Chicken Marsala

Today we’re making a creamy comforting Italian classic: chicken Marsala.

This chicken Marsala will be ready before you know it, so let’s get started.

Ingredients & Prep

First off, mince about two tablespoons of garlic. Give it a good smash and then mince it up. I read two tablespoons as five cloves in case you’re wondering. Set the garlic aside.

Now we’re just gonna prep the chicken. For this recipe I’m using two chicken breasts, which is about one and a half pounds. We’re gonna slice this down the middle to two cutlets and now pound it out really quickly. Don’t forget to wash your hands.

We’re going to sprinkle the chicken evenly with about a teaspoon and a half of salt and half a teaspoon of pepper. There we go, flip it over and repeat. The nice thing about this dish is it’s so easy—it’s a weeknight treat and it’s just the perfect combination of creamy with a lot of depth of flavor from the Marsala itself, and of course the mushrooms.

Dredging the Chicken

Add about half a cup of flour onto a shallow dish or a little bowl. You could also do this in a plastic bag if you prefer, and now we’re just going to dredge the chicken. This will help it brown up and really capture a lot of the flavor from the juices, and set it aside. You do want to make sure to dust off any excess flour. If you’d like to add some extra spices or herbs to your dredging mixture, go ahead—there are so many delicious flavors that you can add—but for today we’re going to keep it nice and classic.

Browning the Chicken

Now that our chicken is dredged, it’s time to go onto the pan. Use a big pan and either have a stainless one or a cast iron if possible; they’re going to give you a really nice browning on the chicken. Heat about a quarter cup of olive oil over medium-high heat until you see it start to shimmer. My olive oil is dancing in the pan, so we are going to cook the chicken for three to four minutes on either side until it’s browned. Turn it over once it’s lightly browned. While the chicken’s cooking, grab a wire rack for it to drain and rest on.

Chicken Marsala goes with a ton of things, but in my opinion the best is pasta that’s freshly cooked with a little bit of browned butter and some salt. My chicken is lightly browned; I’m going to set it onto a wire rack to hang out for a bit. If things got a little crazy in the pan, you can wipe it down and just get some of the charred bits out—those are not going to have as much flavor as the brown bits; they’re different.

Mushroom & Sauce Base

Now we’re going to add two tablespoons of butter, two tablespoons of olive oil, and place this over medium heat. Now I’m adding eight ounces of sliced mushrooms. You can use any mushroom you enjoy; these are button mushrooms, but cremini, brown mushrooms—they’re all great, and this is about as many mushrooms as your pan can handle before it becomes overcrowded. Sprinkle in half a teaspoon of salt and half a teaspoon of pepper. Stir occasionally and you want to see some color on those mushrooms. If your pan has a nice even heat like this one, you don’t have to worry about moving the mushrooms around that much; you really have to flip them over once or twice. If you have some hot spots, though, go ahead and move them around. Mushrooms are one of my favorite things to eat; I will just order a big plate of mushrooms at restaurants when that’s available, so this dish is a no-brainer.

Once your mushrooms are lightly browned, you’re gonna add the garlic in and stir a lot—don’t let that garlic burn; that’s a recipe for bitter unhappiness. Immediately you get this wonderful aromatic whiff of garlic coming out. You want to get it a little bit translucent, not burnt. I’m getting occasional whiffs of this Marsala and it’s so good—it’s the key ingredient in cannolis and it just has this wonderful flavor to it; you should definitely have some in your pantry.

One minute later, we’re gonna sprinkle in a tablespoon of flour and just coat everything with the flour and let it toast up a bit. We’re gonna measure out three quarters of a cup of Marsala right now. Marsala is a fortified wine, so it has a little bit of brandy in it, basically. If you don’t have Marsala but you want to make this, you can use a dry white wine with like a tablespoon or so of brandy added to it. Immediately it looks silky, velvety—it’s everything you want it to be. After the alcohol is cooked down, we’re going to add half a cup of chicken stock, mix it in, and now we’re going to reduce the heat to low and just let this simmer and reduce to become this velvety, buttery sauce that you’re going to love.

Finishing the Sauce & Serving

Our sauce has thickened up and now it’s time to stir in a quarter cup of heavy cream. After you add the cream in, it’s time to return the chicken to where it belongs, which is that warm, creamy pan. Place that in; we’re gonna let this warm through on medium-low to low heat for two to four minutes, depending on how cold it is in your kitchen—it makes a difference.

My chicken’s warmed through; this smells delicious and it’s ready to plate. I’ll be serving mine with linguine. So delicious—no one’s gonna believe how easy it was.