Chicken Marsala {with Creamy Marsala Sauce}

Published February 29, 2020. Updated January 21, 2021

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Chicken Marsala with a creamy sauce! This classic Italian-American chicken recipe includes tender, perfectly pan seared chicken cutlets, and flavor enhancing browned mushrooms, and it’s all covered with a richly seasoned marsala wine, garlic and herb sauce.

Four servings of chicken marsala in a large skillet covered with creamy chicken marsala wine and mushroom sauce.

Who doesn’t love a dish like this that you can make at home and skip the $20+ restaurant price tag per serving?

This Chicken Marsala recipe is equally as good as what you’ll get at an Italian restaurant so it’s the perfect thing to make on your own, and of course a great dish to serve to guests.

And my version comes together quickly since you reduce the marsala wine separately while the chicken and mushrooms cook. I’m all about saving time.

The other great thing about this recipe is the addition of heavy cream. It really just improves the overall consistency, richness and flavor of the sauce. It helps balance out the acidity of the wine.

It’s a classic dish that does not disappoint!

Then with the leftover marsala wine why not make homemade cannoli? It would make for a dinner sure to impress anyone lucky enough to enjoy!

Close up image of single breast of Chicken Marsala

Ingredients Needed to Make Chicken Marsala

  • boneless skinless chicken breasts
  • salt and pepper
  • all-purpose flour
  • unsalted chicken broth
  • dry marsala wine
  • unsalted butter
  • olive oil
  • cremini (baby bella) mushrooms
  • garlic
  • fresh thyme, oregano and parsley
  • heavy cream
  • cornstarch

Ingredients shown here that are needed to make chicken marsala.

How to Make Chicken Marsala with Creamy Sauce

  1. Reduce marsala wine and broth: Add marsala wine and chicken broth to a medium saucepan. Heat over medium-high heat, bring to a boil, then reduce heat slightly and let gently boil until reduced to 1 cup, about 15 minutes.
  2. Prepare chicken cutlets: Meanwhile in season both sides of chicken with salt and pepper. Dredge in flour.
  3. Cook chicken through in skillet: Melt 1 Tbsp butter with 1 Tbsp olive oil in a 12-inch skillet over medium-high heat. Add chicken pieces and let sear until cooked through (165 in center), turning once halfway through, about 10 – 12 minutes.
  4. Set chicken aside, keep warm: Transfer chicken to a plate. Tent with foil.
  5. Saute mushrooms: Reduce burner temperature to medium heat. Melt remaining 1 Tbsp butter with 1 Tbsp olive oil, add mushrooms. Saute mushrooms, just tossing occasionally, until golden brown, about 8 minutes. Add garlic during last 1 minute of sautéing.
  6. Add reduced liquids and seasonings, thicken sauce: Remove pan from heat then pour in marsala reduction, thyme, and oregano. Return to heat, bring to a simmer then stir in cornstarch chicken broth mixture. Stir until thickened.
  7. Stir in cream, season sauce: Off heat stir in heavy cream, season sauce with salt and pepper to taste.
  8. Add sauce to chicken, garnish: Return chicken breasts to pan, spoon sauce over top. Sprinkle with parsley and serve immediately.

Image showing steps how to make chicken marsala including reducing marsala wine and broth in a saucepan. Pounding chicken cutlets, dredging in flour and pan searing. Image showing steps to making chicken marsala wine sauce including sauteing mushrooms in skillet, adding wine, adding cream. Then cooked chicken breasts are added to sauce.

Can I Use Sweet Marsala Wine?

I don’t recommend using sweet marsala wine. There is a generous amount of wine here and it is reduced so it would only sweeten the sauce that much more. I’d stick with dry for best results.

Is There a Substitute for the Wine?

Unfortunately for this recipe without the marsala wine it wouldn’t be chicken marsala so I don’t recommend substitutes. Instead I’d recommend trying my creamy mushroom chicken.

What to Serve with Chicken Marsala?

  • pasta
  • roasted vegetables
  • baked potatoes or mashed potatoes
  • steamed asparagus
  • cheesecake for dessert

Homemade chicken marsala in a large aluminum skillet.

Tips for the Best Chicken Marsala

  • Be sure to allow enough time for the marsala wine and chicken broth mixture to simmer so it cooks of the strong alcohol flavor, which could otherwise overpower the dish.
  • Stick with unsalted chicken broth, sauce is reduced quite a bit and you don’t want to end up with an overly salty dish.
  • Don’t use marsala “cooking wine”. It’s salted, has added preservatives, and just has an overall lower quality.
  • Use a medium-high heat to cook chicken for a nice pan seared browning (equating to great flavor).
  • Cover chicken with foil while you finish the sauce to keep it warm.
  • Don’t skip the flour. This encourages browning as well as gives the sauce something to cling to.
  • Don’t skip the cream. The best marsala sauce in my opinion is a creamy marsala sauce.

