Instant Pot Chicken Marsala - The Weeknight Version That

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Instant Pot Chicken Marsala - The Weeknight Version That

★★★★★ 4.3 · 88

Marisol Bennett14.08.2026ZUM REZEPT

I used to save chicken marsala for date nights because the stovetop version wants you standing there, basting and fussing for a good 40 minutes. Then I ran it through the Instant Pot on a Tuesday when Dave was late picking up Leo from soccer, and I haven't gone back. The pressure cooker does the long, patient part for you while you set the table.

Start With Dry, Well-Seasoned Chicken

Pat those 4 chicken cutlets completely dry before anything touches them with salt and pepper — that's the whole secret to the golden crust you'll see two steps from now. Wet chicken steams instead of browns, and a soggy cutlet just sits sad and pale in the pot.

I season both sides generously, pressing the salt and black pepper in with my fingers the way my Abuela Rosa always did with her comal-cooked meats — no measuring spoon, just enough that you can see it. If your cutlets are uneven in thickness, give the thick end a few whacks with the flat side of a meat mallet so they cook evenly under pressure later.

• Dry surface: use paper towels, don't skip this
• Even thickness: pound down thick spots
• Season now: flour won't stick to seasoning added later

A Light Flour Dredge, Not a Heavy Coat

This isn't a fried chicken situation. You want a thin, almost invisible layer of flour clinging to the surface — just enough to help the cutlets brown and to give the sauce something to cling to and thicken against later. Dip each piece in flour, then shake off the excess firmly over the bowl before it goes anywhere near the pot.

Too much flour here is the most common mistake I see with this recipe: it clumps at the bottom of the Instant Pot insert, scorches during the sauté step, and can even trigger the dreaded 'burn' notice once you add liquid. A light dusting is all this dish needs.

Brown the Chicken on Sauté for Real Flavor

Set your Instant Pot to Sauté and let the oil get properly hot before the chicken goes in — it should shimmer, almost look like it's moving. Lay the cutlets in without crowding and let them sit undisturbed for about 3 minutes per side, until lightly golden. Resist the urge to poke and move them; that's how you get pale, gray chicken instead of the color you see in the photo.

Browning isn't about cooking the chicken through here — it never will at this stage — it's about building the fond, that sticky brown layer on the pot bottom that becomes the backbone of your sauce.

Once golden, pull the cutlets out to a plate. They'll finish cooking under pressure later, so don't worry that the centers are still raw.

Let the Mushrooms Take Over the Pot

Same pot, same fond, no wiping anything out — that's the whole point of one-pot cooking. Add the mushrooms straight into the drippings and sauté for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally with a wooden spoon, until they've released their water and started to look glossy and softened, not squeaky and raw.

• Don't rush this step: mushrooms need to sweat out moisture before they can brown
• Scrape as you go: lift up any browned bits stuck to the bottom
• Smell test: they should smell nutty and earthy, not just steamy

If you notice a lot of stubborn browned bits still stuck to the pot after this, don't panic — the wine you're adding next will deglaze all of it.

Pour In the Marsala, Garlic, and Broth

This is the moment the kitchen actually starts to smell like chicken marsala. Stir in the minced garlic first — just 30 seconds until fragrant, no longer, or it turns bitter — then pour in the Marsala wine and chicken broth together, scraping the bottom of the pot the whole time. That dark, glossy liquid pooling around the mushrooms in the photo is exactly what you're after.

This deglazing step matters more than any other for avoiding the burn warning: make sure absolutely nothing is stuck to the bottom of the insert before you move on. Run your spoon flat across the base — if it glides clean, you're set for pressure cooking.

Nestle the Chicken Back In and Pressure Cook

Tuck the browned cutlets back into the sauce, nestling them down into the mushrooms so they're partially submerged, not floating on top. Lock the lid, set the valve to sealing, and cook on High Pressure for 8 minutes.

1. Seal the valve — double check before you walk away
2. 8 minutes high pressure is enough to finish thick chicken cutlets without drying them out
3. Quick release once the timer beeps, carefully turning the valve away from your face

The photo shows just how little needs to happen visually here — everything's submerged and quiet, doing its work while you go set the table or referee a sibling argument, whichever comes first in your house.

Open the Lid to a Deeply Colored Sauce

Open the lid and you'll find the sauce has reduced and darkened into something glossy and almost mahogany-brown, clinging to the mushrooms exactly like you see here. Spoon it generously over each cutlet — don't just pour once from the side, really bathe every piece so the flour dredge you did earlier finishes thickening the sauce as it sits for a minute.

Scatter fresh chopped parsley over the top right before serving. It's not just a garnish — the bright, grassy hit cuts through the richness of the wine and mushrooms in a way the dish genuinely needs.

The Finished Pot Tells You Everything

Look at that top-down shot: three cutlets, glossy sauce pooled thick around softened mushrooms, parsley flecked across the surface. That's what doneness looks like in this recipe — the chicken should read 165°F on an instant-read thermometer at the thickest point, and the sauce should coat the back of a spoon rather than run thin.

