• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
Chef Dennis
  • Recipe Index
  • On the Road
  • About
menu icon
go to homepage
  • Recipe Index
  • About
  • Contact
    • Email
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • Twitter
    • YouTube
  • subscribe
    search icon
    Homepage link
    • Recipe Index
    • About
    • Contact
    • Email
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • Twitter
    • YouTube
  • ×

    Home » Recipes » Chicken Recipes

    Classic Chicken Marsala Recipe

    Published: May 13, 2019 · Modified: Jun 29, 2021 by Chef Dennis Littley

    968 shares
    • Facebook277
    • Email
    4.95 from 76 votes
    Jump to Recipe Print Recipe
    pinterest image for chicken marsala

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

    overhead shot of chicken marsala with mushrooms on a white platter

    She’s tried ordering out and its never the same and it really only comes down to one reason.

    The marsala that most people use does not impart that extra special flavor that makes my Chicken Marsala legendary.

    Table of Contents:

    • What ingredients do I need to make Chicken Marsala?
    • How do I make Chicken Marsala?
    • What Marsala Should I use for Chicken Marsala?
    • More Chicken Recipes You’ll Love!
    • Classic Chicken Marsala Recipe
      • Ingredients
      • Instructions
      • Notes
      • Nutrition

    What ingredients do I need to make Chicken Marsala?

    Classic Chicken Marsala Prep

    Let’s start by gathering the ingredients we need to make my Chicken Marsala. In Chef Speak this is called the “Mise en Place” which translates to “Everything in its Place”.

    Not only does setting your ingredients up ahead of time speed the up cooking process, but it also helps ensure you have everything you need to make the dish.

    How do I make Chicken Marsala?

    sauteed chicken breast with mushrooms in a saute pan
    • Dredge the chicken in flour seasoned with salt and pepper, then add it to a hot sauté pan with enough olive oil to saute the chicken.
    • Sauté the chicken for 2-3 minutes on one side, then turn it over to saute the other side. At this time 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.

    marsala added to saute pan with chicken and mushrooms

    After the mushrooms look cooked and the chicken is well seared on all sides, add in ¾ of a cup of your Marsala ( reserve 2 ounces to finish the dish).

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

    stock and cream added to the chicken marsala in a saute pan

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

    Season with granulated onion and black pepper to taste.

    beurre manie added to chicken marsala in saute pan

    When the sauce has reduced by about half of its original liquid, roll 1 tablespoon of butter in flour, getting a good layer of flour embedded into the butter.

    Add the floured butter to the sauce, this will help thicken your sauce (this method is called a beurre manie). Mix the beurre manie into the sauce and then add in the remaining Marsala wine.

    What Marsala Should I use for Chicken Marsala?

    Getting back to the reason my chicken marsala is better than most is the marsala wine I use.

    In the mise en place, I have a bottle of Cribari Marsala. My first choice will always be Pelligrino Marsala but it’s hard to find and more than double the price of Cribari.

    That being said when I have both on hand, I start with Cribari and finish with Pelligrino. Now I’m not saying you need to buy two brands, it’s just something that I do to make the dish extra special for Lisa.

    When I can’t find Pelligrino I use Cribari and the dish comes still comes out better than most Italian restaurants.

    There is one other tip on buying marsala wine and that is if there’s a choice between dry and sweet, always buy the sweet.

    This will contradict what most chefs will tell you, so you’re going to 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.

    Chicken Marsala with mushrooms on a white platter

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

    More Chicken Recipes You’ll Love!

    • Chicken and Shrimp Pepperoni
    • Chicken Sorrento
    • Chicken Saltimbocca
    • Chicken Parm

    Did you make this? Please RATE THE RECIPE below!

    Please SUBSCRIBE and FOLLOW ME on FACEBOOK, TWITTER, INSTAGRAM and PINTEREST!