Chicken marsala on a white serving platter. Showing four servings.

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Chicken Marsala
5 from 32 votes

Chicken Marsala

This classic Italian-American chicken recipe includes tender, perfectly pan seared chicken cutlets, and flavor enhancing browned mushrooms, and it's all covered with a richly seasoned marsala wine, garlic and herb sauce.
Servings: 4
Prep15 minutes
Cook20 minutes
Ready in: 35 minutes

Ingredients

Instructions

  • Add marsala wine and chicken broth to a medium saucepan. Heat over medium-high heat, bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium and let gently boil until reduced to 1 cup**, about 15 minutes.
  • Meanwhile season both sides of chicken with salt and pepper. Dredge each side in flour.
  • Melt 1 Tbsp butter with 1 Tbsp olive oil in a 12-inch skillet over medium-high heat. Add chicken pieces and let sear until cooked through (165 in center), turning once halfway through, about 10 - 12 minutes.
  • Transfer chicken to a plate. Tent with foil.
  • Reduce burner temperature to medium heat. Melt remaining 1 Tbsp butter with 1 Tbsp olive oil, add mushrooms.
  • Sauté mushrooms, just tossing occasionally (and increasing burner temp slightly as needed to encourage browning), until mushrooms have shrunk and are golden brown, about 8 minutes. Add garlic during last 1 minute of sautéing.
  • Remove pan from heat then pour in marsala reduction***, thyme and oregano.
  • Return to heat, bring to a simmer, while scraping up browned bits from the bottom, then stir in cornstarch chicken broth mixture. Stir until thickened****.
  • Off heat stir in heavy cream, season sauce with salt and pepper to taste. Return chicken breasts to pan, spoon sauce over top.
  • Sprinkle with parsley and serve immediately.

Notes

  • *If you want a more mild marsala flavor in the dish you can reduce marsala wine down to 3/4 cup and then increase chicken broth to 1 3/4 cups.
  • **If by chance it was accidentally reduced to less than 1 cup then just add more chicken broth to reach 1 cup.
  • ***Depending on the wine you may also want to add a pinch or two of sugar if it has no sweetness to it to balance the acidity.
  • ****If sauce seems a little thick add a splash of chicken broth, if its seems a little thin you can add in a little extra cornstarch mixed with broth.
Nutrition Facts
Chicken Marsala
Amount Per Serving
Calories 448 Calories from Fat 216
% Daily Value*
Fat 24g37%
Saturated Fat 10g63%
Cholesterol 133mg44%
Sodium 200mg9%
Potassium 944mg27%
Carbohydrates 11g4%
Fiber 1g4%
Sugar 3g3%
Protein 33g66%
Vitamin A 617IU12%
Vitamin C 5mg6%
Calcium 45mg5%
Iron 2mg11%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
Nutrition values are estimates only. See full disclaimer here.

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91 Comments

  • Donna

    Hi. I want to make this and keep in chafing (warmer w/burners underneath) till serves. Hr or so. Will the heavy cream curdle or hold under heat. TU

  • Diane Gutman

    Made this as written but, I didn’t measure the herbs as I just cut them fresh. I didn’t have cornstarch so, I used tapioca flour. Not the same, will buy cornstarch next time. My husband orders Chicken Marsala a lot and said this was incredible. Served with linguine this time. Will try mashed potatoes next time.

  • Erigirl

    First time making this Marsala chicken and it put others to shame. I will definitely be making this again. By the way, I made it with a sweet Marsala wine and it still came out good!

  • Char

    Can any of the steps of this recipe be made ahead and reheated prior to serving? I always look for great recipes that I can prep ahead of time, then cook for guests. This way I’m not spending all my time in the kitchen.

    • Jaclyn

      Jaclyn Bell

      While you can the quality just won’t be quite as good.

    • Catherine

      I used to work as a cook at a golf course and we used to serve chicken marsala when we had banquets after golf tournaments. We would brown the chicken on both sides and layer overlapping in a casserole dish and cover with foil and we would stick the chicken into the oven @350° to finish cooking it for about 25 min more right before serving and then we would spoon the marsala sauce over the finished chicken right before putting it out on the banquet table. The sauce can be reheated in a double boiler if made ahead of time also. Just garnish with a little green onion on top right before serving. Your guests won’t be able to tell the difference and you’ll be able to visit with your guests instead of being stuck in the kitchen.

        • Jaclyn

          Jaclyn Bell

          That’s possible it you create a roux (after sautéing mushroom) by melting 1.5 tbsp butter and adding 1.5 tbsp flour, cooking 1 minute then whisk in the wine and broth.

    • Jaclyn

      Jaclyn Bell

      While you can the quality just won’t be quite as good.

  • Kathleen

    This is the best Chicken Marsala recipe that I have ever tried. I added more chicken broth for some more sauce but the next time I would definitely double the sauce. It was excellent!!