Olive Garden Stuffed Chicken Marsala features tender chicken breasts stuffed with a three cheese and breadcrumb filling and topped with a creamy mushroom marsala sauce. Serve with mashed potatoes or pasta for a dish that is sure to wow!
One of the most popular recipes here on Season and Thyme is my copycat recipe for Olive Garden Steak Gorgonzola. So I’m sharing another Olive Garden copycat for you guys too enjoy, Stuffed Chicken Marsala.
It also just so happens that Olive Garden just brought both of these dishes back to the menu for a limited time so I thought it would be the perfect time to share how to make these favorites at home!
This Olive Garden Stuffed Chicken Marsala is absolutely bursting with flavor from start to finish. And while it isn’t the simplest meal in terms of steps and ingredients, it is definitely beginner-friendly. You just need to be proactive about prepping your ingredients ahead of time so that they’re ready as you move from step to step.
This stuffed chicken dish is perfect for special days like Valentine’s Day or an anniversary. You can either surprise your significant other with a delicious restaurant quality meal at home or better yet cook it together!
I’ll share all you need to make this meal as well as tips to have it go smoothly.
For more Olive Garden copycat dishes, try Olive Garden Eggplant Parmesan, Olive Garden Ravioli di Portobello, Olive Garden Chicken Veronese.
For more stuffed chicken recipes try Pizza Stuffed Chicken, Broccoli Stuffed Chicken with Pesto, and Crispy Jalapeno Popper Chicken Breasts.
Ingredients
Boneless skinless chicken breasts: Try to find ones that are uniform in size and shape. Alternatively, you can use thin cut chicken breasts instead of slicing them yourself.
Oil: I prefer a high smoke point oil like avocado oil, but olive oil will work as well
Butter: This adds a nice flavor to the mushrooms while sauteing them as well as creates the marsala sauce.
All purpose flour: This is used as a thickener to help create a roux for the marsala sauce.
Heavy cream: For a lighter sauce, you can use half-and-half, but I love the taste of the heavy cream gives the dish.
Marsala wine: I prefer to use a true Marsala wine, as opposed to a "cooking wine." It costs a few dollars more, but the flavor will be superior.
Mushrooms: Try cremini, white button, or portobello mushrooms for this sauce.
Garlic: Fresh minced garlic, if possible.
Smoked Gouda cheese: Smoked Gouda is used in several of Olive Garden recipes. It adds a nice, interesting flavor. You can also use provolone cheese, or simply more shredded mozzarella.
Shredded mozzarella cheese: Either part skim or a whole mozzarella would work.
Parmesan cheese: I’m generally a proponent for a fresh parmesan , but I find that the shaker cheese works just fine here.
Breadcrumbs: I’ve used both Panko breadcrumbs and regular breadcrumbs with good luck.
Sour cream: This really helps hold the breadcrumb-cheese mixture together. Another option would be cream cheese or plain greek yogurt.
Sun-dried tomatoes: This recipes uses sun dried tomatoes in oil. Try to dice them up on the smaller side so that every bite gets a little bit of sun-dried tomato flavor.
Green onions: This gives a nice, light onion flavor to the filling without being overpowering.
Parsley: Fresh is best, but if you want to, you can use dried parsley. Just make sure you use less as dried herbs are much stronger in flavor.
How to Make
Step 1. Slice chicken breast and half lengthwise. Similar to how you would butterfly a chicken breast except go all the way through creating two equal pieces per breast. Season with salt and pepper.
Step 2. Heat oil in a large sauté pan. Once hot, add chicken breasts and sear until brown, about four minutes per side. Reduce heat to medium-low and allow to cook all the way through. It should only take another minute or so. Set cooked chicken breasts on a plate to the side.
Step 3. In the same pan add butter and flour. Whisk well to combine cook for one to two minutes.
Step 4. Stir in marsala wine to create sauce. After a few minutes, add heavy cream. If the sauce is too thick, add additional wine or a dash of chicken broth. Turn heat to low.
Step 5. In a separate sauté pan, melt 1 tablespoon of butter, add sliced mushrooms and minced garlic. Sauté for five minutes, stirring often.
Step 6. Once cooked, add prepared mushrooms to the prepared marsala sauce and stir to combine.
Step 7. While the mushrooms are cooking, create your cheese filling. In a medium sized mixing bowl, add breadcrumbs, sour cream, shredded Gouda, shredded mozzarella, shredded Parmesan, sliced green onions, chopped sun-dried tomatoes, chopped parsley, and stir to combine.
