alex’s chicken and mushroom marsala
We’ve discussed this before, but I really hate cooking anything twice. I know what an awful shame this is–falling upon gasp-worthy, decadent and even flawless recipes, broadcasting their merits across the Web, then filing them away only to never speak of them again–but I am going to have to insist that you do not judge me for this; after all, what would thesmittenkitchen be without my impatience for the next new thing?
Nevertheless, there are certain recipes that Alex, less appalled with the concept of having to eat anything twice in two whole years, frequently and politely requests that I make again. And what do I do? Do I tie on my apron, pour him a drink and say “of course, honey! Anything for you, baby! You’re the love of my life, baby!”? No, I suggest that he make it himself.
So, without further ado, this the dish that will hereto-forth be known as Alex’s Chicken Marsala, and this is what you need to know about it: It is all about the mushrooms. The buttery, marsala-ed mushrooms are mind-bogglingly delicious. You won’t believe the flavor they can extract from so few ingredients, and in such a reasonable amount of time.
This is as good time as any for me to sing the praises of the humble white button mushroom, which get upstaged a lot these days by fancier heirloom and wild varieties. And although I have room in my funky (er, funghi?) heart for each and all types, I maintain that you can extract every bit of complex flavor from a white button mushroom as you can from a crimini or shiitake–it is all about know how to cook them, and this, my friends, is an excellent place to start. Or have someone start for you while you sit on the sofa, drink your wine and play Scrabulous. Same difference, right?
Chicken and Mushroom Marsala
Gourmet, June 1995
Serves 6
3 whole boneless chicken breasts with skin (about 2 1/2 pounds),
halved
1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
3 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 onion, sliced thin
3/4 pound mushrooms, sliced thin
1/2 cup Marsala
1 cup chicken broth
2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley leaves
Pat chicken dry and season with salt and pepper. In a large heavy skillet heat oil and 1 1/2 tablespoons butter over moderately high heat until hot but not smoking and brown chicken in 2 batches, transferring with tongs to a large plate as browned.
Discard all but 1 tablespoon fat from skillet and sauté onion and mushrooms, stirring occasionally, until liquid mushrooms give off is evaporated. Add Marsala and cook mixture, stirring, until Marsala is almost evaporated. Add broth and chicken with any juices that have accumulated on plate and simmer, turning chicken once, until cooked through, about 15 minutes. Transfer chicken with tongs to a platter.
Simmer mushroom sauce until liquid is reduced to about 1/2 cup. Remove skillet from heat and stir in remaining 2 tablespoons butter and salt and pepper to taste, stirring until butter is just incorporated. Spoon mushroom sauce around chicken and sprinkle with parsley.
Ok, this looks seriously delicious. It’s now solved my, “what will I make for dinner tonight” dilemma, but presented another quandry. What is Scrabulous? Inquiring minds want to know.
It’s Scrabble for Facebook. Here’s a fun article.
Get ready for a deluge of Facebook friend requests (including one from me - ha)! I’m addicted to Scrabulous and I can see why Alex would request a repeat of this dish - it looks divine.
Yay for mushrooms! We love chicken marsala around here, and we certainly do not skimp on the fungi.
Ah, Facebook. Somehow, I missed that wave. That, and texting. Shrug.
Don’t step out of this house if that’s the clothes you’re gonna wear
I’ll kick you out of my home if you don’t cut that hair
Your mom busted in and said, “What’s that noise?”
Aw, mom you’re just jealous it’s the Beastie Boys!
You gotta fight for your right to party!
Tomorrow night! Can’t wait!
Go Alex! That looks delicious…
Where can I buy Marsala?
(I live in nyc).
thanks!
“I suggest that he make it himself.”
hahaha, hilarious.
the dish looks AMAZING
We buy marsala at the wine store, any wine store. It’s like $6 a bottle and, because it is fortified, lasts a while. Oooh, maybe I’ll make David’s ice cream with marsala in it…
Does your Marsala say Sweet or Dry on it? The Marsala at my grocery store is $14 and comes in Dry or Sweet. This recipe sounds a lot like the one I use from epicurious for years. Last week I think I bought the wrong wine though, and got Sweet. I’m pretty sure in the past I’ve used Dry but I’m not positive.
I will try Alex’s recipe next week since I still have all this wine left. (I do freeze it in individual batches too for future chicken marsalas and chicken madeira.)
My son is dairy-intolerant so I have to skip butter in recipes like this. In your opinion is it worth it to try with 100% olive oil or maybe olive oil/coconut oil? Or should I just skip the recipe all together? It looks too good not to try!
Thanks.
