This slow cooker chicken marsala is tender chicken breasts cooked in a mushroom and marsala wine sauce. It’s a delicious meal option that the whole family is sure to love!
I always used to order chicken marsala at restaurants, but now that I know how to make it in the crock pot, it’s become a dinner time favorite at home too! I love to use my crock pot to make comfort food classics including slow cooker beef bourguignon, slow cooker whole chicken and this creamy chicken and mushrooms.
Chicken Marsala is a super popular dish, and for good reason. How can you go wrong with chicken and mushrooms in a savory sauce? Well, I guess if you’re not a mushroom lover, but we love mushrooms at my house! This slow cooker chicken marsala is my take on the classic dish. It’s a great way to get the flavors of this restaurant favorite with minimal work.
How to make slow cooker chicken marsala
The first step in this recipe is to brown your chicken breasts. I understand that some people are looking for “dump and go” crock pot recipes where you just put everything in the slow cooker and walk away. If you really want to skip the browning of the chicken, you can, but it really adds SO much flavor to the end dish so I highly recommend it.
The chicken goes into the slow cooker along with some mushrooms, chicken broth, garlic and marsala wine. Most grocery stores carry marsala wine, but it’s not always mixed in with the standard red and white wines, so if you don’t see it, ask. My store has their marsala wine in the liquor section instead of the wine area.
The chicken and mushrooms simmer away in the sauce until tender. After the chicken and mushrooms are cooked, I add some corn starch to the slow cooker to help thicken up the sauce.
I also like to add a splash of cream at the end, it really rounds out the sauce and makes it taste so delicious. You can omit the cream if you prefer, or add a little butter for a similar result.
I serve my slow cooker chicken marsala over mashed potatoes, but rice or orzo would also be nice choices. My family loves this version of chicken marsala just as much as the kind we get at restaurants, and I love how easy it is to make!
More easy chicken recipes
- Chicken Noodle Casserole
- Slow Cooker Apricot Chicken
- Chicken Madeira
- Bourbon Chicken
- Honey Garlic Chicken Stir Fry
Slow Cooker Chicken Marsala Video
Slow Cooker Chicken Marsala
Ingredients
- 6 boneless skinless chicken breasts
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- salt and pepper to taste
- 2 teaspoons minced garlic
- 1/2 cup marsala wine
- 1/2 cup chicken broth
- 1 1/2 cups sliced mushrooms
- 1/4 cup cornstarch
- 1/4 cup heavy cream
- 2 tablespoons chopped parsley
Instructions
- Heat the olive oil in a large pan over medium high heat. Season the chicken breasts on both sides with salt and pepper.
- Place the chicken in the pan and cook for 4-5 minutes on each side or until golden brown.
- Place the chicken breasts, garlic, wine, chicken broth and mushrooms in the slow cooker.
- Cook on LOW for 5 hours.
- Remove the chicken from the slow cooker. Whisk together the cornstarch with 1/3 cup cold water. Pour the cornstarch into the slow cooker and stir to combine.
- Add the chicken back to the slow cooker, turn the heat to HIGH and cook for 30 minutes or until sauce has thickened.
- Stir in the heavy cream and season the sauce with salt and pepper to taste. Sprinkle with parsley and serve.
Notes
- If you're really pressed for time, you can skip browning the chicken breasts, but I highly recommend taking the time to brown them!
- You can use boneless skinless chicken thighs instead of chicken breasts if you prefer.
- Adapted from Creme de la Crumb
- Stove top instructions: Heat the olive oil in a large pan over medium high heat. Season the chicken with salt and pepper on both sides. Add the chicken to the pan and cook for 5-6 minutes on each side or until cooked through. Remove the chicken from the pan and cover with foil to keep warm. Add the mushrooms to the pan and cook for 4-5 minutes or until tender. Add the garlic and cook for an additional 30 seconds. Add the marsala wine and chicken broth to the pan and simmer for 5 minutes. Stir in 1 tablespoon of cornstarch that's been mixed with 2 tablespoons cold water. Simmer until just thickened. Stir in the cream and simmer for 2 more minutes. Add the chicken back to the pan and spoon the sauce over the top. Sprinkle with parsley and serve.
Tried this tonight with bonless chicken thighs. Flavors are good, but my chicken was so tender they were falling apart. Something different—LOL! Not your typical chicken marsala presentation.
I am trying to lighten up my meals. What do you suggest as an alternative to the heavy cream?
The cream is optional, you can just omit it!
This looks delicious! But browning chicken first and only cooking 5 hours in the crockpot means it’s not very weeknight feasible for me. Can you recommend oven time instead? If not, no biggie. This will just have to be a weekend meal instead. Thanks!
You can cook it for longer in the crock pot, but if you do, the chicken breasts will be more fall apart versus a whole intact breast. It should still be delicious though! I just added stove top instructions in the notes section of the recipe.
Perfect! Thank you! Can’t wait to try it!
Can you cook it on high in the crockpot to speed up the time?
Yes that should be fine!
Or a crockpot with a timer…
I love the idea of browning the chicken first before dumping into the slow cooker. I will be trying this recipe I just need to get some masala wine which I didnt even know was a thing
Looks like a really delicious dish to try soon. I am happy to have come across a slow cooker version. That would help me get more free time! 🙂
comfort food at its best, mushrooms are also a big hit in my household, what a great idea making it on the slow cooker, something everyone will love, great recipe 🙂
We would love to have this at our house. I love chicken!
It totally looks amazing and I wouldn’t mind giving it a try! Having a slow cooker really is a blessing, it makes cooking more convenient for all of us!
My family loves Marsala sauce! This is such a great idea to make it in the slow cooker. I always make it in a pan!
This recipe would save me so much time with my meal prep. I could throw everything in the crockpot while I’m chopping other veggies and prepping lunch. It looks delicious and I can’t wait to try it.
The chicken marsala looks really rich in flavor and soft on the teeth. It can definitely be a sumptuous and delicious meal.
Oh, yes please. I am making this for dinner soon. I love using my crock pot, and this looks amazing.
I love chicken Marsala. It’s one of my favorite ways to prepare chicken. So much flavor!
Chicken marsala is one of my fave dishes of all time. I love the idea of using the slow cooker. Throwing a bunch of stuff in the slow cooker and coming back a few hours later to a delicious dinner is my idea of a smart move!!
Oh now this sounds right up my street, I have to admit I do look a good chicken meal and this sounds like the perfect one to have cooking in the pot.
Chicken with mushrooms.. this looks so good! I’ll have to save this recipe so I have something different to make for dinner this week.
And it looks amazing! I like anything that I can just throw in the crockpot and let it go. I think I will definitely try this.
I need to get more creative with my crock pot because this dish right here is making me hungry. I’ve never even heard of this which tells you how boring meal time is around here.
My family loves Chicken Marsala. I always make it on the stove top, but I’m in love with the idea of making it in the slow cooker. I’ll be trying this recipe soon. I know it will be a family favorite.
Why does the video make the chicken look gray vs first picture with nicely browned chicken with parsley?
You’re just seeing more of the sauce in the video, the chicken is browned like in the photo.
I love crock pot recipes – especially on busy weeknights. This recipe sounds like it would go over big with my kids.