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Home Quick and Easy

Chicken Marsala

By:Nagi
Published:12 Jun '23Updated:13 Jun '23
66 Comments
Recipe v Video v Dozer v

Chicken Marsala – Golden crispy cutlets, rich creamy Marsala wine sauce. Comforting yet luxurious. Midweek-fast yet restaurant-worthy. Economical. Easy. The perfect meal!

Freshly cooked Chicken Marsala in a pan

Chicken Marsala

Chicken Marsala is an Italian-American classic, one of those dishes born from blending Italian recipes with American tastes. A dish that is now so beloved that it’s a staple in restaurants across the States and well beyond.

One bite is all it takes to be hooked for life, just as I was!

It’s essentially a variation of traditional Italian scaloppine dishes. A thin chicken cutlet is coated in flour then pan fried until crispy and golden, then smothered in a rich sauce that is flavoured with Marsala which is a fortified Italian wine.

Marsala is one of those secret weapon ingredients. A splash of that, and it’s like you added stock, honey, vinegar and Worcestershire sauce with a touch woody nuttiness into the sauce. The flavour that goes so well with chicken, especially with a little bit of cream to finish it off.

That sauce! It’s absolutely stunning. Thank you Mr Marsala!

Spoon Marsala sauce over chicken

This one’s for the grown-ups 🙂

And in case you’re worried, no, the sauce doesn’t taste “alcoholic” at all. The Marsala wine is simmered rapidly to cook out most of the alcohol, leaving behind just the flavour.

Having said that though, this dish uses more than the usual small splash of wine I use in other recipes so it’s not one I’d recommend for the kids. I’d recommend the Chicken in Creamy Mushroom Sauce instead – everyone can enjoy that!

Golden pan seared chicken for Chicken Marsala
Golden pan fried chicken cutlets
Making Chicken Marsala sauce
The Marsala wine is reduced by half to cook out the alcohol

Ingredients in chicken marsala

As noted above, the key ingredient in Chicken Marsala Sauce is marsala which is a fortified wine (like port) from the Marsala region of Italy. It’s got a sweet, nutty flavour that’s more complex and richer than red wine.

Use a dry marsala rather than sweet marsala which is more commonly used in desserts.

Marsala wine for Chicken Marsala

It’s a standard item at liquor stores and while premium marsala is pricey, there’s no need to go crazy here. The marsala pictured below cost around $20 but you can pick up bottles for less than $10. It will last “forever” and can be used in place of port in dishes like Slow Cooked Pork Braised Lamb Shanks.

Substitutes – Port wine, sherry, or madeira. For non alcoholic version of this recipe, use Chicken with Creamy Mushroom Sauce!

Everything else you need

And here’s the other ingredients you need.

Ingredients in Chicken Marsala
  • Chicken breast – 2 large ones which we split in 2 horizontally to create 4 steaks in total. Substitute with four boneless chicken thighs.

  • Cream – To add a little luxuriousness to the sauce. To reduce calories a bit, you can substitute with evaporated milk as cream is not the primary ingredient in this sauce. The sauce will not have the same creamy mouthful but it will still have the same beautiful marsala flavour.

  • Chicken stock/broth – To add savouriness into the sauce. Without it, it’s just lacking a bit of flavour.

  • Eschalot / French onion (called shallots in the US) – I like using eschalots in this dish because they are sweeter and also finer so they kind of meld into the finished sauce better, rather than having chunky lumps of onion. However, you can substitute with 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).

  • Mushrooms – White mushrooms or Swiss brown/cremini. Whichever you prefer!

  • Butter and oil – For cooking the chicken and making the sauce. We want the butter for flavour, but it burns if we only use butter so it’s best to use oil as well.

  • Flour – To add a lovely golden crust on the chicken that the sauce can cling to!

  • Garlic – Because…garlic!

  • Parsley – Just an optional garnish!


How to make Chicken Marsala

Chicken Marsala is made by cooking the chicken first until golden and crispy. Then it’s set aside on a plate while the sauce is made in the same pan (we want all those tasty chicken drippings in the sauce!) , then added back into the sauce at the end just to warm through again.

How to make Chicken Marsala
  1. Pound chicken Cut each breast in half to form 2 thin steaks (so you have 4 in total). Cover with a freezer bag or Go-Between and pound to 1 cm / 0.4″ thickness using a meat mallet or rolling pin. Go-between is like cling wrap but it’s thicker and doesn’t stick to itself. Sold alongside cling wrap at the grocery store, it’s useful for keeping stacked food in the freezer from sticking to each other, and protecting meat from being damaged when pounding.

