Easy Weeknight or Dinner Party Chicken Marsala
This fabulous Chicken Marsala with super tender, pan-seared chicken, caramelized mushrooms and a succulent, silky sauce is a delicious way to make a weeknight special and elegant enough to serve for a fancy dinner party!
Ingredients
For the mushrooms:
- 12 ounces Crimini, Bella or button mushrooms sliced about ¼-inch thick
- ½ cup low-sodium chicken broth
- 2 tablespoons Marsala wine
- 1 tablespoon butter
- ¼ teaspooon kosher salt
For the chicken:
- 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 1 ½ teaspoon garlic salt
- 1 ½ teaspoon Italian seasoning
- 1 teaspoon sweet paprika
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- 1 ½ pounds boneless skinless chicken breast cutlets or whole chicken breasts cut in half horizontally to create two thinner fillets
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tablespoon butter
For the sauce:
- 1 medium shallot finely chopped
- 2 medium garlic cloves finely minced
- 1 cup Marsala wine
- 2 cups low-sodium chicken broth
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 2 teaspoons fresh thyme leaves
- ½ cup heavy cream
- 1 tablespoon water
- 2 teaspoons cornstarch
To finish:
- fresh thyme leaves for garnish
Instructions
For the mushrooms:
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Combine the mushrooms, chicken broth, Marsala wine, butter and salt in a large skillet or sauté pan over medium high heat. Bring to a boil and cook uncovered for 5-8 minutes or until almost all of the broth mixture has evaporated, stirring occasionally.
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Reduce the heat to medium and spread the mushrooms out to a single layer. At this point, you want to start stirring every 1-2 minutes, allowing the mushrooms to brown in between. Continue cooking until the mushrooms are a nice golden brown then transfer to a plate while you cook the chicken.
For the chicken:
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Combine the flour, garlic salt, Italian seasoning, paprika and pepper in a gallon size ziplock bag. Pat the chicken cutlets dry with a paper towel and add them to the bag. Seal the bag and shake, turning the bag from side to side until all of the chicken is nicely coated with the flour mixture.
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In the same large skillet or sauté pan, heat the oil and butter over medium heat until bubbly and fragrant. Pull the chicken breasts from the bag, one at a time, shaking off any excess flour and placing them in the pan in a single layer.
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Cook for 2 minutes then turn each breast to the opposite side and cook for another minute. Remove the chicken to a clean plate. (If your chicken breasts are large, you may need to do this in two batches, adding a little extra oil to the pan for the second batch, if needed.)
For the sauce:
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Reduce the heat to low. If the pan seems dry, add a small amount of extra olive oil and swirl the pan to coat. Add the shallots to the pan and cook for 2 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the garlic and cook for another 20 seconds.
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Add the Marsala wine and bring the mixture to a boil. Scrape the pan with a wooden spoon or spatula to loosen any brown bits on the bottom of the pan. Cook until most of the wine has evaporated. Add the chicken broth and salt, return to a boil and cook for another 5 minutes to reduce the broth slightly.
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Lower the heat slightly and slowly add the cream to the simmering broth, stirring continuously. Return the mixture to a low simmer. Combine the water and cornstarch and stir until smooth. Drizzle the cornstarch mixture into the simmering sauce and stir to combine.
To finish:
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Add half of the mushrooms and the fresh thyme to the pan and stir to combine. Add the chicken then cover the pan and simmer gently for 3 minutes to finish cooking the chicken (5 minutes if your chicken breasts are large). Scatter the remaining mushrooms over the top, cover and turn off the heat. Allow everything to rest for 5 minutes. Serve and enjoy! Garnish with more fresh thyme leaves.
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To prep this meal up to an hour before serving, just prepare the recipe though making the sauce. Add the chicken and mushrooms back into the pan with the sauce. Cover, but do not cook anymore at this point. About 10 minutes before dinner, uncover and bring the sauce to a gentle simmer. Cover and simmer and allow the chicken to rest as directed above in the last step.
Recipe Notes
See Café Tips above in the post for more detailed instructions and tips to ensure success.
If you prefer to use Metric measurements there is a button in each of our recipes, right above the word “Instructions”. Just click that button to toggle to grams, milliliters, etc. If you ever come across one of our recipes that doesn’t have the Metric conversion (some of the older recipes may not), feel free to leave a comment and I will add it.