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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it was great!! I didn’t have any Marsala wine so I used Drambuie liqueur and my family loved it.
Made this for Valentines Day, and it was so tasty! The sauce is outstanding. I may have found the only website I need for great recipes. Thanks for sharing.
Very tender and flavorful. Recipe had numerous steps requiring multiple equipment; however,it was not a complicated process. Both my husband and I enjoyed it as a special entree for Valentine’s Day.
Honestly, the BEST Chicken Marsala I’ve eaten anywhere. So glad we tried it. Thank you. Cant wait to try your other recipes.
If I’m cooking this for 12 people, can I scale this recipe accordingly? I know it doesn’t quite workout on some recipes.
Sure, I think you can get away with it here. Hope everyone enjoys!
Awesome! Thanks Jenn! I’m making this tomorrow night…I’ll report back!
I really like this recipe. Can I suggest rather than using a plastic bag that would just get thrown away, you use a reusable container? Every little bit of plastic waste we can avoid helps! And it save money too!
This was delicious. I doubled the sauce portion of the recipe to have enough to pour on the potatoes I served with it and to have leftovers. My cooking time for the chicken and mushrooms was much quicker than the recipe estimated. I have an induction stovetop, and sometimes it’s hard to get the temperature dialed in as suggested in a recipe. Next time, I’ll cook on a bit of a lower setting.
The only problem I had was that the cream curdled a bit. It didn’t affect the taste, and, fortunately, it didn’t change the texture in an unpleasant way, but it didn’t look great. It was okay for us, but I wouldn’t serve it to someone else. This is definitely a recipe I’ll make again. How could I prevent that from happening next time? Would it help to add the cream later in the process?
Glad you liked this but sorry you had a problem with the sauce curdling. Did you use heavy cream?
I had some curdling as well. I used half and half. Having it at room temperature should help. After simmering and vigorous stirring it was not an issue.
Make sure the sauce doesn’t boil after you add the cream…keep it on a gentle simmer
I remove the pan from the heat when adding cream to my dishes, stir the cream through, then add the pan back to the heat. That will usually stop it curdling. I hope that works for you and helps you in the future.
Hi Jenn, I love your recipes! I don’t have a meat tenderizer on hand. Can I skip this step? Thanks!
Hi Ellen, Glad you like the recipes! You can use chicken tenderloins in place of the pounded chicken breasts. Also, it’s not necessary to have a meat tenderizer if you want to use chicken breasts. Here are some other options you can use. Hope that helps!
Thank you! I ended up just slicing them I half like you suggested and it worked out fine. Absolutely delicious!!!! Sooo yummy!!
One word for this recipe….yummy! Great Valentines Day dish. Thanks for sharing your talents! Gives the impression I can cook. LoL. Hubby loved the sauce!
I only have 2% milk in the house…can that be used in place of heavy cream? If not, are there any other ways to thicken the sauce a little? Flour perhaps? If so, how would ratios change with wine and broth? Thanks!!
Hi Brynn, You really need the heavy cream for this — I’m sorry!
My latest favorite!! Played with the liquid proportions to increase the amount. A little tricky but delicious outcome. Boyfriend says “restaurant quality”! 😊
Will I be able to achieve that nice golden color if I use a cast iron pan?
Sure – hope you enjoy!
Excellent.