Have you ever made a recipe for the first time and surprised yourself? I mean, like really surprised yourself that it turned out much better than you expected? Every so often I have one of those moments. Making this recipe was one of them.
In my quest to find Olive Garden restaurant recipes to recreate at home, I decided to check out Olive Garden’s website. Interestingly enough, they have quite a few recipes available, some of which are dishes that are currently on their menu. Could the recipes on their site be the same recipes made in restaurants around the country? Nah… couldn’t be. Surely a few key ingredients would be left out on purpose, right?
Whether an ingredient or two was left out, my friends and I agree that the recipe for Stuffed Chicken Marsala on Olive Garden’s website was much better than the version served up at the restaurant. I’m a fan of traditional chicken marsala but stuffing the chicken with a mixture of cheeses, sun dried tomatoes and green onions really put it over the top. The rich and creamy marsala and mushroom sauce was amazing and complimented the stuffed chicken breast perfectly.
Stuffed Chicken Marsala Recipe
recipe adapted from Olive Garden Kitchen
Stuffed Chicken Marsala Cheese Stuffing Ingredients
- 1/2 cup smoked shredded cheese (provolone or gouda)
- 8-oz package mozzarella cheese, shredded
- 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, grated
- 1/2 cup breadcrumbs
- 1 tsp fresh garlic, minced
- 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes, crushed
- 2 Tbsp sun-dried tomato, chopped (drain first if in oil)
- 1/3 cup green onions, thinly sliced
- 3/4 cup sour cream (6 oz)
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
Stuffed Chicken Marsala Sauce Ingredients
- 1/2 large red small onion, finely chopped
- 1-2 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 cups Marsala wine
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 1 8oz container of cremini mushrooms, thinly sliced
- Salt and pepper to taste
Stuffed Chicken Marsala Recipe Ingredients
- 2 lbs skinless, boneless chicken breasts
- 4 fl oz olive oil for frying
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
Stuffed Chicken Marsala Recipe Instructions
- Pre-heat oven to 350°F and have a baking dish ready.
- Combine all the cheese stuffing ingredients in a mixing bowl and set aside.
- To prepare the chicken, butterfly the thickest section of chicken breasts to create 2 halves. Place each breast in a large ziptop storage bag and pound it with the flat side of a meat mallet until ¼” – ½” thick.
- Place the flattened chicken breasts on a plate and add a desired amount of cheese stuffing on one half of each chicken breast. Try not to overfill. Gently press stuffing down and fold over other half of chicken breast; it does not have to seal.
- * You may have some extra cheese stuffing leftover. One way to use it up is to top slices of Italian bread and bake until the cheese melts – it makes a great snack or appetizer!
- Place flour in a shallow pan and season to taste with salt and pepper. Dredge stuffed chicken breasts in flour, shaking off excess.
- In a cast iron skillet over medium heat, add oil and heat until shimmering.
- Saute the flour coated chicken breasts in the preheated oil, cooking until each side is golden brown. Remove chicken from pan and place in the baking dish you have on hand.
- Bake the browned chicken in the preheated oven for 10-20 minutes, or until juices run clear and the center of chicken reaches 165°F.
- Meanwhile, add the onions and garlic to the cast iron skillet and stir to loosen chicken drippings. After 2 minutes, add mushrooms and fresh chopped parsley. Sauté until the onions are translucent and the mushrooms begin to caramelize.
- Add the Marsala wine to the skillet to deglaze the pan – make sure to incorporate drippings from bottom of pan. Allow the Marsala to come to a simmer and then add the heavy cream. Simmer on low heat until reduced by half. Place the cooked chicken breasts on a plate and top each with this Marsala-mushroom sauce.
Wow!!! That looks AMAZING!!!
Oh my. I've had this recipe saved from Olive Garden's website for a few months now and I think you just convinced me that I need to make it. Like right now.
Suddenly I'm very hungry 🙂
Looks good! I'm definitely going to try this.
That looks FANTASTIC! I wish I had the ingredients on hand to make it tonight! YUM. It would never have occurred to me to check restaurant websites to see if they had recipes listed. Kudos, Olive Garden.
Joelen, the photos are amazing! I'll file this away in my head for a future dinner!
Beautiful and so so delcious, i saw this in foodgwakr and favorited it too.
Oh my…… it looks absolutely delicious! The presentation looks so good!
Everything about this looks awesome! A great fall time dish.
This looks so good! I'll have to try the stuffed chicken marsala, sounds amazing! It's funny, I just made chicken marsala yesterday myself and it was pretty good, but this is taking it the whole new hights!
Chicken Marsala is my mother's absolute favorite dish, this looks so good! I am definitely going to use this recipe for the next meal I make her!
This sounds and looks absolutely delicious. What a great twist on a classic recipe.
I just made this two nights ago for my boyfriend and it turned out amazing! the best part is undoubtedly the cheese filling. in fact in going to make the filling again on new years and serve it with toasted baguette slices. the marsala sauce for the top was also fantastic and so, so easy to make! i wound up being a little short on garlic cloves so i used garlic salt and omitted the salt from the recipe. I also live in PA where liquor stores close at 5 on sundays so i didnt use the marsala wine after frying the chicken, either. (i used half a cup of minute maid fruit punch- it was all that came close to resembling wine in the fridge at the time! :X) amazing recipe, wonderful photos, thank you so much!
Hey Joelen! Awesome recipe. Just wanted to let you know that I posted an entry in my blog using your picture (adhering to all copyright terms).
This was AMAZING! I'm so glad that I chose this particular recipe to check off Chicken Marsala from my 23 Things in 2011 list. Thank you for sharing!
https://christineskitchenchronicles.blogspot.com/2011/09/stuffed-chicken-marsala.html
Really good except we didn't care for the sauce
We had this recipe for Thanksgiving instead of turkey…and it was delicious! It was pretty easy to make also which is a plus 🙂
Takes WAY too long to make. I'd rather go to Olive Garden!
Anonymous – it can take some time to make but what's great about this recipe is that it is also one you can make ahead and in parts. The filling can be made ahead; and/or you can stuff the chicken breast ahead of time before baking. If you choose to do either of those steps beforehand, you can easily make this into a weeknight dinner that you can just brown on the stovetop then pop into the oven and bake while making the sauce.
Amazing! A friend of mine made this and generously shared some with me. She served it with spaghetti and had leftover cheese stuffing to melt on Italian bread as suggested. Phenomenal recipe!!
This sounds marvelous! One ?, I'm assuming its dry Marsala wine….I have friends that say use sweet Marsala….can ya clue me in please and thank you!
I had this dish at Olive Garden for 18.49
And im so happy i can make it at home, save & share with my family
This dish is 18.49 at Olive Garden, which isn't bad
Outstanding I live 45min from olive garden this was dinner for the family
They loved it
Love it!
Yes,dry wine!