Instant Pot Chicken Marsala
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Instant Pot Chicken Marsala for when you want fancy but you also want fast. In less than 30 minutes, you can have a savory, comforting marsala with chicken, mushrooms, and a yummy cream sauce to serve over rice or noodles.
For more popular Instant Pot recipes, check out my posts for Instant Pot Chicken and Wild Rice Soup, Instant Pot Pot Roast and Potatoes, and Instant Pot Broccoli Beef.
I know that mushrooms are a very polarizing food. I love them! I know many others do not. Thankful the hubby does though or I would feel really bad making mushroom dishes often. Notice I didn’t say I’d stop making them, I said I’d feel bad. Slightly. Because, let’s face it, I’d just eat them all! More for me!
The reason I love them so much is that they’re so meaty-tasting and they soak up all the buttery garlic flavors of just about any dish, but a marsala dish in particular. So that means you get a mouthful of flavor with every bite of chicken and mushroom, so it’s not just a dish with all the flavor in the sauce and none that actually gets cooked into the meat and mushrooms. Ya get what I’m trying to get at?
But as much as I love all things Chicken Marsala, I also love saving time! That’s where the Instant Pot comes in. Using the pressure cooker cuts the total cooking time in half! Half the time, same ah-mazing mushroomy, marsala flavor. Who is with me?
What Ingredients are in Instant Pot Chicken Marsala?
- Chicken breasts
- Salt and pepper
- Italian seasoning OR herbs de provence
- Butter
- Olive oil
- Minced garlic
- Mushrooms
- Chicken broth
- White marsala cooking wine
- Cold water
- Corn starch
- Heavy cream (optional)
How Do You Make Instant Pot Chicken Marsala?
So these instructions seem a little more detailed but that’s only because you have to switch between some settings on your Instant Pot to get the best-tasting chicken marsala recipe possible.
The first thing we do is to season the chicken with salt and pepper as well as the Italian seasoning. Don’t go too light, but don’t go overboard either. Find that just-right spot. SEt the pressure cooker to “saute” and melt 2 tablespoons of butter in the bottom. Drizzle oil to keep the butter from burning.
Next, sear the spiced chicken for 2-3 minutes on both sides. Remove chicken from the pot and set it aside. Add the last tablespoon of butter into the pot, then stir in the garlic and mushrooms for 1-2 minutes or until the garlic starts to get fragrant and the mushrooms begin to soften. Add the rest of the Italian seasonings.
Pour in the chicken broth and marsala wine into the pot. Add the chicken back in as well. Put the lid on and lock it into place. Turn the vent into the sealed position and set the Instant Pot to “manual” or “pressure cook” on high for 8 minutes.
When the 8 minutes is up, turn the valve to the venting position to quick-release the pressure. When the float valve drops (or there is no more steam), take the lid off and use a slotted spoon or tongs to transfer the chicken to a plate. Cover the chicken to keep it warm.
Next, work on the sauce. Set the pressure cooker to the “soup” setting. Stir in 1 teaspoon of salt and ¼ teaspoon of pepper. In a small bowl, whisk together the cold water with the cornstarch until the corn starch is dissolved. Then whisk that mixture into the rest of the sauce in the pan of your Instant Pot. The sauce will thicken. Once that happens, turn the pressure cooker off. If you are using the heavy cream, now is when you’ll stir that in as well.
Pour the mushroom sauce out over the chicken you dished out earlier and serve.
How Do You Serve Chicken Marsala?
Now that you’ve made this easy chicken marsala recipe, let’s decide how to serve it, shall we? Here’s how I usually plate it, in no particular order of preference:
- Over wide egg noodles, or another larger pasta.
- Serve chicken marsala on top of white or brown rice or another grain of your choosing.
- If you are watching your carb intake, you could also add this atop a bed of cauliflower rice or zucchini noodles. Or serve it in a spaghetti squash boat.
- This chicken marsala would be amazing piled high on top of some mashed potatoes (make it even easier on yourself, and make Slow Cooker Mashed Potatoes) or polenta.
- Of course, you can eat this dish all by itself without anything under it as well!
More Recipes to Try
Did you make this recipe? FANTASTIC. Please rate the recipe below and be sure to tag me on social when you share a photo on social – I love seeing what you’re up to in the kitchen!
