Olive Garden Chicken Marsala

Olive Garden Chicken Marsala is a true Italian classic and is likely to be a favorite at your house.

This delicious dish is made with wine, mushrooms, and chicken breasts. This creates a savory sauce that you won’t want to miss. Serve it with polenta, mashed potatoes, or even pasta.

Copycat Olive Garden chicken marsala on a plate and in a skillet.


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What Makes the Olive Garden Chicken Marsala the Perfect Weekend Dinner

If you’re looking to skip the crowds at Olive Garden this weekend, why not try making your own version at home?

With this recipe, you can quickly whip up a delicious meal and enjoy some quality time with your loved ones. It’s the perfect way to unwind after a busy week. The famous Italian dish feels so luxurious and indulgent. It is certainly a great way to spoil your family!

Why You Should Try This Recipe

You will absolutely love the combination of textures and flavors in this dish. The pan-seared chicken is first dredged in flour, creating a crispy coating on the outside, which keeps the juices sealed inside. Then, the chicken is cooked in a rich marsala wine sauce with meaty mushrooms, allowing all the flavors to fuse together wonderfully.

My favorite part about this chicken marsala recipe is that you only need one pan to make it! This means that you won’t have a huge pile of dishes to clean up after cooking dinner. Not to mention, you can have this fantastic dish on the table within 40 minutes, which is impressive for a meal that is so exquisite and flavorful.

Ingredients

Here’s what you need:

  • Cake flour
  • Salt
  • Freshly ground black pepper
  • Dried oregano
  • Cooking oil (vegetable or canola)
  • Butter
  • Chicken breasts
  • White Button Mushrooms
  • Onion
  • Dry Marsala wine
Copycat Olive Garden chicken marsala ingredients on a wood surface.

Ingredient Notes and Substitutions

Make sure you use Marsala wine that is not sweet. (This fortified wine comes in two varieties). Do not use Marsala cooking wine because it contains additives. For best results, look closely at the label on the Marsala bottle – the dry variety is the one that you want for this recipe. If you can’t find dry marsala, you can use dry sherry instead.

If you don’t care for Chicken Marsala with onions, you can leave them out.

You can substitute the cake flour with all purpose flour.

You can add 1 or 2 cloves of chopped fresh garlic to the pan along with the mushrooms and onions.

For creamy marsala sauce, stir in ¼ cup of heavy cream or sour cream.

How to Make Olive Garden Chicken Marsala

  1. Combine the flour, salt, pepper, and oregano and blend well.
  2. Heat oil and butter in a large skillet over medium heat until bubbling lightly.
  3. Dredge the chicken in the flour mixture and shake off the excess.
  4. Cook the chicken for about 2 minutes on the first side, until lightly brown.
  5. Turn over the chicken and add the mushrooms and onion around the chicken pieces.
  6. Cook for about 2 minutes more, until the chicken is golden brown on the second side.
  7. Stir the mushrooms.
  8. Add the Marsala wine, cover the pan, and simmer for about 10 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked through.
  9. Serve the chicken covered with the marsala sauce. Garnish with fresh parsley if desired.
Copycat Olive Garden chicken marsala in a pan.

What to Serve with Copycat Olive Garden Chicken Marsala

This is the perfect opportunity for you to make other Olive Garden dishes. Serve this recipe with Olive Garden fried mozzarella sticks, steamed broccoli, or Olive Garden house salad. You can also serve it on a bed of fettuccine noodles or rice, which is equally delicious!

A serving of copycat Olive Garden chicken marsala on a plate.

How to Store the Leftovers

Cover any leftovers and keep them in the refrigerator for approximately four days. It is best to use an airtight container to retain its freshness while storing it!

What is the Best Way to Reheat Olive Garden Chicken Marsala?

I recommend reheating this in the oven because the chicken has a much better texture than if you microwave it. Use a moderate temperature of 350°F and transfer it to a casserole dish. Heat it until all of the components are warm, about 20 to 30 minutes.

You can also heat it on the stovetop over medium heat. Cover it with a lid and stir it occasionally, ensuring to flip over the chicken if needed.

Copycat Olive Garden Chicken Marsala on a plate.

Love Olive Garden? Try these copycat recipes

You can find the best Olive Garden copycat recipes at CopyKat.com, the web’s most popular destination for copycat restaurant recipes.

Copycat Olive Garden chicken marsala on a plate and in a skillet.

