Chicken Madeira
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This Chicken Madeira featuring a rich mushroom and wine sauce is made with simple every day ingredients. In under an hour you can have restaurant quality flavor on the dinner table. It’s a guaranteed hit to serve guests or perfect for a family night in!
Easy Chicken Madeira Recipe
This chicken Madeira is a favorite dish of mine! It encompasses everything I love about simple cooking without skimping on flavor. The mushrooms are cooked in the wine slowly for about 15 minutes, just until the sauce reduces and thickens a bit, giving the sauce that amazing depth of flavor. I served this chicken dish over mashed potatoes, but pasta or rice would work just as well
What Is Chicken Madeira?
This recipe actually has origins quite close to home. It is actually The Cheesecake Factory’s spin on another classic, Chicken Marsala. Many of us have had the pleasure of ordering their famous Chicken Madeira, but did you know they are the originators of the recipe? I sure didn’t!
The name “Madeira” comes from the type of wine used to make this recipe. It refers to a small island just off the coast of Portugal. The wine has a unique deep caramel, woodsy, nutty flavor which is perfect for a comforting recipe like this!
Why You’ll Love This Chicken Madeira
- Simple Recipe! This recipe only requires a handful of ingredients, no special cooking skills, and is made using just one pan from start to finish. It’s simple to make with very little cleanup.
- Easy Refined Flavor! When you combine wine, mushrooms, butter, and chicken along with a few simple cooking instructions what you get is a dish that gives you refined flavor in under an hour!
- Wow Appeal! Your family and friends will think you spent hours slaving in the kitchen because this chicken Madeira is restaurant quality good and absolutely delicious.
- Chicken breasts – You can use chicken thighs if you prefer. I like to use skinless and boneless chicken for this recipe.
- Salt and pepper – Season to taste.
- Olive oil – Other types of oil such as avocado, coconut, sunflower, or safflower will also work.
- Cremini mushrooms – White button mushrooms, portobellos, or shiitake mushrooms will also work.
- Garlic – Use as much or as little as you like.
- Madeira wine – Look in the Portuguese section of your local wine shop to find this variety.
- Chicken broth – Use low or no sodium chicken broth. Beef or vegetable broth can be used as well.
- Flour – Use 1 teaspoon cornstarch for a gluten-free option.
- Butter – I like to use unsalted butter to have control over the sodium content.
- Parsley – Fresh parsley adds some nice bright color as a garnish to your finished dish.
This recipe may sound fancy, but it actually takes no special skills to make! In fact, it’s as simple as just searing some chicken breasts and then making a quick mushroom sauce with wine and butter. Super easy and super delicious!
Season The Chicken
Before you season, you need to prep the chicken breasts by patting them dry with paper towels to remove any excess moisture. This step will help them to sear better when cooked. Then generously sprinkle the breasts with salt and pepper on both sides to season. You can also season them right in the skillet, if you’d like to skip a step.
Cook The Chicken
To begin, heat 2 tablespoons of the olive oil over medium-high heat in a large skillet with a rim or saucepan. Next, add the chicken breasts and cook for about 3 to 4 minutes on each side or until it’s golden brown in color and cooked through. Then transfer the cooked chicken to a plate and set it aside for a later step.
Note, how long your chicken takes to cook will vary based on the thickness and size of the breasts that you use. Chicken is considered fully cooked once it has reached an internal temperature of at least 165°F (75°C).
Sauté The Mushrooms
You’ll use the same pan that you cooked the chicken in to saute the mushrooms. Start by adding the remaining 1 tablespoon of olive oil to the skillet along with the mushrooms. Then sprinkle the mushrooms with salt and pepper to season and cook them for about 8 minutes while stirring occasionally. The mushrooms are done when they start to brown and most of their liquid has evaporated.
Make The Sauce
To make the sauce, add the garlic, Madeira wine, and chicken broth to the pan with the mushrooms and stir to combine. Then reduce the heat to a simmer and cook the mixture for 15 minutes or until the sauce reduces and thickens a bit.
However, if you find that the sauce isn’t getting thick after 15 minutes you can remove about a ladle of the liquid from the pan, then whisk it together with one tablespoon of flour, pour it back into the saucepan while stirring, and the sauce should thicken almost instantly. Finally, add the butter and stir until it is fully dissolved. This will give the sauce a nice glossy color.
Finish The Dish
When the sauce is done, taste it and then season with salt and pepper as needed. Now, add the cooked chicken breasts back into the pan and cook for 5 more minutes. Then to finish, garnish the chicken Madeira with fresh chopped parsley and serve over mashed potatoes.
