazing, I’ll making this again, again and again. It was super easy and I can’t stop thinking about it! I made wild rice and fried asparagus to complete the meal. I do believe I will repeat this meal this weekend!!!
This recipe was delicious! The only way I cheated was by adding mushroom powder instead of mushrooms (with a touch of cornstarch to the liquids)! Homerun with the entire family! Thank you! Jean
I made this outstanding recipe using skinless boneless chicken thighs because that’s what my dinner guests like! I just browned them a little longer than 6-8 minutes, more like 10 minutes, and simmered them in the sauce over very low heat for about 15 minutes. And that is a great tip about using a stainless steel skillet–they browned beautifully. Thanks for another great recipe.