Chicken Marsala Meatballs

Chicken marsala meatballs take the mushroom and Marsala wine cream sauce from the classic chicken dish and pour it over tender ground chicken meatballs, all in one skillet on the stovetop.

Ground chicken is lean and turns dry and rubbery fast, so these meatballs get a panade of panko soaked in milk plus a handful of Parmesan, which keeps them soft even after they simmer in the sauce.

The meatballs sear first in the same 12-inch skillet the sauce is built in, so the browned bits on the bottom end up in the Marsala instead of in the sink.

It takes about 45 minutes start to finish and serves four over pasta or mashed potatoes.

Why You’ll Love It

• One 12-inch skillet for both the meatballs and the sauce
• 16 meatballs from 1 pound of ground chicken, enough for 4
• Panko soaked in milk keeps lean ground chicken from drying out
• Dry Marsala, cremini mushrooms and 1/2 cup of cream in the sauce, with no canned soup
• About 45 minutes, with the meatballs chilling while you slice the mushrooms
• Works over fettuccine, egg noodles or mashed potatoes

Ingredients

For the Meatballs

1/2 cup panko breadcrumbs

3 tablespoons whole milk

1 large egg

1/4 cup finely grated Parmesan

2 garlic cloves, minced

2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

3/4 teaspoon kosher salt

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

1 lb ground chicken, regular rather than extra lean

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 tablespoon unsalted butter

For the Marsala Sauce

1 tablespoon unsalted butter

1 small shallot, finely minced (about 1/4 cup)

8 oz cremini mushrooms, sliced 1/4 inch thick

2 garlic cloves, minced

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

3/4 cup dry Marsala wine

1 cup low-sodium chicken broth

1/2 cup heavy cream

1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley

Kosher salt and black pepper, to taste

For Serving

12 oz fettuccine or wide egg noodles, cooked, or 4 cups mashed potatoes

Steps

1. Stir the panko and milk together in a large bowl and let it sit for 5 minutes until the crumbs are soft and have soaked up all the milk.

2. Add the egg, Parmesan, garlic, parsley, salt and pepper to the bowl and beat them into the panko with a fork, then add the ground chicken and mix with the fork just until no streaks of plain chicken remain, because overworking the meat makes dense meatballs.

3. Portion the mixture into 16 meatballs with a 1.5-tablespoon cookie scoop, roll each one quickly between wet hands, set them on a plate and chill for 10 to 15 minutes, since ground chicken is soft and sticky and firms up in the fridge enough to hold its shape in the pan.

4. Heat the olive oil and 1 tablespoon of butter in a 12-inch stainless steel skillet over medium-high heat until the butter foams, then add the meatballs with space between them and sear for about 2 minutes per side, 6 minutes total, turning them with silicone-tipped tongs until two or three sides are deep brown.

5. Transfer the meatballs to a clean plate, and do not worry that they are still raw in the middle, because they finish cooking in the sauce.

6. Lower the heat to medium, melt the remaining tablespoon of butter in the same skillet, add the shallot and mushrooms, and cook for 5 to 6 minutes with only an occasional stir, until the mushrooms have given up their liquid and the pan is dry enough that they start to brown.

7. Stir in the garlic for 30 seconds, then sprinkle the flour over everything and stir for 1 minute until it coats the mushrooms and no dry white patches remain.

8. Pour in the Marsala and scrape the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon to lift the browned bits, then simmer for 2 to 3 minutes until the wine has reduced by about half and no longer smells sharp.

9. Whisk in the broth a little at a time so the flour does not clump, then add the cream and bring the sauce to a gentle simmer.

10. Return the meatballs and any juices from the plate to the skillet, cover, and simmer over medium-low heat for 10 to 12 minutes, turning them once, until an instant-read thermometer in the center of the largest meatball reads 165°F (74°C) and the sauce coats the back of a spoon.

11. Stir in the parsley, taste the sauce and add salt and pepper, then serve the meatballs and sauce over the pasta or mashed potatoes.

Helpful Tips & Substitutions

Buy dry Marsala, not sweet, because sweet Marsala turns the sauce into something closer to a dessert glaze, and the label will say dry or secco on the front.

If you cannot find Marsala at all, dry sherry or Madeira are the closest stand-ins, and dry white wine with 1 teaspoon of brown sugar gets you a pan sauce that is good but noticeably less nutty.

To bake the meatballs instead of searing them, set them on a parchment-lined half sheet pan at 400°F (205°C) for 15 to 18 minutes until they reach 165°F (74°C), then drop them into the finished sauce for 5 minutes, knowing you lose the browned bits that would have flavored the sauce, so let the mushrooms brown harder to make up for it.

Regular ground chicken, which is a mix of thigh and breast, makes a softer meatball than the 99 percent lean breast-only kind, which turns rubbery no matter how much milk is in the panko.

Ground turkey, 93/7 rather than 99 percent lean, works with no other changes.

Cremini mushrooms have more flavor than white button mushrooms and hold their texture better in the sauce, and slicing them a full 1/4 inch thick keeps them from disappearing into it.

Do not salt the mushrooms while they cook, since salt pulls out water and keeps them steaming in their own liquid instead of browning.

If the sauce is thinner than you want after the meatballs are cooked, uncover the pan and simmer for 2 to 3 more minutes, and if it gets too thick, stir in broth 2 tablespoons at a time.

Serving Ideas

Toss the cooked fettuccine with 2 or 3 spoonfuls of the sauce before it goes on the plate, then set 4 meatballs on top and spoon the mushrooms over them.

For a mashed potato version, the Garlic Parmesan Mashed Potatoes are the right base, since the garlic and Parmesan in them match what is already in the meatballs.

Something green on the side keeps the plate from being all cream and starch, and the Brown Butter Green Beans with Toasted Almonds cook in the time it takes the meatballs to simmer.

If you like the pan-sauce format, the Pan-Seared Chicken Thighs with Cherry Pan Sauce use the same sear-then-deglaze method with whole thighs.

For a different meatball dinner altogether, the Feta Stuffed Ground Beef Meatballs go the other direction with beef and a tomato base.

Make-Ahead & Storage

Shape the meatballs up to 24 hours ahead and keep them covered on a plate in the fridge, which also does the chilling step for you.

Raw meatballs freeze well for 3 months if you freeze them on a sheet pan first and then bag them, and they should be thawed overnight in the fridge before searing, because frozen meatballs steam instead of browning.

The finished meatballs and sauce keep for 4 days in an airtight container in the fridge, and the sauce will set up thick and almost solid when cold.

Reheat them in a skillet over medium-low heat with 2 to 3 tablespoons of broth or milk, covered, for 6 to 8 minutes, stirring once the sauce loosens.

The cooked meatballs in sauce can be frozen for 2 months, though the cream sauce may look slightly separated when it thaws, and whisking it over low heat as it warms brings it back together.

Store the pasta or mashed potatoes separately, because pasta left in the cream sauce overnight soaks it up and leaves the meatballs dry.

The meatballs soak up more of the Marsala and mushroom flavor overnight, so the leftovers taste more of the sauce than the first night’s plate does.