Chicken Marsala
on May 30, 2021, Updated Jan 30, 2025
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This chicken dish, with its rich sauce, sautéed mushrooms, and bits of crispy pancetta, is just the thing on a cool evening.
Chicken Marsala is a recipe in the style of the many scallopina (or scallopini) dishes made throughout Italy. The sauce is made with marsala, which is a fortified red wine used for drinking and cooking in Italy and beyond, and it also may contain heavy cream, though this recipe uses broth for a lighter marsala sauce. Savory sautéed mushrooms are also almost always part of the equation, and here, nuggets of crispy pancetta add wonderful flavor to the tender chicken.
Chicken Marsala is a warming and delicious meal with tons of flavor and interesting texture. Serve with any kind of small pasta, rice, or mashed potatoes. Add a crunchy mixed green salad, and you are all set!
Table of Contents
Ingredients
- All-purpose flour – For creating a crusty exterior on the chicken.
- Chicken – Use boneless, skinless breasts.
- Olive oil – For cooking
- Pancetta – For depth of flavor; check out the note below for more tips.
- Mushrooms – You can absolutely use plain old sliced white button mushrooms in chicken marsala, but play around with different varieties; it’s nice to keep changing it up. Try cremini, shiitake, oyster, chanterelles, or any combination of mushrooms.
- Minced garlic – You can also add a minced shallot along with the garlic.
- Dry marsala wine – A fortified wine from Italy and the namesake of this dish.
- Chicken broth – I prefer less sodium chicken broth to control the salt.
- Fresh lemon juice – For a balanced bit of acidity.
- Unsalted butter – For creaminess and richness.
- Minced fresh parsley – For a bit of brightness and a fresh element.
How to Make Chicken Marsala
- Make the flour mixture: Combine the flour, salt, and pepper.
- Cook the chicken: Heat oil in a large skillet. Dredge the chicken in the seasoned flour mixture, place the cutlets in the hot oil pan, and cook for about 4 minutes on each side.
- Cook the pancetta: Return the skillet to medium heat and add the pancetta. Cook the pancetta until it is crisp and browned, and then transfer to a plate and paper towel to let it drain.
- Cook the mushrooms: Add the mushrooms to the pan and cook, stirring occasionally, until the mushrooms are browned and any liquid released by the mushrooms has evaporated. Add the garlic and stir for one more minute until you can smell the garlic.
- Make the sauce: Add the marsala wine and broth and stir until the wine reduces and starts to become a syrupy sauce. Add any juices that have accumulated on the plate from the chicken, then stir in the lemon juice, the butter, half of the parsley, and half the crisped pancetta, and season with salt and pepper.
- Assemble and serve: Pour the sauce over the chicken on the platter. Sprinkle with the rest of the parsley and pancetta. Serve hot.
Kitchen Smarts
I love a cast iron pan for recipes like this when you want some nice caramelization. You can also use a heavy stainless steel or carbon steel pan.
Pancetta or Bacon in Chicken Marsala
Some sort of cured or smoked pork is commonly used in chicken marsala, and here I’ve chosen pancetta, which is cured but not smoked. You could definitely use bacon or even prosciutto instead.
You want about 1/2 cup roughly chopped pancetta or whatever cured pork you’ve selected, and I like crisping it up in the pan on its own first, both to add flavor to the sauce and also to keep the pancetta from getting soft. Some of the crisped pancetta is stirred into the sauce at the end, and some is sprinkled right over the top.
Leftovers and Storage
Store the leftover Chicken Marsala in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days.
What to Serve With Chicken Marsala
More Skillet Chicken Recipes
- Cilantro Lime Chicken
- Honey Garlic Chicken
- Parmesan-Garlic Mushroom Chicken
- Creamy Tuscan Chicken
- Chicken Francese
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Chicken Marsala
Ingredients
- ½ cup all-purpose flour
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper (to taste)
- 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (about 6 ounces each)
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 3 slices pancetta (roughly chopped)
- 8 ounces sliced mushrooms (button, cremini or a wild mushroom mixture)
- 1 teaspoon minced garlic
- 1 cup Marsala wine
- ¾ cup less-sodium chicken broth
- 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter (cut into small pieces)
- 4 tablespoons minced fresh parsley (divided)
Instructions
- In a shallow bowl, combine the flour, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper.
- Heat the oil in a very large skillet over medium-high heat. Dredge the chicken breasts in the flour mixture and when the oil is hot, place the cutlets in the pan and cook for about 4 minutes, until the bottom is browned, then flip and cook for another 4 or 5 minutes, until the bottom is browned and the chicken is just cooked through. Remove the chicken from the pan to a platter.
- Return the skillet to medium heat and add the pancetta. Stir until the pancetta is crisp and browned, scraping up any little browned bits stuck to the bottom of the pan (you will get more of those browned bits loosened when you add the wine). Transfer the crisp pancetta to a paper towel-lined plate to drain.
- Return the pan to medium-high heat and add the mushrooms. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the mushrooms are browned and any liquid released by the mushrooms has evaporated about 8 minutes. Continue to scrape the bottom of the pan to loosen any browned bits. Add the garlic and stir for one more minute until you can smell the garlic.
- Add the marsala wine and broth, then return the pan to the heat and stir and scrape until all of the browned bits come loose and the wine reduces and starts to become a syrupy sauce. Add any juices that have accumulated on the plate from the chicken, then stir in the lemon juice and the butter until melted. Season with salt and pepper to taste and stir in half of the parsley and half the crisped pancetta. Pour the sauce over the chicken on the platter, and sprinkle with the rest of the parsley and pancetta. Serve hot.
