Creamy Chicken Marsala
Chicken marsala with golden pan-fried cutlets, browned mushrooms, and a creamy dry marsala sauce built right in the skillet. Ready in 45 minutes.
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Chicken marsala is the restaurant dish that turns out to be easy. This version keeps it that way. Floured cutlets get seared golden, a pile of cremini mushrooms browns in the same pan. A sauce of dry marsala, chicken broth, and cream reduces until it coats the back of a spoon.
Buy dry marsala, not sweet. Sweet marsala is a dessert wine meant for tiramisu, and as the sauce reduces that sugar concentrates until the whole plate tastes like syrup. Dry marsala is nutty and savory and it’s what the dish was built on. Look in the fortified wine section, not on the cooking-wine shelf by the vinegar, because bottles labeled cooking marsala are loaded with salt.
The other thing worth doing is letting the sauce actually reduce. Ten to twelve minutes at a steady simmer takes it from thin and boozy to glossy and thick enough to cling to the chicken. Rushing that step is why homemade marsala sometimes tastes sharp instead of round.
Why You’ll Love This Chicken Marsala Recipe
- One skillet, start to finish. Chicken, mushrooms, and sauce all happen in the same pan, so the browned bits left by the chicken end up in the sauce.
- Restaurant sauce, grocery store ingredients. Dry marsala, chicken broth, and heavy cream reduce into something glossy with no stock-making and nothing to strain.
- Thin cutlets cook in 8 minutes. Halving the breasts horizontally means they sear through quickly and stay tender instead of turning to rope.
- Mushrooms that taste like mushrooms. Browning them hard in butter drives off their water and concentrates the flavor before any liquid hits the pan.
Chicken Marsala Ingredients
A drinkable bottle of dry marsala runs about $10 and keeps for months in the fridge once it’s open, so one bottle covers this dinner three or four times. Cremini mushrooms, sometimes labeled baby bella, have more flavor than white buttons and hold their shape better in the sauce.
- 2 large boneless, skinless chicken breasts (about 1 1/2 lbs), halved horizontally into 4 cutlets
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 3 tbsp unsalted butter, divided
- 8 oz cremini mushrooms, sliced
- 1 large shallot, finely chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 3/4 cup dry marsala wine
- 3/4 cup chicken broth
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- 1 tsp fresh thyme leaves
- 2 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped, for garnish
Recipe Variations
- Use boneless, skinless chicken thighs instead of breasts. Pound them to about 1/2 inch, sear 5-6 minutes per side, and cook them to 165°F just like the breasts.
- Leave the cream out for the older, more Italian version. Use 1 1/4 cups of chicken broth total and simmer it a few minutes longer. The sauce comes out thinner and more savory.
- Add 4 ounces of sliced shiitake or a small handful of dried porcini soaked in warm water. Both push the mushroom flavor deeper without changing anything else.
How to Make Chicken Marsala
- Prep the cutlets: Lay each chicken breast flat and slice it in half horizontally to make 4 thin cutlets. Cover them with plastic wrap and pound to an even 1/4 inch. Pat dry and season both sides with the salt and pepper.
- Dredge in flour: Spread the flour on a plate and press each cutlet into it on both sides, shaking off the excess. A thin coat is what browns and what thickens the sauce later. A thick coat turns gummy.
- Sear the chicken: Heat the olive oil and 1 tablespoon of the butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Cook the cutlets 2-3 minutes per side, in two batches if the pan is crowded, until golden and cooked through to an internal temperature of 165°F. Move them to a plate.
- Brown the mushrooms: Add the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter to the same skillet. Add the mushrooms and cook 5-6 minutes without stirring much, until their liquid cooks off and the edges go deep brown.
- Add the shallot and garlic: Stir in the shallot and cook 2 minutes until soft, then add the garlic and cook 30 seconds more, just until it smells sweet instead of raw.
- Deglaze and reduce: Pour in the marsala and scrape the browned bits off the bottom of the pan. Let it bubble hard for 3 minutes, then add the chicken broth, heavy cream, and thyme. Simmer 10-12 minutes, until the sauce has reduced by about half and coats the back of a spoon.
- Finish and serve: Slide the cutlets and any juices from the plate back into the pan, spoon sauce over them, and simmer 2 minutes to warm through. Scatter the parsley over the top and serve.
Recipe FAQs
What Kind of Marsala Wine Should I Use for Chicken Marsala?
Dry marsala, sold in the wine aisle. Sweet marsala is made for desserts and turns cloying as the sauce reduces. Skip anything labeled cooking marsala, which is salted and tastes harsh once it concentrates.
Can I Make Chicken Marsala without Wine?
