Chicken Marsala is an incredible easy recipe perfect for entertaining or family dinner. This is an impressive, yet easy, recipe for homemade Chicken Marsala that rivals any restaurant out there.
Looking for recipes to serve with this Chicken Marsala? Try Twice Baked Potatoes, Roasted Broccoli, or a Strawberry Spinach Salad.
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Chicken Marsala
Chicken Marsala is an Italian-American dish made from chicken cutlets, mushrooms, and Marsala wine.
And it happens to be one of my most favorite meals ever.
Most people reserve Chicken Marsala for dining at Italian restaurants, but it is actually an easy dish to make at home. In fact, it is one of my go to meals for a quick, fuss-free, yet impressive homemade meal.
This Easy Chicken Marsala is restaurant quality, with a rich mushroom sauce and tender chicken, making it a great recipe to entertain with or just for a date night in.
Ingredients for Chicken Marsala
- Chicken Breasts–cut of pounded into cutlets
- Mushrooms–for the BEST Chicken Marsala, dried wild mushrooms are best (find them in tiny bags in the produce section at the grocery store)
- Marsala Wine–be sure to get real Marsala wine, NOT cooking Marsala wine–there is a HUGE difference in flavor
- Mushroom Stock–no need to purchase, we will make our own using the dried mushrooms
- Fresh Thyme–for an earthy quality that just can’t be topped
- Butter–a tiny bit to add richness and depth to the Marsala sauce
- Cornstarch–thickens the sauce
- Flour–to bread the chicken. If you need Gluten-Free Chicken Marsala, use Bob’s Red Mill gluten free flour blend, for the dredging of the chicken. I have tried this with success several times. Instant Pot Chicken Marsala is also Gluten-Free.
- Olive Oil
Secret to making the Best Chicken Marsala Recipe
I have a secret tip to make the BEST Chicken Marsala, and this is something you do NOT want to skip.
Use Dried Mushrooms!
The key to a really good Chicken Marsala recipe is the Marsala sauce. But the key to the sauce is more than just the Marsala wine. Mushrooms stock also plays a huge role in creating perfect flavor in the sauce.
To save money and to create a rich homemade mushroom broth, I always start my Chicken Marsala with a pack of dried wild mushrooms, which are so much more flavorful than button mushrooms or even baby portabella mushrooms–plus by re-hydrating the dried mushrooms, you are left with an incredibility rich mushroom stock.
To re-hydrate dried wild mushrooms
- Cover dried mushrooms in 1 1/2 cups hot water and let soak anywhere from 30 minutes to overnight (overnight creates a much more flavorful mushroom stock, but if you forgot to plan, just soak long enough to soften mushrooms).
- Use your the soaking liquid and softened mushrooms in your Chicken Marsala for incredible flavor.
How to Make Chicken Marsala
Once you have the mushroom stock and hydrated mushrooms, making Chicken Marsala comes together very quickly.
Step One: Prepare Chicken
- Purchase thin chicken cutlets or cut full size chicken breasts into cutlets. See instructions on how to do that here. Alternatively, you can pound chicken breasts with the flat side of of meat mallet until chicken breasts are even in thickness (ideally, to 1/2 inch thickness.)
- Season flour generously with salt and pepper.
- Coat chicken breast in flour and shake off excess flour.
Step Two: Pan Fry Chicken
- Heat oil in large skillet over medium-high heat.
- Sear the chicken on each side for 3-4 minutes, until browned.
- Remove the chicken from the skillet and place onto plate.
Step Three: Prepare Marsala Sauce
- To the same pan that chicken was pan-fried in, carefully add in Marsala wine and scrape up any browned bits in skillet. Remember Marsala is alcohol and may flame up–it is fine, but if that makes you nervous, remove pan from heat before adding the wine.
- Boil for 3 minutes, to evaporate the alcohol.
- Add the mushrooms, stock from the hydrated mushrooms, 1 teaspoon salt, 1/2 teaspoon pepper, seared chicken and thyme.