Would this work just as well with skinless breasts? I don’t often see boneless skin-on breasts packaged at the store and don’t currently have a butcher I like. Do you buy your chicken prepackaged or from a butcher? With recipes like this, where it calls for three breasts, I often find myself in a quandary as to what to do with the other breast in the package, as they generally seem to come four to a package. I can freeze it, but what am I going to do with one chicken breast later?
Tammi — Not sure, will have to check.
Robin — I’ve never tried it with olive oil, so I can’t be sure. Personally, I think the butter plays a huge part in the flavor and I’d miss it. But it doesn’t mean it can’t be a tasty, albeit slightly different dish, without it.
Jamaila — Would you believe I just realized that this calls for skin-on chicken? We’ve made it three or four times already, and have used skinless cutlets each time. So, yes, it works. Even more amazing if you brine it first.
I also rarely make the same dish twice - much to my husband’s dismay. There are too many recipes out in the great big cookbook of a world to make something again. I do have some tried and true recipes that get requested time and again from my family. If I am too lazy to think of something on my own, I’ll make one of the good old family favorites.
I’d make chicken marsala more but my wife nips from the marsala bottle till none is left.
I shall venture forth and purchase another after reading your recipe with its lovely photos. I can almost smell it!
Wow that looks absolutely amazing! I love mushrooms.
Oh my goodness. I had my heart set on pork chops and sweet potatoes for dinner tonight (I’ve been wanting to try those spiced sweet potatoe wedges from a few days ago) but that picture at the top has totally changed my mind. That mushroom marsala sauce is going to make my boyfriend fall in love with me all over again.
I have wanted to make this for so long… but I was slightly scared. I am a shroomist. I love just a little bit of mushroom but don’t like things too shroomy. Yet, I have loved chicken and mushroom marsala from the first bite but am scared. This post will get me to try this.
Oh yeah, I TOTALLY understand the don’t want to make the same thing twice. I think that’s why I keep buying cookbooks. And why I taught my husband how to make fajitas.
Oh yes.
Alex? Good man.
Deb — how do you make mushrooms look so sexy?
And I agree. Don’t overlook the humble white mushroom. It has so much to offer.
p.s. This recipe should be gluten-free!
This looks amazing! And so easy… Must make it for dinner this week. I wish my boyfriend would cook, but I’d be afraid he’d poison me with anything he did in the kitchen. He’s no chef, but he is good for moving around heavy furniture. :-)
deb—First, thanks for the mushroom shout out. Regarding questions about sweet or dry marsala, butter versus olive oil, etcetera, the beauty of a dish like this is that all roads lead to delicious. You could also use sherry, brandy or white wine, for instance. The result wouldn’t be chicken marsala, of course, but it would be tasty. You’re right about the butter bringing a nice richness to the flavor, but olive oil would be good too, with all the other flavors going on. Lately, I’ve also been intrigued by duck fat as a way to add a richness to dishes—a mix of that and olive oil or canola oil instead of butter might deliver an interesting complex richness.
I love mushrooms of every kind. Maybe one day I will make this dish, sans chicken for a mushroom kick..
That looks good and sounds really tasty! Bookmarked
This looks so unbelievably good! Go Alex!
A great dish. What exactly is Marsala sauce and what’s a good brand to get? This looks really delicious, I’ll be making this this weekend hopefully perhaps served over some bulgur wheat. Thanks for the recipe!
- The Peanut Butter Boy
if i weren’t sick as a dog right now, this is what i would want for dinner. (if someone would make it *for* me, i would eat it now regardless of illness).
my love of mushrooms including the humble button, is without compare. my chicken marsala is a little piece of chicken with mounds and mounds of mushroms. fun to say, more fun to eat!
good job alex!
playing scrabulous while someone else makes that delicious looking chicken marsala…does anything really top that?!
I first had marsala chicken in California Pizza Kitchen,
Since then,
I’m in LOVE with marsala chicken,
And I’m 100% sure that yours definitely tastes better than CPK!
thanks for the delicious recipe! Made it tonight and it was great!!!
Yay! You’ve mentioned this recipe before and when I saw the flickr photos I came over here to search for it. I was so sad to find it missing! I hadn’t gotten around to emailing you about it yet, and here it is! Hooray!
I know I could’ve googled Chicken Marsala, but since I know you already scoured all available recipes and tweaked one just right, I knew I’d be rewarded by just standing on the shoulders of the smittenkitchen giants.
Can’t wait to try it!
This is just the kind of recipe that Gourmet used to be so good at providing and why I loved subscribing…THEN. I haven’t subscribed for years…it’s turned into yet another Bon Appetit and is full of restaurant foo foo food that I would NEVER cook in my lifetime. I’ve printed this one off and hope to make it soon!