Olive Garden Chicken Marsala

Enjoy the Olive Garden Chicken Marsala when you make it at home. 
5 from 25 votes
Print Pin Rate Add to Collection
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: Italian
Keyword: Olive Garden Recipes
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Total Time: 40 minutes
Servings: 4
Calories: 720kcal

Ingredients

  • 1/4 cup cake flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
  • 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
  • 1/4 cup oil
  • 4 ounces butter
  • 2 1/2 pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts
  • 1 cup sliced fresh mushrooms
  • 1 medium onion sliced (optional)
  • 1/2 cup dry Marsala wine

Instructions

  • Combine the flour, salt, pepper, and oregano and mix well.
  • Heat the oil and butter in a large skillet over medium heat until bubbling lightly.
  • Dredge the chicken in the flour mixture and shake off the excess.
  • Cook the chicken for about 2 minutes on the first side, until lightly brown. Flip the breasts and add the mushrooms and onions (if desired) around the chicken. Cook for about 2 more minutes, until the chicken is lightly browned on the second side.
  • Add the wine, stir the vegetables, cover, and simmer for about 10 minutes, until the chicken is cooked through.

Video

Nutrition

Calories: 720kcal | Carbohydrates: 10g | Protein: 62g | Fat: 44g | Saturated Fat: 17g | Cholesterol: 242mg | Sodium: 826mg | Potassium: 1195mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin A: 795IU | Vitamin C: 5.9mg | Calcium: 31mg | Iron: 1.5mg

About Stephanie Manley

I recreate your favorite restaurant recipes, so you can prepare these dishes at home. I help you cook dinner, and serve up dishes you know your family will love. You can find most of the ingredients for all of the recipes in your local grocery store.

Stephanie is the author of CopyKat.com's Dining Out in the Home, and CopyKat.com's Dining Out in the Home 2.

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Lorie

    Hi just found this recipe. How can you tell if it is a dry wine? I am from a small town where the wine is sold in a grocery store and they don’t know either. I have American Marsala by cribari cellars, is that ok?

  2. Lynn

    a dish my neighbor had gotten from olive garden , beef and noodles and mushrooms with wine , do you have a recipe for that?

  3. disqus_SNzml2rpZ4

    Looks delicious. Going to try this today. Few minor issues: would standard gold medal flour work vs cake flour? And it was difficult to find cheap dry marsala wine without spending over $10.

    • Shannon

      You don’t wanna go cheap with marsala imo. The cheaper you get the more vinegar you get or the more over sweet you get. Hyvee usually has a good selection of wine. U could buy a dry for around 13 or so and a sweet for about 15 to 16 bucks.

  4. Terri Thompson

    I’m trying this for dinner tonight, as it seems like a quicker recipe than the one I usually make. BTW, in response to some of the comments, the old recipe I used called for shallots, beef broth and sour cream. The beef broth and sour cream give it a creamier consistency. This one was posted on my FaceBook page, and it looked delicious!

  5. BooBoolove

    Olive Garden’s sauce seems to have some cream and a touch of Kikkoman soy sauce. Do any former employees know what is really in the sauce?

  6. Dave

    Does anyone have the recipe for chicken and rice from the Cracker Barrel? I just retired and am now trying to cook for my wife. We love their chicken and rice.

  7. Jancy

    I have used this recipe but changed it a bit and it is great, when doing the recipe when it gets to the marsala wine add brown gravy mix, first prepare your brown gravy and add your wine and let it cook through, i make this all the time and yet had no complaints, i also always serve it with angel hair pasta.

  8. jenny

    oh my goodness!!! this was so delicious…my husband enjoyed it so much he would have had no problem with me making it again the next night….even my son loved it! This is what he has requested for his birthday dinner…and it’s only been a week since i made it for the very first time….great recipe..a keeper at our house.

    • Stephanie

      It is wonderful when your family enjoys a recipe. I have a short list of my “no fail” and “crowd pleasing” recipes. Chicken Marsala is one of them.

  9. Amy

    I asked the manager at a Olive garden and she said they put molasses in their Marsala sauce…I don’t know how much.

    That’s an interesting tip, I never would have thought of that. ~Stephanie

  10. Leilani

    This is a great recipe. BUT please note that no onions are included in the list of ingredients, nor in the instructions for cooking. Should they be sauteed first? Please check this out. Thanks!
    Leilani, checked it out, and made the modification. Thanks! ~Stephanie

  11. Richard

    Umm gonna try this recipie tonight, howver i noticed an onion on one of the chicken pieces in the picture above. I will add it to my dinner tonite…

  12. Annette

    I actually got this recipe on here a few years ago and have made it alot. It’s fantastic!! I’ve used regular white button mushrooms, which are great. But I definately prefer the baby bella mushrooms. It’s so good. I would love the recipe for the stuffed marsala also, if anyone can come up with that one!!

  13. Sue Minick

    Just finished making this for dinner and it was very good….a keeper. I used only two chicken breasts and right after I took the chicken breasts out I thickened the sauce with a smidge of cornstarch in water. I put the breasts over linguine and poured the sauce over that……looked great and tasted great. I used baby bella mushrooms for this.

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