Keto Chicken Marsala

This Keto Chicken Marsala is an easy Italian dish with grilled chicken and a creamy mushroom Marsala sauce, perfect as a keto meal every day of the week.

If you love keto chicken recipes, this creamy chicken dish with only 5.9 grams of net carbs is the easiest and delicious to start with.

Bonus, this chicken dish is also a gluten-free keto recipe suitable for everyone on a gluten-free diet.

Is Chicken Marsala Keto?

No, an authentic Italian Chicken Marsala recipe is not keto-friendly because the chicken breasts are covered with wheat flour. Wheat flour is not a keto-approved flour. It’s high in carbs and spikes blood sugar levels, which takes you out of ketosis.

Also, a regular chicken Marsala recipe contains two times more wine and cream, which brings three times more carbs per serving than this Keto Marsala recipe.

Is Marsala wine keto?

Marsala wine is a keto-approved wine, it’s a dry Italian wine, and like most dry wines, it is lower in carbs than sweet wine.

For a ¼ cup of Marsala wine (1 fl 0z) as used in this chicken marsala recipe, you get 3.6 grams of net carbs.

Since this chicken recipe serves four people, Marsala wine only contributes less than 1 gram of net carbs. So to enjoy a tasty chicken marsala on keto, it’s totally fine to use that quantity.

How to make Keto Chicken Marsala?

Lucky for you, it’s super easy to whip this 30-minute keto chicken recipe, and you don’t have to be a chef to make it perfect. So let me show you how easy it is to make this keto dinner in no time.

Ingredients

First, gather the ingredients you need, a non-stick pan, and let’s cook dinner.

• Large Chicken Breast – I used four chicken breasts, split them halfway into thin steaks of about 3 oz/150 grams each.
• Salt
• Almond Flour – to coat the chicken breast, you can also replace it with sesame flour if you can’t have nuts.
• Unsalted Butter – or olive oil for a dairy-free option.
• Garlic Powder
• Onion powder

For the creamy sauce, you need:

• Unsalted Butter or olive oil
• Garlic Clove
• Sliced Button Mushrooms – button mushrooms are the most authentic mushroom variety used in Italian mushrooms sauce. But, you can also opt for more flavorsome mushroom varieties like Portobello mushrooms or king oyster mushrooms.
• Marsala Wine – it’s a dry Italian wine that is a keto-friendly wine if used in small amounts in recipes.
• Chicken Broth – also called chicken stock in some countries.
• Heavy Cream – heavy whipping cream, or coconut cream for a low-carb keto dairy-free option.
• Finely Grated Parmesan – I used a block of fresh Italian Parmesan and grated it with the smaller attachment of my hand grater.

Prepare the Chicken Breast

First, choose two thick chicken breasts and split each in half horizontally to form 4 thin chicken steaks of roughly 3 oz/150 grams each. Set aside.

In a bowl, whisk almond flour, garlic powder and onion powder, salt, and pepper. Then, sprinkle the almond flour mixture on both sides of each chicken steak and use your finger to spread and rub all over the surface.

In a non-stick frying pan, melt the butter over medium heat and cook the chicken on both sides for 2-3 minutes or until golden brown. Remove the chicken from the pan, set it aside on a plate, cover with a piece of foil to keep warm.

Make the Creamy Marsala Sauce

In the same pan, add the remaining butter and cook the mushroom slices for a few minutes over medium-high heat, until fragrant and golden. Keep cooking until they evaporate their water. Then, stir in the crushed garlic and cook for a few seconds.

Finally, add the marsala wine to deglaze the pan – it will form vigorous bubbles to loosen fat sticking on the pan. Scrape down the bottom of the pan, and after 30 seconds, add the chicken stock, heavy cream, and reduce to low heat to simmer.

Simmer the sauce for 2-3 minutes, until it thickens slightly, then stir in the finely grated Parmesan.

Return the chicken breast to the pan for 1 minute, and serve immediately with fresh parsley on top.

Serving ideas

This chicken is delicious on its own or paired with some of the keto sides below.

Storage

This creamy chicken stores for up to 3 days in the refrigerator, sealed in an airtight container.

You can also use this recipe to meal prep your keto lunch. Store portions in airtight microwave-safe boxes. Freeze the box and thaw in the fridge the day before.

Rewarm in the microwave until hot or in a saucepan over medium heat.

Allergy swaps

This keto chicken recipe is naturally:

• Gluten-free
• Soy-free
• Sugar-free

For a dairy-free option, swap the butter for the same amount of olive oil or coconut oil.

Next, replace the heavy cream with canned coconut cream. Make sure you shake your can of coconut cream before measuring as the cream and water separate in the can.

Finally, skip the parmesan and use a pinch of xanthan gum to thicken the sauce.

More chicken low-carb recipes

I love cooking keto chicken recipes. Below I shared with you my best other chicken recipes to try.

XOXO Carine

Recipe Card

Keto Chicken Marsala

5.9gNet Carbs

Prep Time: 10 mins

Cook Time: 10 mins

Total Time: 20 mins

Net Carbs 5.9g

Fat 32.3g

Protein 30.9g

Calories 453.9kcal

Author: Carine Claudepierre

4 serving (1 chicken steak)

An easy comforting dinner with creamy Keto Chicken cooked in Marsala mushroom sauce.

Optional – for a thicker sauce

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• Cut each chicken breast in half horizontally to form 4 thin chicken steaks.

• In a bowl, whisk almond flour, garlic powder, onion powder, salt, and pepper.

• Sprinkle the flour mixture on both sides of each chicken steak and use your finger to spread and rub all over the surface. That’s ok if it doesn’t cover the breast entirely. Shake to remove excess and set aside on a plate.

• In a non-stick frying pan, melt butter over medium heat and cook chicken on both sides for 2-3 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from the pan, set aside on a plate, cover with foil to keep warm and moist.

• In the same pan, over medium-high heat, add the remaining butter and cook the mushroom slices and garlic for a few minutes, until fragrant, golden, and all the mushroom water has evaporated – it can take up to 5-6 minutes. This is important, or the sauce won’t be as thick and smooth.

• Add the Marsala wine to deglaze the pan – it will form large bubbles to loosen the fat sticking on the pan. Scrape down the bottom of the pan to help release the fat and, after 30 seconds, add the chicken stock, heavy cream, and reduce to low heat to simmer.

• Simmer the sauce for 2-3 minutes, until it thickens slightly, then stir in the Parmesan and a pinch of xanthan gum for thicker sauce – optional.

• Taste the sauce and adjust with salt and pepper if needed.

• Return the chicken breast to the pan for 1 minute, and serve immediately with fresh parsley on top and keto rice on the side.

Nutrition Facts

Keto Chicken Marsala

Amount Per Serving (1 serving)

Calories 453.9
Calories from Fat 291

% Daily Value*

Fat 32.3g50%

Saturated Fat 17.9g112%

Trans Fat 0.4g

Polyunsaturated Fat 1.6g

Monounsaturated Fat 8.5g

Cholesterol 163.4mg54%

Sodium 462.4mg20%

Potassium 688.1mg20%

Carbohydrates 6.9g2%

Fiber 1g4%

Sugar 2.6g3%

Protein 30.9g62%

Vitamin A 1025.1IU21%

Vitamin B12 0.5µg8%

Vitamin C 5.3mg6%

Vitamin D 0.7µg5%

Calcium 144.3mg14%

Iron 1mg6%

Magnesium 43mg11%

Zinc 1.4mg9%

Net Carbs 5.9g

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.