Chicken Marsala is one of those dishes that sounds intimidating to make, but is really pretty simple. There are several steps, but if you follow the order that I outline, things flow smoothly and quickly. In 45 minutes, you’ll be serving up a delicious dish that’s fit for a weeknight dinner, or a nice party. Good luck!
Chicken Marsala
Gently clean the mushrooms. I’ve heard that you’re not supposed to wash them ~ just brush the dirt off, but that seems gross, to me. So I run them under a very gentle stream of water, while rubbing off any dirt.
Then I cut off the ends, and let them dry on a paper towel.
Slice them as uniformly as possible, and set aside.
Working with one at a time, put the chicken breast pieces in a a gallon-size plastic zipper bag, squeeze out the air, and seal. Use the smooth side of a mallet to pound them to 1/4 inch thickness. That’s a little more than double their original size.
Cut eat pounded piece in half. (You will now have 8 pieces.)
Combine the flour, garlic salt, salt, pepper, paprika, and poultry seasoning in a shallow bowl or pie plate.
Dredge each piece of chicken in the flour, covering all sides.
Set aside for a few minutes.
Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Watch carefully so it doesn’t start to smoke. Add 1 tablespoon of butter, and saute the chicken until golden on each side. (approximately 3-4 minutes per side.)
You’ll need to do this in batches so it’s not overcrowded. Remove browned chicken from pan, and set aside.
Add another tablespoon of butter to the skillet, and saute the mushrooms.
Stir them frequently, as the pan will be hot. When they’ve given off their liquid, and turned brown, remove them from pan, and set aside. (They should look like this.) The whole process takes about 5 minutes.
Pour the wine into the skillet, and deglaze the pan. You do this by scraping all the bits from the bottom of the pan as the wine boils. Let it reduce by half. Since the skillet is pretty hot, this should only take about 5 more minutes.
Add the chicken broth to the Marsala, and bring it back to a boil. Boil for 3 minutes.
Lower the heat to medium, return the chicken to the pan, and let it finish cooking in the sauce. The sauce will thicken up as it simmers. This should take approximately 5 minutes.
Remove the chicken to a serving platter. If you like the consistency of your sauce, you may proceed to add the mushrooms to it. However, if it’s too runny for you …
Combine 3 tablespoons cool chicken broth (or water) with 2 teaspoons cornstarch.
Stir the cornstarch mixture into the boiling sauce, and stirring constantly, boil for 2 minutes.
Now return the mushrooms to the pan, and stir in the last 2 tablespoons of butter.
Serve the gravy with the chicken.
- 4 chicken breast halves (approximately 2 pounds)
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 4 tablespoons butter
- 8 ounces mushrooms
- 1 ½ cups Marsala wine
- 2 cups chicken broth
- ½ cup flour
- 1 teaspoon garlic salt
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
- ½ teaspoon paprika
- 1/8 teaspoon poultry seasoning
- 2 teaspoons cornstarch (optional)
- 3 tablespoons cool chicken broth or water (optional)
- Chopped chives, for garnish
- Mix flour, garlic salt, pepper, paprika, and poultry seasoning in a shallow dish or pie plate.
- Wash, dry and slice the mushrooms.
- Place each chicken piece in a plastic zipper bag, squeeze all the air out, and seal the bag.
- Pound the chicken with a meat mallet until ¼ inch thick.
- Cut each piece in half, giving you 8 pieces.
- Dredge the chicken in the flour mixture.
- Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add 1 tablespoon of the butter, and fry the chicken until golden on both sides. (about 4 minutes per side)
- Remove the chicken from the pan, and set aside.
- Add 1 more tablespoon of butter to the skillet, and add the mushrooms.
- Sauté the mushrooms until they give off their liquid and turn brown. Then remove them from the pan, and set aside.
- Add the Marsala to the skillet, and bring to a boil, scraping the pan to deglaze. Boil until it has reduced by half.
- Add the chicken broth, and bring back to a boil. Cook 3 minutes more.
- Lower the heat to medium, and return the chicken to the pan. Let it simmer in the sauce until it’s cooked through. (approximately 5-6 minutes)
- Remove the chicken from the sauce.
- If you want to thicken the gravy, dissolve the cornstarch in 3 tablespoons of cool chicken broth or water. Stir into the sauce and boil 2 minutes.
- Return the mushrooms to the sauce and stir in the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter.
- Serve immediately, garnished with chives.
Chicken Marsala