Easy Chicken Marsala (and no Marsala wine substitutes) — Quick and Easy Recipes (2024)

FAQs

What can I use if I don t have Marsala wine for chicken Marsala? ›

Sherry, particularly dry sherry, is a good Marsala wine alternative, providing a comparable nutty flavor in both sweet and savory dishes. If the recipe calls for sweetness, consider adding a bit of sugar to the sherry to more closely mimic Marsala's unique taste.

Possible substitutes would be a dry Madeira wine or a darker sherry such as Oloroso. If you don't have these then you could also use port or red vermouth.

For a lighter sauce, use evaporated milk or half and half. If using half and half, be careful not to bring your sauce to a rapid boil or it may curdle.

She's got a recipe for Chicken Marsala that for some reason, tastes better with a glass of wine. We recommend both the Pinot Noir or our Pinot Grigio - Choose your Pinot!

There are several options from Smith's rum, to Marsala (quite traditional) to brandy and Kahlua (a coffee liqueur). I generally find that adding a liqueur makes the dish too sweet, and like the clean flavour of brandy the best, although rum would be a close second.

Marsala Flavor Profile

On the palate, a true Marsala will have flavors of dried apricot, honey, nuts, tobacco, brown sugar, vanilla, and tamarind.

To make the perfect marsala wine substitute for chicken marsala, replace ½ cup of marsala wine with ½ cup chicken stock, 1 tablespoon of balsamic vinegar, and one teaspoon of sugar.

Your best bet is going to be another dry fortified wine such as dry (white) vermouth. Dry versions of Madeira and marsala are also acceptable. You can also substitute a dry white wine like sauvignon blanc, pinot grigio, pinot blanc, or sémillon.

What's a better substitute for white wine than another alcohol? Start with selections that have an equivalent amount of alcohol. "These fortified wines would work: brandy, marsala, and madeira," says Delle Donne.

Simmer the Sauce and Thicken it

The chicken will cook through while simmering in the sauce. Once it's done, you can thicken the sauce with a cornstarch slurry.

How do you thicken sauce with heavy cream? ›

You can make a cream sauce thicker by reducing it on the stovetop. If reducing the sauce doesn't work, or if you're in a rush, you can use a thickener to bulk up your sauce. Flour, butter, eggs, and cornstarch are simple ingredients that can make your cream sauce thicker.

Marsala Substitutes for every quarter cup needed: Substitute the following: ¼ cup of dry white wine. 1 teaspoon of brandy.

The best chicken marsala wine pairing is with lighter red wine types or a full-bodied white wine. Red wine examples include Malbec and Pinot Noir, and white wines include Riesling or Chardonnay. Chicken marsala is naturally savory and creamy, so your wine selection should be based on complementary flavors.

She recommends avoiding heavy Cabernet Sauvignons and other full-bodied reds as a direct swap as these risk overpowering the final dish. If you're seeking a non-alcoholic alternative, Ziata suggests playing with herbs, citrus, and fruit juices to a homemade Marsala-like stock.

As noted above, the key ingredient in Chicken Marsala Sauce is marsala which is a fortified wine (like port) from the Marsala region of Italy. It's got a sweet, nutty flavour that's more complex and richer than red wine. Use a dry marsala rather than sweet marsala which is more commonly used in desserts.

Though both were acceptable, tasters found that dry Marsala offered more depth of flavor, while sweet Marsala added sweetness and some flavor but wasn't as complex. The takeaway? For both savory and sweet applications, we suggest using dry Marsala if a recipe doesn't specify a style.

Marsala is fortified with brandy or neutral grape spirit usually made with regional grapes. A cooked grape must called 'Mosto Cotto' gives Marsala its color and its caramel flavor. A sweetened fortified wine called 'Mistella' is often blended, made from Grillo grapes.