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This Chicken Marsala Recipe is one of those dishes my kids always look forward to me making. Sauteed tender and juicy chicken breasts in a savory Marsala mushroom sauce that’s ready in less than 30 minutes.
I love how quick it is to make this chicken marsala. It comes in handy when I have no clue what to make because you just can’t go wrong with it and everyone will love it. My kids love it with this healthy mash potatoes, and I love it served with white basmati rice. Most times I would add a side of veggies with it like this air fryer broccoli or these sauteed green beans.
If you want to keep this a completely low-carb meal, serve it with my cauliflower mash, or you may serve it with Cauliflower rice!
Recipe Overview
Before you get started
→ If you want to use boneless and skinless chicken thighs, you can. I would recommend you trim the excess fat from them.
→ Typically, for chicken marsala, you would use marsala wine, but since I do not consume alcohol, I do not use it in my recipes. Instead of the Marsala wine, I used a mix of balsamic Vinegar and honey. But feel free to use Marsala wine.
Frequently asked questions
Most times, when you allow any sauce to simmer down, it will start to thicken. But you can speed up this process by adding a thickening agent like cornstarch, arrowroot powder, xanthan gum, or some whole wheat flour.
If you have leftovers, store them in a sealed container in the fridge for up to 4 days.
Yes. You can place them in a freezer-safe container in the fridge for up to 2 months. Thaw when ready to serve in a saucepan or reheat in a microwave.
Ingredients needed
Below is a list of the ingredients I used to make this chicken marsala and what you can substitute them with. The full list and measurements are listed further down in the recipe card.
- Chicken breasts: You may use boneless and skinless chicken thighs or chicken tenderloins. If you use chicken breasts and they are more on the thick side, you can thinly slice them.
- Olive Oil: A lot of times I use avocado oil in place of olive oil.
- Salt and Black pepper to taste
- Mushrooms: Use whatever mushrooms you have on hand or you like. I like cremini, but any will work. If in a pinch and you want to use canned mushrooms, it will work too, but fresh tastes best.
- Chicken broth: Use any broth on hand, vegetable broth or beef broth works.
- Marsala Cooking wine: Other wine choices can be white wine, dry Marsala wine, or dessert wine. I do not consume any alcohol, so I always use a mix of balsamic vinegar and some honey instead.
- Butter: any butter of your choice, or use olive oil. Use unsalted if you are using butter.
- Corn starch: Or use gluten-free flour or flour of your choice if you prefer not to use corn starch. The corn starch will make the sauce thick and works best, but flour also works. Tapioca flour is good too.
- Chopped Parsley: Use dried parsley, used to garnish so it is optional
How to make chicken Marsala
I am going to show you how to make the best and tastiest chicken marsala every time.
1️⃣ Prepare and cook the chicken
Season the chicken on both sides with salt and pepper. Heat the olive oil in a large pan over medium-high heat. Cook the chicken for 4-5 minutes on each side, until golden brown and cooked through. Remove the chicken from the pan; place on a plate and cover with foil to keep warm.
✏️ Try not to overcook the chicken as it will continue to cook as it sits and when it simmers in the sauce.
2️⃣ Saute the mushroom
Add the mushrooms to the pan and cook until softened, 3-4 minutes. Season the mushrooms with salt and pepper. Add garlic and sprinkle with the cornstarch. Continue to saute, stirring continuously, for 1 minute.
3️⃣ Make the sauce
In a small jug, whisk the balsamic and honey until the honey has dissolved. Reduce the heat to medium-low.
To the pan, add the balsamic mixture (or if you are using marsala wine, add that) and cook, stirring continuously, until mostly evaporated and thickened, about 2 minutes.
Add the chicken broth and bring the sauce to a simmer. Simmer for 3-4 minutes and stir constantly until the sauce has just thickened.
✏️ If you do not have chicken broth, use any other broth on hand. Do not simmer the sauce until it is too thick. If the sauce thickens too much, then either thin it out with a bit of broth or water.
4️⃣ Mix in the chicken
Add the chicken back to the pan and spoon with the mushroom sauce. Top with parsley, if desired, and serve.
✏️ If the chicken has cooled, let it simmer on the lowest setting for 1-2 minutes.
Easy Chicken Marsala
Ingredients
- 1.25 pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts, Mine were quite small, if bigger then cut in half lengthwise
- Kosher salt and pepper, to taste
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 cups sliced mushrooms
- 3-4 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 3 tablespoons aged balsamic vinegar
- 1 tablespoon honey, heaping, or 2 tablespoon
- 1 cup chicken broth
Optional:
- 1 tablespoon finely chopped parsley
Instructions
- Season the 1.25 pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts on both sides with Kosher salt and pepper. Heat the 1 tablespoon olive oil in a large pan over medium-high heat.
- Cook the chicken for 5-6 minutes on each side, until golden brown and cooked through. Remove the chicken from the pan; place on a plate and cover with foil to keep warm
- Add the 2 cups sliced mushrooms to the pan and cook until softened, 3-4 minutes. Season the mushrooms with salt and pepper. Add 3-4 garlic cloves (minced) and sprinkle with the 1 tablespoon cornstarch. Continue to saute, stirring continuously, for 1 minute.
- In a small jug, whisk the 3 tablespoons aged balsamic vinegar and 1 tablespoon honey until the honey has dissolved. Reduce the heat to medium-low.
- To the pan add the balsamic mixture and cook, stirring continuously, until mostly evaporated and thickened, about 2 minutes.
- Add the 1 cup chicken broth and bring the sauce to a simmer. Simmer for 3-4 minutes and stir constantly until the sauce has just thickened.
- Add the chicken back to the pan and spoon with the mushroom sauce. Top with 1 tablespoon finely chopped parsley, if desired, and serve.
Notes
- To replace the balsamic and honey mixture, use 1/4 cup Marsala wine.
- If the chicken breasts are too thick, I recommend you slice them lengthwise to make them thinner.
- Use any type of mushroom you have on hand.
- Boneless and skinless chicken thighs will work too if you do not want to use chicken breasts.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
You may also like
- Parmesan Zucchini Corn Salad
- Roasted Smoked sweet potatoes
- Eggplant and Zucchini Gratin
- Butternut squash Casserole
- Herbed Potato Salad
- Honey Roasted Balsamic Glazed Carrots
More Chicken Recipes
- Easy Chicken Chili
- Asparagus Stuffed Chicken Breast
- Lemon Garlic Chicken Skillet With Asparagus
- Easy Creamy Garlic Chicken Skillet
- Honey Mustard Grilled Chicken
- Salsa Fresca baked chicken breast
- Grilled BBQ chicken skewers
So yummy
Looks so yummy
This was one of the few recipes that actually took the amount of time as advertised so it was ready in a short amount of time. It was easy, absolutely delicious, and will definitely be a keeper in my dinner rotation. My only question is: Why wasn’t the butter included in the directions? I used it to cook the mushrooms along with the remaining liquid in the pan after cooking the chicken.
This was one of the few recipes that actually took the amount of time as advertised so it was ready in a short amount of time. It was easy, absolutely delicious, and will definitely be a keeper in my dinner rotation. Thank you!
Thanks for the feedback. Happy you loved it
This was fantastic! Only thing is I did double the ingredients on the sauce because I like it extra saucy and I added more mushrooms. But absolutely delicious.
great idea. Who doesn’t love extra sauce. yummy
Couldn’t have been easier or tastier, thank you for the recipe!
Thanks! Happy you liked it.
Butter? Recipe calls for butter. No butter in the instructions.
We fixed it. no butter needed. Sorry about the confusion.