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A creamy chicken Marsala is easy to make and does not require cream as the Marsala makes a perfect luscious sauce full of flavour. I serve it with mushrooms and baked potatoes.
Furthermore, this chicken is very delicate in flavour as well as texture, it is cut into thin slices and coated with flour. Chicken breast cutlets cook faster than the whole breasts and remain very tender.
How it gets its flavour and creaminess?
- While the flour toasts in butter, it absorbs the juices of the chicken and the Marsala.
- Once you remove the chicken from the pan, you will have some residual of the toasted flour left on the base of the pan. Because that residual is full of flavour, it makes a nice creamy sauce.
- As you would do for a gravy, deglaze the pan with some water and let it simmer until it thickens. You will have a nice luscious sauce full of flavour from toasted butter and sweet Marsala.
What is Marsala and how to substitute it
Marsala is a sweet aged wine from Sicily, you can find it in a lot of shops worldwide. I usually stock up on a few bottles when I go to Italy.
If you cannot find it in your local area, you can use some Port or white wine.
However, if you are cooking for children and you don’t want to use alcohol, you can substitute it with lemon juice.
Ingredients to make chicken Marsala
- 5 deboned chicken breasts cut in slices
- 1/2 cup flour
- 1/2 cup butter
- 1/2 cup Marsala wine
- 2 tsp salt
How to make chicken Marsala
- Cut the chicken breasts into thin slices
- Coat them with flour
- In a frying pan melt the butter and lay the first batch of chicken breasts
- Once they are done flip them over
- Pile the cooked slices one on top of the others to make room for the next batch
- Keep moving the pile of the cooked chicken breasts over newly cooked ones so they all cook evenly. Make room to add the remaining slices of chicken and add more butter if needed
- Once all the slices are cooked, turn them around making sure they are all brown and evenly cooked.
- Pour the 1/2 cup of Marsala and simmer for few minutes turning the chicken making sure the flavour is evenly spread
- Remove the chicken and add 1 cup of water to deglaze all the flour. Let it simmer until it becomes a creamy sauce
- Arrange the chicken on the serving dish and pour over the sauce
Best served
This creamy chicken Marsala recipe is perfect for dinner parties. You can prepare it earlier, store it in the fridge and heat it up just before serving it. Just add some water to soften the sauce while you are reheating it.
As a side dish for this creamy chicken Marsala I like to serve mushrooms sautéed with garlic which I cook in the same pan after the chicken so they absorb the residual flavour of the Marsala.
Making the sautéed mushrooms
Ingredients:
- 7 oz – 200 gr of mushrooms
- 1 garlic clove
- 1 tbsp butter
- salt
- parsley
- Clean the mushrooms and cut into quarters
- Stirfry the mushroom with butter and garlic in the same pan you cooked the chicken so they will absorb the same flavour from the Marsala
- Add some parsley at the end
Side dishes to go with it
As a side, I made roasted potatoes which I first cooked in the microwave so they roast in just 20 minutes.
Instead of the potatoes, you can serve it with pilaf rice which you can cook in the oven while you make the chicken.
But if you don’t have guests to entertain and you can leisurely cook in the kitchen, a risotto with porcini mushrooms is also a perfect combination.
Tips for making the best Chicken Marsala
- Cut the chicken breast in thin slices so they are evenly cooked and the butter doesn’t burn
- When cooking the chicken, keep at the bottom of the cooked pile the slices that still need more cooking. Move them to the top once they are brownishly leaving at the bottom the slices that are less cooked.
- Deglaze with enough water and let it boil until the sauce becomes creamy
- If you have leftover and you want to reheat the next day, add a little bit of more water to make the sauce juicier
- Whatever vegetables you want to serve with the chicken, stir fry in the same pan to get some of the flavours
- As a substitute to Marsala you can use some Port or white wine.
- If you are cooking for children and you don’t want to use alcohol, you can substitute it with lemon juice.
If you are making this Creamy Chicken Marsala without Cream, leave your comment below I would like to hear from you. You can find more delicious ideas if you FOLLOW ME on Facebook, YouTube, Pinterest and Instagram or sign up to my newsletter.
Creamy Chicken Marsala Without Cream
Ingredients
- 5 chicken breast
- 1/2 cup flour
- 1/2 cup butter
- 1/2 cup Marsala wine for children you can use lemon juice instead
- 2 tsp salt
Mushrooms
- 7 oz mushrooms
- 1 clove peeled garlic cloves
- 1 tbsp butter
- salt
- fresh parsley
Baked Potatoes
- 10 medium potatoes
- 2 tsp garlic powder
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- salt
Instructions
Prepare the potatoes
- Pierce the potatoes. cover them with a paper towel and put them in the microwave for 15 to 20 minutes depending on their size
- Once they are cold cut them in quarters and season with salt, garlic powder and olive oil and lay them on a baking tray with parchment paper
- Put them in a hot oven at 200 C to crisp 15 minutes before serving
Prepare the Chicken
- Cut the chicken breasts into thin slices
- Coat them with flour
- In a frying pan melt the butter and lay the first batch of chicken breasts
- Once they are done flip them over
- Pile the cooked slices one on top of the others to make room for the next batch.
- Keep moving the pile of the cooked chicken breasts over newly cooked ones so they all cook evenly. Make room to add the remaining slices of chicken and add more butter if needed
- Once all the slices are cooked, turn them around making sure they are all brown and evenly cooked.
- Pour the 1/2 cup of Marsala and simmer for few minutes turning the chicken making sure the flavour is evenly spread
- Remove the chicken and add 1 cup of water to deglaze all the flour. Let it simmer until it becomes a creamy sauce
- Arrange the chicken on the serving dish and pour over the sauce
Now the Mushrooms
- Clean the mushrooms and cut into quarters
- Stirfry the mushroom with butter and garlic in the same pan you cooked the chicken so they will absorb the same flavour from the Marsala
- Add some parsley at the end
- Arrange the chicken, the mushroom and the potatoes on a serving dish and serve immediately.
Nutrition
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Can’t believe I have never used Marsala in cooking but this looks a perfect dish to do for friends and family too. It’s great that it can be made in advance too!
Yes, it is very nice. You should try it. It is sweeter than wine.
This sounds like a divine recipe – I love using Marsala in my cooking – will defo put this on my list of must try/cook. Thank you for sharing Laura 😉
Thank you Ramona, I am sure you will love it
Chicken Marsala is such a glorious dish! I love all of the mushrooms and the sweetness of the Marsala! Great recipe, Laura!
Thank you Beth, this is one of Liam’s favourite
Chicken marsala is one of my husband’s favorite dishes, but I NEVER make it for him–I’ve got to give this a try!
Really? You should, it is so easy
That looks so delicious! A great mid-week meal idea. I’ll have to make this for my family soon, thanks for the recipe!
Thank you, my sons finish it in a flash
This looks soooo good! I love how rich it looks and without any cream – so delicious!
Thanks, it is so much lighter
Yum, this looks to die for…wish I had it infront of me right now!
I tell you, it goes in a flash
What a great dinner! I love that there is no need for a cream as I’ve been using it way too much lately 🙂
Thanks, it is so much lighter