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Healthier Chicken Marsala is a great weeknight dinner recipe. Tender chicken and mushrooms with a touch of butter in a savory sauce. It’s easy to make and perfectly sized for two.
The Antidote to Boring Chicken Breasts: Healthier Chicken Marsala
True confession time. I have a love-hate relationship with chicken breasts.
On the one hand, I love that chicken breasts are high in protein and low in fat and calories. And I love the fact that, for me, they’re a zero point food on my WW personal points program.
However, I hate the fact that chicken breasts can end up being dry, tasteless, and just plain boring.
But it doesn’t have to be that way! With a little ingenuity and the right ingredients, recipes made with chicken breasts can be healthier and delicious.
Over the years, I’ve developed and shared quite a few healthy and truly tasty recipes that feature chicken breasts. Some of my favorites include my Lemon Sous Vide Chicken and Broccoli Cheese Casserole.
But one of my favorites is my Healthier Chicken Marsala. It tastes terrific, is quick to make, and is sized just right for two people. In fact, it’s one of my go-to recipes for busy days.
What Do You Need to Make My Healthier Chicken Marsala?
- Chicken breast Tenderloins (You can use breasts but I use tenderloins because they cook quickly.)
- Mushrooms
- Shallot
- Garlic
- Dried thyme
- Fresh herbs (I like rosemary and parsley but you can choose your favorites.)
- Flour
- Butter
- Oil
- Broth
- Marsala
It sounds like a lot of ingredients but it’s really not. Pulling them all together is easy and you’ll have dinner on the table in less than thirty minutes.
My recipe for Healthier Chicken Marsala is sized to serve two people with no leftovers. If you’ve got more people or bigger appetites, double or triple the recipe accordingly.
How to Make My Healthier Chicken Marsala
The first step in making Healthier Chicken Marsala is pounding the chicken tenderloins so they’re nice and thin. That way, they’ll stay tender and cook quickly on the stove. You can use regular chicken breasts for this recipe but I prefer the tenderloins. They come in smaller packages and are quicker to prep.
To do so, place the tenderloins between two pieces of waxed paper, freezer paper, or plastic wrap. Then pound the chicken until it’s quite thin. I use my rolling pin to pound the tenderloins but a mallet or anything with some weight to it will work.
Once the breasts are pounded, you’ll dredge them in some seasoned flour and cook them briefly in a little butter and oil. Then you’ll set them aside while you make the Marsala sauce.
After sauteing the shallot and garlic on the stove, you’ll add the mushrooms and herbs, then the chicken broth and finally the Marsala. The sauce comes together in just a few minutes. Then you’ll add the chicken back to the pan, cook briefly, and serve.
That’s it! As I said, Healthier Chicken Marsala is easy to make.
What to Serve with My Healthier Chicken Marsala?
A big green salad with Italian dressing is a must. A side of spaghetti or angel hair pasta would be wonderful with that tender chicken and yummy Marsala sauce. But if noodles aren’t your thing, it would also taste terrific on a bed of mashed potatoes.
And if you’re wanting to gild the lily or serving this for company, you might want to add some garlic bread too. A nice bottle of Chianti would go nicely here.
For dessert, I’d keep things simple by serving some spumoni ice cream.
Print
30 Minute Healthier Chicken Marsala
- Yield: 2 servings 1x
Ingredients
- 8oz chicken breast tenderloins
- ¼ cup flour
- ½ tsp dried thyme
- A pinch of salt and fresh ground pepper
- 8oz sliced mushrooms
- 1 shallot, diced small
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- 1 tsp fresh chopped rosemary
- 2 tsp fresh chopped parsley
- 1 T butter, divided
- 1 tsp olive oil
- ½ cup chicken broth
- ¼ cup marsala cooking wine
Instructions
- Place the tenderloins between two pieces of waxed paper, freezer wrap, or plastic wrap, and pound briefly until they’re quite thin. Set aside. In a shallow bowl or plate, stir together flour, dried thyme, salt and pepper. Lightly dredge the prepared chicken tenders in the seasoned flour on both sides. Save the seasoned flour.
- Place half the butter in a nonstick pan over medium low heat. When the butter is melted, place the chicken into the pan. Cook chicken on both sides, about 2 minutes per side, until it’s just cooked and beginning to brown slightly. Remove from pan and set aside.
- Add the remaining butter and a teaspoon of oil to the pan. Cook the shallots and herbs in the butter and oil mixture until the shallots are soft. Add the garlic and mushrooms to the pan. Cook, stirring frequently, until the mushrooms are softened and beginning to release some liquid.
- Sprinkle a little of the reserved seasoned flour over the mushrooms and stir. Pour in the chicken broth and the Marsala. Stir and allow the sauce to simmer for another minute or two, until the sauce just begins to thicken.
- Add in the cooked tenderloins. Stir to coat the chicken with the sauce and heat through for a minute or so before serving.
