Scrambled Eggs, Cheese, and Avocado Tortilla Bowl Recipe
September 16, 2025
Chicken Marsala Recipe
Chicken Marsala – Golden crispy cutlets, wealthy creamy Marsala wine sauce. Comforting but luxurious. Midweek-fast but restaurant-worthy. Economical. Straightforward. The right meal!
Chicken Marsala is an Italian-American basic, a kind of dishes born from mixing Italian recipes with American tastes. A dish that’s now so beloved that it’s a staple in eating places throughout the States and properly past.
One chunk is all it takes to be hooked for all times, simply as I used to be!
It’s primarily a variation of conventional Italian scaloppine dishes. A skinny chicken cutlet is coated in flour then pan fried till crispy and golden, then smothered in a wealthy sauce that’s flavoured with Marsala which is a fortified Italian wine.
Marsala is a kind of secret weapon substances. A splash of that, and it’s such as you added inventory, honey, vinegar and Worcestershire sauce with a contact woody nuttiness into the sauce. The flavour that goes so properly with chicken, particularly with a bit of little bit of cream to complete it off.
That sauce! It’s completely gorgeous. Thanks Mr Marsala!
And in case you’re fearful, no, the sauce doesn’t style “alcoholic” in any respect. The Marsala wine is simmered quickly to cook dinner out a lot of the alcohol, abandoning simply the flavour.
Having stated that although, this dish makes use of greater than the standard small splash of wine I exploit in different recipes so it’s not one I’d suggest for the children. I’d suggest the Chicken in Creamy Mushroom Sauce as an alternative – everybody can take pleasure in that!
As famous above, the important thing ingredient in Chicken Marsala Sauce is marsala which is a fortified wine (like port) from the Marsala area of Italy. It’s bought a candy, nutty flavour that’s extra advanced and richer than crimson wine.
Use a dry marsala moderately than candy marsala which is extra generally utilized in desserts.
It’s an ordinary merchandise at liquor shops and whereas premium marsala is expensive, there’s no have to go loopy right here. The marsala pictured beneath value round $20 however you may choose up bottles for lower than $10. It can final “ceaselessly” and can be utilized rather than port in dishes like Sluggish Cooked Pork Braised Lamb Shanks.
Substitutes – Port wine, sherry, or madeira. For non alcoholic model of this recipe, use Chicken with Creamy Mushroom Sauce!
All the things else you want
And right here’s the opposite substances you want.
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Chicken breast – 2 giant ones which we cut up in 2 horizontally to create 4 steaks in whole. Substitute with 4 boneless chicken thighs.
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Cream – So as to add a bit of luxuriousness to the sauce. To cut back energy a bit, you may substitute with evaporated milk as cream will not be the first ingredient on this sauce. The sauce won’t have the identical creamy mouthful however it should nonetheless have the identical lovely marsala flavour.
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Chicken inventory/broth – So as to add savouriness into the sauce. With out it, it’s simply missing a little bit of flavour.
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Eschalot / French onion (known as shallots within the US) – I like utilizing eschalots on this dish as a result of they’re sweeter and in addition finer in order that they form of meld into the completed sauce higher, moderately than having chunky lumps of onion. Nevertheless, you may substitute with 1/2 small onion OR 1/4 cup of the white a part of inexperienced onions (cut up in half lengthwise then slice into 1cm / 1/3″ squares).
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Mushrooms – White mushrooms or Swiss brown/cremini. Whichever you favor!
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Butter and oil – For cooking the chicken and making the sauce. We wish the butter for flavour, nevertheless it burns if we solely use butter so it’s greatest to make use of oil as properly.
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Flour – So as to add a beautiful golden crust on the chicken that the sauce can cling to!
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Garlic – As a result of…garlic!
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Parsley – Simply an optionally available garnish!
Chicken Marsala is made by cooking the chicken first till golden and crispy. Then it’s put aside on a plate whereas the sauce is made in the identical pan (we wish all these tasty chicken drippings within the sauce!) , then added again into the sauce on the finish simply to heat by means of once more.
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Pound chicken Reduce every breast in half to kind 2 skinny steaks (so you have got 4 in whole). Cowl with a freezer bag or Go-Between and pound to 1 cm / 0.4″ thickness utilizing a meat mallet or rolling pin. Go-between is like cling wrap nevertheless it’s thicker and doesn’t follow itself. Offered alongside cling wrap on the grocery retailer, it’s helpful for maintaining stacked meals within the freezer from sticking to one another, and defending meat from being broken when pounding.
Why we pound the meat – To make the chicken even thickness so it cooks by means of evenly in addition to tenderising it.
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Season and dirt – Sprinkle the chicken with salt and pepper. Then sprinkle with flour and calmly rub it throughout the floor along with your arms.
Shake off extra flour earlier than cooking, else you’ll find yourself with a number of extra flour within the pan which is able to burn.
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Sear chicken – Soften the butter and warmth the oil in a big non-stick pan over medium excessive warmth. When the butter is foamy, cook dinner the chicken for 4 minutes till golden and crispy. Flip the chicken then cook dinner the opposite facet for two minutes or till the chicken is cooked by means of.
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Take away the chicken onto a plate and put aside whereas we make the sauce in the identical pan. It can quiet down however that’s okay as a result of we reheat the chicken within the sauce simply earlier than serving.
