This chicken madeira recipe is even better than the Cheesecake Factory version! Chicken breasts are smothered in mozzarella cheese, the most delicious mushroom sauce, and served alongside asparagus. The perfect dinner for any occasion!
Chicken madeira is one of my family’s favorite chicken dishes to make at home. A couple of my family’s other favorite chicken dishes are Monterey chicken and Cajun chicken pasta.
So I will admit, I love a good meal at The Cheesecake Factory. One of my favorite dishes to order there is the chicken madeira – you just can’t go wrong with golden brown chicken, melty cheese, amazingly delicious mushroom sauce and asparagus. I don’t get to the restaurant that often because the wait is always so long, so I decided it was time I learned to make chicken madeira at home.
How Do You Make Chicken Madeira?
This recipe starts with thin cut chicken breasts. I use the thin cut variety because they cook quickly and evenly. The chicken breasts are seared to golden brown and then set aside for later use. The next component to this recipe is the madeira sauce, which is a combination of madeira wine, mushrooms, beef broth, corn starch and butter. After the sauce is done, it’s time to assemble the dish. The reserved chicken breasts go into the oven with a sprinkling of mozzarella cheese and a side of asparagus spears. After the cheese is melted and the asparagus is cooked through, top the whole thing with the madeira sauce and serve!
I like to serve this chicken madeira over mashed potatoes, but rice or pasta would also be good choices. I had no trouble finding madeira wine at the grocery store, you can check both the cooking wine and drinking wine sections to find it. Don’t skip the madeira wine here, it’s what makes this dish totally unique!
This recipe is a little more work than some of the other dinner ideas I tend to share here, but it’s totally worth the extra effort and dirty dishes. It’s great for company or for a simple family dinner. Now all I need to do is figure out how to make some awesome cheesecake to go along with this for the ultimate Cheesecake Factory style experience!
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Other Recipes You’ll Love
- Chicken Lettuce Wraps
- Slow Cooker Orange Chicken
- BBQ Chicken Salad
- Chicken Scampi
- Buffalo Chicken Nuggets
Chicken Madeira
Ingredients
For the chicken:
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 lb boneless skinless chicken breasts thin cut variety
- 1/2 cup mozzarella cheese
- salt and pepper to taste
For the sauce:
- 8 ounces mushrooms sliced
- 1 1/2 cups Madeira wine
- 1 1/2 cups beef broth
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 1 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch dissolved in 2 tablespoons cold water
- salt and pepper to taste
For serving:
- 1 lb asparagus stalks trimmed
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1 tablespoon chopped parsley
- cooking spray
Instructions
- Heat the olive oil in a large pan over medium high heat. Season the chicken breasts on both sides with salt and pepper to taste.
- Place the chicken in the pan and cook for 4-5 minutes on each side until golden brown and cooked through. Remove the chicken from the pan; place on a plate and cover to keep warm.
- Add the mushrooms to the pan and season to taste with salt and pepper. Cook until softened, 4-5 minutes.
- Add the wine and beef broth to the pan; simmer for 7-9 minutes or until liquid is reduced by half.
- Add the cornstarch and stir until smooth. Bring the mixture to a boil and cook for 1 minute or until thickened. Stir in the butter until melted and incorporated into the sauce.
- Preheat the broiler. Place the chicken and asparagus on a sheet pan coated in cooking spray. Season the asparagus with salt and pepper and sprinkle the cheese over the chicken.
- Broil for 3-4 minutes or until cheese is melted and asparagus is just tender. Remove the pan from the oven. Place a chicken breast and some asparagus onto each of 4 plates.
- Pour the mushroom sauce over each chicken breast and serve, topped with parsley.
Sue Keenan says
What type of Madeira wine do you use in this recipe? I think it comes in sweet or medium dry or possibly dry.
Sara says
I use a medium!
Nia P. says
How did you get your chicken breast to have a “crust” like it shows in the picture? Did you dredge the flattened chicken breast in egg, egg wash, or flour? This is THE CLOSEST I’ve seen to how it looks when it’s served in the restaurant, but I can’t figure out how to get the crust. Please help ❤️❤️❤️
Sara says
There’s no flour on mine but you could dredge the chicken in a little flour if you prefer and it should be fine!
Bianca Berredo says
Recipe in. General was great, but my Madeira sauce was so bitter. I reduced it in half and then added more beef broth and cooked some More because I still tasted alcohol. Finally added some more butter and it was tolerable but didn’t have the sweetness. Help! What did I do wrong? I used a Trader Joe’s cheap red wine.
Sara says
This recipe calls for Madeira wine, which is a specific type of fortified wine that’s sweeter and good for cooking. It’s quite different from red wine which is probably why you didn’t get the results you were looking for! I’m sorry that it didn’t turn out the way you wanted, I would highly recommend trying it again with Madeira wine when you’re able to pick some up!
Bianca Berredo says
Thank you! I will. Also, it took about an hour to reduce on low heat. Is it better to turn it up to medium? Thanks again!
George Montour says
I made quite a few recipes from Dinner At The Zoo, and this was by far my favorite.
Kathy says
This recipe is utterly fantastic! I made it with American Madeira and put it on my top ten list🤗
Sharon says
Where do you find your Madeira wine? Can’t find in any local grocery stores.
Sara says
They did have it at my grocery store in the wine section, I shop at Safeway and I found it pretty easily. Some stores keep “cooking” wines separate, sometimes near the vinegars and sauces.
Gail Carter says
In CA try Grocery Outlet. 6 dollars
Paula says
This is absolutely delicious. Will definitely make this again. It was a hit
Sara says
Glad to hear you liked it!
Sara Weertz says
I made this dish and used sherry (as a sub for Madeira) because that’s all I had on hand. It was FAB-U-LOUS!
Jen says
Can I make this into a freezer meal? Do I need to change anything for it?
Sara says
You could pre-cook the chicken and make the sauce, then freeze both. You’d just need to assemble the meal by re-heating the sauce and chicken, and adding the cheese and asparagus. Hope that helps!
Sam says
My wife made this and it was amazing! Thanks for the recipe
Bea says
Looks better than a restaurant meal!
Jackie says
Hi
Is the maderia wine strong tasting in this recipe.
Sara says
It doesn’t taste alcoholic at all, the wine adds a little bit of depth and sweetness to the sauce, but I’m not a wine fan normally and I think it’s great!
Joanne says
Use grape juice instead. Just make sure it’s the same color as the wine in the recipe.
Debbie says
These look mouth watering yummy!
Sharon says
Can you substitute a different wine for the madeira? This looks delicious
Sara says
You could try marsala wine which is similar, I haven’t tried it with other wine varieties!