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This Creamy Balsamic Mushroom Chicken Marsala makes for the best any night of the week dinner that feels extra special. Lightly breaded chicken seared until golden with nutty browned butter. The chicken is finished in a simple marsala wine pan sauce with caramelized balsamic mushrooms. It’s delicious, especially when served over creamy, herby mashed potatoes or pasta. Every bite is layered with delicious, hearty flavors and caramelized mushrooms. The perfect way to spend a relaxing night in the kitchen with family and friends.
Mondays should be all about thirty-minute skillet dinners like this, especially during these short December days. This is one of those recipes that looks and tastes like it took time to prepare, but really it’s the simplest.
This recipe started out completely different, but I’m so happy with where I landed. This is delicious guys.
When I started working on this recipe, there wasn’t any kind of marsala sauce involved. I was working on creating a creamy balsamic chicken, and while the idea sounded good, the outcome was a very dark and odd-looking dish with very little visual appeal.
Since I’m all about presentation and food that looks as delicious as it tastes, I decided to forget about the recipe, it didn’t feel that special to me. And I, of course, want everything I share with you guys to be overly delicious and pretty.
So I left it alone for a couple of days. But then, someone in my family mentioned chicken marsala. This got me thinking, what if I combined the balsamic chicken and the chicken marsala into one dish.
I could caramelize the mushrooms in balsamic vinegar, then toss the chicken in a creamy marsala wine sauce. It sounded even more delicious than my original idea, so I gave it try, and now here we are.
A balsamic and marsala chicken hybrid! It’s crazy what few tweaks in a recipe can really do to make something DELICIOUS.
I am excited about this one. I love when recipes form and develop over time, they always end up being my favorites.
If you love a good chicken marsala, you’ll love this slight twist even more. It’s all about those caramelized balsamic mushrooms.
Start with the chicken. If you’ve made chicken parmesan this is very similar. Just dredge the chicken through a mix of flour, then pan-sear it in a hot skillet. This allows the chicken to form a nice golden crust on the outside. Using thin chicken cutlets is key. The thin chicken cooks evenly and browns nicely in a short amount of time.
Tip: if your grocery store does not carry chicken cutlets, as a swap, try asking your butcher to pound out chicken breasts for you. This is super easy to do at home, but truthfully…it’s just not that much fun. The butcher can quickly pound out the chicken and save you the trouble…and the mess.
Also, you can easily make this chicken gluten-free by replacing the flour with almond flour. Or use your favorite gluten-free flour blend (I like cup4cup).
Pan-sear the chicken, then add in the butter. The butter browns around the chicken creating an even more delicious flavor.
Now the mushrooms, the best part! You want to thinly slice the shrooms, then let them crisp in a little olive oil. Once they’ve cooked down, just add a splash of balsamic vinegar and let the sauce caramelize over the mushrooms. It’s so simple but so delicious.
Once caramelized toss in a bit of butter, shallots, garlic, and lots of thyme. Again, allow that butter to brown, creating an even more delicious flavor.
At this point, just add in the wine, simmer until reduced, then stir in the cream. Allow everything to simmer and thicken into a delicious creamy sauce.
Well, you guys know me, I love my carbs. I served this saucy, creamy chicken over my slow cooker mashed potatoes. Twas’ delicious.
Other sides that would be great? Definitely any kind of pasta, steamed rice, or if you are looking for something on the lighter side, spaghetti squash is always a delicious, healthy option.
You can’t go wrong either way. The sauce makes just about anything you serve alongside it great. One thing that is a must? Crusty bread for moping up the extra sauce. You just have to do it.
My mom taught me well.
Looking for other simple dinners? Here are my favorites:Â
One Skillet Creamy Sun-Dried Tomato Chicken and Orzo
Herby Buttered Balsamic Mushroom Ravioli
Lastly, if you make this Creamy Balsamic Mushroom Chicken Marsala, be sure to leave a comment and/or give this recipe a rating! Above all, I love to hear from you guys and always do my best to respond to each and every comment. And of course, if you do make this recipe, don’t forget to tag me on Instagram! Looking through the photos of recipes you all have made is my favorite!
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Could I make this with fish? Which would you recommend?
Hey Zoe,
Sure, I would do a mild white fish like halibut. Please let me know if you give the recipe a try, I hope it turns out amazing for you! xTieghan
Absolutely my favorite recipe I ever made!
