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This Crock Pot Chicken Marsala recipe is a creamy, delicious, mushroom studded chicken dinner! You’ll be amazed by how easy it is to make a restaurant-quality meal right at home with this simple recipe. Put your slow cooker to work with this flavorful chicken marsala.
Slow Cooker Chicken Marsala
I always thought Chicken Marsala was a fancy Italian recipe you could only enjoy at restaurants, but guess what? It’s actually super simple to prepare at home, especially if you let your slow cooker do most of the work. When you use a crock pot, you don’t have to pound the chicken breasts down, and you don’t have to stand at the stove flipping chicken breasts – score! I love making this Chicken Marsala recipe on busy weeknights, but it’s also perfect for a fancy date night or Sunday supper. When you really want to wow everyone at the table but aren’t feeling like putting too much effort in, this is the recipe to make.
What is Chicken Marsala?
Chicken Marsala is an Italian-American dish of tender chicken breasts in creamy Marsala wine sauce loaded with mushrooms. It’s a variation of the traditional Italian scaloppine, which is thinly sliced meat dredged in flour and then sautéed and cooked in a sauce reduction. Chicken Marsala probably comes from western Sicily, where Marsala wine is made. In this recipe, you have golden, lightly pan-fried chicken breasts topped with mushrooms and smothered in a thick Marsala wine reduction that has a nice amount of garlic for additional flavor. It’s so good!
How To Make Chicken Marsala in the Slow Cooker
This recipe only takes about 10 minutes to prep and packs a ton of flavor.
- We start with browning chicken breasts in a skillet; they’ll need about 3 minutes per side. Transfer the seared chicken breasts to a 6-quart slow cooker. Add garlic and sliced mushrooms over the chicken.
- Deglaze the skillet with Marsala Wine and pour it over the chicken breasts and mushrooms. Also, please note to use dry Marsala Wine. Sweet Marsala Wine is for desserts. If wine is not your thing, you can use chicken broth instead.
- Cover with a lid and set your slow cooker on LOW for 4 to 5 hours, or until chicken is cooked through. You can also cook it on HIGH for 2 to 3 hours.
- Remove chicken breasts from the slow cooker and set aside on a plate.
- Whisk water and cornstarch together, then add to the sauce inside the slow cooker. Whisk in heavy cream and return chicken breasts to the slow cooker.
- Cover with a lid and continue to cook on HIGH for 20 more minutes, or until sauce thickens.
- Garnish with parsley and serve.
Tips For The Best Chicken Marsala
- Searing the Chicken: Skipping the step of browning the chicken breasts is okay if you’re short on time, though doing so does enhance the flavor and helps to seal in the juices.
- Don’t rush: Making chicken marsala in the crock pot adds a depth of flavor that really only comes from cooking food low and slow.
- Check for doneness: Use an Instant Read Thermometer to check for doneness. Chicken is cooked through when the internal temperature reaches 165˚F.
What Marsala Wine To Use & Substitution Options
Marsala wine is a fortified wine from Sicily that can be sweet or dry. You want to use a dry Marsala wine for savory recipes like Chicken Marsala. If you can’t find some, use a darker Sherry, a dry white wine, a dry Madeira, or a Port. Remember that using anything other than dry Marsala wine will alter the classic flavor.
Side Dishes for Chicken Marsala
Now that you have a creamy, incredible chicken ready to go, what do you serve with it? I like Chicken Marsala on its own, but you can serve it over penne pasta, egg noodles, mashed potatoes, or rice. It would also go great with cauliflower rice or creamy mashed cauliflower.
How To Store Leftovers
- To Store: Store Chicken Marsala leftovers in an airtight container and keep in the fridge for 3 to 4 days.
- To Freeze: Place chicken and sauce in a large Ziploc bag, seal it well, and store it in the freezer for up to 3 months.
- To reheat, thaw the chicken in the refrigerator overnight. Preheat oven to 350˚F and heat chicken marsala until warmed through.
More Italian Chicken Recipes
- Creamy Tuscan Chicken Breasts
- Creamy Lemon Chicken with Asparagus
- Baked Chicken Parmesan
- Creamy Lemon Parmesan Chicken Breasts
- Chicken Milanese
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Slow Cooker Chicken Marsala
Ingredients
- 6 (1.5 to 2 pounds, total) boneless, skinless chicken breasts
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon dried basil
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- ½ teaspoon sweet paprika
- salt and fresh ground pepper,, to taste
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 8 ounces mushrooms,, sliced
- 4 cloves garlic,, minced
- 1 cup dry marsala wine
- ½ cup water
- ¼ cup cornstarch
- ¼ cup heavy cream
- chopped fresh parsley,, for garnish
Instructions
- Lightly grease a 6-quart slow cooker with cooking spray and set aside.
- Season chicken breasts all around with garlic powder, dried basil, thyme, paprika, salt, and pepper.
- Heat olive oil in a skillet over medium-high heat.
- Add the seasoned chicken breasts to the hot oil and cook for 3 minutes per side or until just browned.
- Transfer chicken to slow cooker and top with mushrooms and garlic.
- Return skillet over medium-high heat and add the marsala wine; cook for 1 minute, scraping up all the browned bits from the bottom of the skillet.
- Pour the wine over the chicken and mushrooms.
