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.
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 or polenta.
- Of course, you can eat this dish all by itself without anything under it as well!
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.
I found it to be flavorful but the chicken was a little rubbery. Any advice on how to correct this. I’ve heard meat should always be NR could that be the issue?
Possibly- maybe try that next time?!
This is my first attempt at using my instant pot. The chicken was cooked perfectly and was very juicy. searing the chicken kept it from being too rubbery, and cooking it any longer than the recommendation would have made it wayyyy to chewy, so this turned out perfect for us. The sauce was subtle in flavor, but well balanced. I would have preferred a much more robust seasoning, but it was absolute silence around the table as we ate it was so good. I used boneless, skinless chicken thighs for mine, and I used a 1/3 cup of lactose free milk in place of cream. no one minded. I paired with a cup of white long grained rice and a side of green beans.
Thank you for this recipe! I am definitely using this again soon. It was such a warm and cozy meal!
I did something wrong. The chicken was dry and the sauce was bland. I read some other recipes, and I think the bottom of the pot isn’t big enough or hot enough to get the sear on the meat or veggies without leaving them in so long that they over cook but don’t create carmelization…?
I made the recipe for 10 and used an electric skillet for all the ceiling and caramelization and then just dumped it all into the insta pot. They seared up beautifully and then I did the remaining recipe and mushroom sauce in the Insta pot, I also had a bacon crumbles and it was 😊!!!!
Love this!
Can you freeze leftovers?
For sure!