This Instant Pot Chicken Marsala is made with juicy chicken cutlets that are cooked in mushroom and Marsala wine sauce. This flavorful dish comes together in your pressure cooker in less than 30 minutes!
Quick chicken meals are my favorite to make in the pressure cooker. We love the Sweet Garlic Chicken and my Instant Pot Chicken Thighs.
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Why You'll Love This Dish
If you never had Chicken Marsala in your life, you are missing out. This Italian-American dish is easy to make and packed with flavor! I browned the chicken first, then made the sauce base and pressure-cooked everything together. Lastly, I thickened the sauce and served this delicious dish with pasta or mashed potatoes.
You can use chicken breast, boneless thighs, or bone-in skin-on chicken thighs to make this. I think even pork cutlets will work! It's the sauce that makes the dish. The sweet and nutty Marsala wine, which tastes like dried fruit and brown sugar, has a deep flavor that complements the mushrooms so well. The chicken is infused with all of the flavors during pressure cooking. The results are outstanding!
If you want to make an easy dish but one that is impressive, try this recipe. You will love it!
Ingredients:
- chicken breasts - I used boneless skinless chicken breasts and sliced each lengthwise to make cutlets.
- mushrooms - For this dish, I prefer baby Bella mushrooms.
- Marsala wine - This wine gives the dish that signature flavor. You can find it in the grocery store, next to cooking wine and vinegar. I used the Holland House brand and it was great!
- chicken stock - Necessary for deglazing the pot and it's the liquid that will allow the Instant Pot to build up pressure. You can use water as well.
- onion and garlic - The veggies add more flavor to the sauce.
- flour - I used it to dredge the chicken just before browning. It creates a beautiful brown color and gives it a nice texture. You can skip it to keep the dish gluten-free.
- cornstarch - Mixed with water, this ingredient will allow us to make a delicious sauce with all of the liquid leftover from cooking the chicken.
How to make Instant Pot Chicken Marsala?
- Cut each chicken breast lengthwise into two cutlets, season with salt and pepper, and dredge in flour.
- Brown in olive oil, right in your Instant Pot. Remove onto a plate.
- Add garlic, onion, and mushrooms to your Instant Pot and saute until fragrant.
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- Add chicken stock and Marsala wine to the veggies in your pressure cooker.
- Close the lid, set the valve to sealing, and set the timer to 7 minutes.
- Once the cooking time is done, remove the chicken cutlets onto a plate and thicken the sauce by adding cornstarch mixed with water.
What to serve with this dish?
This dish can be served over rice, pasta, mashed potatoes, or roasted potatoes. We enjoyed it with mashed potatoes and roasted broccoli. Crusty bread pieces help soak up every last drop of the delicious sauce.
Marsala wine substitutes:
Marsala wine has a distinct flavor and I highly recommend using it in this dish. You can find it next to cooking wines and vinegar in your grocery store. Some cooks recommend the following substitutes:
- dry sherry
- grape juice with a little bit of brandy
- dry white wine with brandy.
Recipe FAQs:
Yes! You can use boneless chicken thighs and keep the cooking time the same or use bone-in skin-on chicken thighs and increase the time to 12 minutes.
Both actually! This sweet wine can be sipped on and used in cooking, to make a delicious sauce like we did in the dish above.
Absolutely! Add ½ cup of heavy cream to the simmering sauce and stirring often, cook until creamy and thickened.
More Instant Pot Dinner Recipes:
To learn more about the Instant Pot, check out my Guide for Beginners. If you experienced the “burn” message while using your IP, check out my Instant Pot Burn Message post to learn how to fix the issue and prevent it in the first place.
If you like this recipe and make it, let me know in the comments below! Don't forget to rate it if you enjoyed it!
Instant Pot Chicken Marsala
Ingredients
for the chicken:
- 2 medium chicken breasts
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
- ¼ cup flour
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
for the sauce:
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
- 3 garlic cloves minced
- ½ cup chopped onion
- 8 oz. white or baby Bella mushrooms
- ½ cup chicken stock
- ½ cup Marsala wine
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 2 tablespoons water
- parsley for garnish
Instructions
- Make sure that your stainless steel insert is in your Instant Pot. Press "saute" setting and wait 2 minutes.
- Add oil and butter to your Instant Pot and let it melt.1 tablespoon olive oil, 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
- Cut each chicken breast lengthwise, to make two cutlets. Season with salt and pepper and dredge in flour.2 medium chicken breasts, ¼ cup flour, ½ teaspoon salt, ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- Brown each chicken cutlet on each side. Remove onto a plate.
- Add more butter to the Instant Pot. Add garlic, onion and mushrooms and saute until fragrant, about 3 minutes.1 tablespoon unsalted butter, 3 garlic cloves, ½ cup chopped onion, 8 oz. white or baby Bella mushrooms
- Press "cancel/off" button. Add chicken stock and wine to vegetables. Stir well.½ cup chicken stock, ½ cup Marsala wine
- Place chicken in the sauce. Close the lid, set valve to "sealing" positions (the newer IP models do it on their own).
- Make sure the IP is set to cook at HIGH pressure. Set timer to 7 minutes.
- The IP will beep and it will start coming to pressure. That can take about 5 minutes.
- Once the timer is done, press "cancel/off" button and let the Instant Pot release pressure naturally.
- Once the pressure pin drops, carefully open the lid away from your face.
- Remove the chicken and set on a plate.
- Mix cornstarch with water and add to the sauce. Stir and let it sit for a few minutes to thicken.1 tablespoon cornstarch, 2 tablespoons water
- Serve chicken with sauce over mashed potatoes, roasted potatoes, rice or noodles.