What Type of Wine Can I Use
Having trouble finding Madeira wine? That’s okay, I promise I won’t tell if you use a different type. While Madeira wine has a very unique flavor, you can get pretty close with a dry port, Marsala, dry vermouth, or dry sherry.
How To Serve
I love to serve my Chicken Madeira over mashed potatoes. Looking for some sides? Give these a try:
- Parmesan Roasted Broccoli
- Roasted Asparagus and Tomatoes
- Skillet Green Beans
- Italian Roasted Mushrooms and Veggies
- Garlic and Herb Roasted Carrots
You might also need some good homemade bread to soak up that sauce:
Expert Tips
- Season the chicken well. Make sure to generously season the chicken breasts with salt and pepper. If you don’t, the chicken and sauce can be bland.
- Deglaze the pan. When adding the wine and chicken broth make sure to scrape the bottom of the pan to loosen all the bits. This is the key to making a flavorful sauce.
- Temp the chicken. It’s always a good idea to make sure that your chicken is fully cooked and has reached at least 165°F (75°C) before serving. I always use my easy to read digital cooking thermometer.
- Alcohol-free version. If you want to keep the recipe totally alcohol free you can just omit the wine and use more chicken broth instead.
How to Store Leftovers
Store leftovers in the fridge up to 3-4 days. Reheat simply in the microwave, or you can reheat leftovers in a skillet on the stovetop. If you’ve found the sauce has become too thick after storing and reheating, you can thin it out with a bit more broth or wine.
Freezing
Want to freeze your leftovers? This is a very freezer friendly meal! You can store leftovers either in an airtight container or a freezer bag up to 4 months. Reheat either in the microwave or in a skillet. Make a big batch of this chicken Madeira and store servings in the freezer to save yourself time on those busy weeknights!
Other Delicious Chicken Recipes To Try
- Chicken and Mushrooms in Creamy Dill Sauce
- Lemon Chicken Piccata
- Chicken Francese
- Coq Au Vin
- Chicken in White Wine Sauce with Mushrooms
- Chinese Lemon Chicken
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Chicken Madeira
Video
Ingredients
- 1 pound chicken breasts (skinless and boneless, about 3 to 4)
- ½ teaspoon salt (or to taste)
- 1½ teaspoon pepper (or to taste)
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 pound cremini mushrooms (cleaned and sliced)
- 2 cloves garlic (minced)
- 2 cups Madeira wine (or a dry red wine)
- 1 cup chicken broth
- 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour (optional)
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 2 tablespoons fresh parsley (chopped)
Before You Begin! If you make this, please leave a review and rating letting us know how you liked this recipe! This helps our business thrive & continue providing free recipes.
Instructions
- Season the chicken breasts generously with salt and pepper.
- Heat 2 tbsp of the olive oil in a large skillet or a saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the chicken breasts to the skillet and cook for about 3 to 4 minutes per side until they get to get golden brown. More time may be needed depending on the thickness of your chicken breasts. Remove the chicken breasts from the skillet and set aside.
- Add the remaining 1 tablespoon of olive oil to the skillet and add the mushrooms. Season the mushrooms with salt and pepper then cook for about 8 minutes until the mushrooms start to brown. Stir occasionally.
- Add the garlic, Madeira wine and chicken broth to the skillet and stir. Season with more salt and pepper as needed. Reduce heat and cook for another 15 minutes until the sauce thickens a bit and reduces. If you find that the sauce hasn’t thickened enough, you can take about a ladle of the liquid from the pan and whisk it with a tbsp of flour, then pour it back into the saucepan and stir, the sauce should thicken almost instantly. Add the butter and stir, this will give the sauce a nice glossy color.
- Add the chicken breasts back to the pan and cook for another 5 minutes.
- Garnish with fresh parsley and serve over mashed potatoes.
Equipment
Notes
- You can use chicken thighs, drumsticks, or any cut of chicken that you prefer for this recipe.
- If you don’t like mushrooms, you can simply eliminate the from the dish. You can add some sliced onions instead for more flavor.
- Try this recipe for perfect mashed potatoes to accompany this dish.
- Nutritional information does not include mashed potatoes.
- Store leftovers in the fridge up to 3-4 days. Reheat simply in the microwave, or you can reheat leftovers in a skillet on the stovetop. If you’ve found the sauce has become too thick after storing and reheating, you can thin it out with a bit more broth or wine.
- This is a very freezer friendly meal! You can store leftovers either in an airtight container or a freezer bag up to 4 months. Reheat either in the microwave or in a skillet. Make a big batch of this Chicken Madeira and store servings in the freezer to save yourself time on those busy weeknights!
Nutrition Information
Notice: Nutrition is auto-calculated for your convenience. Where relevant, we recommend using your own nutrition calculations.
