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Elegant, yet, kid friendly, this paleo chicken Marsala is easy to make and sure to impress.
Ah… Chicken Marsala…
This is definitely one of my favorite chicken breast recipes.
Let’s be honest. I hate chicken breasts. HATE them!
It all started a little over 10 years ago. I was in dental school at the time, and I looked at a picture of myself and cringed. I had put on a little bit of weight, and I felt fat.
If you were to get to know me well, you’d find that when I decide I’m going to do something- I’m usually pretty determined to get it done and get it done right! The only problem is it normally takes me awhile to decide what it is that I actually want to put my mind to because I can only focus on one or two things at a time.
Can anyone relate?
Anyway, I was in my final years of dental school and our hours upon hours of classes had lightened up in exchange for lots of time in the clinic with patients. The change meant for less homework, which in turn allowed me to have a little bit of free time to start focusing on myself.
Long story short, I went to a place that formulated a sort of diet program for me to get down to my 130 pound goal. At first, my food choices weren’t super limited, but as I started to lose weight, they kept removing more and more food options to allow for losing those last stubborn pounds.
I ended up going from 153 pounds down to 130. I felt absolutely amazing when I went clothes shopping, but I got more and more fed up with my eating plan which, by the end, had whittled down to basically eating chicken breasts and lettuce.
Over ten years later and I can barely even look at a chicken breast anymore!
Interestingly enough, though, the plan did allow me to occasionally eat certain dishes at restaurants that were on their list, and my favorite “allowed foods” was a certain chicken marsala from a popular chain restaurant.
Something about frying up some chicken breast pieces, that have been thinly pounded flat, in butter and then combining them with mushrooms and a sweet marsala wine transforms them from insipid to delectable!
My love for chicken marsala is such that when my husband and I headed off to Italy on a European cruise, rather than bring back a fine Italian handbag, I chose to bring back a bottle of Marsala wine to make my own. (OK, so I did also bring back some Murano glass jewelery, of course!)
Ever since, I’ve been making different versions of my own chicken Marsala, the latest of which is paleo (unless you are so strict that you have cut out all forms of alcohol), completely grain free and just as delicious as any of the other versions.
The great thing about it is that it is one of those meals that you can serve at a more formal gathering, yet my young son absolutely loves it!
So, let’s make some Paleo Chicken Marsala, shall we?
Easy Paleo Chicken Marsala
Ingredients
- 20 oz chicken breasts 3 large, skinned chicken breasts
- 1/2 cup tapioca flour
- 3/4 cup marsala wine
- 1 1/4 cup chicken stock
- 1/2 tsp. garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp. salt
- 1/2 tsp. paprika
- 1/2 tsp. oregano
- 1/4 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
- 1/4 cup ghee
- 1 cup mushrooms
- 2 slices prosciutto
Instructions
- Slice the chicken breasts into around 4 fillets each and then pound them thinly with either a meat mallet or a flat bottomed glass like I do. 😉 You can choose to use the fillets as such or cut them into smaller pieces as I usually do which makes it easier for my son to eat.
- In a medium sized bowl, mix together the tapioca flour, salt, paprika, garlic powder, oregano, and add in some freshly ground black pepper. Add in the chicken fillets and combine everything to cover the pieces well with the flour mixture.
- Heat up a couple of tablespoons of ghee over medium to high heat and begin to pan fry the coated chicken breast fillets until brown, flipping after a couple of minutes to brown both sides. As you finish browning the fillet pieces, remove them from the pan to another plate, and continue to add more pieces until all are cooked. Add in more ghee if needed to finish with all of the chicken.
- Meanwhile, clean and slice the mushrooms and cut the prosciutto into small pieces.
- When you have finished browning all of the chicken, remove it from the pan and add another tablespoon of ghee. Add in the mushrooms and prosciutto and sauté them together until the mushrooms have released their liquid and are starting to brown.
- Add the marsala wine to the pan with the mushrooms and prosciutto and cook for a couple of minutes to help cook off some of the alcohol.
- Add in the chicken broth followed by the browned chicken pieces and cook for several minutes, long enough to make sure the chicken is fully cooked. The sauce will slightly thicken from the tapioca flour on the chicken.
- Serve immediately.
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Luci
Hi Tracy,
First, I just have to say, I’m loving your website! ?
I want to try making your Chicken Marsala, but I’m not sure what tapioca flour is…can I use another flour like, almond, coconut, oat, quinoa? I happen to have those on hand at the moment, but don’t want to ruin your recipe.
If it has to be tapioca, what is it and where do I get it?
Thanks so much!
Luci
Tracy Ariza
Hi Luci,
Tapioca flour/starch is made from the yuca root. It’s popular in Asian and Latin American cooking, so you should be able to find a common variety in either Asian or Latin American markets or the International section of the bigger supermarkets.
Tapioca flour is a great flour to use for people who have reactions to a lot of grains. It’s white and fluffy, and gets elastic when used with hot water, making it act somewhat like a flour with gluten even though it is totally gluten free/grain free.
While it would likely work out fine with a grain flour like oat flour, I haven’t personally tried it out. I definitely think it’s worth it for you to give the tapioca flour a try. It’s used in a lot of paleo recipes, so you can really use it for a lot more than just this recipe. I use it a lot in my recipes here on the blog (I’m guessing typing “tapioca” in the search field should bring them up.)
If you really need to use up a lot fast, it’s really fun to make tapioca pearls, or “Boba”, that you can use in a homemade bubble tea! 😉
Raia
I’ve never tried chicken marsala before. Sounds SO delicious! Thank you for sharing it with us!
Monique
This looks so yummy. I totally understand your aversion to chicken breasts haha, they are such a typical dieter food aren’t they! But putting them in a delicious marsala sauce like this definitely improves the situation 🙂
Tracy Ariza
Thanks so much, Monique!
Yes, I always get really excited when I find a recipe that I like that uses chicken breasts because my (crazy) husband actually loves them. 😛