Classic Chicken Marsala

10 hours ago 1

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This Chicken Marsala is an easy, elegant weeknight dinner with tender chicken, rich Marsala sauce, and savory pancetta—your new go-to Chicken Marsala recipe.

Know Before You Scroll

Servings: 4

Prep: 15 minutes

Cook: 30 minutes

Total Time: 45 minutes

Chicken cutlets, mushrooms, pancetta, Marsala wine, chicken stock, onion, garlic, flour, butter, olive oil, parsley.

Savory, lightly sweet, buttery, and deeply aromatic.

Large skillet, tongs, wooden spoon, platter.

Don’t rush the mushrooms—deep browning makes the sauce incredible.

Use pre-sliced chicken cutlets to skip pounding.

Replace pancetta with thick-cut bacon for a smokier flavor.

A plate of pasta topped with a breaded Chicken Marsala cutlet, creamy mushroom sauce, diced bacon, and chopped parsley, served with a gold fork and knife.

My Take on Chicken Marsala

This Chicken Marsala has been part of my cooking life for as long as I can remember. I first shared it on the site back in 2021, and it quickly became a reader favorite — it’s been shared more than 21,000 times on Pinterest and has earned a steady stream of five-star reviews from home cooks who make it on repeat.

A close-up of Chicken Marsala in a pan, featuring golden-brown chicken breasts, sautéed mushrooms, and a rich marsala sauce. A serving spoon lifts a piece of the hearty, flavorful Chicken Marsala for serving.

Even though I’ve been making it my whole life, I decided it was time to give the post a little love. The recipe itself hasn’t changed — it’s still the same reliable, comforting Chicken Marsala everyone knows — but we re-shot the photos and updated the article with clearer steps, smarter tips, and all the extra details readers have asked for over the years. It feels good to bring a classic back with everything I’ve learned along the way.

Chicken Marsala is popular Italian-American dish made with lightly breaded, pan-fried chicken cutlets in a rich Marsala wine and mushroom sauce. Although it’s commonly a restaurant dish, it’s really simple to make homemade. This one pan dish can be ready to eat in under an hour. The recipe makes a fantastic, rich sauce that is delicious over pasta, rice pilaf, or mashed potatoes.

Ingredient Notes

A variety of cooking ingredients on a white surface, including raw chicken breasts for Chicken Marsala, diced bacon, mushrooms, onion, garlic, parsley, butter, flour, oil, vinegar, and salt and pepper shakers.

Thin chicken breast cutlets pounded to one-quarter inch (see The Best Chicken for Marsala section for more information) for quick, even browning. Lightly coating them in all-purpose flour gives the chicken a delicate crust and helps thicken the sauce.

Turkey cutlets or thin pork chops; gluten-free flour blend for dredging.

Medium-dice pancetta, yellow onion, fresh garlic, and flat leaf parsley for a balanced, savory base.

Thick-cut bacon for pancetta; shallots in place of onion.

Brown mushrooms (cremini/baby bellas) for deeper flavor and better browning.

A mix of cremini, oyster, and shiitake for a more complex sauce; white mushrooms if that’s all you have.

Sweet Marsala wine (not dry) paired with low-sodium chicken stock for classic balance.

Store bought chicken broth, sherry or brandy.

The Best Chicken for Marsala

Raw chicken breast slices arranged on a white plate, sprinkled with coarse salt—ideal for preparing classic Chicken Marsala.

Traditional Chicken Marsala is made with thin chicken breast escalopes (cutlets). You can buy them pre-sliced, but it’s much cheaper to buy and slice whole breasts and then pound them down. Pounding the chicken results in a much more tender cutlet.

How to Pound Chicken Breasts

Slice each chicken breast in half horizontally to create thinner cutlets. Lay them under a piece of plastic wrap and gently pound them with a meat mallet or rolling pin until they’re an even thickness. This tenderizes the chicken and helps it cook evenly.

On the left, two raw chicken breasts beside a knife on a wooden cutting board; on the right, a meat mallet pounding chicken for tender, juicy results—perfect for pairing with creamy mushroom sauce.

Place the chicken breasts on a cutting board and lay a piece of plastic wrap over them. Then, using a meat mallet, pound them flat until they are about a quarter-inch thick. If you don’t have a mallet, a rolling

You can find the full, printable recipe at the top of this post, but you can read the detailed instructions with photos for each step below.

How To Make Chicken Marsala

Prep and Season the Chicken

Let the chicken sit at room temperature for twenty to thirty minutes, season it well with salt, and dredge it lightly in flour, shaking off excess.

