Chicken Marsala is the best 30 minute meal. It is so creamy and with my simple tips it is much easier than the traditional dish. This is a great one pan chicken dinner!
Love this recipe but want to make it in the slow cooker? Check out my Crock Pot Chicken Marsala.
This amazing Chicken Marsala is a huge hit with my family. The sauce is the perfect balance of earthy mushroom flavor and deep marsala wine with the added bonus of delicious creaminess. We love it over fettuccine noodles. It is a dinner that seems fancy but comes together so quickly for the perfect weeknight meal.
I wish I could give this recipe 10 stars!!! It fantastic! I loved it!! I loved this recipe even with just the pasta (I did make it with the chicken) so for those who are vegetarian this recipe is even excellent with just pasta!! This recipe was easy to make and the taste divine! Sorry can’t say enough!! I have made Marsala before but this recipe so much easier with the same wonderful taste!
How to Make Chicken Marsala
This is a brief overview of how to make this delicious recipe. For the full recipe with all of the measurements, see the recipe card at the bottom of the post.
- Start cooking fettuccine. Since we love eating this over pasta, start making some before you get going on the chicken.
- Cut the chicken in half to make cutlets. You can see photos below, but making thin chicken breasts is part of what makes this meal so quick. If the chicken is still too thick give it an extra pounding with a rolling pin.
- Cook the chicken. Salt and pepper the chicken and cook it in a hot pan for about 6 minutes on each side or until it reaches an internal temperature of 165 degrees. Remove it from the skillet and tent it loosely with foil.
- Make the sauce. In the pan you made the chicken, melt some butter. Add the mushrooms and garlic and cook until the mushrooms are tender. Then whisk in the flour. Slowly add in the marsala wine and the chicken stock scraping up the browned bits and bring it to a simmer. Let the sauce simmer until it has cooked down by about half, about six minutes. Then stir in the heavy cream.
- Put it all together. Add the chicken back to the pan and serve it all over the fettuccine.
What is Chicken Marsala
Chicken Marsala is a traditional Italian dish that is made by coating chicken in flour, pan frying it and then making a sauce with marsala wine. Traditionally, it is served on its own. In this recipe, we are simplifying this amazing classic dish to make it an easy weeknight dinner.
What Makes this Chicken Marsala Easy
This recipe varies from traditional Chicken Marsala in order to make it a fast family dinner.
- We skip pounding the chicken thin. Instead, we cut the chicken in half to make chicken cutlets. If your chicken is still too thick, you can do a little extra pounding. This makes the chicken cook very quickly.
- We skip dredging the chicken in flour. Instead, we add some flour to some melted butter to make a roux that thickens up the sauce nicely.
How to Make a Roux
One of the things that makes the sauce so perfect and creamy is making a roux. A roux is a combination of fat and flour and is a great thickening agent for sauces. The fat coats the flour, and keeps it suspended in the sauce. Here we use the butter we sauté the mushrooms in as the fat and then add some all purpose flour.
When making a roux, it is important to let the butter and flour cook for about thirty seconds once it is fully combined. This eliminates the taste of flour. Then slowly whisk in chicken stock and the marsala wine.
Tips for Cooking Fettuccine
There are a few things that will make the fettuccine you serve this with perfect.
- Bring the water to a roaring boil. We should see big giant bubbles before we add the dry noodles.
- Salt the water. Add a good two teaspoons of kosher salt (or 1 teaspoon of table salt) to the water after you add the noodles.
- Stir the noodles. Make sure to stir the noodles a lot, especially when you first add them to the water. It is very easy for fettuccine to stick together when cooking.
- Cook the noodles for the time indicated on the box. I always set a timer for my pasta, especially when it is just one part of a meal. That way it doesn’t get over cooked because I got busy with something else.
Using Marsala Wine
A majority of the flavor of marsala sauce comes from the marsala wine. I would not normally suggest using something called cooking wine. In general, it isn’t as high of quality as bottled drinking wine, and the flavor of wine intensifies with cooking. That being said, this recipe is the exception. Marsala wine can be very difficult to find, so I do use Marsala cooking wine when I make this.
While some of the alcohol will cook off, it takes a full three hours for all of the alcohol to cook of when cooking with wine. Because the marsala wine is so essential for this dish, I suggest that if you are cooking for someone who can’t have alcohol, you choose a different dish like Chicken Piccata or Baked Chicken Parmesan.
Serving Chicken Marsala
Traditionally Chicken Marsala isn’t served with pasta, but Americans have Americanized it and started serving it on noodles. I will say that if you want to go traditional, any of the side dishes below will be perfect with this and you can skip the noodles. That said, the sauce that you make for this dish is spectacular when you drown some noodles in it. This would also be delicious over mashed potatoes or if you are looking to stay low carb, my mashed cauliflower recipe is phenomenal.
Crockpot Chicken Marsala
If you would like to make this recipe in the slow cooker, I have adapted it for that. While this is a very fast stove-top recipe, sometimes it’s lovely to have a hands cooking solution.
Crock Pot Chicken Marsala
Storing Leftovers
Leftover chicken marsala should be stored in the refrigerator for up to four or five days in an airtight container. I suggest storing the chicken with the sauce, but separate from any noodles it was served with. I do not recommend freezing leftovers of this dish.
