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Easy Marsala Chicken

Featured in Delicious Main Dish Recipes for Every Occasion.

Golden chicken and mushrooms in thick Marsala wine sauce. Ready fast and pairs perfectly with your favorite sides, like green beans or mashed potatoes.
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Updated on Sun, 04 May 2025 11:26:03 GMT
Close-up of golden chicken with mushrooms and herbs on a plate. Pin it
Close-up of golden chicken with mushrooms and herbs on a plate. | chefmelt.com

This made-from-scratch Chicken Marsala brings together golden-brown chicken cutlets and juicy mushrooms bathed in a smooth, wine-infused sauce. It's simple enough for busy weeknights but fancy enough for guests too. This well-loved Italian-American dish delivers top-notch taste with basic ingredients and easy cooking steps. You'll love the deep, woodsy flavors in this down-to-earth yet impressive meal that'll quickly become a regular request at your table.

What Makes This Dish Special

What makes this meal stand out is how everything works together so well. Soft chicken pieces, caramelized mushrooms, and that velvety Marsala wine sauce create a fancy dinner ready in about 45 minutes. When you mix sweet Marsala wine with creamy dairy and flavorful herbs, ordinary ingredients turn into something you'd expect at a high-end eatery, but you can easily make it right in your kitchen.

What You'll Need

  • For the Chicken:
    • 4 chicken breasts without bones or skin, cut sideways in half
    • 1/2 cup regular flour
    • 1 teaspoon salt
    • 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
  • For the Sauce:
    • 16 ounces sliced cremini mushrooms
    • 3/4 cup Marsala wine
    • 3/4 cup chicken stock
    • 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
    • 2 chopped shallots
    • 4 crushed garlic cloves
    • 2 tablespoons fresh thyme
  • For Cooking:
    • 4 tablespoons butter, split up
    • 2 tablespoons olive oil
    • Fresh parsley to top it off

Easy Cooking Instructions

Get Your Chicken Ready
Flatten chicken to 1/4-inch thickness. Combine flour with salt and pepper in a flat dish. Coat chicken pieces in the flour mix.
Cook Your Chicken
Warm up 2 tablespoons each of butter and oil in a big pan over medium-high heat. Brown chicken until golden, around 4 minutes each side. Set aside on a plate.
Create Your Mushroom Sauce
Using the same pan, melt the leftover butter. Toss in mushrooms and cook till golden. Add shallots and garlic, cook until soft. Pour Marsala wine in, scraping the tasty bits from the bottom.
Complete Your Sauce
Pour in stock, cream, and thyme. Let it bubble down by half, about 5 minutes. Put chicken back in and warm through for 2-3 minutes.

Cooking Secrets

Go for dry Marsala instead of cooking wine for better flavor. Make sure your chicken is pounded flat so it cooks evenly. Don't pack too many chicken pieces or mushrooms in the pan at once. Let your sauce reduce enough to get the right thickness. Taste and add salt or pepper at the end if needed.

A dish showing golden chicken pieces covered with browned mushrooms and sprinkled with chopped parsley in a rich sauce. Pin it
A dish showing golden chicken pieces covered with browned mushrooms and sprinkled with chopped parsley in a rich sauce. | chefmelt.com

What To Eat With It

Enjoy over buttery noodles, smooth polenta, or fluffy mashed potatoes. It goes great with steamed asparagus or oven-roasted veggies. Sprinkle with fresh parsley and extra thyme if you want. Some crusty bread works wonders for soaking up that yummy sauce. A simple green salad on the side rounds everything out nicely.

Keeping Leftovers Fresh

Pop any extras in a sealed container in your fridge for up to 3 days. Warm it up slowly on the stove, adding a bit of broth if needed. The sauce might get thick in the fridge, so thin it out with warm broth when you reheat it. For the tastiest results, you can prep sauce ingredients ahead and put everything together right before you're ready to eat.

Frequently Asked Questions

→ What's the best pan to use?
A stainless steel pan is great for giving the chicken that golden browning. Nonstick works too, but you might miss out on the good bits for the sauce.
→ How do I handle large chicken breasts?
Slice large breasts in half sideways, making thinner pieces, then pound them flat (about 1/4 inch thick) for even cooking.
→ When's the sauce ready?
It should cook down to half the volume, become a bit thicker, and have a rich, creamy look. Think of a slightly thin cream consistency.
→ What goes well with this dish?
Green beans or creamy mashed potatoes work great to soak up the sauce. Anything that pairs with savory flavors is a win!
→ Can I switch up the mushrooms?
Absolutely! Button or bella mushrooms work perfectly. Pick pre-sliced ones if you're short on prep time.

Conclusion

This Italian-American meal comes together in 45 minutes.

Golden chicken, sautéed with mushrooms in a creamy Marsala sauce, gives you a homemade meal that's rich and full of flavor.

Marsala Chicken

Golden chicken with mushrooms in a creamy Marsala wine sauce. A crowd-pleasing Italian-American favorite.

Prep Time
15 Minutes
Cook Time
30 Minutes
Total Time
45 Minutes

Category: Main Dish Recipes

Difficulty: Intermediate

Cuisine: Italian Fusion

Yield: 4 Servings (4 cutlets of chicken)

Dietary: ~

Ingredients

01 1 tablespoon olive oil.
02 Salt.
03 1½ pounds chicken breasts, boneless and skinless, flattened to ¼-inch thickness.
04 Fresh black pepper.
05 2 teaspoons fresh thyme, chopped.
06 2 tablespoons chopped parsley for garnish (optional).
07 1 (8-ounce) package of sliced mushrooms (bella or button).
08 3 finely chopped shallots.
09 ⅔ cup Marsala wine, dry.
10 3 cloves of minced garlic.
11 ⅔ cup chicken stock.
12 3 tablespoons plain flour.
13 3 tablespoons butter, separated.
14 ⅔ cup heavy whipping cream.

Instructions

Step 01

Grab a zip bag and toss in the flour along with about ¾ teaspoon salt and ¼ teaspoon ground pepper. Shake the chicken in the bag until it’s well covered.

Step 02

Warm up the oil and 2 tablespoons of the butter in a big skillet over medium-high heat. Cook your flour-covered chicken pieces until they’re golden and cooked through, about 5-6 minutes total. Put them on a plate and set aside.

Step 03

Pop the rest of the butter into the pan. Toss in the mushrooms and let them cook for around 3-4 minutes, letting them brown. Stir in your shallots, garlic, and a pinch of salt, then cook for another minute or two.

Step 04

Pour in the wine, chicken broth, cream, salt, pepper, and thyme. Scrape every bit of flavor off the pan bottom, bring it to a boil, then let it gently bubble until the sauce reduces by half — about 10-15 minutes.

Step 05

Put the chicken back into the pan, including any juices it released. Let it simmer in the sauce for about 2-3 minutes till everything’s warm and the sauce thickens up. You can sprinkle parsley on top if you’d like.

Notes

  1. A stainless steel skillet works great for browning the chicken nicely.
  2. If the chicken breasts are large, slice them in half horizontally before flattening them.
  3. Tastes really good with smashed potatoes or fresh green beans on the side.

Tools You'll Need

  • A big pan (stainless steel works best).
  • Plastic zip bag.
  • Mallet for flattening meat.

Allergy Information

Please check ingredients for potential allergens and consult a health professional if in doubt.
  • Contains dairy.
  • Contains wheat/gluten.

Nutrition Facts (Per Serving)

It is important to consider this information as approximate and not to use it as definitive health advice.
  • Calories: 537
  • Total Fat: 32 g
  • Total Carbohydrate: 12 g
  • Protein: 43 g