Notes
- You can use bone-in skin-on chicken thighs to make this dish. Increase cooking time to 12 minutes.
- For boneless chicken thighs, the cooking time stays the same.
- Please note, that the nutrition value can vary depending on what product you use. The information below is an estimate. Always use calorie counter you are familiar with.
Arrie says
I’ve made this recipe a few times, and it’s delicious! I’d like to make it again today, but because of some plans that lead right up til dinner time, I’d like to make it using the slow cooker function. Any advice/ideas for how to make this using the slow cooker function on the instant pot?
Anna says
Hi Arrie! I never tested this recipe on a slow cooking setting. If you are trying it, keep in mind low = keep warm, medium = low heat and high = high heat. I hope this helps!
Jan P says
Just came across this recipe. I love Chicken Marsala. I should be able to adapt directions for Instant Pot to my similar Fagor Multi-Pot. BUT I have a couple of questions:
1) although I am not gluten intolerant, I eat almost totally gluten-free and in any case don't use white flour. I have had inconsistent results when substituting gluten-free flours for thickening in sauces and gravies. Any suggestions for gluten-free flour for thickening in this recipe?
2) For the nutritional info to be accurate, one needs to know approximate weigh of the chicken but there is no equivalent listed. I am estimating weight 1 pound for for 2 large boneless breasts (raw); but depending on the chicken it could be almost 1.5 lbs. What weight was used in the recipe to compute nutritional info?
Thank you!!
Anna says
Hi Jan! If you can't use flour, I recommend cornstarch. It will work for thickening perfectly! As far as the nutritional info goes, it is only an estimate and not a guarantee. I recommend using a guide you are familiar with. I hope this helps!
Timothy Kaczmarek says
You can use one or two cans of mushrooms, drained, instead of the ones in the recipe. They work just fine, taste the same and saves you a lot of extra time. Same for onions, you can use frozen bagged onions--saves time and same taste, but DO NOT skimp on the Marsala wine!!! Made this and definitely don't skimp on the wine (family likes sweet Marsala), or the chicken stock, which I made with 'Better than Bullion' roasted chicken base. Damn good dinner and recipe!!
Ali Cooking says
Better than bouillion ROCKS, makes every soup or stock recipe amazing (and it's super healthy too) - buy it religiously from costco!
Donald S Bennett says
Very good recipe, chicken turned out very tasty, the next time I make this dish i will increase the wine to a full cup and the chicken stock to a full cup, there was very little sauce at the end of cooking.
Anna says
Thank you so much, Donald!
marsha l masi says
Can you use this with veal cutlets? I think it will work. Gonna try and only cook it for 3 minutes as someone suggested when cooking thin chicken cutlets. I will let you know. Thanks for a great recipe.
Anna says
Hi! I did not test this recipe with veal cutlets so I can't guarantee the result. Let me know if you make it!
Melissa says
I've never made chicken marsala before, but enjoy it at a restaurant. Do I buy the wine in the cooking aisle near the vinegars? Or from the wine section? Does the bottle go bad once opened, since I would only be using it for this recipe?
S. Watson says
Marsala wine is a distilled wine that doesn’t go bad. You can cook with it and store the leftovers until you want to use it again, whenever that may be. It is sold in the wine department of your store. I don’t think you would find it with the vinegars.
Pam says
I found it in the vinegar aisle at my Food Lion.
Mary Farrington says
Do not buy a cheap wine with the vinegars. Use a quality dry Marsala wine from the wine department. And use a “dry” wine as opposed to a “sweet” wine. It makes a huge difference.
Tony says
If you use the marsala cooking wine sold near the vinegars, it works very well, and after the bottle is opened, you can keep it in the fridge without worry of the taste changing.
Beth H. says
Can't wait to try this - I'm going to use a combination of chicken breast (for my husband) and thighs (for myself and my daughter). I did something similar in the IP yesterday, and my husband thought it tasted like the basis for chicken marsala!
Patty says
The sauce didnt thicken up. I followed the recipe to a t. Very tasty and chicken tender.
Pamela says
Made this tonight and it was positively swoon-worthy.! The sauce is incredibly creamy, in spite of there being no cream in it. I used all olive oil for the sauteing to make it totally dairy free. Thanks for this fabulous recipe. Definitely a keeper!
Barbara M says
This was sooo good and very easy to make. I’ll never make it in the slow cooker again!
Kat says
OMG!! This was FANTASTIC!!! Yum yum YUM!!! Thank you for posting this recipe, I will be back for more!! I didn’t add or take away anything, used sweet Marsala, and posted this on Facebook twice! ❤️
Nancy M says
What type of marsala wine do u recommend? Sweet or dry? And onions, too?
Nelly says
Hi, If I wanted to make mashed or roasted potatoes with this dish, do I put the pototatoes in a steamer basket on top of the chicken so they both cook together. Will the potatoes be done at the same time as the chicken?
Cathy says
How would I use heavy whipping cream instead of cornstarch for the sauce?
Melissa says
You would have to reduce the sauce by quite a lot to get it to thicken (like an alfredo) , and still delish!!
Allyson says
What can you use in place I’d wine?
Lorraine says
I made this with dry sherry (not cooking sherry) and it was delicious.
Anna says
Awesome! Thank you, Lorraine!
brenda hilley says
Chicken marsala is my favorite meal in the whole world! After attempting it with mixed success the old fashioned way (consider myself a fair cook) I can't wait to try this recipe! My boyfriend has never had chicken marsala... WHAT? So guess who's going shopping for ingredients tomorrow? Thank you for sharing!
Anna says
Hi Brenda! That's wonderful! I am so excited for you to try it! I hope you both love it. Let me know!