DEC
27
Recipe Exchange: Chicken Marsala
One of the first “fancy” meals I remember making for Eric was Chicken Marsala. It really isn’t that hard to make, but at the time I felt fancy. Chicken Marsala was something I’d never eaten growing up, except for maybe once in a restaurant, and I’m pretty sure it was my first experience using wine for cooking. It seemed like a grown-up recipe.
It’s still one of my favorites today, though we hadn’t enjoyed it for a while. One of the downsides to what I do is that I’m always trying new recipes and we don’t often have a lot of repeats in comparison to the number of new recipes I regularly try. I was excited for this opportunity to make and share a dish in this recipe exchange that used Holland House wines for cooking because I’ve been craving chicken marsala lately.
I couldn’t find the original recipe I had used when I first cooked this dish, but a quick search provided me with one from Gourmet Magazine in 2005. I don’t remember using heavy cream as this recipe does, however I do love the creaminess that it adds to the sauce. I believe I used thyme instead of sage and I do like both so I’d probably use whatever I had on hand at the time.
I think a big crisp, green salad balances the boldness of the Chicken Marsala. I also like to serve it with a side of mashed potatoes. It feels so rich and comforting, yet sophisticated at the same time. And it’s perfect for a winter evening.
What is your favorite dish to cook with wine? I hope you will share it here and link up for a chance to win a great prize, valued at $100, from Holland House. Check out the Beef Stroganoff Jamie shared for the recipe exchange. Doesn’t that look good?
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Chicken Marsala with Sage and Thyme
with several adaptations from Gourmet, June 2005
Ingredients:
1 cup chicken broth
3 tablespoons finely chopped shallot
5 tablespoons unsalted butter
12 oz mushrooms, trimmed and thinly sliced
1-2 teaspoons finely chopped fresh sage
1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves
3/4 teaspoon salt, or according to your taste
1/4 teaspoon black pepper, or according to your taste
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1 cup all-purpose flour
4 skinless boneless chicken breast halves (2 lb total)
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
3/4 cup Holland House Marsala wine
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juiceDirections:
Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 200°F.
Cook shallot in 3 tablespoons butter in an 8- to 10-inch heavy skillet over moderate heat, stirring, until shallot begins to turn golden, about 1 minute. Add mushrooms, 1 teaspoon sage, salt, and pepper and cook, stirring occasionally, until liquid mushrooms give off is evaporated and mushrooms begin to brown, 6 to 8 minutes. Remove from heat.
Put flour in a wide shallow bowl, add salt, pepper, garlic powder and mix. Gently pound chicken to 1/4 inch thick between 2 sheets of plastic wrap using the flat side of a meat mallet or a rolling pin.
Pat chicken dry, then dredge in flour, 1 piece at a time, shaking off excess. Transfer to a plate or tray.
Heat 1 tablespoon each of oil and butter in a 10-inch heavy skillet over moderately high heat until foam subsides, then sauté half of chicken, turning over once, until golden and just cooked through, about 4 minutes total. Transfer cooked chicken to a large heatproof platter, arranging in 1 layer, then put platter in oven to keep warm. Wipe out skillet with paper towels and cook remaining chicken in same manner, then transfer to oven, arranging in 1 layer.
Add 3/4 cup wine to skillet and boil over high heat, stirring and scraping up brown bits, about 30 seconds. Add 3/4 cup broth (reserving extra 1/4 cup to thin the sauce later to reach desired consistency, if necessary), cream, and mushrooms, then simmer, stirring occasionally, until sauce is slightly thickened, 6 to 8 minutes. Add lemon juice and remaining 1 teaspoon sage and thyme leaves. If desired, thin sauce with chicken broth to reach desired consistency.
Serve chicken with sauce.
How To Participate
For a chance to win a Holland House Gift Basket and $75 cash card:
- Write and post a recipe on your blog about COOKING WITH WINE.
- Include “Come join the fun at the My Baking Addiction and GoodLife Eats Holiday Recipe Swap sponsored by Holland House.” in your blog post.
- Add your link to the widget on either GoodLife Eats or My Baking Addiction (we have the same widget code, so only add it on one site).
- Submit your post before Dec. 30, 11:59 AM. On Dec. 31, 12:00 AM the widget will switch to voting mode. Be sure to encourage your readers to vote for you and/or vote for your favorites.
- Anyone can participate in the link up, but the prize will ship to US residents only.
- More detailed info, including buttons for your posts are available here.
Link Up Your Recipes:
This Week’s Prize:
Holland House Gift Basket and a $75 cash card (2 winners), Total Value $100.
Prize provided by Holland House.
Recipe Theme Schedule:
click image to enlarge
How To Promote Your Recipe:
Help us spread the word by letting your friends, family, and followers know about the contest to help you win. Email, Facebook, Tweet, Stumble…anything you want to do to promote this post is welcome.