- Reduce heat to low and simmer for 10 minutes.
Step Four: Thicken Marsala Sauce
- Remove 2 tablespoons of the cooking liquid from the pan and whisk in the cornstarch until smooth.
- Whisk cornstarch mixture into pan and stir until sauce is thickened, 2 to 3 minutes.
Once your sauce is thickened, serve! I love to serve this elegant chicken recipe with roasted asparagus–which is as simple as tossing one pound of asparagus with 1 tablespoon olive oil and 1 teaspoon kosher salt and roasting at 425 degrees for 20 minutes. But mashed potatoes, green beans almondine, or roasted Brussels sprouts all make a great accompaniment this impressive home cooked meal.
More Chicken Breast Recipes
- Homemade Chicken Tenders
- Easy Baked Chicken Cordon Bleu
- Skillet Chicken with Green Beans and Tomatoes
- Oven Roasted Chicken Breast
- Instant Pot Chicken Breasts
- Keto Pizza Chicken from All Day I Dream of Food
Chicken Marsala
Ingredients
- 1 oz wild dried mushrooms
- 1 1/2 cups water
- 1 tablespoons olive oil
- Kosher salt and pepper
- 1 pound of chicken cutlets or chicken breasts, pounded thin
- 1/2 cup flour
- 1/2 cup Marsala wine
- 3 sprigs of fresh thyme removed from stem and chopped--about 2 teaspoons
- 2 teaspoons cornstarch
- 1 tablespoon butter optional
Instructions
- Submerge the mushrooms in 1 1/2 cups hot water for 30 minutes or up to 24 hours. (Do not discard the liquid).
- Heat oil in large skillet over medium-high heat.
- Dredge the chicken cutlets into flour that has been seasoned with 1 teaspoon each of salt and pepper. Shake off excess flour.
- Sear the chicken on each side for 3-4 minutes, until browned.
- Remove the chicken from the skillet.
- Add the Marsala wine to the skillet and bring to a boil. Boil for 3-4 minutes, while scraping off the browned bits of chicken.
- Add the mushrooms, stock from the hydrated mushrooms, 1 teaspoon salt, 1/2 teaspoon pepper, seared chicken and thyme. Reduce heat to low and simmer for 10 minutes.
- Remove 2 tablespoons cooking liquid and whisk in cornstarch with the liquid. Whisk cornstarch mixture back into pan along with butter (if using). Stir until sauce is thickened, 2-3 minutes.
- Serve the chicken with the Marsala Sauce.
Notes
- Omit butter to keep this Dairy Free Chicken Marsala.
- Use 1:1 Gluten Free Flour Blend to keep make Gluten Free Chicken Marsala.
Kristen Chidsey
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I love that you used dried mushrooms! I never thought to do that; I always use fresh. However, dried mushrooms really punch up the flavor and using the soaking water in the sauce is a great idea!
Carol, I hope you try the dried mushrooms–it really does punch up the flavor!
This looks AMAZING! I love these pictures too! This one of those recipes that my whole family will eat 🙂
Thank you Lauren! My whole family love this too–and that is ALWAYS a winning dish in my book 🙂
Kristen, this looks fantastic! Thanks for the time saving tip on using dehydrated mushrooms!
Thanks Shashi!
Looks delicious (and your tips make me laugh!)
Thanks Caroline and always happy to make people giggle!
I love the dried mushrooms you added to this dish. They make everything so flavorful!
Yes, they are a great way to have exotic flair with lots of flavor!
this looks delicious! I definitely plan to try this one.
Thanks David–ENJOY!!!
Great idea foe a dinner in date night!
Thank you Cindy
What a terrific idea for Valentine’s Day! Though I love to order chicken Marsala when I’m out to eat, making it at home is even better!!!
It has always been one of my favorites to order out, until I started making it at home with the dried mushrooms–game changer!
What a special Date Night, we love the Chicken Marsala.
delicious looking and sounding recipe for Chicken Marsala! Love asparagus but you can keep the mushrooms 🙂 thanks for sharing with us!