CHICKEN MARSALA | The Perfect Easy Weeknight Dinner Recipe!

Chicken marsala is a very popular Italian-American dish of seared chicken breasts and sliced mushrooms that simmers in a rich marsala wine sauce for one fantastically flavored meal. Many of you have probably ordered this before in your favorite Italian restaurant, but today I'm gonna show you how to make this classic dish at home. And the best part is that there's actually very few ingredients and it's pretty darn simple to make. Plus, that marsala wine sauce drizzled over mashed potatoes is seriously next-level delicious. So let me show you how to make this wonderful chicken recipe that I know your whole family will love. To get started, you'll need eight ounces of baby bella or cremini mushrooms. And I always get asked how I wash my mushrooms, and most of the time I just wet a paper towel and gently rub the outside of them to remove any remaining dirt or debris. But if you feel like they need a stronger wash, you can quickly rinse them in a colander with a spray of water. The most important thing is just to not let them soak in water for too long, as they do absorb moisture quite easily. Then just slice them up. And for those with an eagle eye, let's pretend that that one slice didn't just go overboard off the counter. Now, depending on where you live and what your market carries, you can often find pre-sliced mushrooms in the produce section. So if you wanna make this recipe even easier, there is no judgment from me if you wanna use pre-sliced mushrooms like these. Next up is one large shallot, and you'll slice and dice that. Shallots can really range in size, so I'm trying to get better at putting the exact amount in the recipe card on my website. And for this recipe, you'll need about 1 1⁄4 cup of diced shallot, though mine is probably more like a heaping 1⁄4 cup, and I'm always happy with a little bit extra. And then finely chop up about two tablespoons of fresh parsley. As you can see, I've chopped up more than that today, but I'll just save the remainder to sprinkle on other meals. You'll need two large boneless skinless chicken breasts, and similar to my chicken piccata recipe, you'll slice them in half horizontally for two thinner cutlets. This is easy to do if you make sure your knife is sharpened beforehand and you place your hand flat on top to prevent the chicken breasts from moving around. Just take your time and go slow. There are no extra points for speed here, and make sure that your knife remains flat to your cutting board. Now, if you don't wanna slice them in half, you could alternatively grab four small chicken breasts and pound them thinner. It's really up to you on which method you prefer, either two large chicken breasts that you slice in half or four smaller ones that you pound flatter. To coat the chicken breasts, you'll need 1⁄4 cup of your preferred flour. I'm using cornstarch as I'm gluten-free, and while I often use arrowroot powder in recipes, it's not my favorite for this one as it can become gummy with the longer summertime. But to the flour, you'll add one teaspoon of kosher salt and half a teaspoon of ground black pepper for a really simple seasoning. Then, just stir that together and coat both sides of each piece of chicken in this mixture, shaking off any excess before setting it aside on another plate. Heat two tablespoons of olive oil and one tablespoon of butter in a large pan over medium-high heat. Swirl that around and then add the chicken and sear it for about three to four minutes per side until it has a golden crust. And as you can see, you do need a large pan for this, and behind the scenes, Emily did not think I was going to fit all four chicken breasts in here, but you can usually shimmy them around to get them to fit. It's also okay if they're not 100% cooked through at this point as you will simmer the chicken again in the sauce, but once you've got a golden sear on both sides, transfer the chicken to a plate. Add two more tablespoons of butter to the pan and toss in your sliced mushrooms. Saute the mushrooms for about two to three minutes, stirring them occasionally until they're lightly browned. And don't worry about any of that brown fond sticking to the bottom of the pan as we'll release that here in a second when we add some liquid. Add four minced garlic cloves straight into the pan and the diced shallots, then stir that for another 30 seconds or so. Then it's time to make the sauce. Add one cup of chicken broth and 3 1⁄4 cup of Marsala wine to the pan. Marsala wine is a sweet Italian wine that's often used in cooking and baking, though it can be enjoyed as an aperitif as well. And for a creamy touch to the sauce, add half a cup of heavy cream, then stir that all together. Now, if you're dairy-free, you can easily make this recipe dairy-free by just omitting the butter and using a smidge more oil and swapping the heavy cream for coconut cream. Bring the sauce to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer it until it's slightly thickened and reduced by half, which should take about 10 to 15 minutes. Once it's reduced, return the chicken to the pan, spoon the sauce over it, and simmer until the chicken is warmed through about two to three minutes more. And during this time, your sauce will thicken up even more and darken slightly. Before serving, sprinkle the chopped parsley for a bright pop of green, and that's how easy it is to make chicken Marsala at home. The smell of the Marsala wine sauce while cooking this dish is so tantalizing. There's just something about that aroma that makes my taste buds happy. Now, you will likely have leftover Marsala wine after this recipe, so I started thinking about what else you could make with it and as luck would have it, I was at a conference in Arizona last week where they served zabaglione, which is essentially a custard with Marsala wine. And now, guess what recipe I'm planning on adding to the website in the future. But I'd love to hear what else you love to make with Marsala wine, and we can share some ideas together in the comments. When I'm plating the chicken Marsala, I'll usually have a side of veggies, and today I've got my sauteed green beans. But I feel like it's almost mandatory to have mashed potatoes to soak up all that delicious Marsala sauce. You could also use mashed sweet potatoes or mashed cauliflower, but regular white mashed potatoes are a classic. And make sure you serve up several slices of mushrooms as you drizzle a really generous amount of the sauce. It is a good thing that you guys could not hear my stomach growling. While I was cooking this up, my stomach could smell the Marsala wine and just the chicken in general, and it knew what was coming. So it was like, give me some of this. And for this bite, I have plenty of sauce on my plate, but I want a little bit of the mashed potatoes, a little bit of the mushrooms, and of course, a good size piece of chicken. This is probably far too big of a bite. It is so good. There's just so much flavor in this dish. And when you think about it, really besides the garlic and the shallots, all the flavor is coming from the Marsala wine. So like I said at the beginning, it's just a handful of ingredients. It's really easy to whip up, and it looks absolutely gorgeous when you plate it. Now, I can't even remember if I've said this before, but if you've been following for a while, you know I didn't like olives, and then I did like olives. Mushrooms are another one of those ingredients where I didn't like mushrooms for my entire life growing up. But a couple of years ago, I started loving mushrooms, and now I can't get enough of dishes like this. And I have a recipe for sauteed mushrooms coming your way as well. In terms of storage, this will last for about four to five days in the fridge or a couple of months in the freezer, but I highly doubt you're gonna have leftovers if you serve this up for a family. I plan to finish off these leftovers later this week. And the last comment I will make is that if you like these one-pan chicken dishes, don't forget my Tuscan chicken recipe, which is always a reader favorite, my chicken piccata, lemon pepper chicken. Those are all really similar recipes with chicken breasts that are simmered in a sauce or that have just a ton of flavor that are easy for weeknight meals. I hope you guys enjoyed today's video, and if you did, don't forget to leave a thumbs up because that really helps to support my channel and helps spread the video to so many more people outside of our community. And leave a comment below on what other chicken recipes you would like to see next.