Chicken Marsala – a restaurant-quality chicken dish that is super easy to make and so delicious. Made with pan-fried chicken breast tossed in a creamy savory and sweet sauce with mushrooms. Truly a phenomenal weeknight dish for the whole family!
You probably might be too busy right now trying to catch up with all the work, so I’ve come here to share with you easy recipes that you can whip up quickly for your family without too much labor in the kitchen. It’s as good as those you order in fancy restaurants. Who would’ve thought that chicken marsala can be this easy to prepare at home?
What is chicken marsala?
Chicken marsala is pretty popular in restaurants. To give you a little background, chicken marsala is an Italian-American dish made from pan-fried chicken cutlets and a creamy mushroom-filled and marsala wine-infused sauce. It is said to be a variation of traditional Italian scaloppina dishes which is surely a highly indulgent one.
How do you make marsala sauce?
Everything happens in just a pan for this recipe which means easy clean up and more time enjoying this chicken marsala for dinner. To make the marsala sauce, you start by melting a butter in a skillet, followed by sauteing the mushrooms with spices and seasonings. Then you add the Marsala wine, chicken stock and heavy cream while stirring and scrapping the pan well to thicken the sauce.
If you prefer a lightened sauce, you may use evaporated milk or half and half instead of heavy cream. Make sure though that you do not bring your sauce to a rapid boil to avoid curdling.
For those who can’t get their hands on a bottle of Marsala wine, you can substitute it with a dark Sherry, Dry Madeira wine, or Red Vermouth.
Once the sauce thickens, toss the pan-fried chicken back to the pan along with its juice on the plate and bring to a boil to soak in gloriously all the marvelous flavors within the sauce. Voila! You now have a fancy five-star dinner without paying a hefty price! 😉
What to serve with chicken marsala?
Serve this delicious one-pan chicken marsala dish over pasta, warm rice or this garlic mashed red potatoes. If you want to keep it healthy, you can always serve this with cauliflower rice or zucchini noodles. Do you love versatile and easy chicken dishes like this? Check out this chicken cacciatore and my oven baked chicken breast.
Enjoy!
How to Make Chicken Marsala
Pat dry chicken breast with a paper towel, then season with salt, pepper and Italian seasoning. Mix together flour, Italian seasoning, granulated onion and garlic powder.
Dredge the seasoned chicken in flour mixture on each side until coated. Shake off excess flour. Heat oil in a cast iron or skillet over medium-high heat; then fry chicken on both sides until golden brown — about 4 to 5 minutes per side. Remove chicken from skillet and place on a plate.
Add butter to the skillet, once melted add mushrooms to the skillet, then saute for about 2-3 minutes, followed by garlic, thyme; continue cooking for 3-5 more minutes , stirring occasionally to prevent any burns .
Pour in Marsala, chicken stock and heavy cream stirring and scraping the pan well, until it is incorporated. Stir for about 1-2 minutes or until slightly thickened. Lightly season with salt and pepper.
Return chicken back to skillet, together with its juice that form on the plate to the skillet, turning to coat. Bring to a boil and let it simmer 4-5 minutes or until thickened. Adjust seasonings to taste. Sprinkle with parsley. Remove from heat and served with pasta,, rice or mashed potatoes.
Watch How To Make It
Chicken Marsala
Ingredients
Flour Seasoning
- ⅓ cup all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
Chicken Marsala
- 2 chicken breasts, boneless skinless cut horizontally into 4 flat fillets then pounded into about 1/2-inch thick
- salt and pepper
- 1 tablespoons cooking oil
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 4 ounces mushrooms cremini , sliced
- 1 tablespoon finely chopped garlic
- 2 teaspoons minced thyme
- ⅓- 1/2 cup sweet Marsala
- 3/4 cup chicken stock , reduced-sodium
- ½- 3/4 cup heavy cream
- salt and pepper to taste
- 2 tablespoon minced parsley
Instructions
- Pat dry chicken breast with a paper towel, then season with salt, pepper and Italian seasoning.
- Mix together flour, Italian seasoning ,granulated onion and garlic powder.
- Dredge the seasoned chicken in flour mixture on each side until coated. Shake off excess flour. Heat oil in a cast iron or skillet over medium-high heat; then fry chicken on both sides until golden brown — about 4 to 5 minutes per side.
- Remove chicken from skillet and place on a plate.
- Add butter to the skillet once melted add mushrooms, to the skillet, then saute for about 2-3 minutes, followed by garlic, thyme; continue cooking for 3-5 more minutes , stirring occasionally to prevent any burns.
- Pour in Marsala, chicken stock and heavy cream stirring and scraping the pan well, until it is incorporated. Stir for about 1-2 minutes or until slightly thickened . Lightly season with salt and pepper.
