A beloved Italian-American classic comprised of a crispy golden chicken cutlet smothered in a rich Marsala wine flavoured mushroom sauce. A restaurant favourite that’s easy to make at home, one bite and you’ll be hooked for life like I was!
The key flavour here is Marsala wine so if you can’t consume alcohol or don’t have it, make Chicken in Creamy Mushroom Sauce instead! Also, this dish uses more alcohol than my usual “just a splash of wine” so it’s not recommended for kids.
PREPARATION TIME:
Ingredients
GOLDEN CRUSTED CHICKEN:
- 2 large chicken breasts (300g/10oz each), cut in half horizontally (or 4 thighs, Note 1)
- 1/2 tsp cooking salt / kosher salt
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 1/4 cup flour , plain/all-purpose
MARSALA SAUCE:
- 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 2 tbsp / 30g unsalted butter
- 2 eschalots (US: shallots), peeled and cut into 1cm / 1/3″ squares (Note 2)
- 1 garlic , finely minced
- 2 cups white mushrooms , sliced 0.5cm / 1/5″ thick
- 1 cup dry marsala wine (Note 3)
- 1/2 cup chicken stock/broth , low sodium
- 1/2 cup thickened / heavy cream (Note 4)
- 1/4 tsp cooking salt / kosher salt
- 1/8 tsp black pepper
- 1 tbsp finely chopped parsley , for garnish (optional)
Instructions
CHICKEN ESCALOPES:
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Pound – Cut each breast in half to form 2 thin steaks. Cover with a freezer bag or Go-Between (Note 5) and pound to 1 cm / 0.4″ thickness using a meat mallet or rolling pin. This tenderises and ensures even cooking of the chicken.
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Dust – Sprinkle the surface with half the salt, pepper then flour. Lightly rub flour across surface, turn and repeat with remaining salt, pepper and flour. Shake excess flour off each piece just before cooking.
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Cook – Put half the butter and oil in a large non-stick pan over medium high heat. Once the butter is melted and foamy, place chicken in, then cook for 3 to 4 minutes until it’s gorgeously golden and crispy. Turn and cook the other side for 2 minutes. Remove onto a plate.
CREAMY MARSALA SAUCE:
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Sauté aromatics – In the same pan, add remaining butter and oil. Once butter is melted, add eschalots and garlic. Cook for 1 minute.
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Cook mushrooms – Add mushrooms. Cook for 3 minutes, stirring regularly.
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Reduce marsala – Add marsala, turn up heat to high and boil for 3 minutes or until reduced by half.
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Thicken sauce – Add chicken stock, cream, salt and pepper. Stir, then lower heat so it’s simmering (not boiling rapidly) and simmer for 3 to 5 minutes until the sauce thickens to a cream consistency (not too thick, will thicken more).
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Rewarm chicken – Nestle chicken into sauce and leave for 30 seconds to reheat.
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Serve! Take off the stove. Sprinkle with parsley, serve over starchy vehicle of choice (I chose mash. Rice, small pasta, polenta or bread for plate mopping also work well!).
Recipe Notes:
2. Eschalots work best here because they are sweeter and also finer so they kind of meld into the finished sauce better. however, you can use 1/2 small onion OR 1/4 cup of the white part of green onions (split in half lengthwise then slice into 1cm / 1/3″ squares.
3. Marsala is an Italian fortified wine (like port), you can get a 750ml/25oz bottles for $10 or less (though they run up much higher for premium!). It’s the key flavouring in the sauce – depth of flavour, complexity, warmth and touch of sweetness. Use dry marsala rather than sweet marsala which is more commonly used in desserts.
Sub with port wine, sherry, or madeira. For non alcoholic version, better to make Chicken with Creamy Mushroom Sauce!
4. To reduce calories, use evaporated milk instead of cream, the same quantity. The mouthfeel will obviously be a little less luxurious but you will still get the gorgeous marsala flavour!
5. Pounding – Go-between is like cling wrap but thicker and doesn’t stick to itself. Useful for freezing things in layers and also protecting meat with pounding. Freezer bag serves same purpose. Use the scary (rough) not smooth side of the meat mallet. Don’t have one? Use a rolling pin or anything similar (can! hammer!)
Leftovers will keep for 3 to 4 days in the fridge. It will freeze fine but I’m not really a fan of freezing cooked breast pieces.
Nutrition per serving, assuming 4 servings.
