Why You’ll Love This this Restaurant-Style Creamy Marsala Chicken
This creamy chicken marsala brings all the fancy restaurant flavors right to your dinner table, with tender chicken swimming in a rich, wine-kissed sauce that’ll make you wonder why you ever bothered with takeout.
The mushrooms get perfectly golden and silky, while that splash of marsala wine adds just enough sophistication to make you feel like a real chef, even if you’re still wearing your pajama pants.
Plus, it’s surprisingly forgiving – if you accidentally overcook the chicken a bit or splash in extra wine, well, that just means more flavor, right?
Ingredients List
Let’s gather up everything you need to make this restaurant-worthy creamy chicken marsala that’ll have everyone thinking you went to culinary school.
- Olive oil
- 2-4 chicken breasts
- 2-3 tablespoons butter
- 300g mushrooms, sliced
- 3 green onions, sliced thinly
- 1/2 cup marsala wine
- 1 1/2 teaspoons instant chicken bouillon granules
- 1 cup water
- 1/2 lemon, juice of
- 1/2 cup cream
- 1 tablespoon basil, chopped finely
- 1 tablespoon cornflour
- Pepper
- Parsley, to sprinkle over
Ingredient Health Considerations:
- The cream and butter make this a richer dish, so maybe balance it with a light salad or steamed veggies
- Chicken breast is lean protein, which is always a win for keeping things relatively healthy
- Mushrooms pack nutrients and fiber, plus they soak up all that marsala goodness
- You can use lighter cream or even half-and-half if you want to dial back the richness without losing that silky sauce texture
Step by Step Directions
This creamy chicken marsala transforms simple ingredients into an elegant restaurant-quality dish with tender chicken and a rich, wine-infused sauce.
- Heat olive oil in a fry pan and cook chicken breasts until browned on both sides, about 6-8 minutes per side, then remove and set aside.
- Wipe the pan clean and melt butter in the same pan.
- Add sliced mushrooms and cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Add green onions and cook for an additional 2 minutes.
- Pour in marsala wine, add chicken bouillon granules, water, and lemon juice, stirring to combine.
- Add cream and chopped basil, stirring until well combined.
- Mix cornflour with a little water to create a slurry, then add to the sauce and stir until thickened.
- Season the sauce with pepper to taste.
- Return chicken breasts to the pan and simmer gently until heated through and fully cooked.
- Slice chicken breasts thickly and arrange on plates.
- Spoon the creamy marsala sauce over the chicken and sprinkle with parsley if desired.
For perfectly crispy chicken every time, consider using a cast iron deep fryer which provides superior heat retention and even cooking temperatures.
Substitutions and Variations
- Make it gluten-free – Skip the cornflour thickener and just let the cream reduce naturally, or use arrowroot powder if you really need that silky thickness.
- Bulk it up – Toss in some sun-dried tomatoes or artichoke hearts because apparently we all need more Mediterranean atmosphere in our lives.
Additional Things to Serve With This Dish
This creamy, wine-kissed chicken practically begs for some stellar sidekicks to complete the meal.
- Pasta or rice – Because you need something to catch all that gorgeous sauce, and letting it go to waste should be a minor crime. Egg noodles, fettuccine, or simple jasmine rice work beautifully.
- Roasted vegetables – Asparagus, Brussels sprouts, or roasted carrots add color and crunch to balance out the richness. Plus, vegetables make us feel like responsible adults.
- Crusty bread – For the sauce-sopping situation that’s bound to happen. A good sourdough or garlic bread will do the trick nicely.
- Simple green salad – Something light and acidic cuts through the cream like a palate cleanser. Arugula with lemon vinaigrette is perfect, or even basic mixed greens.
- Mashed or roasted potatoes – If you’re going full comfort food mode, creamy mashed potatoes make this dish feel like a warm hug. Roasted baby potatoes work too if you want something a bit less indulgent.
- Steamed broccoli or green beans – These add that pop of green color your dinner plate needs, and the slight bitterness plays well against the sweet marsala sauce.
Cooking Tips & Tricks (Chef’s Notes)
A few insider secrets can turn your good chicken marsala into something that makes people ask for the recipe twice.
- Don’t crowd the chicken – Give those breasts some breathing room in the pan, or they’ll steam instead of getting that gorgeous golden crust. Cook in batches if your pan is on the smaller side.
- Pat the chicken completely dry – Wet chicken equals sad, pale chicken that won’t brown properly. Paper towels are your friend here, even if you feel like you’re using half the roll.
- Let the marsala reduce properly – Don’t rush this step because that’s where all the concentrated flavor magic happens. You want it to smell incredible and look slightly syrupy.
- Use room temperature cream – Cold cream can shock the sauce and make it curdle, which is about as appetizing as it sounds. Just take it out of the fridge while you prep everything else.
- Slice mushrooms evenly – Thick slices take forever to cook, thin ones turn to mush. Aim for about quarter-inch slices that’ll hold their shape but cook through nicely.
- Taste and adjust the sauce – Sometimes you need more lemon for brightness, more pepper for kick, or even a pinch of salt if your bouillon isn’t doing enough heavy lifting.
- Let the chicken rest briefly – After slicing, give it a minute or two so the juices redistribute instead of running all over your cutting board.
Nutritional Facts
This creamy chicken marsala delivers impressive protein while keeping calories reasonable for such an indulgent-tasting dish.
- Calories per serving: Approximately 420-450 calories (based on 4 servings)
- Protein: 35-40g per serving from the chicken breast, making this an excellent high-protein meal
- Fat content: 18-22g per serving, primarily from the cream, butter, and olive oil used in cooking
- Carbohydrates: 8-10g per serving, mostly from the mushrooms and small amount of cornflour for thickening
- Sodium: Moderate to high depending on bouillon used – approximately 600-800mg per serving
- Calcium: Good source from the cream, providing about 10-12% of daily value
- Iron: Decent amount from chicken and mushrooms, roughly 15% of daily recommended intake
- Vitamin B6: Excellent source from chicken breast, providing about 30% of daily needs
- Potassium: Mushrooms contribute significant potassium, around 400-500mg per serving
- Saturated fat: 8-10g per serving due to cream and butter content
- Cholesterol: 95-110mg per serving from chicken and dairy ingredients
- Fiber: 1-2g per serving, mainly from mushrooms and green onions
Fun “Did You Know?”
While chicken marsala has become synonymous with Italian-American cuisine, it’s actually a relatively modern invention that wasn’t created in Italy at all.
I find it fascinating that this beloved dish emerged in Italian-American kitchens during the mid-20th century, adapting Sicilian marsala wine traditions to American tastes.
The original marsala wines were fortified for long sea voyages, but clever immigrant cooks transformed this preservation wine into a luxurious sauce.
What’s truly remarkable is how this “inauthentic” dish has become more popular than many traditional Italian recipes, proving that culinary evolution often creates the most memorable flavors.