- Close with a lid and cook on LOW for 4 to 5 hours, or on HIGH for 2 to 3 hours. Chicken is done when internal temperature reaches 165˚F.
- Remove chicken breasts from slow cooker and set aside on a plate.
- Combine water and cornstarch in a mug or a small mixing bowl and whisk until incorporated; then, whisk the slurry into the wine sauce.
- Add heavy cream to the wine sauce and whisk until combined. Taste for salt and pepper, and adjust accordingly.
- Return chicken to the slow cooker; cover with a lid and cook on HIGH for 20 minutes or until sauce has thickened. For a creamier texture, add more heavy cream.
- Transfer chicken from slow cooker to plates; top with mushroom sauce and garnish with fresh parsley.
- Serve.
Notes
- If you don’t have time to brown the chicken breasts, you don’t have to, but it does help with the overall flavor.
- Try to use Dry Marsala Wine. Sweet Marsala Wine is for desserts. If you don’t want to use wine, you can use low-sodium chicken broth instead. I would also recommend chicken broth for those that are watching their calories, carbs, and/or are on a Keto diet.
- If you don’t have Marsala Wine, you can use Sherry, Madeira, Dry White Wine, or Port. Please keep in mind that using anything other than Dry Marsala Wine will alter the overall classic flavor.
- Check for doneness: For perfectly cooked chicken breasts, use an Instant Read Thermometer to check for doneness. Chicken is cooked through when internal temperature reaches 165˚F.
- Keep leftovers refrigerated for up to 4 days.
Nutrition
Nutritional info is an estimate and provided as courtesy. Values may vary according to the ingredients and tools used. Please use your preferred nutritional calculator for more detailed info.
This is the second time I have made this recipe and I really love it. The flavor of the Marsala combined with the mushrooms and herbs make the chicken taste delicious, in my opinion. The chicken absorbs the flavor and comes out so tender. I do NOT like chicken, period—but I can eat my weight in it when I make it like this. Thank you for this recipe!
I’m thrilled you love the recipe so much, especially since you usually don’t like chicken. That Marsala, mushroom, and herb mix must be really special. It’s great to hear it makes the chicken tender and flavorful. Thank YOU! 🙂
I must have done something wrong, to thin the sauce
Family and myself enjoyed this yesterday. Split 3 massive breast into 6, and seasoned overnight before following the recipe. Semi laborious, but I will double down on spices, and the gravy. Made a huge pasta bowl, with leftovers for my parents, as well a me. And I fed 5 of us Sunday lunch.
That’s great! I’m very glad you and your family enjoyed it! Thank YOU! 🙂
I’ve been making restaurant quality Chicken Marsala for many years. It is one of the dishes which is not a dessert but where it is favorable to use sweet Marsala wine, If you use dry, you might as well use a dry white wine.I always use mushrooms, broth, chicken breasts and sweet marsala. It doesn’t give the dish a sweet taste. I admit I have never used a crock pot to prepare this dish so when I use a pan, the flour a dredge the chicken in produces a fine creaminess and when you remove the chicken from the pan to create the sauce, the broth works its magic. Cornstarch and cream are not required if you are deglazing the pan. But be certain to cook the mushroom well and evaporate some of that liquid.
The chicken was fork tender and the Marsala mushroom sauce came out if the crockpot perfectly!! So flavorful and delicious!!
Great to hear the chicken was fork-tender and the Marsala mushroom sauce turned out perfectly from the crockpot, flavorful and delicious! Thank YOU! 🙂
Is there an instant pot version of this recipe?
Yes, I do have an IP recipe for Chicken Marsala right here: https://diethood.com/creamy-instant-pot-chicken-marsala/
Followed the directions to a T except left out the cream, as I didn’t have any on hand. I, like some others, found the flavor to fall flat. I think it’s because the mushrooms and chicken give off so much water. After three hours, I ended up moving the mushrooms to a frying pan with butter and OVOO to get a darker almost crispy texture and I dumped the liquid into a pot to reduce down and intensify the flavor. I still ended up adding more wine, garlic and some dry italian seasoning. Next time I’ll just stick with your other stovetop version.
Hi! Thanks for the feedback. Omitting the heavy cream and possibly the cornstarch would indeed affect the thickness of the sauce, as both ingredients play a role in creating a thicker consistency. Regarding the browning, achieving that in a slow cooker is not possible due to its cooking method, which, as you said, retains more moisture and doesn’t allow for the same caramelization as stovetop cooking.
I have not tried this yet as I just found this recipe. By all the positive reviews, I am looking forward to making it soon. The only things I need are (duh) the chicken and the marsala wine. Then I’m ready to go. So excited as I LOVE Marsala Chicken. Thank you so much for sharing.
It’s great you’re excited to try the Marsala Chicken recipe after seeing all the positive reviews! Just needing the chicken and Marsala wine means you’re almost ready to start. Enjoy cooking and tasting it—sounds like you’re in for a delicious meal! 🙂 Thank you! 🙂
Made this 2/13/24. So good. Don’t change a thing from this recipe. Made this with the spinach and artichoke mashed potatoes also on this site. So impressed!
I’m very glad to hear that the recipe turned out so well for you, especially paired with the spinach and artichoke mashed potatoes! Thank YOU! 🙂
Love this….easy and delicious!!
Thank YOU! 🙂 I’m happy to hear you found the recipe both easy and delicious!