This recipe originated on the Food Network. The show was called "All in Good Taste" and aired between 1996-2000 on cable TV. I loved that show. It was a great resource for some wonderful recipes. I tried this one right after I watched it. It's so good and I've served it many, many times. It is easy and everyone raved about the flavor. This recipe turns you from a cook into a "Chef"! Serve with garlic smashed potatoes, favorite veggie, and a light salad. A quick, easy, and wonderful dinner!
This recipe has just a few ingredients. My kind of recipe...Boneless chicken breasts, tomato paste, Marsala cooking wine, butter, olive oil, onion and salt and pepper to taste. A few ingredients, but a wonderful quick dinner dish. Everyone will think you are a pro!
Let's Make Chicken Marsala...
I have used this recipe for several years. I've done a little updating though on the recipe. I love the Marsala sauce and this recipe didn't have a lot. So, I went on a quest to make a better sauce. I checked out several recipes and this is what I came up with. I added chicken stock and heavy cream to the recipe. I also fried the onions, garlic and mushrooms separate from the chicken. Once I cooked the chicken, I set it aside and made the sauce. Viola' it turned out better than before.
First, pound out your chicken. If you have never done it before, watch the video below to see how it's done. You will need a meat mallet, or a saucepan, or whatever you have available that you can pound the chicken breasts to 1/3" to 1/2" thick. If you have purchased large chicken breasts, slice them in half horizontally to get two cutlets, (this will also make it easier to pound them to the thickness that is needed) otherwise you will have one very large cutlet.
Now to Flatten Chicken Breasts...
Even after all those years of cooking, I'm still learning different techniques. I love that we now have videos to show us exactly how to achieve certain results. It makes cooking so much easier. Also, the right pans and tools make cooking a snap. When making Chicken Marsala, you need to flatten the chicken breasts. Here's a short video showing how to do it... This method is also used for Chicken Piccata and Turkey Piccata..
How to thin Chicken Breasts VIDEO
Next...
Once the chicken breasts are flattened to the thickness required, salt and pepper the cutlets and dredge in flour. Then place the butter and olive oil in a frying pan and fry chicken until golden brown. Place the cutlets on a plate and cover with foil to keep warm...make sure you vent the chicken while it's resting.
Add more butter and olive oil to your frying pan and add the mushrooms and cook until browned (about 5 minutes). Add chopped onions and garlic and cook for another 3-5 minutes or until fragrant. Add the Marsala wine and tomato sauce mixture and cook down. Then add the chicken stock scrapping the bottom of the frying pan to get all the yummy bits incorporated with the mushroom mixture. At this point add the heavy cream in a steady stream and once again keep stirring. Lower the heat to keep the mixture at a simmer reducing it a bit. Keep cooking until it's slightly thickened. At this point taste test the sauce to see if it needs salt or pepper.
Add the chicken back into the mushroom sauce and cook on low until chicken is completely heated through. Now it's time to serve... I love Chicken Marsala with mashed potatoes, but I have also had it with pasta. My favorite??? Mashed potatoes.
Chicken Marsala Recipe...
Ingredients:
- 6 small skinless, boneless chicken breasts or 3 large chicken breasts (cut in half horizontally)
- Flour
- Salt & Pepper
- 2 T. butter
- 1 T. olive oil
Mushroom Sauce:
- 8 ounces fresh mushrooms (white button and cremini work well)
- 1 small onion (chopped)
- 2 garlic cloves (minced)
- 2 T. butter
- 1 T. olive oil
- 1/2 tsp. tomato paste (opt)
- 3/4 cup Marsala cooking wine
- 3/4 cup chicken stock
- 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
- Salt & pepper to taste
- Parsley garnish
Directions:
- Flatten chicken breasts between two sheets of plastic wrap. (Check out the video above on how to flatten chicken breasts)
- Salt and pepper each chicken cutlet
- Dredge the chicken breasts in flour. Shake off the excess flour.
- Add the olive oil and butter to frying pan.
- Fry chicken until golden brown on both sides.
- Place chicken on a plate and cover with aluminum foil leaving a little opening for moisture to escape.
- Dissolve tomato paste in the Marsala wine.
- Heat butter and olive oil in a skillet and saute' mushrooms until golden brown.
- Add onions and garlic and cook until onions are soft and fragrant.
- Add the Marsala wine and tomato paste mixture to the mushroom mixture and cook for another 5 minutes.
- Then turn up the heat and add the chicken stock and cook for about another 5 minutes
- Turn down the heat a little and add the heavy cream in a steady stream and when it comes to a slight boil and is slightly thickened turn the heat down to low..
- Return chicken cutlets to the frying pan and spread the sauce over the chicken cutlets. Cook on low to reheat the chicken cutlets.
- Serve
One Final Thought...
One of my favorite dinners...Chicken Marsala, garlic mashed potatoes, or baby reds and fried green beans with parmesan or a great salad. Always a show stopper and so dang easy!
That's it for today...Enjoy!
Always remember..."Life's short...eat dessert first!"...words to live by!
