Chicken marsala
Golden chicken cutlets in a glossy, mushroom-packed Marsala wine sauce, the Italian-American restaurant classic made in one skillet.
- 45 min total
- 40 min hands-on
- Follow-a-recipe easy
- Serves 4
- About $3.45 a serving
- 710 calories
- Good the next day
Dolly says: Make the full amount. It’s just as good for lunch the next day.
Ingredients
For 4 servings.
- 1½ lb chicken breasts, 2 large breasts
- ¼ cup butter, divided
- 8 oz angel hair pasta
- 8 oz baby bella mushrooms, sliced
- 1 shallot, minced
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- ¾ cup dry marsala wine
- ¾ cup chicken broth
- ¼ cup heavy cream (optional)
- 2 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped (optional)
From your pantry
- 1 tbsp salt, plus 1 teaspoon
- ½ tsp black pepper
- ⅓ cup all-purpose flour
- 2 tbsp olive oil
Each serving has about 710 calories, 49 g protein, 60 g carbs and 24 g fat, and costs about $3.45 at typical US grocery prices. Both are estimates from what the recipe uses.
Missing something?
- No chicken breasts? Boneless chicken thighs or chicken tenderloins work.
- No butter? Ghee works.
- No baby bella mushrooms? White mushrooms work.
- No chicken broth? Vegetable broth or bone broth works.
- No fresh parsley? Cilantro works.
Steps
Tap an underlined word for a quick explanation.
Fill a large pot with water, add 1 tablespoon of the salt, cover, and over high heat for the pasta.
Bring to a boil. It means heating a liquid on high until it’s fully boiling before you move on. A lid on the pot gets it there faster, which makes it a good moment to chop something.
How you’ll know: Big bubbles break all over the surface, and they keep coming when you lift the lid.
High heat
Slice each chicken breast in half through its thickness to make 4 thin cutlets.
Dolly’s tip: Lay your hand flat on top and keep the knife level with the board, sawing slowly. Thin cutlets cook fast and stay juicy.Sprinkle with 1 teaspoon salt and the pepper, then coat in the flour and shake off the extra.
Wash your hands.
Heat the oil and 1 tablespoon of the butter in a large over medium-high until the butter foams.
Skillet. A skillet is a frying pan: wide and flat with low, sloped sides. The shape lets steam escape, so food browns instead of stewing.
How you’ll know: It’s the pan you’d fry an egg in, and a 10 or 12 inch one handles most recipes.
Medium-high heat
Cook the chicken 3 to 4 minutes a side, in two batches if it crowds the pan, until and 165°F.
Golden brown. Golden brown is the color of good toast, somewhere between yellow and light brown. It means the outside is cooked and crisp but not burnt.
How you’ll know: It looks like toast and smells toasty; dark brown with a bitter smell means it went too far.
Medium-high heatTimer: 7 min
Food safety: Chicken and turkey are done at 165°F in the thickest part. A thermometer is the only sure check. Without one, cut into the thickest piece: it should be white all the way through, with no pink.
Move it to a plate.
Drop the pasta into the boiling water and cook as the package says, about 4 minutes. and it with 1 tablespoon of the butter.
Drain. Draining means pouring off liquid, like tipping pasta into a colander or spooning extra fat out of the pan. Pour hot grease into a can or jar, not the sink, where it hardens and clogs the pipes.
How you’ll know: Only a few drips are left, and the food isn’t sitting in a puddle.
Toss. Tossing means gently lifting and turning food so everything gets coated, like pasta in sauce or vegetables in oil. It coats every piece evenly without mashing anything.
How you’ll know: Every piece looks glossy or evenly coated, with no dry spots hiding underneath.
High heatTimer: 4 min
Turn the skillet to medium, add 1 tablespoon of butter and the mushrooms, and cook 5 to 6 minutes, until . Stir in the shallot and garlic for 1 minute.
Brown. Browning means cooking until the outside turns brown, which is where a lot of savory flavor comes from. Give food room and time without stirring, or it steams and stays gray.
How you’ll know: The food looks brown rather than gray, and the kitchen smells toasty and savory.
Medium heatTimer: 6 min
Pour in the Marsala and , then 2 to 3 minutes, until it’s by about half.
Scrape up the browned bits. It means loosening the brown bits stuck to the pan with a wooden spoon, usually right after adding liquid. Those bits are concentrated flavor, and they melt into the sauce.
How you’ll know: The bottom of the pan looks clean again, and the liquid turns darker and richer.
Simmer. Simmering means keeping a liquid just below a boil, with small bubbles rising gently. It cooks food evenly and lets a sauce thicken without scorching on the bottom.
How you’ll know: Small, lazy bubbles break the surface every second or so, and nothing is churning.
Reduce. Reducing means simmering a liquid with the lid off so some of the water steams away. The sauce gets thicker and its flavor gets stronger.
How you’ll know: The level drops in the pan, and the sauce coats the back of a spoon instead of running off.
Medium heatTimer: 2 min 30 sec
Dolly’s tip: Those brown bits stuck to the pan are pure flavor. The wine loosens them into the sauce.Add the broth and 4 to 5 minutes, until the sauce coats a spoon. Stir in the cream, if using, and the last tablespoon of butter.
Simmer. Simmering means keeping a liquid just below a boil, with small bubbles rising gently. It cooks food evenly and lets a sauce thicken without scorching on the bottom.
How you’ll know: Small, lazy bubbles break the surface every second or so, and nothing is churning.
Medium heatTimer: 4 min 30 sec
Slide the chicken and its juices back in and spoon the sauce over for 1 minute to warm it. Scatter with parsley and serve over the pasta.
Low heatTimer: 1 min
Plan this in Dollop, and get the grocery list
Dollop puts this dinner on a night that suits your week, lists only what you still need to buy, and walks you through each step while you cook.
