Chicken Marsala

I recently saw a Weight Watcher’s commercial that talked about how their website offers many different recipes.  It will even allow you to type in the main ingredient you have and it will present all the recipes within the program that you can make with that ingredient.  I wanted to browse their recipes as we’ve made one in the past and enjoyed it.  I knew you’d have to be a Weight Watcher’s member to access the recipes so instead I went to my favorite recipe site, food.com, and used Weight Watcher’s as my search term.  It returned a lot of Weight Watchers recipes and as I went through them I found this one for Chicken Marsala.  I’ve had Chicken Marsala in restaurants, which I really enjoyed, so if this recipe tasted as good but with fewer calories, then this dish would be a winner.  Note: If you’re part of the Weight Watcher’s program, this dish is 4 points per serving.

I happened to have all of the ingredients on hand except for fresh mushrooms and Marsala wine.  You can use any type of mushrooms that you like for this dish.  I purchased mini bella’s.  They are packaged whole and I find that they have a lot more flavor than the pre-sliced mushrooms grocers offer.  I bought 2 packages as the recipes calls for 2 cups, however 1 package would have been enough.  When you get them home all you need to do is place them upside down (stem facing up) and slice them to your preferred thickness.  In addition to the mushrooms if you’ve never bought Marsala wine before, you will find this cooking wine down the regular aisles and not the wine aisle.  Typically it’s down the same aisle as vinegar.

 

The directions for this recipe are very easy to follow.  There’s one tip I can offer and that is to flatten your chicken breasts if they’re thick.  The chicken breasts I had were cut quite large and thick.  I prefer them to be thinner which also helps cut down the cooking time.  I don’t have a meat mallet so instead I put the chicken on a cutting board, placed a sheet of Saran wrap on top (serving as a protective layer) and beat them with a rolling pin.  The rolling pin is heavy enough to do the job and won’t get dirty if Saran wrap is used.  You’ll notice the directions below state to cook the breasts for approximately 3 minutes on each side.  This time will vary depending on the size of the breasts.  I noticed mine took longer.  Before you finish cooking the chicken it’s a good idea to slice into the middle of the breasts and double check that the inside is fully cooked (no pink remains). 

As the mushrooms cook they really diminish in size, so the volume of mushrooms is a lot less than what you started with.  If you love mushrooms like we do, then I would suggest doubling the mushrooms (and mushroom sauce ingredients).  I halved the recipe by only cooking 2 breasts, however I still cooked the full amount of mushrooms (4 servings). It was perfect for us.  If we had less mushrooms we would have been left wanting more. 

When everything was assembled and ready to eat, this dish looked great.  When we tried it, we both agreed the chicken was very moist and topped with the mushrooms it tasted amazing.  This dish tastes restaurant quality and you’d never know it’s a much healthier version.  While we were eating my husband had an idea.  He said he’d like to try making a sandwich using the Chicken Marsala and top it off with a slice of melted swiss cheese.  I think he’s on to something! 

Chicken Marsala

Adapted from Recipe #294720 by Lainey6605, food.com 

Serves: 4

Prep Time: 5 mins.

Total Time: 25 mins.

 

Ingredients:

• 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon fresh coarse ground black pepper
• 2 teaspoons olive oil
• 2 cups fresh mushrooms, sliced
• 2 teaspoons all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup marsala wine
• 1/4 cup reduced-sodium chicken broth

Directions:

1. Generously sprinkle chicken with salt and pepper.
2. Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat.
3. Add chicken and cook fully, about 3 minutes on each side.
4. Transfer chicken to a plate and keep warm.
5. Add mushrooms to skillet and cook, stirring frequently.  Cook until browned, about 3 minutes.
6. Sprinkle mushrooms with flour, stirring to blend.
7. Add the Marsala wine and chicken broth; bring to a boil.
8. Let the mixture simmer until it has slightly thickened, about 5 minutes.
9. To serve, place mushroom mixture on top of the cooked chicken breasts.