A raw piece of meat, perfect for Chicken Marsala, lies on a bed of white flour in a brown bowl, ready to be coated, against a white background.

Brown the chicken

Heat the olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the chicken in batches and cook until both sides are golden. Transfer to a platter and keep warm.

On the left, several pieces of chicken destined for Chicken Marsala are being fried in a pan. On the right, beautifully browned Chicken Marsala pieces are arranged on a white plate.

Cook the Pancetta

Lower the heat to medium. Crisp the pancetta and set it aside.

A frying pan with browned cubed bacon and rendered fat on the left, essential for Chicken Marsala, and cooked bacon pieces draining on a paper towel-lined plate on the right.

Cook the Vegetables

Add the onions to the same pan, cook until softened, then add the mushrooms. Let them release their liquid and brown deeply before stirring in the garlic, seasoning, and the tablespoon of flour.

on the left, chopped onions are being sautéed in a pan with a wooden spoon; on the right, sautéed mushrooms and onions, golden brown—classic ingredients for Chicken Marsala.

Build the Sauce

Raise the heat to high. Pour in the sweet Marsala wine and let it bubble for a minute to reduce. Add the chicken stock and cook until the sauce thickens enough to lightly coat the back of a spoon.

Sliced mushrooms cooking in a creamy Chicken Marsala sauce in a pan, being stirred with a wooden spatula.

Finish the Sauce

Stir in the butter and parsley until melted and glossy.

A close-up of a pan filled with simmering Chicken Marsala sauce, showing sliced mushrooms, chopped herbs, and small pieces of bacon in a light, brothy liquid.

Combine and Season to Taste

Return the chicken and pancetta to the pan and simmer for a minute or two to warm through. Taste the sauce and add more salt and pepper if needed before serving.

A skillet filled with golden-brown Chicken Marsala breasts in a creamy sauce with mushrooms, bacon bits, and fresh herbs, viewed from above.

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 30 minutes

Total Time: 45 minutes

Serves 4

▢ 1½ lbs chicken breast cutlets (skinless & boneless, pounded to ¼-inch thick)
▢ 4 tablespoons all-purpose flour (for dredging)
▢ salt and freshly ground black pepper
▢ 4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil (plus more as needed)
▢ 4 oz Pancetta (medium, chopped)
▢ 1 onion (chopped)
▢ 8 oz brown mushrooms (sliced)
▢ 3 cloves garlic (minced)

For The Sauce

▢ 1 tablespoon All-purpose flour
▢ ¾ cup sweet Marsala wine
▢ ¾ cup chicken stock
▢ 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
▢ flat-leaf parsley (chopped )

Remove the chicken from the fridge 20-30 minutes before you plan to cook and season well with salt. Leave to come to room temperature.
Heat the oil over medium-high flame in a large skillet or frying pan. When the oil is hot, dredge both sides of the chicken pieces in the seasoned flour, shake off the excess, and add to the pan.
Fry until golden, flip and repeat on the other side. Do this in batches to keep from overcrowding the pan. Remove the chicken to a large platter in a single layer to keep warm.
Lower the heat to medium and add the Pancetta to the same pan and cook until crisp. Using a slotted spoon, remove the Pancetta from the pan onto a plate lined with paper towels.
Add the onions to the pan and cook until softened. Add the mushrooms and saute until they are nicely browned and their moisture has evaporated.
Add the garlic and cook another minute. Season with salt and pepper and coat in 1 tablespoon of flour.
Raise the heat to high. Add the Marsala to the pan, bring to a boil and cook down for a minute to cook out the alcohol. Add the chicken stock and cook for another 3 minutes to thicken the sauce slightly.
Stir in the butter and parsley. Return the chicken and Pancetta to the pan; simmer for 1 to 2 minutes to heat the chicken through.
Taste for seasoning and season with salt as needed before serving.

Erren’s Top Tips

When pan-frying the chicken, don’t skimp on the oil. You need enough oil to get a golden-brown crust.
Remove the chicken from the refrigerator about 20 minutes before you’re ready to cook. This helps the chicken to cook evenly.
Keep the heat at a steady, high temperature when pan-frying the chicken. This limits how much the flour absorbs the oil, which will cause a soggy finish.
Don’t overcrowd the pan. Overcrowding causes the chicken to steam instead of fry. It’s better to fry in batches instead.
If the Pancetta releases a lot of fat, drain the pan of all but a tablespoon before moving on.
If you prefer a creamy sauce, add a half cup of heavy cream when you add the stock to the pan.