Italian

Serving

Chicken Marsala

Name: Chicken Marsala
Total time: 35 min
Yield: 1 servings
Cuisine: Italian
Ingredients: 4 chicken breast cutlets, pounded thin; 60g (1/2 cup) all-purpose flour for dredging; 250g (9 oz) cremini mushrooms, sliced; 180ml (3/4 cup) dry Marsala wine and 180ml (3/4 cup) chicken stock; 3 tbsp butter and 2 tbsp olive oil; 2 cloves garlic and fresh parsley

Pan-seared chicken in a silky Marsala wine and mushroom sauce.

35 minutes

Serves 1

Dinner

12 min prep

19 min cook

Contains common allergens

Dairy Wheat

In the app, Listahan checks these against your household automatically.

Instructions

6 steps

1
Dredge: Season the cutlets and dredge lightly in flour, shaking off the excess.
2
Sear the Chicken: Heat the olive oil and 1 tbsp butter in a skillet and sear the cutlets for 3-4 minutes per side until golden. Remove and set aside.
3
Cook the Mushrooms: Add the mushrooms to the pan and cook until browned and their liquid has evaporated. Stir in the garlic for 30 seconds.
4
Deglaze: Pour in the Marsala wine, scraping up the browned bits, and let it reduce by half. Add the chicken stock and simmer for 5 minutes.
5
Finish the Sauce: Swirl in the remaining 2 tbsp butter to make the sauce glossy. Return the chicken and any juices to the pan and warm through.
6
Serve: Spoon the mushroom sauce over the chicken and garnish with chopped parsley. Serve with mashed potatoes or pasta.

Chicken Marsala — plated and served — Serving moment. How Chicken Marsala looks plated and ready to eat — a representative photo, not a step in the recipe.

Listahan Family Score™

65/100

Works for many families

Allergen-friendly 80

Kid-friendly 55

Weeknight-easy 54

Budget-friendly 72

Great leftovers 65

Pantry-friendly 58

Score reflects how well this recipe fits a typical busy household. In the app, your Family Score is personalized to your household's allergens, kids, and pantry.

Nutrition

per serving

2040

Calories

260 g

Protein

54 g

Carbs

83 g

Fat

Estimated per serving. Actual values depend on the brands and portions you use.

Listahan cooking guide

Chef notes & practical guide

Technique notes, ingredient swaps, serve-alongside ideas, storage guidance, and equipment for this recipe.

Cultural context

Chicken Marsala pairs sauteed chicken cutlets with a glossy pan sauce built on Marsala, the fortified wine produced around the Sicilian port city of the same name. The dish reflects 19th-century Sicilian-influenced cooking and became hugely popular in Italian-American restaurants, where its mushroom-and-wine sauce reads as both elegant and comforting. Its identity rests entirely on the Marsala, whose deep, slightly sweet character defines the sauce.

Listahan note

This version keeps the cutlets thin and the Marsala sauce reduced to a silky gloss with plenty of mushrooms. It focuses on building the pan sauce from the fond so nothing is wasted.

Technique cues

Dredge and sear the cutlets to build a brown fond, then make the sauce in the same pan so it carries that flavor.
Cook the Marsala down properly so its alcohol burns off and it reduces to a glossy, concentrated sauce rather than a thin, boozy one.
Brown the mushrooms hard in a single layer before they release water, so they are deeply flavored instead of soggy.

Kitchen flow

Parallel prep: Slice the mushrooms and pound the cutlets before you start so the quick searing and saucing flow without pause.
Make-ahead: Brown the mushrooms and reduce the Marsala base ahead; reheat and finish with fresh-seared cutlets and butter to serve.
Leftover move: Slice leftover chicken and mushrooms over buttered noodles or polenta, loosening the sauce with a splash of broth.
Cleanup rhythm: Build everything in one skillet and deglaze with the Marsala, which lifts the fond and makes the pan easy to wash.

Ingredient brief

Role, handling, and swap guidance for each key ingredient.

chicken breasts

main protein

Purpose: Thin cutlets cook quickly and stay tender while soaking up the sauce.

Handling: Pound to an even thinness and dredge lightly in flour so they brown and lightly thicken the sauce.

Adaptation: Chicken thighs or pounded pork cutlets work well too.

Marsala wine

defining flavor

Purpose: This fortified Sicilian wine gives the sauce its signature deep, slightly sweet, nutty character.

Handling: Use dry Marsala for a savory sauce and reduce it well to concentrate the flavor.

Adaptation: Madeira or a dry sherry are the closest substitutes if Marsala is unavailable.

mushrooms

savory body

Purpose: They add earthy depth and texture and soak up the wine sauce.

Handling: Slice and brown hard in a hot pan before adding liquid so they concentrate rather than steam.

Adaptation: Cremini or a mix of wild mushrooms add even more depth than white button.

butter

sauce finish

Purpose: Swirled in at the end, it gives the sauce its glossy, velvety body.

Handling: Add cold off the heat and swirl until the sauce emulsifies and shines.

Adaptation: A spoon of olive oil keeps it dairy-light, with slightly less sheen.

Technique notes

Reduce the Marsala until it coats the back of a spoon before finishing with butter for the right silky body.
Return the cutlets to the sauce only briefly at the end so they warm through without overcooking.
A spoon of cream or a splash of stock can stretch the sauce if it reduces too far.

Ingredient swaps

Gluten-free direction: Dredge the cutlets in a gluten-free flour or cornstarch, which browns and thickens the sauce just as well.
Dairy-free option: Finish the sauce with olive oil instead of butter, accepting a slightly less glossy result.
Lower-sodium direction: Use unsalted butter and low-sodium broth, and season at the end so the reduced sauce does not over-concentrate salt.

Serve alongside

Buttered egg noodles
Creamy mashed potatoes
Sauteed green beans
Soft polenta
A glass of Pinot Noir
A dry Marsala on the side
Sparkling water with lemon

Serving suggestions only — check pairings for your household's allergens.

Storage & reheating

Refrigerate leftovers for up to three days in a sealed container. Reheat gently on the stove with a splash of broth to re-loosen the sauce, since it thickens when cold. Freezing is possible for up to two months, though the sauce may need re-emulsifying with a little fresh butter on reheating.

Equipment

A wide, heavy skillet
Tongs for the cutlets
A meat mallet for pounding
A wooden spoon for the pan sauce

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