Hey Erin,
Thanks so much for giving this recipe a try, I love to hear that it was enjoyed! xxT
Delicious! That sauce is so yummy. Wish I made more. Can I sub heavy cream for whole milk in the future?
Hey Christina,
Awesome!! I am thrilled to hear that this recipe was a winner, thanks a bunch for making it! Yes, that will work well for you. xTieghan
Amazing! Made this tonight- I will never make my old Marsala recipe again! The family loved it, too Thank you
Hey Kristen,
Happy Friday!! I am thrilled to hear this recipe was enjoyed, thanks a bunch for giving it a go! xxT
This sauce was absolutely perfect ?? I made extra chicken and veggies just to soak up the sauce. The flavors are amazing, definitely restaurant quality ? I love every recipe you create, thank you for your creativity!!
Hey Sereena,
Happy Friday!! I am thrilled to hear this recipe was enjoyed, thanks a bunch for giving it a go! xxT
My daughter made this using some gourmet Black Oyster mushrooms from the farmers market and boneless thighs. This was one of the last rites dishes for sure – haha! All four of us were very surprised how great it came out served with plain orzo.
Question: I have a whole chicken and was thinking of deboning. Or, easier is to just cut it up into pieces and cook. Suggestions? Also, the store didn’t have fresh thyme but I do have fresh basil and dried thyme. Preference? And, lastly, I have some semi-sweet gewurztraminer or dry sherry. I am leaning towards using the gewurtz ???? Sorry about all the questions, but if can give some advice even if just your best guess that would be great. Thanks!
Made this with a deboned whole chicken, fresh basil, and the gewurztraminer. I doubled the sauce because this was a 4 llb+ chicken. The sauce came out a little thin but everything tasted excellent
Hey Michael,
Happy Friday!! I am thrilled to hear this recipe was enjoyed, thanks a bunch for giving it a go! xxT
Hey Michael,
Happy Friday!! I am thrilled to hear this recipe was enjoyed, thanks a bunch for giving it a go! I would debone the chicken and cut into pieces, you can used dried herbs in place of the fresh herbs. Sorry, I am not familiar with gewürztraminer, but use what you like! xxT
Any way to substitute the heavy cream with coconut milk??
Hey Paola,
Totally, that will work well for you! Let me know if you give the recipe a try, I hope you love it! xTieghan
11/10 ? This dish is so savory and quickly became a household staple! Making it again tonight!
Hey Brianna,
Happy Friday!! Love hearing that this recipe was enjoyed, thanks a bunch for giving it a try! xxT
Made this last night, absolutely delicious! Definitely will be making again!
Hey Ashley,
Happy Friday!! Love hearing that this recipe was enjoyed, thanks a bunch for giving it a try! xxT
OMG this one’s a keeper! Because I’m a mushroom freak I used a bunch more than 3 cups.
I like thicker sauce so added a cornstarch slurry.
So good my husband agreed to eat leftovers!
The sauce is sooooo much better than gravy – I could drink it!
Yes my sweet Southern friends – I said “better than gravy”!
Hey Nicole,
Fantastic!! I am thrilled to hear that this recipe was a winner, thanks so much for making it! xTieghan
Big hit last night! I served over mashed potato and I had mashed cauliflower. The flavors were on point.
Hey Ginny,
Awesome! I love to hear that this recipe was enjoyed, thanks a lot for making it! xTieghan
One of our favorites! My husband loves chicken Marsala and this is his favorite recipe. We put over mashed potatoes. Delicious.
Hey Jill,
Awesome! I love to hear that this recipe was enjoyed, thanks a lot for making it! xTieghan
Wow!! This recipe is amazing. I didn’t change anything and basically was drinking the sauce because it’s that good. Yum! This will be a new staple. Thank you, Tieghan.
Hi Laura,
Thanks so much for making this recipe, I am thrilled to hear it was enjoyed. Thanks for sharing your comment! xTieghan
This was delicious! I wanted to use something other than heavy cream so I did a mix equal parts milk/ to yogurt and used that in its place. My sauce dried up and fell short but that may have been a result of my milk/yogurt mix or I may have let the wine mix reduce too much. Anyway, the flavor as amazing – definitely making this again.
Hi Tracie,
Thanks so much for making this recipe, I am thrilled to hear it was enjoyed. Thanks for sharing your comment! xTieghan
This was a delicious dish. I used 4 cups of mushrooms and I put it over polenta.
Hi Jean,
Wonderful!! I am so so glad to hear that this recipe was enjoyed. Thanks a bunch for making it! xT