    Classic Chicken Marsala
    Print Recipe Save Saved!
    4.95 from 76 votes

    Classic Chicken Marsala Recipe

    This restaurant-style dish is the perfect comfort food and easy to make.  It’s a great date night dinner that you can have on your dinner table in less than 30 minutes.
    Prep Time5 minutes mins
    Cook Time20 minutes mins
    Total Time25 minutes mins
    Course: Entree
    Cuisine: Italian – American
    Servings: 2
    Calories: 337kcal
    Author: Chef Dennis Littley

    Ingredients

    • 10 oz boneless skinless chicken breast o or chicken tenders
    • 8 oz baby bella mushrooms or regular mushrooms
    • extra virgin olive oil to saute chicken and mushrooms
    • seasoned flour to dust chicken seasoned with sea salt and black pepper
    • 1 tbsp butter
    • ⅛ tsp black pepper
    • ¼ tsp granulated onion
    • 1 cup chicken stock
    • 1 cup Marsala
    • 1 tbsp heavy cream optional
    US Customary – Metric
    Prevent your screen from going dark

    Instructions

    • Prepare your chicken by triming away any fat and skin. . If you are using tenders you can just use them as they are.
    • dredge the chicken in flour seasoned with salt and pepper, and add it to a hot sauté pan with enough olive oil to saute the chicken.
    • Sauté the chicken for 2-3 minutes on one side then turn it over, at this time add your mushrooms to the pan.
    • Continue to sauté the chicken, turning it as needed and letting the mushrooms cook.
    • After the mushrooms look cooked and the chicken is well seared on all sides, add in ¾ of a cup of your Marsala ( reserve 2 ounces to finish the dish).
    • Allow the Marsala to continue cooking for 1-2 minutes
    • Add in the chicken stock and heavy cream, reduce the heat, and allow to simmer on low as the sauce reduces. Season wiht granulated onion and black pepper.
    • When the sauce has reduced about half of its original liquid, roll 1 tablespoon of butter in flour, getting a good layer of flour embedded into the butter.  Now add it to the sauce, this will help thicken your sauce. (this method is called a beurre manie). 
      Add in the remaining Marsala wine to finish the dish.
    • After the sauce has thickened and you are happy with the seasoning you can serve the Chicken Marsala to your guests.
      I love serving mine with mashed potatoes, roasted potatoes, rice or egg noodles.

    Notes

    If the chicken breasts are thick your best bet is to split them down the middle making two thinner fillets from the one breast.
    You can also pound the breasts thinner with a meat hammer but that is not always necessary when you split the breast.

    Nutrition

    Calories: 337kcal | Carbohydrates: 26g | Protein: 6g | Fat: 10g | Saturated Fat: 6g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 29mg | Sodium: 193mg | Potassium: 756mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 13g | Vitamin A: 289IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 42mg | Iron: 1mg
    Tried this Recipe? Pin it for Later!Mention @askChefDennis or tag #askChefDennis!
    pinterest image for chicken marsala

    More Chicken Recipes

    • Chicken schnitzel on a white plate with lemon circles and asparagus.
      Chicken Schnitzel
    • chicken and cheese enchiladas being lifted out of baking dish with spatula.
      Tex-Mex Chicken Enchiladas
    • roasted red pepper soup in a white bowl.
      Roasted Red Pepper Soup
    • tikka masala with rice and naan bread in a white bowl.
      Chicken Tikka Masala

    About Chef Dennis

    Picture of Chef Dennis

    Chef Dennis Littley is a classically trained chef with over 40 years of experience working in the food service industry. In his second career as a food blogger he has made it his mission to demistify cooking by sharing his time-tested recipes, knowledge, and chef tips to help you create easy-to-make restaurant-quality meals in your home kitchen. Let Chef Dennis help you bring the joy of cooking into your home. For more details, check out his About page.

    Reader Interactions

    Comments

      Leave a Comment Cancel reply

      Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

      Recipe Rating




      This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

    1. Connie Pearson

      May 08, 2021 at 2:23 pm

      Hi Dennis, I served this to guests last night, and it was a big hit. The flavor is wonderful. I’ll definitely be using this recipe again.
      Give my love to Lisa.
      Connie

      Reply
    2. KayKay

      January 05, 2021 at 4:09 am

      5 stars
      Delicious and the sauce was wonderful! I made this recipe last night served with pasta and stuffed zucchini boats. I found it difficult to brown the mushrooms while the chicken was taking up most of the space in the pan. It was difficult to stir the sauce without disturbing the chicken and damaging the flour coating. Could you remove the chicken and continue cooking in the oven while finishing off the sauce? It took me a good 15-20 min to reduce the Marsala and the stock which caused the chicken to be slightly overcooked.

