What is Marsala Chicken?
You may have had Marsala chicken in a restaurant before, and loved it and you just found this recipe. But if you’ve never heard of Marsala chicken before, let me tell you more about it. It’s at American-Italian (Americanized) dish that you can find in Italian restaurants in the US, made with chicken, mushrooms, garlic, and marsala wine. It’s typically served with pasta in the US, but not in Italy. Marsala wine is a fortified wine from Sicily with a deep golden color, it can be found in most supermarkets in the wine section. If you can’t find Marsala wine, you can substitute it with dark sherry. To make this marsala chicken even more delicious and creamy, I added heavy cream at the end of the cooking process to the syrup like mushroom marsala sauce. It not only makes it super creamy but also balances the flavors as the wine has a very strong taste which in my opinion can overpower the rest of the flavors in the dish.
Instant Pot Marsala Chicken ingredients
Chicken breasts – I used 2 large ones and cut them in halves to make 4 pieces.Flour, garlic powder, salt, pepper – this mixture is used to dredge the chicken and create a lovely flavorful coating for the chicken breasts.Olive oil and butter – to saute the chicken until it’s golden.Mushrooms and garlic – I use chestnut mushrooms.Vegetable stock – I make my own in the Instant Pot, here’s my recipe. It’s low in sodium, and almost free to make!Marsala wine – preferably dry.Heavy cream (or double cream if you’re in the UK). Feel free to omit the cream to make this dairy-free.
How to make Marsala Chicken in the Instant Pot
In a semi-shallow dish, combine the flour with the garlic powder, salt, and pepper. Dredge the chicken breasts until well coated. I recommend slicing the chicken breasts in halves lengthwise to make them thinner, this will make sure that they’re cooked through and more flavorful. On the Instant Pot, press on SAUTE and choose 20 minutes. When the HOT message appears, add olive oil and butter. Then saute the chicken until brown (see the 2 picture below). You have to have a little patience and brown the chicken well! Otherwise, you won’t get that nice crust, and your chicken will look and taste like it has been steamed. You won’t need to crisp the chicken up in the oven or anything. This is a one-pot recipe, and the key here is to brown the chicken well using the SAUTE setting. After browning the chicken, take it out and let it rest on a plate. Deglaze the Instant Pot with a little bit of vegetable stock, and make sure that you scrape down any chicken bits from the bottom of the pot. Do not get rid of these bits as that’s where all of the flavors are! Then add the sliced mushrooms, garlic, salt, and pepper. Cook for a few minutes until mushrooms change color, and the garlic is fragrant. Add the rest of the vegetable stock, and the Marsala wine along with the chicken. Cover with the lid, and press on MANUAL or PRESSURE COOK and set on high for 4 minutes. Allow the Instant Pot to come to pressure, then cook. Once it’s finished, quickly release the steam, and open the lid carefully (see picture below). Remove the chicken from the Instant Pot again to reduce the sauce. You can leave the chicken in, but it will make it more difficult to mix in the cream, plus you don’t want to overcook the chicken. Press on SAUTE and reduce the sauce until you get a syrup-like consistency. If you look at the steps below, it shows how to check if the sauce is reduced enough. Check with a wooden spoon like in the picture below. Switch off the SAUTE setting, and stir in the cream. The Instant Pot will still be hot, so the cream bubble. Return the chicken to the pot, and now it’s ready to be served!
What to serve Marsala chicken with?
Serve with pasta, Instant Pot rice, cauliflower rice, or mashed potatoes. Pour sauce over the chicken, and enjoy!
More great Instant Pot dinner ideas
Instant Pot sesame chickenInstant Pot hibachi steakInstant Pot hibachi chickenInstant Pot shrimp and broccoliInstant Pot beef and broccoliOr check out my Instant Pot recipe collection!
© Little Sunny Kitchen
