# Authentic Chicken Marsala



## kitchenelf

Authentic Chicken Marsala Recipe

I am a HUGE fan of Marsala. Marsala is a rich, fortified wine from Sicily. Quite delicious on its own, and also very tasty in meat dishes! 

1/4 cup flour 
1/4 tsp salt 
1/8 tsp black pepper 
4 chicken breasts, boned, skinless
1 Tbsp olive oil 
1/2 cup Marsala wine 
1/2 cup sliced mushrooms 
1/2 cup chicken stock
1/2 lemon


Mix together the flour, salt and pepper. Roll the chicken in this until well coated. Heat up the olive oil and brown the chicken on both sides. Now put chicken onto a plate. Pour wine into the oil and warm. Mix in the mushrooms, chicken stock and juice of the lemon. Simmer for 10 minutes. Add in chicken and cook covered another 10 minutes. Serve over egg noodles.

***I always modify a recipe, what can I say  :roll: 

I did use 2 packs of sliced mushrooms (we love them!!) and I did pound out the chicken breasts a little.  Once the final cooking was done I removed the breasts and wisked in a couple more TBS of butter.  That's all...nothing earth-shattering  8)


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## carnivore

sounds really good--minus the mushrooms for me, of course.  Now I know what you're thinking, kitchenelf:  without the mushrooms it's not Chicken Marsala!!
But I guarantee I'll make it, probably love it, then grow to appreciate the mushrooms in my later years.    
one other question:  in case i go to the closest liquor store and they don't have Marsala wine (it's probably everywhere, but I don't know because I'm not a wine drinker) is there a comparable wine I could buy??
Oh, and also why did you pound the chicken breasts?  Is it a personal preference?

Thanks,


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## kitchenelf

carnivore,  I think the dish would still be good without the mushrooms - but not without the Marsala wine! LOL  You should find it where the wines are - ours are in the grocery store versus the liquor store - it's not expensive AT ALL - it's really quite inexpensive!!  

Since you won't have the mushrooms cooking in the wine and chicken stock just remove the chicken after it browns, use the wine and stock to deglaze the pan (it will steam will be quite intense so be careful when you add the wine) - anyway, deglaze the pan and let this mixture reduce and cook for about 10-15 minutes, add chicken back to pan and let cook the rest of the way.  Then add your butter to give the broth some body.

I pound out the chicken breasts because they cook much quicker and are more tender, IMH anyway.

Marsala has such a different taste that I really couldn't recommend a comparable substitute.  Burgundy or Cabernet, or any red, would give it a nice flavor but Marsala is sweeter with a unique flavor all its own.


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## carnivore

kitchenelf,
I'm double posting this to make sure you see it, but i tried your Chicken Marsala recipe tonight, and the girlfriend & i both loved it!
I will admit to (quote unquote) "severely" changing the amounts of certain ingredients, but I didn't add or take away any of them (except for the mushrooms, of course).  oh, and i threw some salt, pepper, & butter on the egg noodles.
this one's definitely going in my collection, filed under "super-good".   :!:


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## Sandyj

Hi,

Ever since I had chicken marsala at a local Italian restaraunt, I've tried to make it at home - sort if inventing as I went along.

I have a question: should the Marsala be sweet or dry?

SandyJ


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## kitchenelf

Good question Sandyj!!!!!

I used the Superiore, which is a sweet but not overly sweet.  If you are not fond of sweetness in your food (which some people are not) you can always use the dry.  Either one is proper though - I've seen recipes both ways.


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## Psiguyy

kitchenelf said:
			
		

> Good question Sandyj!!!!!
> 
> I used the Superiore, which is a sweet but not overly sweet.  If you are not fond of sweetness in your food (which some people are not) you can always use the dry.  Either one is proper though - I've seen recipes both ways.



Thank You!  I was thinking I was the only one who preferred sweet marsala in cooking.