- Return chicken back to skillet, together with its juice that form on the plate to the skillet, turning to coat. Bring to a boil and let it simmer 4-5 minutes or until thickened. Adjust seasonings to taste. Sprinkle with parsley.
- Remove from heat and served with pasta,, rice or mashed potatoes.
Tips & Notes:
- If you prefer a lightened sauce, you may use evaporated milk or half and half instead of heavy cream. Make sure tho that you do not bring your sauce to a rapid boil to avoid curdling.
- For those who can't get their hands on a bottle of Marsala wine, you can substitute it with a dark Sherry, Dry Madeira wine, or Red Vermouth.
- The alcohol in the Marsala wine burns off as it cooks, so it's ok to serve this to kids.]
- Store any leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days.
- Please keep in mind that nutritional information is a rough estimate and can vary greatly based on products used.
Nutrition Information:
Maria Alicia says
Can i use bone in chicken for this recipe? How would the cooking time vary?? Thank you so much in advance for your help.
Immaculate Bites says
Hi Maria Alicia! Yes, you can use bone-in chicken. You can add ten minutes more to simmering of the chicken until it’s cooked. Alternatively, preheat oven at 400°F and bake the seared chicken for 12 minutes then proceed with the rest of the recipe instruction. You can also check if the chicken is cooked using a food thermometer. The internal temperature for chicken should be 165°F. Enjoy! 🙂
Maggie Figueroa says
The recipe was delicious and easy to make. It made me feel like was a Chef. Thank for sharing this recipe with us.
ImmaculateBites says
That’s great Maggie. Am so thrilled.
nas says
How do you make the marsala sauce? There’s no instructions on that! Looks divine!
imma africanbites says
Hello, Nas. Marsala is a fortified wine. If you don’t have on hand, you can substitute it with a dark Sherry, Dry Madeira wine, or Red Vermouth. Hope this helps. Happy cooking!
Therese says
Easy to make and very tasty!!
Carmell says
I made this dish for my family last night. I received many compliments and my family loved it. Thank you for another great dish!
ImmaculateBites says
Wonderful! This warms my heart.Thanks for taking time to share this with us.
Laura Wagner says
it’s on the stove right now and smells divine. just wish I had looked at the pictures first. it looks like I have half the amount of chicken you do. oh well will just have to make more cutlets and put in the sauce later this week.
imma africanbites says
Hope it turned out well for you, Laura. Enjoy!
Lindsay says
Imma,
Im a little confused, your recipe says onion powder,then granulated onion then the instructions refer to cooking until the onion wilts, does onion powder or granulated onion wilt ?
ImmaculateBites says
My bad Lindsay. There are no onions in this recipe. Thanks for bringing this to my attention.
Carrie Ladson says
I will try this recipe soon look very good and tasteful.
imma africanbites says
Thank you. And it’s easy to prepare, too. Happy weekend!
Gladness Eigbe says
I really can’t wait to try this recipe out.. Thanks so much much immaculate
ImmaculateBites says
Do let me know , if you try it out . Thanks.
Arthur B Ray Jr says
Good afternoon , Imma ! The chicken Marsala dish looks devine! However, I am trying to eat more vegetarian type dishes, but will try the Marsala as a special once a week meal. could You forward some African and Caribbean spiced Veggie dishes My way? I really need to loose weight and am a diabetic. Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated. Thanks and regards, Art.
ImmaculateBites says
Hi Art,
I do have a few veggie dishes. Some of you them you just might have to leave out the meat . https://www.africanbites.com/ethiopian-collard-greens/.
https://www.africanbites.com/stewed-spinachafrican-style/ , https://www.africanbites.com/sukuma-wiki/. Hope this helps
Mathias says
hi
Nice recipe you got here ，if i cant get mushroom will it turn out right？what can i use if i dont get mushroom?
ImmaculateBites says
Leave out the mushrooms , if it’s not readily available.
Drusilla Arinanye says
i will try this definitely
Sally says
The first time trying this Recipe… I have never tried anything out of my Cameroonian dishes… I’m so excited it came out great … and proud too… yes I did something good and different. Lol. Thanks Immaculate, I’m very grateful for your recipe and this site is gonna be handy for me in future.
Sally says
It’s a 5 star rating… I hit the 4th star by error as my phone froze
Ashani Motisola says
For those latose intolerant – can I substitute Soy milk for heavy cream?
imma africanbites says
Hi, Ashani. I haven’t personally tried replacing the heavy cream for soy milk. But I read that it works, though you need to tweak it a bit. Read it more here >>> https://www.leaf.tv/articles/dairy-free-heavy-cream-substitutes/ Hope this helps.