- Sample Tweet 1: Join @GoodLifeEats and @BakingAddiction for a Recipe Exchange. See how you can participate (and WIN) here: http://su.pr/1P3znu Pls RT
- Sample Tweet 2: Enter cooking with wine recipes in @GoodLifeEats & @BakingAddiction Recipe Exchg 4 chance @ $100 gift http://su.pr/1P3znu
- Sample Tweet 3: Have a winning recipe featuring wine? Share in @GoodLifeEats & @BakingAddiction Recipe Exchg 4 chance @ $100 GIFT http://su.pr/1P3znu
- Sample Tweet 4: Vote 4 my WINE recipe in @GoodLifeEats & @BakingAddiction Recipe Exch so I can win $100 Holland House gift http://su.pr/1P3znu






Hello! I'm Katie Goodman, author of GoodLife Eats Etc. where I share what I find in my life. A mix of great recipes, family memories, adventures, good reads, and anything else that I love is what you will discover here.



Love chicken marsala- it’s a classic, and it’s good to have a go-to marsala recipe on hand. I’ve made this many times, and your recipe sounds like a great one to try!
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as much as i love chicken marsala i’ve never actually made it…i can’t wait to try this recipe!
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This meal looks delicious! I like your idea of serving the mashed potatoes on the side, and they look so pretty with the green chive flecks in them.
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Girl, this looks AMAZING!!! Seriously.
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This looks fab! I love Marsala and especially love it the way you have it with this classic chicken dish.
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Great recipe Katie. Chicken marsala is an awesome entree with fresh veggies as you mention here
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I’m speechless. Those pictures are amazing and the recipe sounds delicious. This is something I need to make very soon.
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This recipe sounds delicious. What do I look for when I shop for dry marsala wine? TY
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Katie replied: — December 28th, 2010 @ 6:15 AM
For this recipe I used Holland House Marsala Wine for cooking, found near the vinegar section in my grocery store.
Chicken marsala is definitely one of my all-time favorite dishes. I’m not a huge chicken person, but I do LOVE it when it’s flavorful
This looks delicious!
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I´m sorry if this question sounds stupid but, how many does the recipe serve and is 4 chicken breast halves equal to 2 chicken breasts?
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Katie replied: — December 28th, 2010 @ 5:14 AM
Since each chicken has two breasts, recipes sometimes refer to one side as a “chicken breast half.” You would just use 4 of what a grocery store normally labels as a chicken breast. The recipe serves 4, one breast for each person. Hope that helps.
Yum! Chicken marsala is one of those “restaurant” dishes that I order a lot but very rarely make. I may just have to change that now.
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I can’t wait to give this a try. Love Chicken Marsala.
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I’ve never made Chicken Marsala before, sounds yummy though.
Thanks for hosting the Recipe Exchange!
~Liz
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Beautiful dish! Love that plate! I have one similar that I bought from potter off etsy. One of my favs.
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I just LOVE chicken marsala – we actually do a saltimbocca/marsala twist where we use the fontina/prosciutto draped on top of chicken (and broiled to a nice crispy finish) then top with a marsala sauce. I haven’t yet met a person who didnt lick the plate clean. Other than a vegetarian, of course.
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Hi Katie! It’s been years since I cooked Chicken Marsala, so when I saw this yesterday, I was inspired to transform the chicken breasts in my fridge using your recipe. It came out great, thanks for reminding me of this tasty dish!
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This looks so fabulous as always
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WOW Katie! Beautiful! Can’t wait to try it!
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Hi Katie, Just wanted you to know that I haven’t had Chicken Marsala for years, but after seeing yours, I decided to make it! Your recipe was perfect!
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I stumbled across your blog from Tastespotting…nice pics!
I love Chicken Marsala and this Gourmet Mag recipe just happens to be my go-to for it!! It’s delicious every time!!
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Funny that you thought of Chicken Marsala as your first “grown up recipe” to cook. I felt the same way. So grown up because I was old enough to buy wine
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WOW! Gorgeous photos! I had chicken marsala the first time back in October and it was delicious!
Will try this recipe!
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Looks yummy! Vote for Angie Maitland!
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Thyme on meat is amazing!
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Just made this and it was amazing! Will definitely make this again. Very picky boyfriend also gave it the thumbs up.
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i found this recipe via foodgawaker.com my only complaint is that you were very specific on how much salt and pepper to put on the mushroom shallot mixture in the first step. when i made it the pepper overpowered the dish. will deff make again tho just with less pepper.
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Katie replied: — October 10th, 2012 @ 12:00 PM
Sorry you felt that it overpowered. I will make a not to season according to personal preferences.