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## kadesma

Kitchenelf,
just spotted your recipe    I love anything Marsala...I like the idea of egg noodles.  They will be a nice change from garlic mashed potatoes...Thanks for the idea and the recipe.
Kadesma


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## kitchenelf

LOL, I don't know how old you are but I loved it when garlic mashed potatoes took the place of egg noodles - now I'm glad to be "back to basics"! LOL  Nothing better than plain egg noodles - even with just a tad of butter, garlic salt, Parmesan, and Oregano.


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## kadesma

Kitchenelf, you might say older than dirt   I'm a grandma in her 60's   Back to basics is a nice change... I still love garlic mashed potatoes, but the egg noodles sound so good...I'm planning sunday dinner around your recipe...Always have all my kids here on sundays and they take turns requesting dinner...This Sunday it's my turn... Thanks again.
Kadesma


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## SierraCook

Kitchenelf,

I cannot drink most wines due to an allergy.  I have found some non-sulfite wines, what kind of wine should I substitute for the Marsala?  Would a plain old red wine work?


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## GB

Unfortunately for this dish no other wine will do. There really is no substitute for marsala. Nothing else tastes like it. 

I prefer to use dry marsala, but I am not a big fan of sweet things, especially with meat, but I have had it both ways and each are delicious.

I do not like mushrooms either, but I am trying to learn to like them. I have made this dish both with and without and I have to say that if I am ever to learn to enjoy mushrooms then it will probably be in chicken marsala.


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## WayneT

*Kitchenelf wrote:*


> Authentic Chicken Marsala Recipe



*I don't know about kitchen
	

	
	
		
		

		
			





 but I certainly will be 
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	




 this one up!!!*


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## kitchenelf

Well, I'm right there with you (almost).  I hope you enjoy your Sunday dinner!!!  I really miss those dinners with my parents.


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## CharlieD

I love this recipe, simple to the point, the delicious end result.  keep coming back to it time after time.


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## FluffyAngel

Mmm. Sounds so good. I hope I can try this soon.


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## Greg Who Cooks

Noting that the OP is from 2003...

KE, I like your idea of adding lemon. I hadn't thought of that in my own Chicken Marsala recipe.

Carnivore, the breasts cook more quickly if they aren't too thick, and if you don't pound them then you may overcook other elements of the recipe by the time the breasts are fully cooked in the middle.

You should pick sweet Marsala over dry Marsala. (I tested this. And it is of course my opinion.) If you can't find Marsala then you can cook a similar recipe using sweet cream Sherry or Madeira. IMO I would stay away from robust red wines.

I can't comprehend this recipe without mushrooms, but I love mushrooms.

With noodles sounds good. With garlic mashed potatoes sounds good. I usually serve my Chicken Marsala with wild brown rice.

GB, well it won't be Chicken Marsala if you don't use Marsala, it could be a tasty recipe with some other wine. Those who can't or won't use wine might cook a similar recipe substituting chicken stock. I'm glad I don't have to do this...

Charlie, did you reply to some 1 time 1der who revived the topic, perhaps to post a spam?   And then the moderators deleted the post you replied to?


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## buckytom

i miss elfie.


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## Margi Cintrano

Good Evening.

Half Italian and living part of the time in Puglia, I would definitely recommend  pasta, linguini or spaghetti with Chicken or veal Marsala.

Have a nice Holiday and wkend.
Margi.


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## Alix

buckytom said:


> i miss elfie.



Me too. She's busy in the wine biz though. You can see her on FB from time to time.


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## Kayelle

I can use chicken thighs with good results, yes?


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## Greg Who Cooks

Kayelle said:


> I can use chicken thighs with good results, yes?


Sure you can! Use _skinless_ bone-in chicken thighs. I cook Chicken Marsala that way too. Roll them in seasoned flour and brown them in vegetable oil.

Working from the OP (although my own recipe is different) you'll have to increase the cooking time because the original cooking time for the chicken is time of browning plus 10 minutes after the chicken is returned to the pan, not enough to cook whole thighs thoroughly.

Instead, just leave the chicken pieces in the pan and add your additional ingredients, cover and reduce the heat, simmer on low for about 30-40 minutes to completely cook the whole pieces. Turn the pieces a few times as necessary to cook evenly, add more wine if the liquid level gets low. Check at 30 minutes and continue simmering up to 10 minutes more, or until they're done.