You can get close with 3/4 cup of extra chicken broth plus 1 tablespoon of balsamic vinegar and 1 teaspoon of brown sugar. It won’t have marsala’s nutty depth, since that flavor comes from the wine itself, but it makes a good pan sauce.
Why Is My Sauce Thin and Boozy?
It didn’t reduce long enough. The marsala needs a hard 3-minute bubble on its own, then the whole sauce needs 10-12 minutes at a steady simmer to lose half its volume. Turn the heat up and give it time.
Can I Prep Any of It Ahead?
Yes. Pound the cutlets and slice the mushrooms up to a day ahead, storing them covered in the fridge. Dredge in flour right before the cutlets go in the pan, because flour that sits on raw chicken turns pasty and browns unevenly. Cook everything fresh, since the sauce breaks and the coating softens on reheating.
What Mushrooms Work Best?
Cremini, sometimes sold as baby bella, have the most flavor for the money and hold their shape. Sliced white buttons are fine and cost less. Wild mushrooms are great but expensive for a weeknight.
Cooking Tips
- Get the pan genuinely hot before the cutlets go in. Flour-dredged chicken sticks to a lukewarm pan and tears the crust off when you flip it.
- Don’t crowd the mushrooms. Two batches beats one packed pan, because crowded mushrooms steam in their own liquid and stay gray instead of browning.
- Taste the sauce before the chicken goes back in. Marsala varies in sweetness by brand, and a squeeze of lemon or an extra pinch of salt at that moment rescues a sauce that tastes flat.
Storage and Freezing
To store: Refrigerate in an airtight container for up to 3 days. Keep the chicken and sauce together so the cutlets don’t dry out.
To freeze: This one doesn’t freeze well. Cream sauces separate as they thaw and the flour coating turns to paste, so plan on eating it within a few days instead.
To reheat: Warm gently in a covered skillet over medium-low with a splash of broth, about 5-6 minutes, until the sauce loosens and the chicken reaches 165°F. High heat breaks the cream.
How to Serve Chicken Marsala
Chicken Marsala wants something to catch the sauce, so buttered egg noodles, mashed potatoes, or a nest of angel hair all do the job. Roasted asparagus or green beans go alongside, and crusty bread is worth having on the table for whatever sauce is left in the pan. An arugula salad with lemon keeps the plate from feeling heavy.
Loved This Recipe?
Chicken Marsala looks like a restaurant plate and asks for 45 minutes and one skillet, which is a fair trade on a Tuesday.
Leave a star rating in the comments below, it helps other people find this recipe. Made it? Tag @allwellfed on Instagram, I love seeing this one in other people’s kitchens.
Creamy Chicken Marsala
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 large boneless, skinless chicken breasts about 1 1/2 lbs, halved horizontally into 4 cutlets
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 3 tbsp unsalted butter divided
- 8 oz cremini mushrooms sliced
- 1 large shallot finely chopped
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 3/4 cup dry marsala wine
- 3/4 cup chicken broth
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- 1 tsp fresh thyme leaves
- 2 tbsp fresh parsley chopped, for garnish
Instructions
- Prep the cutlets: Lay each chicken breast flat and slice it in half horizontally to make 4 thin cutlets. Cover them with plastic wrap and pound to an even 1/4 inch. Pat dry and season both sides with the salt and pepper.
- Dredge in flour: Spread the flour on a plate and press each cutlet into it on both sides, shaking off the excess. A thin coat is what browns and what thickens the sauce later. A thick coat turns gummy.
- Sear the chicken: Heat the olive oil and 1 tablespoon of the butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Cook the cutlets 2-3 minutes per side, in two batches if the pan is crowded, until golden and cooked through to an internal temperature of 165°F. Move them to a plate.
- Brown the mushrooms: Add the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter to the same skillet. Add the mushrooms and cook 5-6 minutes without stirring much, until their liquid cooks off and the edges go deep brown.
- Add the shallot and garlic: Stir in the shallot and cook 2 minutes until soft, then add the garlic and cook 30 seconds more, just until it smells sweet instead of raw.
- Deglaze and reduce: Pour in the marsala and scrape the browned bits off the bottom of the pan. Let it bubble hard for 3 minutes, then add the chicken broth, heavy cream, and thyme. Simmer 10-12 minutes, until the sauce has reduced by about half and coats the back of a spoon.
- Finish and serve: Slide the cutlets and any juices from the plate back into the pan, spoon sauce over them, and simmer 2 minutes to warm through. Scatter the parsley over the top and serve.
Notes
If you made this, leave a star rating down in the comments. It takes about ten seconds, and it’s how other cooks decide whether a recipe is worth trying.
