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
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
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- 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.
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Bomb. No surprise though, even though I made a zillion changes- seriously wanted to lick the bowl. Used twice the amount of broth because I didn’t use wine. Used mostly milk with a bit of Greek yogurt instead of cream. Used dried thyme (1/3 the amount).
This dish was so delicious! My husband loves Chicken Marsala so I thought I’d check your recipes and found it. So easy to do, your directions and how to photos are so well laid out, unpretentious and great! I served this with French green beans & buttered fettuccine noodles. This one is now in our “excellent recipes to always use” folder.
I also made your Beef Stew with Carrots & Potatoes and WOW-SERS! My spouse liked it so much, he shared his delight with our small group meeting yesterday. He went on about it, “she hit it out of the park”, etc. I was embarrassed but pumped. My friends asked for your website. The changes: we only had ¼ c of Marsala wine so used that with ¾ c dry white wine. I didn’t have beef broth so used chicken. Jennifer, I am finding out I just simply can’t go wrong with your recipes, I’m sold! Thanks!
😊
This recipe is easy to prepare and delicious! It’s the first time I cooked with Marsala wine, and the dry wine wor,ed well. Some other recipes recommended sweet and it was confusing. Thanks, Jenn, for your guidance And the fantastic wonderful recipe!
Fabulous! My family immediately responded to this dish with a resounding ‘YUMMM’ around the table ( and we all know how great that feels 😉
Another great chicken dish to add to my go-to list!
Do I use unsalted chicken broth or regular chicken broth?
Regular 🙂
The recipe came together very well; looked great. However, I found it a little too rich for my taste. Probably the cream in the sauce. Has anyone tried it with half and half instead? I would love to make this again with less effect on my digestive system. Thanks for any input
Hi Selma, You could definitely use half and half, although the sauce won’t thicken as much. Hope that helps!
I tried this with half and half last week and it did not work. It curdled which left bland flavor and off texture. May try it without cream next time. Used marsala wine from Trader Joe’s which also seemed lacking in flavor.
Good to know that the half and half gave you lackluster results – thanks for weighing in – I’m sure other readers will appreciate it (and sorry to hear this was not a total success for you)!
This dish was so good! My husband requested that I make Chicken Marsala and I’m so glad that I checked this website for a recipe. I’m making your Beef Stew with Carrots & Potatoes today!
I just can’t go wrong with your recipes! Thank you!!
I just made this and served it with gnocchi and green beans. I think I was a little too impatient with the sauce and it didn’t quite thicken as much as I hoped BUT I’m not upset because it tasted fabulous. I took Jenn’s advice and cut my chicken breasts horizontally and they cooked evenly and quickly. Also only had dried instead of fresh thyme, no matter it was still gorgeous.
Thank you for all your recipes Jenn, they’re always wonderful!!
I’m on a marsala high…This dish was SO GOOD! I literally just finished eating and I had to tell someone how good it was. I’ve made a lot of Jenn’s dishes and this one made me feel like a solid chef. Chicken was perfect, sauce was balanced…I have no complaints. I added 2T of arrowroot at the end with 1/2 T (ish) of flour to thicken a little more. I didn’t want to sacrifice anymore liquid. Sides were long-grain white rice and broccolini. *typical italian finger to lip kiss* Oh, I happen to use buttermilk because that’s what I bought and forgot I needed the heavy cream. That may have been factor of needing to add thickener. I’ll make with HC next time, but just know, if you run into the same predicament, buttermilk ain’t too bad either. Can’t wait for the cookbook to get here!!
SO SO SO good! I only had 1% milk, so I thickened the sauce with some Wondra flour and it turned out perfectly (and I only cooked the sauce for about 7 minutes). I served with roasted broccoli and cauliflower. Both my husband and my toddler thought it was delicious and asked for it again soon.
This is amazing! I’ve made it twice already and it will certainly go into my regular repertoire. I served it once over egg noodles and once over riced cauliflower–you definitely want something to soak up the delicious sauce!