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.
This was so good. Made it as is and the kids loved it. Thanks!
So glad to hear everyone enjoyed it!
Masking this now and the aroma in my home is simply delicious! Can hardly wait for dinner.
Thanks Jane hope you enjoy!
I tried this recipe tonight. I followed directions almost exactly as is. I didn’t have a lot of time so I cooked in slow cooker for 2 1/2 hrs on high and I had 3 big pieces of chicken and I cut them all in half and then cooked them as directed and continued to follow the rest of recipe. So delicious. My whole family loved it.
So glad to hear everyone loved it!
Would this dish freeze well?
I don’t think it would because of the dairy, and mushrooms tend to get watery when frozen and thawed.
I have made it he chicken Marsala 3 x this month and everyone who has eaten it raves about it! I have added just a 1/4 cup of he liquid for a little more sauce. I love the little bit of cream at the end. My cooker on low cooks and is ready at least 1/2 hour earlier. The cream is really nice at the end.
So glad to hear everyone is loving it, thanks for reporting back!
I tried this recipe last night and it was awesome!! Everyone loved it and already getting requests for it again. I like dishes with more sauce so I had doubled it up from the beginning so it worked out great! Plus worked as a great gravy for my mashed potatoes. There were some complaints not enough salt but I didn’t mind. All in all I will definitely be making this again!
So glad to hear you enjoyed it, thanks for writing in!
This looks delicious! How much of the alcohol taste will remain when done cooking? (I don’t like the taste of it, lol)
Thank you!
You shouldn’t taste the alcohol, it burns off during the cooking process!
Agreed!!! I always look at reviews.
Made this for dinner last night. Was not enough liquid. I would double up on the liquid.
The spices were missing flavor. Need to play with the flavor more next time. More salt definitely. But still missing something. Perhaps more garlic.
I tried this recipe and it was very good. When i make it again I will make some slight changes, however. First, I agree with another reviewer that it could use a bit more liquid, especially the marsala. After the cooking process it had no marsala flavor at all so I added a tablespoon or more – just enough to taste – and it was perfect. I did use the heavy cream but only used about half of what the recipe called for. The sauce/gravy was great and VERY good with mashed potatoes. Next time I think I will go to 3/4 cup of both the chicken broth and the marsala.
The recipe called for 1 1/2 cups of mushrooms but that didn’t seem like enough for the amount of chicken so I doubled it to 3 cups and it worked out well.
About seasoning, I thought I was pretty heavy-handed with the salt but it seemed to just beg for more. I seasoned the chicken up front and the sauce at the end as suggested but it still wasn’t enough – for me – and I added more at the dinner table. We had neighbors over to eat and one of them also reached for the salt. Other than these few minor adjustments, it was a very good recipe.
We don’t use wine in foods is there another option sound so good
You can omit the wine and just use more chicken broth.
When reviewing recipes I always look for comments of those who tried the recipe to get their opinion of how it turned out. Of all the comments listed only four actually made the recipe!!! Most things look delicious but did it taste as good as it looks???? Very frustrating!
A lot of people leave commentary on Pinterest rather than coming back to the blog, here are some more reviews: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/283375001539104319/
Yes! I agree….I wanted to read the 5 star reviews but saw they were rating the look of the recipe! Also, would you please give an estimate of the weight of the chicken? 6 breasts seems like a lot? Thank you, it does look yummy.
I’d say about 1.5 pounds!
I was thinking the same thing. I’m actually in the process of making it now, but I was curious about the amount of cornstarch. 1/4 cup seems excessive
There’s a fair amount of liquid in the crock pot from the chicken and mushrooms, so the cornstarch amount is correct. Hope you enjoyed it!
Some give cook time 2 to 3 hrs ,others 5 to 6 I’m confused what is the difference
It depends on what heat setting you’re using on your crock pot. Things typically cook on high heat in half the time than they would cook on low heat. Also, some crock pots run hotter than others, which is why there’s a range of like 5-6 hours. If you check it at 5 hours and everything looks done then you’re good to go!
What can the heavy cream be replaced with….I can’t have any dairy, but this sounds fantastic!
You can just omit it, it’s an optional ingredient!
Is the Marsala sweet or dry? Definitely going to make this !
I use sweet Marsala!
Can I cut this recipe in half? would the cooking time be the same?
Yes you can cut it in half and I’d cook it for an hour less!
Note to self – use thighs or frozen bagged chicken breasts next time as fresh chicken breasts turned out dry??? Also, more Marsala and a few more mushrooms could be added. Sauce was a hit.
Agreed on the Marsala wine-it was good dish, but did t have that real taste of the classic Marsala that I love. I browned the chicken-maybe brown it along w the garlic and mushrooms to give more flavor? I was so excited to make for
my boyfriend, and although he liked it, I was a little disappointed. Any other suggestions?
I haven’t tried this recipe yet, but pain on adding basil and marjoram to the sauce because that is what my favorite stovetop recipe calls for!
Ditch the slow cooker and the garlic for the real chicken marsala!
The real chicken Marsala must be cooked in a sauté pan.
Flour thin slices of chicken breast, preheat olive oil in the sauté pan, add the chicken and cook to golden brown on both sides ,add mushrooms(I prefer portabellini) and chopped shallots(not garlic) place the chicken on top of them, continue cooking at medium heat till shallots are golden brown, now cut a stick of butter in six squares, deep butter in flour( one square per each piece of chicken) add to the pan with half cup (per two pieces of chicken) of real Marsala wine( not cooking Marsala wine that you find at the grocery store) at the same time and simmer till the liquids become like gravy, slightly thick.
Enjoy.
Buon appetito, Antonio Di Salvo
This turned out fabulous, great flavour and it was loved by both kids, husband and mother! Which I might add is no easy task around here. Loved it! Nice to use thighs though because breasts can become a bit dry. Thank you!
Can this be cooked on high for 3 hours instead of low for 5?
Yes that should work!
This was delish!!! My family loved it! Super easy. I did not brown the chicken. I didnt even thaw the chicken. The flavors were phenomenal. Plus a slow cooker recipe…..my absolute favorite. Thank you