Chicken Marsala is a delightful dish made with chicken and mushrooms. The chicken is cooked in the Instant pot in a mushroom sauce made with marsala wine, and comes out juicy and tender each time.
Recipe Origins
Chicken Marsala has always been the epitome of indulgent, fancy meals to me. If I wanted to feel really fancy, Chicken Marsala was on the menu. When I got my Instant Pot, I realized that I could make Instant Pot Chicken Marsala SO easily!
Here is my recipe for how to make this delicious, fancy meal in your own home. In just a few steps, you’ll have an impressive, easy dinner on the table!
Why Make this Recipe
- Perfect Chicken Every Time: Making the chicken in the Instant Pot ensures that it comes out perfect for you every single time! The cooking and resting time on this recipe ensures that your chicken will be cooked through and moist when you go to eat it.
- Delicious Sauce: I LOVE the sauce in this marsala recipe. I always feel so fancy when making this recipe, when, in reality, I just throw everything into the Instant Pot and it comes out perfect.
What Ingredients Do I Need to Make this Recipe?
- Chicken Thighs: I use about 4 chicken thighs in this recipe, but you can use more if you’d like (there is enough sauce for about 6 thighs). Use boneless, skinless chicken thighs
- Marsala Wine: I use sweet marsala wine. If you’d prefer, you can also use dry marsala wine.
- Mushrooms: I use baby bella mushrooms. The package of baby bella mushrooms that I get come pre-sliced, which is how I like to cook them. I recommend keeping the mushrooms sliced as opposed to whole or chopped.
- Chicken Stock: Chicken broth will also work. In a pinch, you can use water, though you will lose some flavor.
How to Make this Recipe
Step 1: Prepare the Chicken
Place your boneless, skinless chicken thighs in a large plastic ziplock bag and seal tightly. Use a meat cleaver to pound your chicken thighs until about ¼ inch thick.
Remove chicken thighs from bag. Pour flour into a shallow bowl. Dip the chicken thighs in the flour, coating each side in flour thoroughly.
Turn your Instant Pot on to the saute setting. Add 1 tbsp of butter and allow it to melt. Add the chicken thighs into the pot, browning them on each side (about 4 minutes each). Cook in two rounds if you need to so as not to crowd the chicken. Remove the browned chicken and set on a separate plate.
Step 2: Prepare the Sauce
Still on the saute setting, add two more tablespoons of butter into your Instant Pot. Add the onions and mushrooms, and saute until the onions begin to turn translucent. Add small drizzles of olive oil if the bottom of the pot seems too dry.
Once the onions and mushrooms have softened, turn off the saute feature.
Pour the chicken stock and marsala wine into the Instant Pot, using a wooden spoon to scrape up any browned bits that had stuck to the bottom of the pot.
Step 3: Pressure Cook
Add the chicken back into the pot, and put on the lid. Turn Instant Pot to Manual for 9 minutes. Once the 9 minutes are up, allow pressure to naturally release for 10 minutes, then instant release the rest.
Remove the cooked chicken from the pot and set on a separate plate.
Step 4: Finish the Sauce
Turn the Instant Pot to saute again, and allow the sauce to come to a boil.
In a separate bowl, combine cornstarch and water. Add into the boiling sauce, and stir until sauce thickens.
Serve chicken with sauce and enjoy!
Expert Tips
- You can use chicken breasts instead if you’d like, though I wouldn’t recommend cooking more than three in the Instant Pot (depending on the size of yours). If you decide to use chicken breasts, you can cook them for the same amount of time. Do not forget to pound the chicken as it will get it thin enough to cook correctly.
- If you’d like to add other vegetables to the recipe, feel free to do so! Make sure that you saute them in the pot before adding the sauce ingredients and pressure cooking. Pressure cooking less strong vegetables (like broccoli) for this long could lead to them turning into mush, so I would just cook them separately
- Instant Pot Chicken Marsala is best served with a side of mashed potatoes, rice, or even couscous.
Recipe FAQs
What is a Good Side Dish to Serve with Chicken Marsala?
Oh there are so many great options! Mashed potatoes and vegetables is never a bad idea.
