Fall

Chicken Marsala

by:
January 21, 2015
4
36 Ratings
Chicken Marsala
Photo by Mark Weinberg
  • Prep time 25 minutes
  • Cook time 45 minutes
  • Serves 2
Author Notes

This Chicken Marsala recipe uses sweet Marsala wine and heavy cream for a velvety, luscious sauce that's a twist on the traditional. This is an elegant entrée that can be served with Parmesan risotto or a side of linguine. —ChefAbilities

What You'll Need
Watch This Recipe
Chicken Marsala
Ingredients
  • 8 ounces fresh button or cremini mushrooms, stems removed and sliced
  • 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
  • 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
  • Salt and pepper, to taste
  • 1/2 cup plus 1 splash sweet Marsala wine, divided
  • 3 garlic cloves, minced
  • 1/2 cup heavy cream
  • 1/2 cup chicken broth
  • 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
Directions
  1. In a large skillet, sauté mushrooms in 1 tablespoon of the olive oil until lightly caramelized. Remove mushrooms from heat and set aside in a small bowl.
  2. Carefully slice each chicken breast horizontally, making four thinner pieces of chicken total. Lightly salt and pepper the chicken breasts.
  3. Heat remaining olive oil in the same skillet and brown chicken breasts on each side until almost done (They will continue to cook in the sauce in Step 6.). Remove from skillet and keep warm.
  4. Deglaze the pan with the 1/2 cup Marsala wine. Add the garlic. Continue to cook until wine is reduced to be thick and syrupy (au sec).
  5. Add cream and reduce slightly. Add the broth and continue to reduce slightly until sauce coats the back of a spoon.
  6. Nestle chicken breasts into the skillet, add the mushrooms and spoon sauce over top. Simmer, uncovered, until chicken is cooked through, about 5 minutes.
  7. Transfer the chicken to a serving platter and keep warm.
  8. Swirl butter into the sauce remaining in the skillet, season to taste with salt and pepper, and allow to reduce slightly. Add a splash of Marsala wine to the sauce and pour over the chicken. Serve immediately with a side of linguine or risotto, if desired.
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  • wendy hyer
    wendy hyer
  • Pat Blute Salkind
    Pat Blute Salkind
  • ChefAbilities
    ChefAbilities
  • FrugalCat
    FrugalCat
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Popular on Food52

69 Reviews

beckandbulow21
beckandbulow21 May 15, 2021
looks wow https://www.beckandbulow.com/cedar-plank-salmon-fillets/
 
Hilary
Hilary February 23, 2021
Hello! I want to make this recipe, but all I have at home are drumsticks. Do you think this recipe would turn out okay with drumsticks instead of breasts? Thank you!
 
Jane
Jane February 23, 2021
Hi I can’t picture this with drumsticks, because the recipe calls for boneless, in addition to slicing the boneless breasts horizontally to make even thinner.
I suppose if you cooked them longer, maybe... but I’d save this recipe for a time when you have boneless breasts.
 
Hilary
Hilary February 23, 2021
Makes sense- thanks!
 
MBE
MBE February 24, 2021
It would absolutely be ok! I very often substitute thighs for breasts because they have so much more flavor and are more moist. The cook time will be a bit different as you will have to account for the thickness of the leg and the bone. You need to take the temperature of the chicken (not touching bone) to 165F. So you could brown and then roast in oven until they hit that temp while you continue with the rest of the recipe.
 
ChefAbilities
ChefAbilities February 24, 2021
Hello Hilary! Thank you for your interest in my chicken Marsala recipe! I would not suggest anything other than boneless chicken breasts cut thinly into scalopinni. This allows the chicken to cook completely and become tender. Bone-in legs or thighs can be substituted in many recipes, but I wouldn't suggest it in this one. Let me know if you make it and what you think.
 
Desire1216
Desire1216 December 21, 2020
So delicious. I have been waiting to make this dish for a while. My husband and I had date night and he tried it. Liked it. So I decided to make it tonight with wide egg noodles. Yesss!
 
ChefAbilities
ChefAbilities February 24, 2021
Thank you so much for your review! Egg noodles is definitely a twist on the traditional spaghetti or Parmesan Risotto! So happy you like this recipe!
 
Desire1216
Desire1216 December 21, 2020
So delicious. I have been waiting to make this dish for a while. My husband and I had date night and he tried it. Liked it. So I decided to make it tonight with wide egg noodles. Yesss!!
 
omiranda
omiranda August 7, 2020
It was delicious! I enjoyed every second of it. It felt very fancy for a weeknight dinner, which is great because it came together very neatly. Can't wait to share this meal with others!
 
ChefAbilities
ChefAbilities August 11, 2020
Thank you so much for the wonderful review! I'm always so happy when people enjoy my recipes!
 
HelenElizabeth
HelenElizabeth May 28, 2020
OMG! Thank you for this recipe, it was super easy to follow and my whole family devoured it! I used smaller breasts that I sliced and they were so tender and juicy. Served it with a Parmesan risotto and even my 5 year old wanted seconds!
 
