Classic Chicken Marsala Recipe

One of Lisa’s favorite meals is my Chicken Marsala Recipe. To her, it means comfort food, and after tasting my classic version, nothing else will do.

 

Chicken Marsala is one of those dishes you order at your favorite Italian restaurant, but are always afraid to try at home. But in truth, it couldn’t be easier to make.

The secret to making the best chicken marsala you’ve ever tasted, really isn’t a secret at all. It’s finding the right marsala to make the dish.

If you enjoy making restaurant-style chicken dishes that will amaze your friends, try our Chicken Parm and Chicken Milanese recipes.

Ingredients

Gather the ingredients to prepare our restaurant-style chicken marsala recipe. Culinary professionals call this the “Mise en Place,” which means “everything in its Place.”

Setting up your ingredients not only helps speed up the cooking process but also ensures you have all the necessary ingredients on hand to make the recipe.

How to Make Chicken Marsala

Follow along with my simple step-by-step instructions to learn how to make chicken marsala in your home kitchen.

• Dredge the chicken in flour seasoned with salt and pepper, then add it to a hot sauté pan with enough olive oil to sauté it.
• Sauté the breasts on one side for 2-3 minutes, then turn them over to cook the other side. After flipping, add the sliced mushrooms to the pan.
• Continue to sauté the chicken, turning it as needed and letting the mushrooms cook.

*Add more olive oil if needed.

When the mushrooms are nicely browned and the chicken is well seared on all sides, add ¾ of a cup of your Marsala ( reserve 2 ounces to finish the dish) to the hot pan.

Let the chicken marsala continue to cook for 1-2 minutes. This will also burn off the alcohol.

Chef Tip:

When adding the wine, remove the pan from the burner or turn off the heat if you’re cooking on a gas range. The chance of the Marsala igniting is low, but trust me, you don’t want the bottle to ignite.

It is okay to light wines or spirits to burn off the alcohol. I use one of the long grill lighters to ignite the fumes, but it’s not necessary, as the alcohol will burn off in about one minute with the heat on high.

Add the chicken stock to the pan, reduce the heat to low, and allow the dish to simmer as the sauce reduces.

Season with granulated onion and black pepper to taste.

When the sauce has reduced by about half of its original liquid, roll one or two tablespoons of butter in flour, getting a good layer of flour embedded into the butter. This is called a beurre manie.

Add the beurre manie to the sauce; this will help it thicken. Stir to combine, then add the remaining Marsala to the pan.

What Marsala should I use?

Getting back to the reason my chicken marsala is better than most is the type and brand of Marsala wine I use.

My first choice will always be the sweet (or non-classified) Pellegrino Brand, but it’s hard to find and more than double the price of Cribari.

I usually use the Cribari brand since it’s more readily available, and the dish still comes out better than most Italian restaurants’. If neither is available, the Florio brand will work. But never, ever, ever use cooking wine.

There is one other tip on buying marsala wine: if you have a choice between dry and sweet, always buy the sweet.

This will contradict what most chefs will tell you, so you’ll have to trust me on this one. Believe me, it will make a big difference in the flavor of the dish, and it will not make the sauce sweet; it’s just how they differentiate between the two varieties.

Dry Marsala, in theory, should be more flavorful. But either I haven’t found a good dry marsala, or it just doesn’t work as well as advertised in my dishes.

After the sauce has thickened and you are happy with the seasoning, you can serve the Chicken Marsala to your guests.

Serve it with mashed potatoes and green beans for a complete meal.

More Recipes You’ll Love!