My favorite, though, is to serve my Instant Pot Chicken Marsala over pasta. The marsala sauce drips over the pasta to create a beautiful sauce that you want to slurp up. Whatever you choose, you can’t go wrong.
How Do You Thicken Marsala Wine Sauce?
To thicken your marsala sauce when making it in the Instant Pot, make sure to use cornstarch. When cornstarch mixes with water and heats up, it creates a very thick gravy-like texture of whatever liquid it’s sitting in.
Combine your cornstarch and water in a small bowl and whisk thoroughly so that the cornstarch dissolves. Then dump into your sauce. If you do not dissolve the cornstarch beforehand, your cornstarch will clump in the sauce and show little white specs in your sauce.
Can I Use Dry Marsala Wine?
Absolutely! If you want to use dry marsala wine, go for it! This is actually what most Instant Pot Chicken Marsala recipes call for.
I like the flavor profile that using a sweet wine gives, so I stick with sweet (plus I have it left over from making Homemade Tiramisu).
Did you enjoy this recipe for Instant Pot Chicken Marsala? If so, post a recipe to Instagram or Facebook and tag @TheForeignFork and hashtag #TheForeignFork. And if you want more Instant Pot recipes, make sure to take a look at the ones I’ve linked below!:
- Split Pea Soup in the Instant Pot
- 8 Indian-Inspired Instant Pot Recipes
- 10 European-Inspired Instant Pot Recipes
- Pineapple Chicken in the Instant Pot
Instant Pot Chicken Marsala
Ingredients
- 4 boneless, skinless chicken thighs
- 3 tbsp butter
- 1 cup flour
- Salt and Pepper to taste
- ½ onion, chopped
- 8 oz baby bella mushrooms
- ½ cup chicken stock
- ½ cup sweet marsala wine
- 1 ½ tbsp cornstarch
- 5 tbsp water
Instructions
- Place your boneless, skinless chicken thighs in a large plastic ziplock bag and seal tightly. Use a meat cleaver to pound your chicken thighs until about ¼ inch thick. Season with salt and pepper.
- Remove chicken thighs from bag. Pour flour into a shallow bowl. Dip the chicken thighs in the flour, coating each side in flour thoroughly.
- Turn your Instant Pot on to the saute setting. Add 1 tbsp of butter and allow it to melt. Add the chicken thighs into the pot, browning them on each side (about 4 minutes each). Cook in two rounds if you need to so as not to crowd the chicken. Remove the browned chicken and set on a separate plate.
- Still on the saute setting, add two more tablespoons of butter into your Instant Pot. Add the onions and mushrooms, and saute until the onions begin to turn translucent. Add small drizzles of olive oil if the bottom of the pot seems too dry.
- Once the onions and mushrooms have softened, turn off the saute feature.
- Pour the chicken stock and marsala wine into the Instant Pot, using a wooden spoon to scrape up any browned bits that had stuck to the bottom of the pot.
- Add the chicken back into the pot, and put on the lid. Turn Instant Pot to Manual for 9 minutes. Once the 9 minutes are up, allow pressure to naturally release for 10 minutes, then instant release the rest.
- Remove the cooked chicken from the pot and set on a separate plate.
- Turn the Instant Pot to saute again, and allow the sauce to come to a boil.
- In a separate bowl, combine cornstarch and water. Add into the boiling sauce, and stir until sauce thickens.
- Serve chicken with sauce. Enjoy
Megan Taylor says
Could I add noodles (linguine, egg noodles or bow ties) to the instant pot dry and cook it in with the sauce? It looks amazing, can’t wait to try it.
The Foreign Fork says
Hi Megan! I wouldn’t add noodles into the pot with the chicken, as the chicken cooks for a lot longer than noodles and they would be mush by the time the chicken is done. However, you can definitely boil some pasta on the side and serve it with the sauce. It sounds delish! Hope you enjoy 🙂
Vicki says
Delicious!!
The Foreign Fork says
Thanks for the review Vicki!! So glad you liked the recipe 🙂
Erin says
Amazingly easy recipe…. tasted like I slaved in the kitchen for hours! Definitely saving this and adding to my regular rotation!
The Foreign Fork says
Haha thats the best combo!! I’m so glad you liked it 🙂 Thanks for leaving a comment!