Chicken Marsala Recipe

Chicken Marsala is an exceptional dish of tender chicken pieces coated in a luxuriously creamy Marsala sauce. An abundance of earthy mushrooms are found in this recipe for a more rich and deeply flavoured sauce. A beautiful dish for the holiday season, or to treat the family on a weeknight.

This chicken Marsala is my idea of ambrosial comfort food. Succulent chicken cutlets, silky mushrooms, and a transportive creamy marsala wine sauce. No one can argue those are the makings of a very fine family dinner, or a more festive one, if we weren’t in isolation. Though some argue this dish is as far removed from Italy as spaghetti and meatballs, I still like to imagine myself eating this in a Sicilian country kitchen with crusty baguettes roughly torn and passed around. A casual bottle of wine to wash it all down wouldn’t hurt one bit.

This is a one skillet dish that is simple to make and satisfingly good. Truly, it will delight everyone you cook it for. I’d serve it simply with a radicchio salad, or some blanched broccoli rabe to toss in the delicious sauce. Heavenly.

What is Chicken Marsala?

Chicken Marsala is an Italian-American dish of golden, pan-fried chicken cutlets and mushrooms in a rich Marsala wine sauce. Lightly flouring the cutlets lets them brown quickly without overcooking and helps thicken the sauce. Though believed to originate from Sicily, it’s more of a classic dish found in Italian-North American restaurants than in Italy.

Easily recreated at home, it takes just one skillet, a few common ingredients, and a bottle of Marsala wine to make this swoony dish. It is absolutely delicious and the most requested meal in my home. Once you make it, you will know why.

Ingredients Needed To Make Chicken Marsala

You will have to seek out a bottle of dry Marsala wine if you don’t already have one, aside from that, the ingredients for the chicken marsala recipe are very basic.

• Boneless skinless chicken breasts – It is best to buy large chicken breasts that you can split in half lengthwise, then pound slightly. This both tenderizes the meat, and makes them cook quickly.
• Salt and pepper – This is the main seasoning used in this dish.
• All-purpose flour – To lightly coat the chicken before browning. This
• Unsalted butter – Here it is used to brown the chicken and to finish the sauce.
• Olive oil – helps the butter from burning and adds more flavour.
• Cremini (baby bella) mushrooms – I absolutely love mushrooms so I use a lot more mushrooms than most recipes call for. Feel free to use less if you wish. White button mushrooms also work.
• Shallots – I prefer using shallots but you can use a yellow onion if you wish.
• Garlic – Fresh garlic is a great addition to this dish. Use as much or as little as you like.
• Dry marsala wine – Marsala is a brandy-fortified wine from Sicily and its unique flavour is what makes this dish so special. Marsala comes in both sweet and dry varieties. For this savoury dish, a dry Marsala is best. If you only have sweet Marsala, you can go ahead and use it, just perhaps add a splash of balsamic vinegar to counter the sweetness. There really is no substitute for Marsala wine, but f you are avoiding wine altogether, you can use all chicken broth and perhaps add a little splash of soy sauce or balsamic vinegar.
• Low-sodium chicken broth – Make sure to buy low-sodium or the sauce will be too salty.
• Fresh parsley – for garnish
• Heavy cream – this is what will thicken the sauce and of course give it that delicious creamy flavour.

Tips For Making The Perfect Marsala Sauce

To me, this chicken marsala is all about the mushrooms and the lip-smacking pan sauce. Particularly the sauce. Though incredibly easy to make, it can be tricky to get it just right.

A good pan sauce starts out with a fond – the flavourful browned bits stuck at the bottom of the pan. Searing meat produces these browned bits that form on the bottom of a pan. Once the fond is deglazed with a liquid such as wine, it gets whisked into the pan sauce and takes on a deeper, more complex flavour.

Here’s a few common problems you may encounter when making this marsala sauce and tips how to avoid them:

• The cream curdles – The acid in alcohol can sometimes cause the cream to curdle or split. To avoid this, add the marsala wine to the pan first and let the alcohol burn off a little. Then add the chicken broth, then the cream.
• The sauce is too salty – Be sure to use low-sodium, or no salt chicken broth. If you your broth is not low sodium, use only a pinch of salt to season the chicken.
• The sauce is too thick – Don’t over-flour the chicken breast which can cause the sauce to thicken too much. Too much flour will also diminish the flavours of the lovely sauce. Another way to avoid a thick sauce is to use less cream. Most recipes call for an equal amount of wine, broth, and cream. Nothing wrong with that but this ratio will make a very thick sauce once it cooks down. I find using less cream with a lot more wine and broth makes a luxurious-enough sauce, without being too thin or watery.
• Not enough sauce – To achieve a velvety thick and creamy sauce, you need to allow time for the liquids to cook down. Unfortunately, this can result in a diminished sauce if you don’t start out with enough liquid. This recipe calls for a good amount of wine and chicken broth which makes a very plentiful sauce.