      Reply
      • Chef Dennis Littley

        January 05, 2021 at 8:50 am

        yes you can remove the chicken and finish it in the oven. You can also partially cook the chicken and remove it while you cook the sauce and just return it to the pan to finish.

        Reply
    3. Kathleen

      September 20, 2020 at 6:10 pm

      5 stars
      Thanks, you were so helpful .I am Italian but we never had this dish and I wanted to try it out.

      Reply
    4. arabel

      April 10, 2020 at 7:05 pm

      gracias!!!!!

      Reply
      • Chef Dennis Littley

        April 11, 2020 at 9:21 am

        you’re welcome!

        Reply
    5. Henry Higgins

      March 20, 2020 at 12:05 pm

      5 stars
      Love this recipe… going to try it tonight. A SUGGESTION : Please try to make your recipes fit on one page , if possible… easier for we old folks !

      Reply
    6. Donna Welsh-Johnson

      July 03, 2019 at 7:00 pm

      “Cream” is mentioned at the top of the recipe and I believe I see a picture of cream in a small glass bowl…but no where is it mentioned in the recipe. So, my question is, how much, when is it added, or should it be omitted from the recipe completely? thanks so much for clarifying!

      Reply
      • Chef Dennis Littley

        July 03, 2019 at 9:50 pm

        Thanks for noticing that ommission Donna. You would add it at the end of the dish with the marsala. It’s more of an optional add that isn’t a deal breaker but will make the sauce a little richer.

        Reply
    « Older Comments

    Primary Sidebar

    pinterest image for chicken marsala


    My name is Dennis Littley or “Chef Dennis” as I’m known both at work and across the blogosphere. As a classically trained chef with 40+ years of experience in the kitchen, I share my time-tested recipes, knowledge, and chef tips to help you create easy-to-make restaurant-quality meals in your home kitchen.

    More about me →

    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • Twitter
    • YouTube

    Fan Favorites

    • loaf of homemade artisan bread on a wooden cutting board
      Almost No-Knead Artisan Bread Recipe
    • 2 Maryland crab cakes on a white plate
      Baked Maryland Crab Cakes Recipe
    • chicken parm with pasta on a white plate
      Chicken Parmesan Recipe
    • seasoned crispy chicken legs on a foil wrapped tray
      Best Baked Chicken Legs {Drumsticks}
    • side view of slice of bee sting cake being taken out of full cake
      German Bee Sting Cake (Bienenstich) Recipe
    • Tiramisu with a fork on a white plate
      Best Tiramisu Recipe {step by step}
    • overhead view of barbecued half racks of baby back ribs on a white platter
      Easy Oven Baked Baby Back Ribs
    • overhead view of veal parm and linguine on a white plate
      Restaurant Style Veal Parm Recipe

    Featured In

    logos of all the places chef dennis has been featured

    Popular Posts

    • crispy seasoned chicken leg quarters on a white platter
      Best Baked Chicken Leg Quarters
    • cropped-Gunniess-Beef-Stew-13.jpg
      Authentic Guinness Beef Stew Recipe
    • overhead shot of baked crab imperial on a white plate with sauteed greens and roasted potatoes
      Maryland Style Jumbo Lump Crab Imperial
    • close up of half a chicken salad sandwich on a white plate
      Best Chicken Salad – Deli Style
    • oysters rockefeller with a slice of lemon on a bed of rock salt on a white platter
      How to Make Restaurant Style Oysters Rockefeller
    • sliced dry rub roasted brisket with cilantro and tomatoes on on a white platter
      Easy Oven Baked Beef Brisket Recipe
    • rack of pork with end cut off
      Oven Roasted Rack of Pork {Pork Rib Roast}
    • sliced meatloaf with the rest of meatloaf on a white platter
      Classic Meatloaf Recipe with Zesty Glaze

    Footer

    pinterest image for chicken marsala

    ↑ back to top

    INFO

    • Privacy Policy
    • Disclosure Policy
    • Cookie Policy
    • Accessibility Policy

    SUBSCRIBE

    Sign Up Today and start getting my easy-to-make restaurant-quality recipes!

    CONTACT

    • About
    • Contact
    © 2009-2023 · Ask Chef Dennis ·

    Proud Member of:
    Mediavine Publisher Network
    968 shares
    • 277