I tend to use more wine than the recipe in the OP, then finish by keeping the chicken warm in the oven while I reduce the sauce to suit.


ETA: Or if you're using skinless boneless chicken thighs then handle them the same as skinless boneless chicken breasts.


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## Kayelle

Thanks Greg.  I seldom use chicken breast at all, as I think thighs have so much more flavor.
Thanks to a tip from Andy some time ago, I learned that cooking them longer than "just done" as I had been doing, gives a better texture to the meat.


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## CharlieD

Yes, I know this is old thread, but that was the whole point of reviving it, because the recipe is so simple and so good. 
GG, sorry, but I totally missed your joke.


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## Greg Who Cooks

Kayelle said:


> Thanks Greg.  I seldom use chicken breast at all, as I think thighs have so much more flavor.
> Thanks to a tip from Andy some time ago, I learned that cooking them longer than "just done" as I had been doing, gives a better texture to the meat.


I think it's a general cooking concept that bone-in meat always tastes better than boneless fillets, and that meat near the bone always tastes better than meat less near the bone. I'm not sure why that is so but I'm certain it's true.



CharlieD said:


> Yes, I know this is old thread, but that was the whole point of reviving it, because the recipe is so simple and so good.
> GG, sorry, but I totally missed your joke.


Sorry Charlie. I often don't understand my own jokes, or sometimes make jokes unintentionally without understanding that other people perceive them as jokes, or even make jokes and not have them perceived as so.

This is all so much easier face to face when we can perceive other peoples' facial expressions and body language, yet even there we often missperceive jokes as seriousness, or vice versa.

My advice to everybody is to perceive everything I say in a humorous context unless it's presented in a schema of ingredients/method.


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## Margi Cintrano

Good Morning Everyone,

Firstly, Chicken or Veal Marsala hails from Sicilia and is a festive dish in the Port of Marsala ... once called Marshalla, in Arabic.

As I had mentioned on the Greek Salad thread, I like my Mediterranean dishes, traditional ... and I do not deviate ... How can I take a recipe that hails from the 1770s and make it better ?  I am not Ferrán Adría and even he could not !!! And he would not try ! He would prefer to fly over to Marsala !!! 

I like to have Veal Marsala when I am in Italia, because Spain does not have a veal culture ... and so I prepare with chicken in Spain, and veal when in Italia ...  

The ingredients are: 

Butter
Marsala wine which is produced in Sicilia 
salt & black pepper
flour for dredging  
chicken or veal cutlets  
olive oil EVOO 

Lovely post.
Grazie.
Margaux Cintrano.


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## reasbey

Carnivore--

If you can't find Marsala, you can substitute Cream Sherry OR Tawny Port. It won't be exactly the same but will be fairly close. Also, when I first learned to make Chicken Marsala, I was taught to add about half a cup of seedless red grapes to simmer in the sauce with the mushrooms. Give it a try--it's good! (But might not be 100% "authentic.")


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## Kayelle

reasbey said:


> Carnivore--
> 
> If you can't find Marsala, you can substitute Cream Sherry OR Tawny Port. It won't be exactly the same but will be fairly close. Also, when I first learned to make Chicken Marsala, I was taught to add about half a cup of seedless red grapes to simmer in the sauce with the mushrooms. Give it a try--it's good! (But might not be 100% "authentic.")



Welcome to DC reasvey. I've used the recipe as written several times and I don't think you can have Chicken Marsala without Marsala. Sherry or Port isn't Chicken Marsala. 
Red grapes sounds like a nice addition, but Marsala is a must. It's a really wonderful and simple recipe!


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## Gravy Queen

Ooh I was recently looking at a similar Martha Stewart recipe as I love Marsala too .

However when I first saw the post I thought it meant chicken masala as to was under "ethnic" why is this an ethnic recipe ?


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## CharlieD

Because it is not American. Though what is American nowadays. In all honesty it is Italian recipe and thus is ethnic.


