This was a great dish. I didn't have the dark stock so substituted with the light. Really delicious.

Moist, tender chicken with a beautiful sauce. Simple but exceptional. I also used a light stock and turned out great.

I tried this recipe last week and loved it. Thanks for another great recipe.

I'm not what you'd call a serious chef-just a working Mom who wanted to make something special for my husbands birthday.
I've never cooked with cooking wine or anything fancy like that.
I came across your website by mistake and have been so excited about it!
I made this Chicken Marsala with some roasted potatoes, fresh asparagus and your apple cobbler. It was all so amazing!
This chicken was so absolutely wonderful! The flavors although very subtle were amazing!
The apple cobbler with the creme added was an amazing addition. I loved the flavor it added to the recipe.
Thank you for your information on this site! I've learned SO much!!

This dish turned out very well. Despite the fact I had to make the main flavour ingredient! I combined a deep red wine with a splash of vodka and then added a bit of brown sugar... I think I got it right as the recipe really was a hit. Thanks!

Hello! I live in Mexico and I can't find shallots anywhere. What can I use to substitute this ingredient without changing the flavor so much? Thanks!!

You could use finely minced white onions instead...this should do the trick!

I made this last night and it turned out great. I'm going to try the marsala sauce on some other meats. Thanks.

We just made this and it was absolutely delicious. Had to replace the Marsala with Port and the dark with light stock and it still turned out really great! :) Served with oven potatoes (+ garlic, +thyme) it was the best dinner in a while. :)

I tried making this for 'one' - not a good idea. I think you need to make the full recipe to see any of the benefits from browning the meat. One little chicken breast does not cut it, and makes for a bland, runny sauce. I'll need to try again some other time when I can test on a larger group of people.

Leslie, keep trying. Couple of notes.

1) if you are cooking for one, this should still work fine. Most professional cooks cook in restaurants for one. Just need to ensure that you are using a small pan (like an 8" pan at the most). Your pan should fit the food always.

2) Re runny... if you used homemade stock, you just need to reduce this a bit longer over the heat and it will thicken up. If you haven't already, watch the lesson on pan sauces in the cooking school:

http://rouxbe.com/school/sections/179/objectives
Look forward to attempt number 2 :-)

I just went to the supermarket to buy Marsala. I came up with quite a few choices. Dry or Sweet? $4 vs. $11? Italian vs. Californian?

Does the extra $7 really make a difference?

And, when poaching fruit, Marsala is also mentioned as an ingredient. Same stuff or do I have to buy another bottle?

They can both be used for cooking. It is more about personal preference. Often dry is used in cooking but some people prefer the added sweetness of the sweet marsala.

As for which brand to buy...I am not the expert here...sorry. I have heard that Flori is a good brand. Really when it gets cooked down it will be delicious so don't be too worried.

My rule for "how much to spend" is that the wine/spirit/or whatever I am using just has to be good enough that I would be okay to drink it on it's own. Because the better it tastes naked, the better it will taste in whatever it is you are making.

As for poaching fruit, I would probably go with the sweet marsala, but again this depends on what you are making.
Good luck, hope this helps!

The more I learn from Rouxbe the more confident a cook I become, and this recipe was no different. It turned out great and was really quick to cook making it a great recipe for a work night. Thanks Rouxbe!

I just made this tonight for dinner and it was a huge success! It was very simple but tasted like it was fussy and complicated. It's a great weeknight dish, but could easily be made for a small dinner party on the weekend. I too used a light broth, and I pounded my chicken breast a bit to make cooking time for all pieces more even. Love it!

I am so impressed with this recipe (and myself!) as well as rouxbe. This is the best thing that I've come across in ages! I've been doing the lessons and looking at the recipes and I can't wait to get home to try making them.

Thank you SO much, this is brilliant!!!

I'm just wondering if it's worth the effort to brine the chicken breasts?

Also, what should I do with the extra Marsala?

I say yes to brining...it is not a must but why not make the meat taste even better if you can. Just remember it's only about 1/2 an hour for every pound of meat (for each piece, not the total amount of meat).

As for the Marsala...I use mine each time I want to deglaze a pan or whenever I am making a pan sauce...or I just drink it :-)

Does it last a long time if it's been opened? Or could I also freeze the rest into ice cubes?

Can't wait to try this out!

Marsala will keep for quite some time. It is not like other wines that go bad after just a day or two (due to oxidization). Marsala is already oxidized so it will take a lot longer to go bad. If exposed to heat or light the flavor may change but it will still be good.

I have heard that keeping the open, but sealed bottle in the fridge will help to keep it even longer. I have not actually tried this, but it makes sense. I usually just keep in the pantry and it seems to last for weeks (if not a few months even). Hope this helps, good luck!

I've seen this dish prepared with mushrooms, which adds a nice extra element. Any thoughts on how to incorporate them into this recipe?

Also, I have made this a couple of times and had wished at the end that there was more sauce. I assume I could not let it cook down as much, but then it might be too thin. Should I just double the amounts of the sauce ingredients (marsala, stock, butter, shallots)?

Note that I did not start with the Dark Stock, just a store bought variety (Wolfgang Puck Free Range), in case that is important.

Mushrooms should be added after the shallots have cooked for a bit. Make sure to add a bit of oil if need to keep the pan moist and not burn the sucs. Cook the mushrooms (chopped or sliced) until the liquid starts to come out of them and then continue to cook until the mushroom liquid has evaporated and the mushrooms start to brown a bit. Then deglaze with marsala, stock etc... just like any other pan sauce.

If you want to extend the sauce, yes, just add more of the ingredients. No problem. I'd start with 1.5 times the ingredients and double if needed.

And last suggestion, try making your own brown chicken stock one time. You'll never go back. It could also be that the stock you are buying simply does not have the same "body" as a homemade one with natural gelatin. This could be another reason why you don't have lot's of sauce.

I would love to try making some stock. The main thing holding me back is that I don't buy whole chickens, and so I don't have any bones. Perhaps I can ask the butcher at my market if they have any on hand.. Otherwise I can look into buying chicken with bones in tact. One problem is that I haven't seen any free range chicken in the store other than boneless skinless chicken breast. I try to buy humanely raised stuff where possible. Though I've heard that "free range" doesn't necessarily mean much, at least here in the US.

Most butchers will save chicken bones for you if you request them in advance. We also go to meat suppliers (e.g. restaurant and hotel suppliers) as many of them have cash and carry policies where the public can actually buy. It's cheap. So try calling a poultry company in your city.

Every time I've made this dish it has taken well over an hour. I finished in about an hour and twenty mintutes on my third attempt (in which I made a little extra sauce).

Mostly I'm concerned about managing the heat properly. I spent probably a half hour on the sauce alone. Approximately how long should it take to make the sauce, starting from when you put in the shallots? Should I be cranking the heat up to cook the liquid off more quickly? I try to keep it at a simmer (bubbling slightly).

Should the heat be kept at med/medium high throughout the cooking process?

I just don't see how this could be finished in 20 minutes. The meal came out great, so I'm not complaining. I made it with some pre-packaged gnocci on the side, and the extra sauce (see above comments) went great with that. Still have not tried it with mushrooms or homemade dark stock.