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.
Outstanding and so simple! The only thing I would do differently is add more mushrooms! Healthy recipe, also!!!
So glad you enjoyed it, thanks for reporting back!
Made this tonight and it was delicious! Followed the recipe except I only had white wine so I used that instead and it was a hit with my family. Served with rice and roasted Brussels sprouts…YUM! It’s a keeper! Thanks for sharing this recipe!
So happy to hear you enjoyed it, I appreciate you coming back to comment!
If it has to slow cook for about 9 hours is that ok?
It’s fine but the chicken breasts will be so tender that they’ll fall apart!
I’m not a big mushroom fan but I enjoy the Marsala sauce. Any suggestions on a vegetable that would work well in place of mushrooms?
I think it would work well with a little sauteed onion!
This was delicious. I used half of a sautéed yellow onion and a zucchini. I would probably only use a quarter onion next time and will wait to put the zucchini in until the last 30 minutes as well. I also only used 4 breasts because I like a lot of sauce and I thought the ratio was perfect. Will definitely make this again!
Why is it a quarter cup cornstarch for the slow cooker and only a tablespoon cornstarch for the stove top?
On the stove top you’re actually able to bring the sauce mixture to a boil, which activates the cornstarch much more effectively than a slow cooker that doesn’t boil. If you prefer a thicker sauce you could try 2 tablespoons of corn starch on the stove top, but I wouldn’t add more than that.
I’m glad I read this comment thread as I’ve just put my chicken on, but I have an Instant Pot!!
You could just put the sauté setting on after slow cooking and use the 1 tbls corn starch. Can’t wait to try it tonight!!!
Hi! This recipe looks really good and I want to make it. Quick question though, I want to make potatoes with it, but I’m too lazy to make them separately haha. can I just cut up some potatoes and put it at the bottom of the crock pot? How will I have to adjust my cooking time in that case? Thanks!
I’d add the potatoes during the last 2 hours of the cook time so that they don’t get mushy!
Thanks!
I used red wine instead of white, is that ok
I hope it turned out well!
I am making this now but my chicken breasts are big and I just saw the post that said 1 to 1 and a half pounds but mine is probably way over that. Should I cook longer and I already doubled the sauce. Should I add more.
If you’ve already doubled the sauce you should be good! I’d just check the chicken at the end of the cook time, maybe cut into one breast to see if it’s cooked through. If not add another hour to the cook time.
If we double the chicken and sauce, should we also double the cornstarch?
Yes, you’d want to double the corn starch too!
My chicken breast are very thick too so I used 3 instead of 6 and followed the rest of recipe. I hope it comes out good they are in the crock pot now 🤞🏻
This Marsala is awesome! The whole family loved it. Made it exactly per the recipe except I had to use powered garlic. Thank you so much—this will def go in the rotation.
Yay, glad to hear everyone enjoyed it! Thanks for reporting back!
What does 6 chicken breasts mean weight-wise? I bought 6 chicken breasts and they are 4.85 pounds. Is that way too much? Seems like it is.
You want about 1 1/2 – 2 lbs!
Made tonight exactly as stated. I was worried my hubby and son wouldn’t like it but they inhaled it! The first thing out of my hubby’s mouth was “This is good!”. They asked for it to remain on our menu. Thank you from a wife that is not a good cook but made the boys super happy tonight for dinner.
So glad to hear your boys enjoyed it, thanks for reporting back!
If I have the Marsala cooking wineIs there something that I need to add to thisThought it should be mixed with a red wine want to make this tomorrow
I don’t understand your question, do you have Marsala wine? If so, just use that.
I have tried many recipes for making chicken Marsala in the crockpot and I have to say that this one is the best. I didnt make any changes except for omitting the cream because I didn’t have any and it came out great. Thanks for sharing.
Glad you enjoyed it,thank you for reporting back!
If I’m using chicken tenderloins of the same weight, do I need to adjust the cooking time? Additionally, I was thinking of putting this over some type of simple pasta – probably a linguine. Will there be enough sauce to coat the pasta, or can you suggest something I add to create a little more sauce after everything is done cooking? Thank you!
You should decrease the cook time by about 45 minutes for the smaller pieces of chicken. You can also double the sauce ingredients if you’d like more sauce, although I’d keep the cornstarch amount the same. Hope this helps!
My husband keeps talking about this recipe. He absolutely adored it! Thanks for the great meal. I’ll be logging it for future dinners! I added some shallots with the mushrooms since I had them on hand, and I used only 4 chicken breasts but didn’t change any of the amounts for the sauce. I thought the chicken and sauce ratio was really good with only 4 chicken breasts, but hey, we’re sauce people.
So happy to hear you enjoyed it, thank you for reporting back!
It was delicious and so easy! I have three boys and they all loved it!!!
So happy to hear that, thanks for reporting back!
I am using thin sliced chicken breasts. How long should they cook for?
You’ll want to reduce the cook time by about 45 minutes!
Dry or sweet Marsala? I didn’t see a specification or is it it a personal preference?
I typically use sweet Marsala!
How many chicken breast tenders do I use?
You can use somewhere between 1 1/2 – 2 lbs depending on how many people you’re feeding, and I’d cook them for about 30 minutes less time.
Can you half the cooking time by changing the temperature from low to high?
Yes you can!
So easy and so delish. Thanks so much
Glad to hear you enjoyed it!
I have never made chicken Marsala before I made your recipe. I had friends over and everyone had seconds and raved about how delicious it was. I added ground thyme to the seasoning of the chicken before sautéing it in the oil and I cooked the garlic in the oil with the chicken. I doubled the recipe and I used a whole 12 oz bottle of Marsala. I forgot to get cream at the store so I used Sweet Cream coffee creamer instead with the cornstarch and it was amazing! My friend can’t tolerate onions so this was a perfect recipe for him. I was short on time so I cooked on high for 3 hours then on low for 1 before I added the thickening items. Forgot to take a picture. Next time!
I’m so happy to hear everyone enjoyed it! Thank you for reporting back!
I can not use dairy products, is there a non-dairy substitution for the heavy cream?
No substitute, you can just omit it!
Great recipe, chicken was tender and the family loved it. I added a little more wine though, the corn starch hid flavor and had its typical dry texture, more wine helped the Marsala flavor shine.