I’ll try that at home.
This looks similar to the recipe I use for Chicken Marsala (or in my case Bob’s Chicken Marsala) but it has lemon juice, just a bit, and I think it seems to brighten up the flavors. I haven’t made it in a few years, but it will definitely be on my table this weekend. Thanks Deb for reminding me just how good this is! p
Love reading your blog and receipts. Gotten several good ideas…although my husband is the cook. I’m the baker. The marsala looks yummy, but the photo is upside down, so could you turn it right side up? I’d love to see what it really looks like. My eyes are crossing.
Love this recipe. I am with you on not trying a recipe twice. There are so many more to discover!
I have never tried anything like this, can’t hardly cook more than a can of soup, but I am going to try and surprise the wife tonight and see if I can cook this. Gotta go to the store and get marsala, olive oil, mushrooms, onion and parsley first but I am going to give this a try.
Not exactly sure what a “liquid mushrooms give off” is or how I will know when they are evaporated but I guess I can’t mess it up too badly.
I’ve been trying to think of something to try like this… thanks for the idea! I’m going to smoke the chicken and use that in the recipe. Is fond needed in this, or do you think I could use already-smoked chicken?
YUMMO!! I made this last night and my husband said he would marry me all over again because it was just that GOOD! Great photo!!
Love your site! I clicked over from The Pioneer Woman’s site and promptly bookmarked. I hope to try this tonight…we will see…. I was going to ask *where* you find skin-on boneless breasts, but saw you addressed that issue. :)
Looking forward to reading your archives!
Jenn
OMG, I am so excited for the BB’s! Just a few more hours. Get your dancing shoes on!
I made this not so long ago and it was really de-lish. I used crimini mushrooms instead…great post!
OK, I know where to buy Marsala. But where do I go to buy one of these Alexes you speak of?
Oh, forget it… I’ll make it myself. I too hate making anything twice, but if it shows up on several different blogs then that doesn’t count. This is going into the queue.
I have a friend who never makes the same dish twice — and I’ve tried to explain my view, which is that without practice and repetition, it’s harder to truly master a dish. Maybe it’s my bad memory, but I need to make something several times before I really feel that the recipe has become mine. I can see where this recipe would become one of those make-it-over-and-over ones; those mushrooms are irresistible.
I agree with Lydia, I’ve turned out some yummy meals but my truly wonderful and memorable ones are the ones that I’ve made over and over again and are always requested, I can practically make them in my sleep. The Hubby will be awed and surprised with this one. JanTink, you’re right too, Gourmet lost it’s appeal years ago, I’m amazed at how much food information is available on the net and how willing everyone is to share the recipes they love… thanx smitten kitchen!
I made this for dinner last night, and it was amazing! At first glance of the title I thought it would be an Indian Dish ( Masala ), I’d never cooked with Marsala before ( and only a vague notion of it’s existence ). Will definately be making it again.
I’ve got some fish that I caught the other day, and am thinking of doing a Marsala based sauce for it too.
I’m going to leave the husband and live in your kitchen.
Thanks for this receipe. My parents are planning a currey night with about 20 friends this coming weekend - and so my dad has been on the hunt for different receips. I will pass yours along :)
hmmm yes I see I have just made the same initial mistake as Paul in thinking that your recipe was for a currey…. not so I see on a second read. Will pass it along just the same as I think my father will enjoy it
Thank you so much, I made this dish using Chinese cooking wine and added the left over gravy from your recipe for chicken with 40 garlic cloves.
I used boneless chicken breasts and this turned out so tasty. I bought them already halved to save me the cutting and then pounded them out to an even thickness. I honestly think the skin would have been nasty and chewy so I’d recommend using skinless.
Thanks, Deb. Another keeper!
Deb,
Thanks for the fun article on Scrabulous. I’ll definitely look into, and probably become addicted to, that. I made this recipe last night and oh. my. word. It was AMAZING!! My husband deemed it “favorite restaurant good”. After your amazing cookies I made before Christmas, I’m pretty sure this is one of the best things to every come out of my kitchen. And I didn’t even realized until we were in a heavenly-food induced coma that I’d forgotten the very last step - to add the butter at the end. It’ was still to DIE for!! My kids were asking about mushrooms and my DH said, “they’re really not all that good for you” (as we’re constantly discussing the merits of any given food) and I was able to put him in his place with all of my newfound button mushroom knowledge. *wink* That’ll teach him. A million thanks to you, Deb, er. . , Alex, for this awesome recipe. Oh, and I also used boneless skinless breasts.
Do you pound the boneless chicken before or after you brine the chicken?
Thanks,
Lindsey
Another question,
If you buy kosher chicken, would you still recommend brinning it?