Tips To Make The Best Chicken Marsala

• Season well. Chicken can be bland so be sure to season the chicken before dredging it in the seasoned flour.
• Be sure to pound the chicken. Beating the chicken will make it thinner so it cooks faster. More importantly, it will tenderize the meat which is essential for the best chicken Marsala.
• Be patient when cooking the mushrooms. Mushrooms have a lot of liquid which needs to cook off before they can brown and caramelize. This browning and caramelization will add depth and richness  to the final dish.
• Avoid using a Marsala “cooking wine”. It has added preservatives and will not make your sauce taste good.
• Brown the chicken well in medium-high heat. A flour-coated chicken needs to be pan-seared using high heat or the chicken will not brown nicely and the flour coating will will turn gummy.
• Don’t omit the cream. Like most of you, I try and avoid cream whenever possible. Here, it is essential to the dish and should not be omitted or replaced.

Can I Use Chicken Thighs?

For chicken marsala I would really recommend you stick with chicken breast. The less fatty chicken breasts really work best with the rich mushroomy sauce. That said, if you only have chicken thighs, go ahead and use them. Just be sure to still pound them out a little so they are the same thickness.

How To Make Chicken Marsala, Step-by-Step

The only fastidious part to making this outstanding, one-skillet chicken Marsala, is browning the chicken. Once that is out of the way, the rest comes together super fast.

• Prepare the seasoned flour. Add 1/2 cup all-purpose flour to a shallow bowl. Season with salt and freshly cracked black pepper. Line a large plate or baking sheet with parchment paper.
• Pound and season the chicken. Slice the chicken breast in half, lengthwise. Working with 1 piece at a time, place inside a plastic bag and pound with the flat side of a meat mallet or rolling pin to about an even 1/4-inch thickness. Repeat with the remaining chicken pieces and season with salt and freshly cracked black pepper.
• Season and Dredge the chicken. Dredge each chicken piece in the flour mixture, shaking off excess, and transfer to prepared plate.

• Brown the chicken. Heat the oil in a large 12-inch skillet over medium-high heat. A cast iron pan works great.  Once oil is shimmering, add the butter. Add the chicken and fry until golden-brown on both sides, 3 to 4 minutes per side. Remove the browned chicken to a large plate. If your skillet is not large enough, do this in two batches.

• Brown the mushrooms. Keep the heat on medium-high. Stir in another another tablespoon butter and add the mushrooms. Give them a quick stir, then do not disturb for 2-3 minutes. Stir again, and cook until all their juices release, and they have browned well, about 2 more minutes.

• Add the shallots and garlic. Lower heat to medium. Push the mushrooms to the side of the pan and add the shallots and garlic. Cook until the shallots slightly soften and the garlic is fragrant, about 1 minute.

• Deglaze and make sauce. Add the Marsala and use a wooden spoon to scrape the bottom of the pan to remove any browned pieces. Add the broth and simmer until slightly reduced, about 5 minutes. Lower heat to medium low. Pour in the cream and simmer until the sauce has darkened and slightly thickened, about 5 minutes longer. Taste and add a pinch of salt and pepper, if needed.

 

• Add the chicken. Return the chicken to the sauce. Cook until the chicken is cooked through and well-coated in sauce, 3 to 5 minutes.

• Serve. Garnish with chopped parsley and a squeeze of lemon, if desired.

What to Serve with Chicken Marsala?

A tangle of buttered linguini, mashed potatoes, or creamy polenta would all be decadently divine with this Marsala chicken. Likewise, simply exceptional with a creamy risotto.

For a lighter fare, try serving it with this delicious cauliflower mash and a radicchio salad.

Leftovers

Chicken Marsala is best eaten right away. The sauce tends to thicken quickly if made ahead, and the cream might split when reheated. That said, a less saucy chicken marsala is scrumptious when reheated gently days later, or even cold tucked into a crusty bun.

Store leftovers in a tight-lid container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. 

You May Also Like

• Chicken Piccata
• Baked Lemon Chicken Thighs
• Mushroom Bourguignon

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