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Home » Recipes » Chicken Recipes

Classic Chicken Marsala Recipe

Published: May 13, 2019 · Modified: Jun 22, 2025 by Chef Dennis Littley

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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.

Overhead shot of chicken marsala on a white platter.


 

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.

Table of Contents:
  • Ingredients
  • How to Make Chicken Marsala
  • Chef Tip:
  • What Marsala should I use?
  • More Recipes You’ll Love!
  • Recipe: Classic Chicken Marsala Recipe

Ingredients

Ingredients to make the recipe.

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.

Sauteed chicken breast with mushrooms in a frying pan.
  • 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.

Marsala added to the pan.

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.

Stock and cream added to the saute pan.

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.

how to make beurre manie

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.

Beurre manie added to the pan.

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.

Chicken marsala 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.

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

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Classic Chicken Marsala

Classic Chicken Marsala Recipe

Chef Dennis Littley
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.
4.96 from 85 votes
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Prep Time 5 minutes mins
Cook Time 20 minutes mins
Total Time 25 minutes mins
Course Entree
Cuisine Italian – American
Servings 2
Calories 337 kcal

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 tablespoon butter
  • ⅛ teaspoon black pepper
  • ¼ teaspoon granulated onion
  • 1 cup chicken stock
  • 1 cup Marsala
  • 1 tablespoon heavy cream optional

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: 337kcalCarbohydrates: 26gProtein: 6gFat: 10gSaturated Fat: 6gTrans Fat: 1gCholesterol: 29mgSodium: 193mgPotassium: 756mgFiber: 1gSugar: 13gVitamin A: 289IUVitamin C: 1mgCalcium: 42mgIron: 1mg
Tried this recipe? Pin it for Later!Mention @askchefdennis or tag #askchefdennis!
pinterest image.

Comments

    4.96 from 85 votes (67 ratings without comment)

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    Recipe Rating




  1. Carla says

    February 07, 2025 at 9:58 pm

    5 stars
    Absolutely Delcious!

    Reply
    • Chef Dennis Littley says

      February 07, 2025 at 11:02 pm

      Thank you!

      Reply
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My name is Chef Dennis Littley, creator and owner of Ask Chef Dennis Productions. 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.

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