Chicken marsala sounds like a restaurant dish, and that is exactly why it is worth learning at home: it takes about thirty-five minutes, one skillet, and ingredients from a normal grocery run, and it tastes like you went out. Thin chicken cutlets are dredged in seasoned flour, pan-fried until golden, and finished in a sauce of browned mushrooms, sweet marsala wine, and butter that comes together in the same pan, soaking up every browned bit the chicken left behind.
The two things that decide this dish are the cutlets and the wine. Cutlets need to be thin — about a quarter inch — so they cook in minutes and stay tender instead of drying out while the sauce reduces. And the wine needs to be real sweet marsala from the wine aisle, not the salty cooking wine sold next to the vinegar, which would flatten the sauce. With those two right, the rest is just good pan technique, and this is a forgiving place to learn it.
Serve it the way the photograph shows it: cutlets spooned with mushrooms and sauce, alongside risotto and a few spears of asparagus, or with buttered pasta if that is what the pantry offers. It sits comfortably in our Easy Dinners collection next to our one-pan creamy Tuscan chicken, another skillet dinner that leans on a pan sauce. Four cutlets feed four generously, and the sauce doubles cleanly if you are cooking for a crowd.
Why thin cutlets are non-negotiable
A thick chicken breast cannot cook evenly in the time a pan sauce needs, so one end dries out while the other finishes. Slicing each breast horizontally into two cutlets, or pounding it flat between sheets of plastic wrap, solves the whole problem: the chicken cooks in about three minutes a side, stays juicy, and gives you twice the golden surface area for the sauce to cling to. If you buy pre-sliced cutlets, check the thickness anyway — some run closer to half an inch and still benefit from a few minutes under the mallet.
The sauce is built, not poured
Marsala sauce is not a jar you open; it is a sequence in one pan. First the mushrooms brown properly — crowded mushrooms steam instead of browning, so give them space and do not stir them for the first two minutes. Then the wine goes in and deglazes, lifting the fond, the browned bits that carry most of the flavor. The stock follows, the sauce reduces by about half, and cold butter whisked in at the very end gives it the glossy finish you see in the photograph. Skip the butter and the sauce tastes thin; add it while the pan is still boiling hard and it can separate. Off the heat, swirl, done.
Ingredients
- 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (about 1 1/2 lb / 680 g total), sliced into cutlets
- 1/2 cup all-purpose flour (60 g), for dredging
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt (6 g)
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper (1 g)
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder (1.5 g)
- 3 tablespoons olive oil (45 ml)
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter (28 g), divided
- 8 oz cremini mushrooms (225 g), sliced
- 2 cloves garlic, minced (6 g)
- 3/4 cup sweet marsala wine (180 ml)
- 3/4 cup low-sodium chicken stock (180 ml)
- 2 tablespoons cold unsalted butter (28 g), for finishing
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley (8 g)
- Risotto and steamed asparagus, for serving
Amounts are for the yield below. US customary measures first, grams in brackets for scale users.
Step-by-step instructions
- Prepare the cutlets. Slice each chicken breast horizontally into two thin cutlets, or place each breast between two sheets of plastic wrap and pound to about 1/4 inch thick with a meat mallet or rolling pin. Pat them dry with paper towels — dry chicken browns, wet chicken steams. Season both sides with the salt, pepper, and garlic powder.
- Dredge lightly. Spread the flour in a shallow dish. Press each cutlet into the flour, coating both sides, then shake off every bit of excess. You want a whisper of flour, not a crust: too much flour turns gummy in the sauce and dulls the browning. Set the dredged cutlets on a plate while the pan heats.
- Sear the chicken. Heat the olive oil and 1 tablespoon of the butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat until the butter foams. Add the cutlets in a single layer, without crowding, and cook for 3 minutes per side until deep golden. Transfer to a warm plate and tent loosely with foil; do not wipe out the pan.