Instant Pot Chicken Marsala
Ingredients
- 4 medium chicken breasts, see note
- salt and pepper , to taste
- 1 ½ teaspoon Italian seasoning , OR Herbs de Provence
- 3 tablespoons butter, divided
- 2 teaspoons olive oil
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic
- 1 ½ cups sliced mushrooms
- 1 cup chicken broth, I used low sodium
- 1 cup white marsala cooking wine, see note
- 1 teaspoon salt, or to taste
- ¼ teaspoon pepper, or to taste
- ½ cup cold water
- ¼ cup corn starch
- ⅓ cup heavy cream, optional
Instructions
- Generously season chicken with salt and pepper and 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning/herbs de provence on both sides. Set pressure cooker to saute and melt 2 tablespoons of butter in the bottom. Drizzle with 2 teaspoons oil to keep the butter from burning.
- Sear chicken in the pot for 2-3 minutes on each side. Remove chicken from the pot and set aside.
- Melt remaining 1 tablespoon butter in the pot, stir in garlic and mushrooms for 1-2 minutes til garlic is fragrant. Stir in remaining 1/2 teaspoon Italian seasoning/herbs de provence.
- Stir in chicken broth and marsala. Return chicken to the pot.
- Put the lid on and slide into the locked position. Turn the vent to the sealed position.
- Set to MANUAL or PRESSURE COOK on HIGH for 8 minutes.
- Do a quick release by turning the valve to the venting position to release the pressure. Once the float valve drops, remove the lid and use a slotted spoon or tongs to transfer chicken to a plate and cover to keep warm.
- Set pressure cooker to SOUP setting. Stir in 1 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Whisk together cold water and corn starch til dissolved, then whisk into the pressure cooker. Once thickened, turn pressure cooker off. If using heavy cream, stir in now.
- Pour the mushroom sauce from the pot over the chicken and serve.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
I have the dark Marsala, would that be an ok substitute?
Yes, using dark marsala, you’ll end up with a richer, slightly sweeter sauce 🙂
I would like to avoid pounding or slicing the chicken breasts in half. How can the recipe be modified to ensure success?
You can use smaller breasts or choose ones that have relatively the same thickness. You’ll need to adjust the cook time to about 10-12 minutes. Be careful though as too much time can dry out the chicken. You can also use more liquid and make sure the thickest parts of the chicken breasts are covered. Other than that, still follow the recipe as closely as you can.
This recipe is awesome! Dinner came out absolutely delicious. 6 chicken breasts and then followed the ingredients listed and multiplied by 1 1/2. I could not find marsala wine (I’m in Mexico) and decided to use the chicken broth as recommended in the “notes”. Everyone loved this meal that was served with mashed potatoes and asparagus. There is only one restaurant in the town that we live in that makes Chicken Marsala. My daughter said, “she no longer needs to go there. She’ll just come to my house instead, lol
Can you double this recipe?
Yes, it can be doubled but you need to keep an eye on the fill line and not go passed it. No need to double the cook time as well, the instant pot will recognize that there’s more food in the pot and just take a bit longer to reach pressure. And be careful with the liquid and seasonings because not every recipe needs those doubled.
Made this for dinner and my wife loved it!
can you do this with 4 frozen bonless chicken breasts?
If using frozen chicken breasts, make sure they’re not all frozen together. If they are you will need to put them in cool water until you are able to break them apart. You can prepare this dish the same way as the recipe says but instead of sautéing the chicken you will need to cook it in the instant pot for about 10 minutes or so (not including the time it takes to reach pressure.) You can cook it with water or more broth, whichever you prefer (don’t forget to season them as well 🙂 You will then need to wait 10 minutes after the time is up to allow it to release naturally and then let it rest for 5 minutes. You can then proceed to follow the instructions in the recipe.
The Marsala Chicken was a big hit with my family. My 16 year old Gordon Ramsey loved it so that says a lot.
If you like a creamy, easy marsala this is a great recipe.
Hello! Would thighs work for this? If yes about how much/how many
Other readers have said they’ve used chicken thighs with success 🙂 I would use 4-8 depending on their size and how many fit in your instant pot
Hello! Can you layer the chicken breasts
You can layer them cross ways 🙂