Step 8. Divide cheese mixture between two of the chicken breasts spreading across the top. Place corresponding sized chicken breast on top creating a sandwich. You may have extra cheese filling, depending on how much you use and how big your chicken breasts are.
Step 9. Turn oven on to the broil function on High. Place stuffed chicken breasts in an oven safe pan and broil at high heat for 6 to 8 minutes until the cheese mixture has melted. Plate and top with marsala sauce.
Recipe Tips
- If your chicken breasts are still too thick after halving them carefully, pound them flat without tearing the meat. You can also put a piece of plastic wrap over top of the chicken breast and use a rolling pen to flatten.
- The alcohol in the wine will cook off mostly, but not completely, in the sauce. If this is a concern for you, feel free to buy a non-alcoholic cooking marsala. I do prefer the quality of a true marsala wine for a sauce like this.
- This recipe creates a lot of cheese filling. You may have leftovers or be able to use double the amount of chicken and divide the cheese accordingly between the chicken breasts.
- If your oven doesn’t have a broiler or you prefer not to use that, bake the chicken breasts at 350 F for 10 minutes once you have the filling in, just to allow the cheese to melt.
Storage
Store chicken and sauce separately in airtight containers for up to four days.
This chicken is best reheated in the oven or broiler. Sauce is best reheated on the stove.
More Copycat Recipes
Did you enjoy this Olive Garden Stuffed Chicken Marsala? I would love for you to let me know by leaving a comment and star rating. I can't wait to hear from you!
Olive Garden Stuffed Chicken Marsala
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp. Avocado oil
- 2 Large boneless skinless chicken breast breasts or 4 medium
- 2 tbsp. All purpose flour
- 3 tbsp. Butter divided
- ¾ cup Marsala wine
- ¼ cup Heavy cream
- 10 oz. Cremini mushrooms sliced
- ½ cup Shredded smoked Gouda cheese
- ½ cup Shredded mozzarella cheese
- ¼ cup Parmesan cheese
- ¼ cup Breadcrumbs
- ⅓ cup Sour cream
- 2 tbsp. Sun-dried tomatoes around 6 pieces
- 4 Green onions sliced
- 1 tbsp. Fresh parsley finely chopped
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Slice chicken breast and half lengthwise. Similar to how you would butterfly a chicken breast except go all the way through creating two equal pieces per breast.
- Season with salt and pepper.
- Heat oil in a large sauté pan. Once hot, add chicken breasts and sear until brown, about four minutes per side. Reduce heat to medium-low and allow to cook all the way through. It should only take another minute or so.
- Set cooked chicken breasts on a plate to the side. In the same pan add butter and flour. Whisk well to combine cook for one to two minutes.
- Stir in marsala wine to create sauce. After a few minutes, add in heavy cream. If the sauce is too thick, add additional wine or a dash of chicken broth. Turn heat to low.
- In a separate sauté pan, melt 1 tablespoon of butter, add sliced mushrooms and minced garlic. Sauté for five minutes, stirring often.
- Once cooked, add prepared mushrooms to the prepared marsala sauce and stir to combine.
- While the mushrooms are cooking, create your cheese filling. In a medium sized mixing bowl, add breadcrumbs, sour cream, shredded Gouda, shredded mozzarella, shredded Parmesan, sliced green onions, chopped sun-dried tomatoes, chopped parsley, and stir to combine.
- Divide cheese mixture between two of the chicken breasts spreading across the top. Place corresponding sized chicken breast on top creating a sandwich. You may have extra cheese filling, depending on how much you use and how big your chicken breasts are.
- Turn oven on to the broil function on High. Place stuffed chicken breasts in an oven safe pan and broil at high heat for 6 to 8 minutes until the cheese mixture has melted.
- Plate and top with marsala sauce.
Sarah Baumeister
We loved this recipe and it's perfect for date night!
Fran
Do you add the breadcrumbs and sour cream to the cheese filling in step 8? I read through your photo processes and written recipe instructions twice and couldn't find those 2 ingredients anywhere except in the ingredients list itself. Looking forward to making the chicken this week - sounds really good!
Sarah Baumeister
Yes, that's exactly right. Thank you for bringing this to my attention! I have fixed the recipe to reflect that. -Sarah