- Brown the mushrooms. Add the remaining 1 tablespoon butter to the same skillet. Add the mushrooms in a single layer and cook, without stirring, for 2 minutes so they brown. Stir and cook for 3 minutes more until golden and their liquid has evaporated. Stir in the garlic and cook for 30 seconds until fragrant.
- Deglaze with marsala. Pour in the marsala wine, scraping the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon to lift the browned bits. Let it bubble for 2 minutes until reduced by about half and no longer smelling sharply of alcohol. Add the chicken stock and simmer for 3 minutes more.
- Finish the sauce and serve. Return the chicken and any juices on the plate to the skillet. Simmer for 2 minutes, spooning sauce over the cutlets, until the chicken is cooked through to 165°F (74°C). Take the pan off the heat and swirl in the cold butter until the sauce turns glossy. Shower with parsley and serve at once, with risotto and asparagus as pictured, or buttered pasta.
Nutrition estimate
| Nutrient | Per serving |
|---|---|
| Calories | 480 kcal |
| Protein | 42 g |
| Carbohydrates | 14 g |
| Fat | 24 g |
| Saturated fat | 8 g |
| Sodium | 620 mg |
| Fiber | 1 g |
| Sugar | 4 g |
Nutrition figures are estimates calculated from standard ingredient data for the yield stated. Your actual values will vary with brands, substitutions and portion sizes — treat them as a guide, not a guarantee.
Storage & reheating
Refrigerate leftovers in their sauce for up to 3 days in an airtight container. Reheat gently in a covered skillet over low heat until steaming, adding a splash of stock if the sauce has thickened too much — high heat toughens the chicken and can split the butter sauce. This dish does not freeze well; the sauce separates and the cutlets turn rubbery on thawing. Nutrition figures are estimates from standard ingredient data and vary with brands and substitutions; estimates vary.
Easy Chicken Marsala
Golden cutlets, mushroom marsala sauce.
Ingredients
Tick ingredients off as you prep, and tap a step below to mark it done as you cook. Scaling adjusts the listed amounts - seasoning to taste stays your call.
Instructions
- Prepare the cutlets. Slice each chicken breast horizontally into two thin cutlets, or place each breast between two sheets of plastic wrap and pound to about 1/4 inch thick with a meat mallet or rolling pin. Pat them dry with paper towels — dry chicken browns, wet chicken steams. Season both sides with the salt, pepper, and garlic powder.
- Dredge lightly. Spread the flour in a shallow dish. Press each cutlet into the flour, coating both sides, then shake off every bit of excess. You want a whisper of flour, not a crust: too much flour turns gummy in the sauce and dulls the browning. Set the dredged cutlets on a plate while the pan heats.
- Sear the chicken. Heat the olive oil and 1 tablespoon of the butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat until the butter foams. Add the cutlets in a single layer, without crowding, and cook for 3 minutes per side until deep golden. Transfer to a warm plate and tent loosely with foil; do not wipe out the pan.
- Brown the mushrooms. Add the remaining 1 tablespoon butter to the same skillet. Add the mushrooms in a single layer and cook, without stirring, for 2 minutes so they brown. Stir and cook for 3 minutes more until golden and their liquid has evaporated. Stir in the garlic and cook for 30 seconds until fragrant.
- Deglaze with marsala. Pour in the marsala wine, scraping the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon to lift the browned bits. Let it bubble for 2 minutes until reduced by about half and no longer smelling sharply of alcohol. Add the chicken stock and simmer for 3 minutes more.
- Finish the sauce and serve. Return the chicken and any juices on the plate to the skillet. Simmer for 2 minutes, spooning sauce over the cutlets, until the chicken is cooked through to 165°F (74°C). Take the pan off the heat and swirl in the cold butter until the sauce turns glossy. Shower with parsley and serve at once, with risotto and asparagus as pictured, or buttered pasta.
Recipe by Ahsan ul Haq · FryDaily. Printing? This card is designed to print cleanly on its own.