    Why we pound the meat – To make the chicken even thickness so it cooks through evenly as well as tenderising it.

  2. Season and dust – Sprinkle the chicken with salt and pepper. Then sprinkle with flour and lightly rub it across the surface with your hands.

    Shake off excess flour before cooking, else you’ll end up with lots of excess flour in the pan which will burn.

  3. Sear chicken – Melt the butter and heat the oil in a large non-stick pan over medium high heat. When the butter is foamy, cook the chicken for 4 minutes until golden and crispy. Turn the chicken then cook the other side for 2 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through.

  4. Remove the chicken onto a plate and set aside while we make the sauce in the same pan. It will cool down but that’s ok because we reheat the chicken in the sauce just before serving.

How to make Chicken Marsala
  1. Make sauce – Using the same pan, because we want all the tasty flavour left by searing the chicken, melt the remaining butter and oil. Sauté the eschalots and garlic for just 1 minute – this gives them a head start as well as flavouring the butter/oil. Then cook the mushrooms until they soften – this takes around 4 to 5 minutes.

  2. Reduce marsala – Next, rapidly simmer the marsala for a few minutes until it reduces by half. This not only cooks out most of the alcohol flavour but also reduces and concentrates the flavour.

  3. Creamy and thickened – Pour in the cream, salt and pepper. Then simmer for 3 to 5 minutes or until the sauce thickens to a cream consistency. Initially the sauce will be quite pale but it will darken as it reduces.

    Don’t let it reduce and thicken too much as we are simmering it for a further 1 minute to re-warm the chicken and the sauce thickens a surprising amount as it cools when serving.

  4. Re-warm chicken – Put the chicken into the sauce and let it simmer for 1 minute, just to reheat. Don’t forget to pour in any juices pooled on the plate – never waste free flavour!

Freshly cooked Chicken Marsala ready to be served
Close up of eating Chicken Marsala

What to serve with Chicken Marsala

A sauce this good requires some form of starchy vehicle for sauce soaking / mopping. Mashed potato (pictured), creamy polenta, pasta (long, short, small), even rice. I can totally 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 side. If you’ve made the salad before, you’ll understand the name! – Nagi x


Watch how to make it

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Freshly cooked Chicken Marsala in a pan

Chicken Marsala

Author: Nagi
Prep: 10 minutes mins
Cook: 15 minutes mins
Mains
Italian, Italian-American
5 from 24 votes
Servings4
Tap or hover to scale
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Recipe video above. A beloved Italian-American classic comprised of a crispy golden chicken cutlet smothered in a rich Marsala wine flavoured mushroom sauce. A restaurant favourite that's easy to make at home, one bite and you'll be hooked for life like I was!
The key flavour here is Marsala wine so if you can't consume alcohol or don't have it, make Chicken in Creamy Mushroom Sauce instead! Also, this dish uses more alcohol than my usual "just a splash of wine" so it's not recommended for kids. 🙂

Ingredients

Golden crusted chicken:

  • 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

Marsala sauce:

  • 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

Chicken escalopes:

  • 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.

Creamy marsala sauce:

  • 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!).

Recipe 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. 

Nutrition Information:

Calories: 524cal (26%)Carbohydrates: 16g (5%)Protein: 36g (72%)Fat: 28g (43%)Saturated Fat: 13g (81%)Polyunsaturated Fat: 2gMonounsaturated Fat: 11gTrans Fat: 0.3gCholesterol: 146mg (49%)Sodium: 638mg (28%)Potassium: 877mg (25%)Fiber: 1g (4%)Sugar: 8g (9%)Vitamin A: 756IU (15%)Vitamin C: 6mg (7%)Calcium: 46mg (5%)Iron: 2mg (11%)
Keywords: chicken marsala
Did you make this recipe?I love hearing how you went with my recipes! Tag me on Instagram at @recipe_tin.

Life of Dozer

I spent this morning in a photography studio with a team of professionals shooting recipes for a magazine. Dozer came. So much food, so many people to harass. He was in his element! (And his conversion rate was extremely high).

Pictured below with Rob Palmer (photographer) and Emma Knowles (stylist). I love working with these two!

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Hi, I'm Nagi!

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66 Comments

  1. Rebecca T says

    December 8, 2023 at 3:44 am

    5 stars
    Wow, just wow!!
    We ordered this dish at an expensive restaurant in Monterey, CA a month ago but I made this last night and it was by far superior! Nagi knocked it out of the park, again! Kiss kiss

    Reply
  2. Sharron Murray says

    December 5, 2023 at 8:06 am

    5 stars
    Absolutely delicious, juicy and tender chicken. I love this dish.