ChefAbilities
ChefAbilities May 29, 2020
Thank you! I'm so happy that you and your family enjoyed it. For some reason they sliced the breasts incorrectly in the video. I hope I clarified it a little better in the recipe! I serve mine with parmesan risotto also! Wonderful!
 
wendy H.
wendy H. May 14, 2020
Yum! Whole family loved it and I loved that it was easy to make. Used small chicken tenderloins which worked perfectly - was the only chicken available during my COVID-19 shopping trip (great discovery...for me). I did cut back on the heavy cream and didn't add the butter at the end as we don't need it that rich to enjoy. Served over linguine. Make sure to have good garlic bread on hand to soak up any extra sauce.
 
ChefAbilities
ChefAbilities May 15, 2020
Thank you so much for the review! I love this recipe and I'm so happy you enjoyed it!
 
Michelle
Michelle January 6, 2020
I’ve made this several times... it’s easy and wonderful. Better than what I’ve had at a restaurant!
 
ChefAbilities
ChefAbilities January 7, 2020
Thank you! So happy you enjoy this recipe!
 
Pat B.
Pat B. October 13, 2019
This turned out really well Definitely better than what you get at a restaurant. My only problem was not enough sauce so I’ll be doubling that next time. I also used all butter so it was richer
 
susanna A.
susanna A. April 1, 2019
The sauce was delicious, but the chicken was awful. I recommend trying this recipe with thin-sliced chicken breasts - or pounding a thick breast to make it thinner. Using a big fat breast meant that the meat took forever to cook through, and by the time it did (between the sautéing and the braising) it was thick and dry.
 
ChefAbilities
ChefAbilities April 6, 2019
Please see Step 2 in the recipe where it says to slice the chicken breast horizontally into thin slices. Unfortunately, the video shows slicing the breast in half lengthwise. This is not correct. The breast should be sliced into thin scalopinni about 1/4 inch thick. This technique eliminates the need to pound out the breasts which is time consuming and messy. I hope you prepare this dish again utilizing this method.
 
Susanna I.
Susanna I. May 6, 2019
Reading is fundamental, isn’t it Susanna?
 
Jane B.
Jane B. January 9, 2020
This is where I went wrong as well. Against everything I know about cooking chicken breasts, I followed the video and had 4 thick hunks of dry chicken by the time it was cooked. Actually, the instructions don't say "slice horizontally," they say "lengthwise." Great sauce, though!
 
ChefAbilities
ChefAbilities January 9, 2020
I'm so sorry they got it wrong in the video! I had no idea they would cut the breasts this way since scallopini is so common in Italian dishes. Hope you make it again and enjoy it!
 
ChefAbilities
ChefAbilities April 23, 2018
Yes. If the chicken breast is thick, you can get 3 scallopini out of it by slicing horizontally. But usually each breast yields 2 scallopini.
 
Jane
Jane April 23, 2018
Wow thanks for the quick response! Making this tonight!
 
Jane
Jane April 23, 2018
When you say ”slice each chicken breast lengthwise” do you mean slice in half horizontally across, as if you were cutting one cake layer into two thinner layers, (for example)?
 
Linda93552
Linda93552 July 7, 2020
Yes, as if you were slicing the chicken into thin, flat layers, just like you said - slicing it into two or three layers of a cake.
 
ChefAbilities
ChefAbilities January 11, 2018
As far as making ahead. I think I would make it the day before, place in a baking dish, cool and refrigerate. Warm it up covered in a 350 oven. You might need a little more "cream" to thin the sauce after reheating.
 
ChefAbilities
ChefAbilities January 11, 2018
Someone makes a dairy-free cream made out of coconut milk. I bought some not long ago, but can't remember the brand. I think I would try that over almond milk because the cream in this recipe adds a richness due to its thick nature. There's a vegan butter that Whole Foods sells that tastes like real butter and is supposed to mimic butter completely. I'm afraid the almond milk and margarine may have too high water content to work. Please let me know how it turns out!
 
Judy
Judy January 10, 2018
I'm trying to "Kosherize" this recipe by using unsweetened almond milk and shall I even say it...margarine. I've done a kosher variation before (of my own making) with margarine, and it's doable, but thought I'd follow a recipe this time. Also, would like to make ahead as much as possible for my crowd of 8. Any thought on how that can that be done?
 
FrugalCat
FrugalCat December 28, 2017
I remember Chicken (and veal) Marsala when the family went out to dinner in the 80's. Certainly too "fancy" to make at home. If only I had known then how easy it actually was to make!
 
ChefAbilities
ChefAbilities November 30, 2016
Yes I do! I'll try to get that published as soon as possible! It's so crazy at my house right now!
 
Hilary
Hilary November 27, 2016
Greetings Chef- Can you share a parmesan risotto recipe?
 
ChefAbilities
ChefAbilities October 24, 2016
Thank you so much for your kind comment! I'm so glad you enjoyed it!
 
SCalabretta
SCalabretta October 18, 2016
This was fabulous! Totally decadent yet easy and quick to put together.