Pressure Cooker Chicken Marsala
Chicken Marsala is a classic Italian dish made with chicken, mushrooms, and Marsala wine. This delicious, quick pressure cooker version is sure to become a family favorite.
My friend Megan, from Megan’s Cookin’ introduced me to Chicken Marsala. Her version is easy to make and includes bacon, which gives the dish a great smokey taste in addition to the richness from the wine. Recently, I was given a bottle of Colombo Marsala, and I decided it was time to turn Megan’s recipe in to a pressure cooker recipe.
Making Chicken Marsala in an Instant Pot
When I’m making a chicken recipe in the pressure cooker I prefer using chicken thighs. The pressure breaks down the fat and tissue leaving the meat so much more tender and moist than chicken breasts. You could substitute chicken breasts cut in to strips if you prefer.
I served my Chicken Marsala over noodles. It would be delicious served over rice or roasted potatoes as well.
Pressure Cooker Chicken Marsala
Ingredients
- 4 slices peppered bacon, diced
- 3 lbs. boneless, skinless chicken thighs, well trimmed
- Salt and pepper
- 1/2 cup sweet Marsala wine
- 1 cup chicken broth
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 3 tablespoon butter, divided
- Chopped parsley or chives for garnish
- 8 ounces mushrooms, sliced
- 2 tablespoon cornstarch
- 3 tablespoon cold water
- 2 tablespoons chopped parsley
Instructions
Select Browning and add diced bacon to pressure cooker pot. Brown the bacon until crisp, stirring frequently. Remove bacon to a plate, leaving the bacon fat in the pot.
Season chicken with salt and pepper. Add the chicken to the pot and brown on both sides in the bacon fat. Cook the chicken in batches. Remove the chicken to a platter, leaving the fat in the pan.
Add the marsala to deglaze the pot and let it almost completely evaporate to concentrate the flavor and remove most of the liquid.
Add the chicken broth and browned chicken to the pot, along with any juices that have collected on the platter. Cover pot and lock lid in place.
Select High Pressure and 10 minutes cook time. (It will take about 10 minutes to reach high pressure.)
While the chicken is cooking, heat a large sauté pan over medium-high heat until hot. Add oil and 1 tablespoon butter. When butter is melted, add the mushrooms and cook until golden. Season with salt and pepper.
When timer beeps, do a quick pressure release and remove the chicken from the pressure cooker pot to a serving dish.
Combine the cornstarch and water, whisking until smooth. Add cornstarch mixture to the sauce in the pot stirring constantly. Select Simmer and bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Stir in remaining two tablespoons butter. Add mushrooms and stir to coat with sauce.
Taste, adjust seasoning if desired. Combine sauce with chicken in the serving bowl. Serve topped with crumbled bacon and chopped parsley.
I really LOVED this. I could not find peppered bacon so I put pepper on both sides of the bacon before I put in the small food processor to chop into small pieces. Also I waited until Sunday to buy the stuff to make it, so I could not find Marsala wine. (Wine store was closed.)
So I used Red Cooking wine from Walmart. But this was still amazing served over a bed of tri-color quinoa. I am going to share this recipe on FB so others will have the link to Pressure Cooking Today website. All of the recipes I have gotten from there have been really excellent. This is really good eating.
Thanks for sharing your tweaks Michael! Glad it was a hit.
I was wondering what to do with my chicken thighs today, so I thought I’d come here and check. I was able to score four and only four slices of peppered bacon from the butcher counter at my local grocery store. I was in the wine aisle and found both sweet and dry Marsala wine, and once again your excellent directions came to the rescue. Followed the recipe exactly except that I did add one clove of garlic for a minute before deglazing because, well, garlic. This was so delicious that even my husband, who doesn’t like much, told me how good it was, and is excited for leftovers. I think next time I might use regular bacon instead of peppered, but there will be a next time! No wonder I tell all my friends that I’ve never had a bad recipe from your site!
What a fun story Pam – it was meant to be. Glad it was a hit. So nice to hear you love my recipes. Thanks!
I made this last night. Really delicious! My bottle of Marsala just said Marsala, so I don’t know if it was sweet or dry, but the meal was fantastic. Thank you!!
How many people does this dish serve? Am having a dinner party for 10.
Hi Gayle – this serves 6, so I’d probably double it for a dinner party of 10.
Looks Delish! The only change I would make is to sauté the mushrooms in the pressure cooks first…to save me from having to wash another dish! ?
Thanks! That is definitely a good option. Just don’t crowd the mushrooms.
If using frozen chicken how long should I cook it in the pressure cooker for? Thanks!
Hi Randa – as long as the chicken thighs are not frozen in one big clump, you won’t need to add any extra time. Skip the browning, because frozen chicken doesn’t brown. Enjoy!
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So i finally bought a pressure cooker. It’s a stove top and I have a gas stove. I’m having quite a time trying to figure out what the heat should be to cook with. I made spanish rice last night and the bottom burned. Any suggestions? Should I send it back and spend the money to get an electric pressure cooker? lol
Hi Christine – there is a much bigger learning curve when using a stove top pressure cooker because every stove is different. From FB it sounds like you’ve decided to exchange it for the Instant Pot 🙂
You’ve got to forgive me, I’m a husband trying to surprise his wife. What do you mean by “deglaze” the pot? Do you mean clean it the remaining bacon fat? Or are you adding the wine to the bacon fat, and letting it heat until evaporated?
Sorry, it’s probably a rookie question.
Hi Pete – what a nice surprise. It just means add the wine and then use a spoon to scrape up any bits that stuck to the bottom of the pot while you were browning. They are very flavorful and add a lot of flavor to the sauce. Enjoy!
Could you cook the noodles in with the chicken at the same time?
Hi Von – You would have to change the recipe significantly and add enough water to account for what the noodles would absorb. So a cross between this recipe http://www.pressurecookingtoday.com/2014/07/macaroni-in-a-lemon-cream-sauce/ and the chicken marsala recipe might work if you diced the chicken so the cook time was only 5 minutes. Only you’d need even more water or less noodles. Let me know if you try it. 🙂
One of my favorite dishes…. can’t wait to try it in my new pressure cooker!!!
How fun! Enjoy!
Make this delicious recipe with a few changes. Added sautéed chopped onion & garlic after browning chicken & increased wine to one cup (3/4 C to deglaze & 1/4 C when adding last 2 T butter ). Great recipe, easy & husband over ate & requested repete meals. Thanks for super recipe, plan to try orange beef next.
Thanks Donna – so glad you and your husband enjoyed the recipe. I debated whether or not to add onions. Thanks for sharing your additions. Enjoy the orange beef 🙂
Looks amazing! I will give this a try for certain!!
This looks delicious. I know this is a famous dish but I don’t think I’ve ever had it.
Chicken Marsala is such a great dish — I really need to explore pressure cooking!
This looks so delicious! I have chicken and mushrooms…I will pick up the Marsala this weekend and try this. I am loving my pressure cooker!
We love Chicken Marsala here. I’ve never made it with bacon-that sounds delicious. Can’t wait to try this one.
Thank you Barbara and Megan. 🙂