Instant Pot Chicken Marsala – Straightforward

At a glance

What stands out: Instant Pot chicken Marsala has all the flavors of Marsala that you know and love, but with the convenience of cooking in the Instant Pot. It’s great served with pasta, spaghetti squash, or rice!

How long it takes: 45 minutes
Equipment you’ll need: Instant Pot (pressure cooker)
Servings: 4

We love to cook, but sometimes we don’t have much time to get dinner on the table. Often we're reaching for one of our speedy and straightforward recipes that we have posted here on Bomumo. We don’t have hours to spend making a meal and we know that many of you are right there with us.

Sheet pan dinners, one pan meals, Instant Pot recipes. They keep us going. And you know what? These meals taste great too, so what’s the point of overcomplicating things? This Instant Pot chicken Marsala recipe has joined our Instant Pot chicken piccata as our go-to Instant Pot chicken recipes. Both recipes are straightforward to mix but feel like restaurant-quality dinners.

Instant Pot Chicken Marsala

Great flavor. Boneless skinless chicken breasts are straightforward to cook with but they can be a little lackluster in flavor. The rich sauce, bolstered with Marsala wine, gives this dish unforgettable flavor. There’s a reason why Marsala chicken is always a popular restaurant menu item.

Straightforward to mix. Because an Instant Pot has a sauté feature, this entree can be cooked in one pan which means a straightforward clean-up. You don’t need a bunch of fancy ingredients either. This recipe is pretty simple.

Lighter. You might think that a recipe like this would have a million or so calories but that’s not the case. It’s actually less than 500 calories per serving. Chicken breasts are a good source of lean protein and mushrooms are nutritious, too.

Carol Said:

“This recipe has become a staple for dinner. We've been making it for at least two years. It’s straightforward and it’s tasty. We can’t get enough of it. Thank you for posting this recipe.”

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Straightforward Recipe Variations

• Gluten-free: Skip the flour breading. Simply sauté the chicken cutlets in oil.
• Creamy chicken Marsala: Slowly stir in 2 to 4 tablespoons of heavy cream into the sauce when it’s done cooking (or try our creamy chicken Marsala recipe).
• Shortcuts: Buy chicken cutlets instead of breasts. Another option is to cut the chicken into bite size pieces before sautéing them.
• Lower calorie version: Omit the prosciutto and the butter.

What To Serve With Chicken Marsala

Rice, pasta, creamy mashed potatoes, or spaghetti squash: There’s plenty of sauce and you want something to soak up all that deliciousness.

Salad: Try a leafy green salad with crisp vegetables, from-scratch croutons, and lighter ranch dressing or Parmesan peppercorn dressing.

Green vegetable: Keep it simple with sautéed Brussels sprouts, sugar snap peas, or green beans with lemon and feta. We love roasted Parmesan broccoli, or roasted green beans, too.

Bread: We're completely obsessed with this chive bread and we know you will be too. It’s a great alternative to garlic bread. Beer bread is straightforward to mix and always a hit.

Need an Instant Pot?

We have this 6-quart model. It’s a great size for our family of four although our mom owns the same size Instant Pot and it works well for her and our dad.

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Keeping leftovers

Refrigerate: Cover leftovers in an airtight container. They’ll keep for 3 days in the refrigerator.

Freeze: If you have extra, freeze it for a future dinner. Arrange in a freezer-safe container or resealable bag; it will keep for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the fridge before reheating.

Reheat: Leftovers can be warmed in a skillet on the stove. Individual portions can be gently reheated in the microwave. Don’t overheat the chicken because it may become tough.

• Yield: 4
• Prep: 10 minutes
• Cook: 20 minutes
• Total: 45 minutes

Ingredients

• 1 ½ pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts ( 3 to 4 chicken breasts)
• ½ cup all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• ½ teaspoon coarse ground black pepper
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 3 ounces prosciutto, thinly sliced
• 8 ounces mushrooms, sliced (see note 1)
• ½ cup dry Marsala wine (see note 2)
• ½ cup reduced-sodium chicken stock
• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
• chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley for garnishing

Method

1. Place chicken breasts on a cutting board and cover with plastic wrap. Use the flat side of a meat tenderizer to flatten the chicken breasts evenly to about a half inch thickness.
2. Place flattened chicken breasts in a zip-top bag with flour, salt, and pepper. Shake to coat chicken with flour mixture.
3. Heat Instant Pot (6 qt.) to Sauté and add oil. When oil shimmers, add chicken and cook for about 4 minutes on each side until golden brown. You may need to do it in batches. The chicken does not need to be fully cooked. Remove chicken to a plate.
4. Add prosciutto and mushrooms to Instant Pot and cook until prosciutto is crispy and mushrooms are browned.
5. Add Marsala wine and chicken stock, and scrape the brown bits off the bottom of the pan. Put the chicken back into the Instant Pot and settle it down into the liquid.
6. Put cover on (make sure vent is turned to “seal”). Set Instant Pot to Pressure Cook or Manual (high pressure) depending on your model, for 10 minutes. When the timer goes off, quick release the pressure. Use an instant read thermometer to ensure chicken has an internal temperature of 165°F.
7. Stir butter into sauce until melted.
8. Serve chicken topped with sauce, garnished with fresh parsley. We like to serve it with pasta, noodles, rice, or mashed potatoes.

Notes

Mushrooms: White button mushrooms or baby bella mushrooms are good choices.

Marsala: we like dry Marsala wine for this chicken marsala recipe. Sweet Marsala wine is more commonly used in dessert recipes.

Timesaver hint: Buy chicken cutlets (you won’t have to pound them). Another alternative is to cut the chicken into bite-size pieces before sautéing it.

Variations: If you prefer, substitute bacon or pancetta for the prosciutto, or omit it for a lower calorie, lower sodium option. The butter can be omitted, too.