    Reply
  3. Esther says

    November 5, 2023 at 11:40 pm

    5 stars
    Ohh my…this is a little delicious. Served with virtuous steamed veg 🤣 and baked potato.

    Did not have cream or evaporated milk on hand but did have sour cream. Still delightful.

    ..and easy.

    Mid night meal or dinner party as the tenderising of the chicken takes it next level,.

    Reply
  4. Shaheen says

    September 13, 2023 at 2:53 am

    5 stars
    your recipe is really awesome, i always follow your delicious recipe at home.

    Reply
    • Anna G says

      October 4, 2023 at 5:17 pm

      5 stars
      My family loved this and asked for it to be put on the regular rotation but fancy enough for a small dinner party. Thanks for another amazing, quick & easy meal.

      Reply
  5. Pat Rolt says

    September 3, 2023 at 6:06 pm

    Nagi, I’m sorry to say that Glad Go-Between is not available at IGA, Woolworths, Coles and Amazon Australia. I don’t know if this is temporary or not. I have emailed Glad and asked when it will be available again.

    Reply
  6. Melinda says

    September 2, 2023 at 3:12 am

    5 stars
    This was a delicious dish. I appreciated the very detailed instructions. The precise cooking times provided were foolproof. Thank you Nagi and Team!

    Reply
  7. Alice says

    August 27, 2023 at 8:55 am

    5 stars
    Absolutely delicious – my housemates and I loved it! Will be adding to the list of things to cook again

    Reply
  8. Julie says

    August 24, 2023 at 4:14 pm

    5 stars
    I first made chicken Marsala back in 1982 for a dinner party, your recipe is so much more delicious!

    Reply
  9. Shaheen says

    August 1, 2023 at 6:28 pm

    I’m usually not a fan of this ingredient, but in this recipe, it worked wonders! It’s now a new favorite of mine

    Reply
  10. Jlee says

    July 31, 2023 at 2:18 am

    Never worry when I make one of her receipes because I know they will be wonderful ifthe first time.

    Reply
  11. Bec says

    July 6, 2023 at 2:50 pm

    5 stars
    Made this for dinner last night. It was so delicious! Not too creamy and the Marsala is a flavour I hadn’t used before but it was so good! This meal is similar to stroganoff but much nicer. Loved it – thank you!

    Reply
  12. lucretia battle says

    July 3, 2023 at 11:56 am

    5 stars
    winner winner chicken dinner – a great dish and another excellent make in advance meal –

    Reply
  13. Grandmalyn says

    June 29, 2023 at 10:54 pm

    5 stars
    Just lovely. Only had Boronia sweet Marsala, but was still delicious. Used to make this with veal years ago. Will make again.

    Reply
  14. Renate says

    June 29, 2023 at 3:39 am

    When you say “1 garlic”, you mean one clove, right?

    Reply
  15. Ailsa McQuade says

    June 28, 2023 at 6:00 pm

    Would sherry (I have sweet and possibly cream) work in this instead of Marsala? Trying to use up the sherry and I have heaps of Maryland’s in the freezer(they were on special)

    Reply
  16. Susan Minihane says

    June 27, 2023 at 2:48 pm

    5 stars
    Another excellent, tasty, recipe. I really enjoy your short videos and detailed explanations. They are very helpful.

    Reply
  17. Allyson Hartley says

    June 27, 2023 at 8:42 am

    5 stars
    Excellent! I made this for dinner tonight and my husband loved it. I used precut “cutlets” and was concerned they might get dry as they were thin – they did not. I cooked them as directed and they were perfect. The sauce was silky and everything came together so quickly. Another winner – many thanks!

    Reply
  18. Ann L Albert says

    June 25, 2023 at 8:25 am

    5 stars
    I love this recipe. I couldn’t find Marsala, but I had some Tawny Port on hand. It was delicious. I thought it would be too sweet, but it was really good. Will try a dryer wine next time, just to see the difference. I think a dry sherry would be fine. Nagi, your directions are so clear and easy to follow. Thank you.

    Reply
  19. Mandy says

    June 21, 2023 at 5:36 pm

    5 stars
    Husband’s turn to cook. He picked this one. Was quick and easy and tasty. Went down well with everyone.

    Reply
  20. Diane Lepore says

    June 20, 2023 at 6:46 am

    5 stars
    I made this last night and pretty much followed recipe exactly except I used garlic salt and more garlic, and a couple shakes of dried thyme. It was very delish! Served it with Orzo pasta. The chicken breast was very tender. I will be making again, because i have lots of Marsala left!

    Reply
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I believe you can make great food with everyday ingredients even if you’re short on time and cost conscious. You just need to cook clever and get creative! Read More

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