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Slow Cooker Chicken Marsala is an impressive meal made in the comfort of your own home. It’s easy, efficient and flavorful.
This post is sponsored by Holland House Cooking Wines.
Bring this fancy date night meal home and make dinner even easier by cooking it in your slow cooker. This recipe uses simple, easy to find ingredients.
Ingredients You Need
- Chicken Breasts: You can substitute with boneless chicken thighs, but you may need to adjust the cook time to ensure they are cooked to a temperature of 165 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Holland House Marsala Cooking Wine: This cooking wine adds effortless flavor and is easy to find at your local grocery store. It has a rich golden color and subtle aroma.
- Mushrooms: Small brown mushrooms, like baby bella mushrooms, are best.
- Spices: Dried thyme, oregano, garlic, salt and pepper. You can substitute the thyme or oregano with dried basil, if desired.
- Cornstarch: You can substitute with arrowroot.
- Cooking oil: Extra virgin olive oil is the best choice, but you can substitute with another type of oil, if needed.
- Heavy Cream: Adds creaminess. You can omit or substitute with coconut milk for a dairy free alternative, if desired.
Suggested Equipment
- Crock-Pot Express Slow Cooker: This isn’t just a slow cooker, it’s also a pressure cooker and sauté pan. It makes a variety of dishes and is a versatile product for your kitchen. The oval shape is similar in size and shape to a standard 6-quart slow cooker.
Note: If you don’t have the Crock-Pot Express Slow Cooker, you can brown the chicken in a standard saute pan and then transfer to a standard Crock-Pot.
Steps to Make Slow Cooker Chicken Marsala
- Step 1: Season both sides of chicken breasts with spices.
- Step 2: Brown the chicken on both sides by cooking in a sauté pan. Alternatively, if you are using the Crock-Pot Express Cooker, you can cook the chicken on sauté mode until browned on both sides. If you can’t fit all of the chicken in the pan in an even layer, you can cook a few pieces of chicken at a time. Move them to a plate while you cook the remaining pieces of chicken.
- Step 3: Place the chicken in the slow cooker.
- Step 4: Top with the mushrooms and garlic.
- Step 5: Pour the Holland House Marsala Cooking Wine over the top of the ingredients. Cover and cook on LOW for 4 to 5 hours or HIGH for 2 to 3 hours.
- Step 6: Remove the cooked chicken to a plate. Whisk together the cornstarch and water in a small bowl before pouring into the slow cooker. Cook for 15 minutes on HIGH until thickened.
- Step 7: Return the chicken to the slow cooker and heat for 5 minutes to warm through.
Expert Tips
- Skipping the browning process: Browning the chicken before slow cooking helps lock in moisture and flavors. If you need to save time, you can cut this step, but browning is recommended for the best flavor.
- Make it lighter: You can make this dish lighter by omitting the heavy cream.
- Cooking on low is best: Low and slow will yield the best texture and flavor. However, cooking on high to save time works too.
- Check the chicken with a thermometer to ensure that it’s cooked to the adequate temperature. It is ready when the chicken reaches 165 degrees Fahrenheit on an instant read thermometer.
Serving Suggestions
Chicken Marsala tastes great on it’s own. You can also serve it over a bed of pasta, rice or mashed potatoes. Garnish with fresh parsley when serving.
Make dinnertime easy by cooking this chicken marsala recipe in a slow cooker. Serve it for date night or a delicious family meal any day of the week.
This post is sponsored by Holland House Cooking Wines. Find more recipe inspiration at Holland House Slow Cooker Recipes.
Slow Cooker Chicken Marsala
Ingredients
- 1.5 pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts, (about 4 large breasts or 6 small breasts)
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- Salt and pepper
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 8 ounces baby bella mushrooms, sliced (about 1 1/2 cups)
- 2 teaspoons minced garlic
- 1 cup Holland House Marsala Cooking Wine
- 2 tablespoons cornstarch
- 1/4 cup water
- 1/4 cup heavy cream
- Fresh parsley, for garnish
- Pasta, rice, bread or potatoes, for serving
Instructions
- Season both sides of chicken breasts with thyme, oregano, salt and pepper.
- Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the chicken in a single layer. Cook on the first side for 3 to 4 minutes, until brown, flip and brown on the other side, about 2 additional minutes. The chicken does not need to be cooked all the way through. Note: If using the Crock-Pot Express Cooker, use the sauté function for this step to brown the chicken on both sides.
- Transfer the chicken to the pot of a slow cooker.
- Top with mushrooms and garlic.
- Pour the marsala cooking wine over the ingredients.
- Cover with the lid and cook on LOW for 4 to 5 hours or HIGH for 2 to 3 hours. Chicken is done when internal temperature reaches 165 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Remove the chicken from the slow cooker and transfer to a plate.
- Whisk together the cornstarch and water in a small bowl and add to the slow cooker. Pour in the heavy cream. Cook on HIGH for 15 minutes, or until thickened.
- Return the chicken to the slow cooker and let heat for5 minutes to warm through.
- Serve with pasta, rice, bread or potatoes. Garnish with parsley and enjoy!
Notes
- Chicken breasts: You can use boneless chicken thighs instead of breasts, but you may need to adjust cook time to ensure it’s cooked to 165 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Heavy cream: You can omit the heavy cream to make this dish lighter or dairy free.
- Marsala cooking wine: You can substitute with dry marsala wine.
- Cornstarch: You can add one additional tablespoon of cornstarch to make the sauce even thicker, if desired.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Am going to make this dish soon. Can regular American Marsala wine be used instead of the Holland House ‘variety’?
Hi, Gordon! Yes, you can substitute with Marsala wine.
I love it
Delicious and easy! My family loved it!
Love chicken marsala but had never tried it in the slow cooker! It was such a hit!