Thanks,
Lindsey
Lindsey — I didn’t pound the chicken and I have never tried this recipe with Kosher chicken. Still, though, brining won’t harm it.
Deb-
I love your blog. One Question on the Chicken Marsala - Sweet or dry marsala wine.
Linda
Gah, I keep forgetting to check. I’ll have to look tonight.
Any idea how long Marsala lasts? I’ve had some in the fridge for a LONG time (months), does it go bad? Or does it age and get better over time?
my boyfriend LOVES chicken marsala but i have never attempted making it myself. the recipe looks deliciously simple — i’ll have to give it a whirl. thanks for posting!
I just made this dish for dinner and it was so good! My boyfriend had never had chicken marsala before, so he didn’t know what to expect. He raved about it!
That is the most beautiful picture I’ve ever seen.
I gotta tell ya–I am not a mushroom eater, at all, but hubby loves them and they were on clearance for .50! So, he made this last night and I was licking my plate. I can’t believe how good it was, and easy. Thanks for the encouragement.
I made this last night and it was AMAZING! We didn’t have any Marsala wine so I used some Beaujolais instead, still fabulous. My veggie-phobic boyfriend tasted the mushrooms and onion mixture and declared it ‘the best ever.’ And then proceeded to practically lick the plate. I am definitely adding this recipe to my repertoire! And the best part was how easy it was.
Thank you! I know what I’m making for dinner tonight.
I made this a few days ago to RAVE REVIEWS!!!! EVERYONE, my husband, my 3 kids, and my parents agreed it’s a keeper. We loved it. I doubled the mushroom sauce and used 8 chicken breast halves and there was some chicken for leftovers, but the mushrooms were polished off.
Thanks for a great recipe!!
Chicken Marsala is a favorite in my family. My recipe is very similar to this one except that I dredge boneless, skinless chicken in flour before cooking and I add just a touch of cream at the end instead of butter. Tonight I’m definitely going to try this recipe though. Looks delish!
I am too hungry now thanks :)
Deb, you’ve officially become my favorite food blogger. Your recipes and commentary are consistently delicious and entertaining (respectively). I made this recipe for dinner last night for a few friends and roommates, and it was a smash hit.
One thing I’d like to point out is that the recipe calls for “boneless whole chicken breasts with skin on”. I have never, ever seen this in my grocery store, so i simply opted for split, bone-in chicken breasts, and it worked out just fine. I didn’t need to change the cooking times or anything.
I served it with sauteed green beans with caramelized shallots and a touch of garlic and some crusty bread to sop up the juice. It was sensational.
Again, thanks for the wonderful recipes and fabulous posts!
-Mike
Yummy ! Chicken Marsala. Easy but tastes like a million bucks.
Made this tonight, and the whole family loved it. The kids didn’t much care for the sauce; (a) they don’t know what they’re missing, and (b) it left more for the grownups.
Dead simple and delicious.
Thanks for posting it!
This was dinner tonight and it was SO GOOD! I want to eat those mushrooms and onions on every single thing for the rest of my life. (I keep thinking beef or pork medallions would be great in that sauce.)
Anyway–thanks, as usual, for the delicious recipe. And so simple! Total winner.
Mmm those raw sliced mushrooms look like a fantastic start to any dish. I adore mushrooms and chicken - they’re such a good combination whatever you do with them.
I’m going to make this very soon as it looks completely mouthwatering!
Thanks!
Sounds delicious, but can you tell me if you’ve ever used Madeira for this, and what the difference is between that and Marsala? Thanks.
Hi! This recipe sounds good and I think my folks would like it. However, as I am veg, I see no reason why this couldn’t be turned into Veggie Marsala…Okay, so it wouldn’t be ‘chicken’ marsala, but for me and my boyfriend, that would be the point. :-)
As to the person who wanted this recipe to be gluten free, I see nothing in it except perhaps the chicken broth that might have gluten in it. You can even check websites that deal specifically with Celiac information to see which wines are the best for those who have gluten intolerance.
This Marsala wine that is the focal point of this dish sounds interesting. Where does it come from, usually? I’m slowly learning about wines n such, but the key word is slooooowwwwly. ;-)
I think Shiraz would work with this recipe too..
BB,
Kat ^.^
Just wanted to let you know that I made this dish last night for my awesome boyfriend. He loved it and the taste was out of sight. I used sweet marsala wine. Thanks for all the hard work you put into this website and thank you Alex for this dish!
I made this (with sweet Marsala btw) and it was a huge hit.
Next time I am definitely going to double the mushroom sauce. I just wanted to thank you for the recipe and let you know that I am going to hold on to this and make it again and again.