If your sauce looks thinner than this, switch the pot back to Sauté for a minute or two with the lid off and let it reduce further — it happens sometimes depending on how juicy your mushrooms were. If it's too thick, a splash more broth loosens it right back up. Either way, nothing here is a failure, just a small adjustment.

Making This For Real, On My Own Counter

The staged step photos show you exactly what to do, but I wanted you to see what this actually looks like happening in a real kitchen, mid-process, hands a little messy. These shots are from an actual weeknight batch, not a reshoot for the camera, so you'll notice a few things that are easy to miss in a clean diagram.

This is my actual counter setup — everything portioned into little bowls before I start, which sounds fussy but genuinely saves you from digging through the fridge with floury hands halfway through. I keep my herb pots right there on the windowsill because I forget to buy parsley about half the time otherwise.

You can see here how little flour actually ends up on the cutlet once you shake it off — barely a dusting. I learned this the hard way years ago in restaurant kitchens where a heavy dredge meant a gluey sauce; here it just means a burn warning waiting to happen.

That's the real color I'm always chasing when I brown chicken — deep gold, not pale, not blackened. My Instant Pot's sauté function runs a little hotter than my old stovetop pans did, so I watch it more closely the first minute rather than trusting a fixed time.

The plate of browned chicken sitting off to the side while the mushrooms cook is where I usually sneak a taste test, much to Biscuit's disappointment when nothing hits the floor. Notice how the mushrooms have shrunk down considerably from their raw volume in the earlier bowl.

Pouring the wine and broth in together like this, rather than one at a time, helps deglaze faster because you get more liquid working on those stuck bits at once. I'm always leaning in a little at this stage because the smell right when the Marsala hits the hot pot is honestly the best part of making this.

Returning the chicken here is the last hands-on moment before the lid goes on and I get to walk away, which after a long day is genuinely the appeal of this whole recipe. I always press the cutlets down slightly so the tops get partially submerged and cook more evenly.

This is the moment right after I lift the lid, spooning that reduced sauce over the chicken while sprinkling parsley with my other hand — I never manage to do this gracefully, sauce always drips somewhere. The empty bowl in the corner had the parsley in it two seconds earlier.

And here's what actually lands on the table most weeknights — plated on the everyday dishes we use for everything, not the good ones, because this dish doesn't need to wait for company. The kitchen towel in the corner is the same striped one from every photo, which tells you exactly how often I make this.

This is the kind of dish that makes people assume you spent your whole evening on it, when really the Instant Pot did the patient part while you did literally anything else. Keep a bottle of Marsala around and this becomes one of those recipes you can pull off on a random Wednesday, no special occasion required.

Recipe Pin Print

Instant Pot Chicken Marsala - The Weeknight Version That

★★★★★ 4.3 · 88 ratings

This Instant Pot chicken marsala braises fast under pressure with a rich mushroom-Marsala sauce, no babysitting required. Tested three times, weeknight-ready.

Main CourseItalian-Americaninstant pot chicken marsala

PREP TIME15 min

COOK TIME20 min

TOTAL TIME35 min

SERVINGS4

CALORIES380 kcal per serving

Ingredients

• For the chicken
• 4 boneless, skinless chicken cutlets (about 1.5 lbs total)
• Salt, to taste
• Black pepper, to taste
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour, for dredging
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• For the sauce
• 8 ounces cremini or white mushrooms, sliced
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 3/4 cup Marsala wine
• 3/4 cup chicken broth
• To finish
• 2 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped

Method

1

Season the chicken

Pat the chicken cutlets completely dry, then season both sides generously with salt and black pepper.

2

Dredge in flour

Lightly coat each seasoned cutlet in flour, shaking off the excess so only a thin layer remains.

3

Brown the chicken

Set the Instant Pot to Sauté, heat the olive oil until shimmering, and cook the cutlets about 3 minutes per side until lightly golden. Remove to a plate.

4

Cook the mushrooms

Add the sliced mushrooms to the pot and sauté about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until softened and glossy.

5

Add the sauce

Stir in the garlic for 30 seconds, then pour in the Marsala wine and chicken broth, scraping the bottom of the pot clean.

6

Return the chicken

Nestle the chicken back into the sauce, lock the lid, and pressure cook on High for 8 minutes, then quick release.

7

Finish the sauce

Open the lid, spoon the sauce generously over the chicken, and garnish with fresh chopped parsley before serving.

8

Check for doneness

Confirm the chicken reaches 165°F at the thickest point and the sauce coats the back of a spoon; reduce further on Sauté if needed.

Hi! I'm Marisol

Hi, I'm Mari — pull up a stool, dinner's almost ready. I'm Marisol Bennett — Mari to everyone — recipe developer, former sous chef, mom of two,…

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