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## Snip 13

kadesma said:


> Kitchenelf, you might say older than dirt  I'm a grandma in her 60's  Back to basics is a nice change... I still love garlic mashed potatoes, but the egg noodles sound so good...I'm planning sunday dinner around your recipe...Always have all my kids here on sundays and they take turns requesting dinner...This Sunday it's my turn... Thanks again.
> Kadesma


 
My mother is in her sixties, don't let her hear you say that makes you a granny


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## Gravy Queen

Thanks Charlie, so that would be my other question, what dishes are American, I thought a lot of your dishes would be a mix of cultures as are indeed, many dishes in many countries . So what is considered purely American ?


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## pacanis

Gravy Queen said:


> Thanks Charlie, so that would be my other question, what dishes are American, I thought a lot of your dishes would be a mix of cultures as are indeed, many dishes in many countries . So what is considered purely American ?


 
http://www.discusscooking.com/forums/f17/what-is-american-food-74008.html


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## Gravy Queen

Ah thank you Pac . A lot there originating then from other countries .


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## pacanis

Gravy Queen said:


> Ah thank you Pac . A lot there originating then from other countries .


 
It's that whole "melting pot" thing


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## CharlieD

Love this recipe. Making it right now.


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## Andy M.

I realize this thread goes back beyond when I joined the forum in September of 2004. Reading through it I'm surprised I didn't respond ate some point.

Personally, I would only use dry Marsala. I've used both and the difference is significant. I believe it's the most authentic and I don't like sweetness in savory dishes. In her cookbook Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking, a recognized authority on Italian foods, Marcella Hazan uses dry marsala.  

It's chicken MARSALA for crying out loud, so NO you should not use some other wine. But you are certainly free to do so. Just change the name of the recipe.

In addition to making the classic recipe, I have also finished the recipe with some heavy cream to enrich and thicken the sauce.


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## dcSaute

I usually avoid "authentic" issues like a bad corona virus, however....

made this many times.  don't give a hoot if it's "authentic" or not - it's a really good version of Chicken Marsala.

Ingredients
1-1/2 pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts, each breast cut crosswise into 3 pieces
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons olive oil
5 tablespoons butter, divided
3/4 cup chopped onion
1 pound cremini mushrooms, sliced
2 tablespoons minced garlic
1 cup dry Marsala wine
1 cup mascarpone cheese
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
2 tablespoons chopped fresh Italian parsley leaves, plus whole sprigs, for garnish
12 ounces dried fettuccine 

Directions
Sprinkle the chicken with salt and pepper. Heat the oil in a heavy large skillet over high heat. Add the chicken and cook just until brown, about 4 minutes per side. Transfer the chicken to a plate and cool slightly.
While the chicken cools, melt 2 tablespoons of butter to the same skillet over medium-high heat, then add the onion and saute until tender, about 2 minutes. Add the mushrooms and garlic and saute until the mushrooms are tender and the juices evaporate, about 12 minutes.

Add the wine and simmer until it is reduced by half, about 4 minutes. Stir in the mascarpone and mustard.
Cut the chicken breasts crosswise into 1/3-inch-thick slices. Return the chicken and any accumulated juices to the skillet. Simmer, uncovered, over medium-low heat until the chicken is just cooked through and the sauce thickens slightly, about 2 minutes. Stir in the chopped parsley. Season the sauce, to taste, with salt and pepper.

Meanwhile, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the fettuccine and cook until al dente, stirring occasionally, about 8 minutes. Drain. Toss the fettuccine with 3 tablespoons of butter and season, to taste, with salt and pepper. Swirl the fettuccine onto serving plates. Spoon the chicken mixture over top. Garnish with parsley sprigs and serve.

Recipe courtesy Giada De Laurentiis


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## Andy M.

Giada's recipes are usually pretty good.


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## GotGarlic

Andy M. said:


> Giada's recipes are usually pretty good.


+1...


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## Kayelle

I think Giada's idea of adding Mascarpone cheese and Dijon sounds good and reasonable for making 

authentic Chicken Marsala. What is not reasonable is using anything but Marsala wine and calling it Chicken Marsala.


