Name: Instant Pot Chicken Marsala
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 10 min
Total time: 15 min
Ingredients: 1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breast cutlets; 1 tablespoon olive oil (more if needed); 1 teaspoon kosher salt; 1 teaspoon pepper; 1 shallot (diced); 1/3 cup Dry Marsala Wine; 1 cup beef broth; 1 ounce dried mushrooms; 1 tablespoon cornstarch; 1 tablespoon butter (optional)

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In less than 30 minutes you can have homemade Instant Pot Chicken Marsala that is worthy of restaurants. With a few tricks, the Instant Pot creates an incredibly flavorful, rich chicken dish that is sure to become a favorite!

While I love my recipe for classic Chicken Marsala, this Instant Pot version is a perfect stand in to speed up the process or to prepare a gluten-free version of the classic. The chicken is tender and juicy and the sauce is incredibly flavorful. It is delicious with a side of roasted asparagus, Zucchini and Squash Saute, or mashed potatoes.

A few weeks ago, a reader asked me if I had a recipe for Chicken Marsala for the Instant Pot. She had tried another recipe and was not wowed by the flavor, but loved my recipe for Classic Chicken Marsala, so she was hoping I could create a version for the Instant Pot.

Challenge accepted.

I’ll admit I was a bit nervous to mess with perfection, but after a few attempts, I had success. I was blown away to see that one of the secrets that make my traditional Chicken Marsala so incredibly rich and good, could be implemented in the Instant Pot in less than half the time.

I have always used dried mushrooms when making my Chicken Marsala. I let the mushrooms soak in hot water for at least a couple hours, if not overnight. The mushrooms soak up the liquid and become soft and tender, while they create a delicious mushroom broth that I use in my Marsala Sauce.

Guess what? No pre-soaking is required when using dried mushrooms in the Instant Pot. Simply throw them in and the pressure cooker works it’s magic. And friends, those dried mushrooms are the secret to the BEST Chicken Marsala. The mushroom broth and flavor from wild mushrooms are unbeatable.

Notes on Key Ingredients

Chicken: Boneless, skinless chicken breasts or chicken cutlets are best for this recipe.
Dried Mushrooms: I love using dried mushrooms, in this Chicken Marsala Recipe, as they are the key to the incredibly flavorful sauce. However, if you can’t find dried mushrooms, you can use sliced baby bella mushrooms and saute along with the shallots. Be sure to rinse your dried mushrooms before adding to your sauce, to remove any grit, sand, or dirt from the wild mushrooms.
Marsala Wine: Be sure to use a good quality dry Marsala Wine, not cooking Masala wine for the best flavor.
Beef Stock: I use beef broth to add extra flavor to the Chicken Marsala sauce, but you can use chicken stock if you’d like.

How To Make Chicken Marsala in the Instant Pot

Steps One: Prepare Chicken Breasts

For tender Chicken Marsala, you want to have thin chicken cutlets or boneless, skinless chicken breasts that have been pounded thin.

Either purchase boneless, skinless chicken breast cutlets (sometimes labeled thin sliced)
Or place boneless, skinless chicken breasts in a gallon-size bag with a tablespoon of water. Seal bag and pound chicken breasts thin with meat mallet, or bottom of a heavy pan.

Step Two: Sear Chicken Cutlets in Instant Pot

Heat your instant pot by hitting the Saute function and waiting until Instant Pot reads, Hot.
Add 1 tablespoon olive oil to the inner pan of the pressure cooker.
Season chicken breast cutlets generously with salt and pepper.
Sear chicken breasts 2 to 3 at a time for 1-2 minutes per side.
Remove browned chicken breasts to plate.

Step Three: Make Chicken Marsala Sauce

Once the chicken is seared, it is time to make the sauce for the Chicken Marsala.

Add in a dash more oil to the inner pan of Instant Pot if no oil remains after searing chicken.
Add in a diced shallot to the Instant pot.
Add in the Marsala wine and deglaze the pan, by scraping up any browned bits of shallot or chicken off the bottom of the pan.
Add in beef broth and the dried mushrooms.
Return browned chicken back to Instant Pot and submerge in sauce.

Step Four: Pressure Cook Chicken Marsala

Place lid on the pressure cooker, turn the valve to sealed and set Chicken Marsala to cook on high pressure for 5 minutes.

Step Five: Thicken Chicken Marsala Sauce

Once cook time has elapsed, let the pressure release naturally for at least 5 minutes (this helps to keep the chicken from getting tough.)
Release any remaining pressure and remove the lid.
Remove chicken breasts to serving platter.
Turn off Instant Pot and then turn back to Saute.
Make a cornstarch slurry by whisking together 2 tablespoons beef broth (or water) with 1 tablespoon cornstarch. Whisk well to get out all lumps before adding to Chicken Marsala Sauce.
Whisk in a cornstarch slurry and stir constantly, until sauce is bubbly and thickened–about 3-4 minutes.
Pour sauce over chicken cutlets.
Serve Chicken Marsala

More Instant Pot Chicken Recipes

People are always impressed with this Instant Pot Chicken Marsala Recipe, but it is seriously incredibly easy to make. You can just keep that our little secret and wow your friends with this impressive chicken recipe!

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