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Make sauce – Utilizing the identical pan, as a result of we wish all of the tasty flavour left by searing the chicken, soften the remaining butter and oil. Sauté the eschalots and garlic for simply 1 minute – this offers them a head begin in addition to flavouring the butter/oil. Then cook dinner the mushrooms till they soften – this takes round 4 to five minutes.
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Scale back marsala – Subsequent, quickly simmer the marsala for a couple of minutes till it reduces by half. This not solely cooks out a lot of the alcohol flavour but in addition reduces and concentrates the flavour.
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Creamy and thickened – Pour within the cream, salt and pepper. Then simmer for 3 to five minutes or till the sauce thickens to a cream consistency. Initially the sauce shall be fairly pale however it should darken because it reduces.
Don’t let it cut back and thicken an excessive amount of as we’re simmering it for an additional 1 minute to re-warm the chicken and the sauce thickens a shocking quantity because it cools when serving.
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Re-warm chicken – Put the chicken into the sauce and let it simmer for 1 minute, simply to reheat. Don’t overlook to pour in any juices pooled on the plate – by no means waste free flavour!
A sauce this good requires some type of starchy car for sauce soaking / mopping. Mashed potato (pictured), creamy polenta, pasta (lengthy, quick, small), even rice. I can completely see myself serving this with garlic butter kale rice!
For a blow-out Italian meal, add a Mega Italian Salad and Garlic Bread on the facet. In case you’ve made the salad earlier than, you’ll perceive the title! – Johnsat x
Ingredients
- 2 large chicken breasts (300g/10oz each), cut in half horizontally (or 4 thighs, Note 1)
- 1/2 tsp cooking salt / kosher salt
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 1/4 cup flour , plain/all-purpose
- 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 2 tbsp / 30g unsalted butter
- 2 eschalots (US: shallots), peeled and cut into 1cm / 1/3″ squares (Note 2)
- 1 garlic , finely minced
- 2 cups white mushrooms , sliced 0.5cm / 1/5" thick
- 1 cup dry marsala wine (Note 3)
- 1/2 cup chicken stock/broth , low sodium
- 1/2 cup thickened / heavy cream (Note 4)
- 1/4 tsp cooking salt / kosher salt
- 1/8 tsp black pepper
- 1 tbsp finely chopped parsley , for garnish (optional)
Instructions
- Pound – Cut each breast in half to form 2 thin steaks. Cover with a freezer bag or Go-Between (Note 5) and pound to 1 cm / 0.4″ thickness using a meat mallet or rolling pin. This tenderises and ensures even cooking of the chicken.
- Dust – Sprinkle the surface with half the salt, pepper then flour. Lightly rub flour across surface, turn and repeat with remaining salt, pepper and flour. Shake excess flour off each piece just before cooking.
- Cook – Put half the butter and oil in a large non-stick pan over medium high heat. Once the butter is melted and foamy, place chicken in, then cook for 3 to 4 minutes until it's gorgeously golden and crispy. Turn and cook the other side for 2 minutes. Remove onto a plate.
- Sauté aromatics – In the same pan, add remaining butter and oil. Once butter is melted, add eschalots and garlic. Cook for 1 minute.
- Cook mushrooms – Add mushrooms. Cook for 3 minutes, stirring regularly.
- Reduce marsala – Add marsala, turn up heat to high and boil for 3 minutes or until reduced by half.
- Thicken sauce – Add chicken stock, cream, salt and pepper. Stir, then lower heat so it's simmering (not boiling rapidly) and simmer for 3 to 5 minutes until the sauce thickens to a cream consistency (not too thick, will thicken more).
- Rewarm chicken – Nestle chicken into sauce and leave for 30 seconds to reheat.
- Serve! Take off the stove. Sprinkle with parsley, serve over starchy vehicle of choice (I chose mash. Rice, small pasta, polenta or bread for plate mopping also work well!).
Notes
1. Chicken thighs can also be used (boneless, skinless). Pound to even thickness or “butterfly” the thicker end to make it roughly even thickness.
2. Eschalots work best here because they are sweeter and also finer so they kind of meld into the finished sauce better. however, you can use 1/2 small onion OR 1/4 cup of the white part of green onions (split in half lengthwise then slice into 1cm / 1/3″ squares.
3. Marsala is an Italian fortified wine (like port), you can get a 750ml/25oz bottles for $10 or less (though they run up much higher for premium!). It’s the key flavouring in the sauce – depth of flavour, complexity, warmth and touch of sweetness. Use dry marsala rather than sweet marsala which is more commonly used in desserts.
Sub with port wine, sherry, or madeira. For non alcoholic version, better to make Chicken with Creamy Mushroom Sauce!
4. To reduce calories, use evaporated milk instead of cream, the same quantity. The mouthfeel will obviously be a little less luxurious but you will still get the gorgeous marsala flavour!
5. Pounding – Go-between is like cling wrap but thicker and doesn’t stick to itself. Useful for freezing things in layers and also protecting meat with pounding. Freezer bag serves same purpose. Use the scary (rough) not smooth side of the meat mallet. Don’t have one? Use a rolling pin or anything similar (can! hammer!)
Leftovers will keep for 3 to 4 days in the fridge. It will freeze fine but I’m not really a fan of freezing cooked breast pieces.
Nutrition per serving, assuming 4 servings.
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