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## CharlieD

Gravy Queen said:


> Thanks Charlie, so that would be my other question, what dishes are American, I thought a lot of your dishes would be a mix of cultures as are indeed, many dishes in many countries . So what is considered purely American ?





Is there really “purely American food”?


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## GotGarlic

CharlieD said:


> Is there really “purely American food”?


If you count the food of Native Americans before contact with Europeans, there are a lot of foods and ingredients that are indigenous to the Americas. They're often used in more modern ways, though.


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## dcSaute

the entire nightshade family - tomato/potato/etc - along with maize - is New World.  food focused on those would be by definition "American (continent)" stuff.
stellar example:  cornbread/pudding, grits, polenta.....

other things that come to mind: 

fruit pies - a bottom/top crust baked dish is common throughout Europe, but not with fruits.  'American as apple pie' has a lot of truth to it.
corned beef - corned meats in merrie ole England were pork/lamb/mutton.  the Jewish deli's in NYC would of course not handle pork, so they 'invented' the beef variant to make the later Irish immigrants happy.
pizza.  [[[stand-by, large caliber incoming . . . ]]] the older tomato pie of course could not exist before the New World.  dough with toppings existed salotta' places.
I would posit the American style everything including the kitchen sink is indeed 'American' - the overboard toppings are simply not found in Italy/Europe - until much more recently, as it the 1990 and later....


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## Andy M.

dcSaute said:


> the entire nightshade family - tomato...  food focused on those would be by definition "American (continent)" stuff...




...such as pasta sauce?


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## GotGarlic

Native Americans had tomato sauces. They didn't have pasta.


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## taxlady

Hmm, corned beef - is a very popular cold cut in Denmark. I looked it up. They have been corning beef in Denmark since the middle ages. Danish beef is mostly from old dairy cows, so it is best suited to boiled and braised dishes or used as ground beef.


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## CharlieD

dcSaute said:


> the entire nightshade family - tomato/potato/etc - along with maize - is New World.  food focused on those would be by definition "American (continent)" stuff.
> stellar example:  cornbread/pudding, grits, polenta.....
> 
> other things that come to mind:
> 
> fruit pies - a bottom/top crust baked dish is common throughout Europe, but not with fruits.  'American as apple pie' has a lot of truth to it.
> corned beef - corned meats in merrie ole England were pork/lamb/mutton.  the Jewish deli's in NYC would of course not handle pork, so they 'invented' the beef variant to make the later Irish immigrants happy.
> pizza.  [[[stand-by, large caliber incoming . . . ]]] the older tomato pie of course could not exist before the New World.  dough with toppings existed salotta' places.
> I would posit the American style everything including the kitchen sink is indeed 'American' - the overboard toppings are simply not found in Italy/Europe - until much more recently, as it the 1990 and later....





The question was about American food? Was it both north and south? Because tomatoes come from South America and so is the potatoes.


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## taxlady

CharlieD said:


> The question was about American food? Was it both north and south? Because tomatoes come from South America and so is the potatoes.


Mostly, it's people in the US that assume that "American" only means from the US.

Tomatoes may come from South America, but they were probably domesticated in pre-Columbian Mexico.


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## dcSaute

Was it both north and south"
depends on the extent of one's viewpoint.  folks who have never traveled beyond the county line have a different perspective on the definition of 'American'

don't expect me to debate the meaning of "American" - is that post-1776 'America' vs. nomenclature like "European" and North/South America
I quit those kinds of nonsensical rants a long time ago.

some crops were available in the New World that were unknown in Asia and Europe aka "old world."  as a basis, dishes focused on new world crops are technically the only "North/South American" foods.

"beef" can be argued as 'old world' aka 'not new world' as those animals used in history and currently as sources of beef are not native to North or South America.

regardless, there are dishes in Europe/Asia that use "new world" ingredients which are simply too far removed from "North/South American"versions to be considered 'the original.'

 the origins of most dishes is so lost to history that arguing "authentic" is not viable.


 otoh, some dishes - like Cobb Salad - are well known/documented.
same with al Fredo - there are fact points of variation, but not 'origin'


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