Reheat over very low heat in a covered skillet. You may need to add more heavy cream or marsala wine if the sauce thickens too much as it is reheating. As with all leftovers, use your best discretion.
What to Serve with Chicken Marsala
If you make this recipe or any of my other recipes, please leave me a comment and let me know what you think!
Easy Chicken Marsala Recipe
Ingredients
- 8 ounces fettuccine to serve with
- 2 tablespoons olive oil see note
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- dash black pepper
- 1 pound chicken breasts sliced thinly in half (and pounded thin if still more than 1/2 inch thick)
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 16 ounces cremini mushrooms sliced
- 3 tablespoons all purpose flour
- 1 cup chicken broth
- 1 cup Marsala wine
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
Instructions
- Cook the fettuccine according to package instructions.8 ounces fettuccine
- While the fettuccine is cooking, slice the chicken breasts in half. If there are parts of the chicken that remain thick (about more than a 1/2 inch), pound them thin. Season the chicken with salt and pepper on both sides.1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, 1 pound chicken breasts, dash black pepper
- In a large skillet, heat 2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil over medium heat. Add the sliced chicken to the pan and cook for about 5 to 6 minutes on each side or until a meat thermometer reads 165 degrees.2 tablespoons olive oil
- Remove the chicken from the pan and cover loosely with tin foil.
- Add the butter to the skillet and melt. Add in the mushrooms and the garlic. Cook until the mushrooms are soft, about four minutes.2 tablespoons unsalted butter, 2 cloves garlic, 16 ounces cremini mushrooms
- Stir in the flour thoroughly, so you can no longer see streaks of white. Slowly pour in the chicken stock, scraping up browned bits at the bottom. It works best if you pour in a little, stir it in to combine, and then a little more. Pour in the Marsala wine. Bring to a simmer and cook until the sauce thickens and reduces by almost half, about six minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in the heavy cream.3 tablespoons all purpose flour, 1 cup chicken broth, 1 cup Marsala wine, 1/2 cup heavy cream
- Return the chicken to the pan. Spoon the sauce and mushrooms over the chicken and serve over the fettuccine.
Notes
Nancy says
I would consider making these recipes that if they were easier to pring. I’m not going to download a program to be able to print the recipe. I will instead, block the recipes I see so that I don’t have to go through the effort of finding out this is my only option for your recipes.
Hi Nancy! Can you tell me what happens when you click the blue print box in the recipe box? It should just pop open another tab in your browser where you can print from. There shouldn’t be a need to download anything.
Toni Hamilton says
Easy meal and one of my husbands favorites! Thank you for making him think I’m a good cook!
Day made. I’m so glad it was a hit, Toni!
Nonnie says
I made this and it was delicious. I had mashed potatoes so we had it on that. Steamed spinach goes great with it
I’m so glad you liked it!
Jean banko says
I love it but I buy the Marsela wine and toss it out . Is there something I I can use in place of that type of wine.
Unfortunately, Marsala is such a unique taste that you really need that. I don’t recommend cooking wine in general, this is the one recipe that I use it for and it always turns out great. I think it is a little more affordable of an option.
Janie says
Do I have to use heavy cream? Can I substitute almond milk?
If you need a non-dairy option, I would try using soy half and half. I’m worried the almond milk will make the sauce too thin.
Jenn says
I’m really looking forward to trying this for my birthday today.
I hope you love it, happy birthday!
Sarah says
Made this recipe tonight. Very delicious! I added some onions with the mushrooms. Also, I didn’t have any cream. So I added a little extra butter and used 2% milk. It was a big hit with my husband, my 17-year-old son, and my 15-year-old son. Thank you!
I’m so glad the family liked it!
SUE BROWN says
YEARS AGO I ENJOYED VEAL MARSALA AT RESTAURANTS. This sounds great…except i dont like mushrooms. any alternatives to suggest??
love reading and using your recipes…
You could just leave them out. It’s hard to come up with another veggie that could easily take the place of mushrooms here without drastically changing the flavor of the dish. You could go with artichoke hearts. They have a mild flavor and somewhat similar texture. I would be sure to not get the kind that is marinated and drain them and squeeze them very well so you don’t have too much liquid to the dish.
DennisM says
I love love not having to coat the chicken. Even though I used to love doing that.. it saves so much time and mess
Me too!
ava says
when i was in college i made chicken marsala (i am not kidding when i say this) like every three days. needless to say i got tired of it despite my deep love of the dish. fastfoward a couple years and a friend shared the recipe video of this on facebook and i decided it was high time i give chicken marsala a go again, and i am so glad i did! this has been my go-to chicken marsala recipe for well over two years now. while i am no longer making it multiple times a week (thankfully my culinary horizons have expanded since those early college days!!), it is still a beloved favorite in my husband and i’s dinner rotation. i usually keep it traditional and serve the chicken alongside pasta, other times i opt for mashed potatoes/cauliflower or even rice, all three of which happily drink up the sauce :)
This absolutely made my day. I’m so happy you like this one as much as we do!