Creamy Chicken Marsala Soup

Shredded chicken, mushrooms, and potatoes make this creamy chicken marsala soup a true nod to the comfort food classic!

Why You’ll Love Chicken Marsala Soup

If you love a nice and creamy chicken marsala, this hearty soup is definitely for you. It has a rich, nutty, and mildly sweet broth that stays true to the original dish, and you can bulk it up with either potatoes or noodles. Best of all, it’s doable on a weeknight!

Soups inspired by comfort food mains seem to be taking the recipe world by storm, like lasagna soup, cabbage roll soup, chicken florentine soup, and stuffed pepper soup, for example. And they work so well. Two dreary weather crutches combined into one cozy bowl? Yes, please!

What to Serve With It

• A fresh hunk of buttered bread is always my go-to when I’m diving into a bowl of soup.
• Salad is a great way to add veggies and balance to a rich and cozy dish.
• What goes with soup better than a sandwich? Egg salad or tuna are my personal faves.
• And I’ll be real, this would be amazing spooned over a heap of mashed potatoes. Just saying.

Quick Tips

1. Because chicken marsala is ideally served over mashed potatoes or noodles, I decided to include options for adding potatoes OR noodles into this soup. You could of course include both.
2. I use 1/2 cup of cream in my recipe to keep it a bit on the lighter side. If you’d like it extra rich, go ahead and add an entire cup.
3. Always be sure to temper cream into a hot dish, especially soup. This prevents the cream from curdling.
4. Marsala cooking wine can be found with the vinegars in your supermarket. If you want to be a little extra, you could hit the wine section and grab an actual bottle of marsala wine—then serve the rest of the wine as a sipper with dessert! (It’s a sweeter wine.)

Ingredients

*Exact measurements in the recipe card below.

• Chicken tenderloins. I find chicken tenderloins are quickest to cook and shred for soup, but you could use chicken breasts, or even boneless thighs if you wish! Same cooking methods will apply, but different cook times due to varying thickness.
• Sea salt & cracked pepper. To taste.
• Olive oil. You could also use avocado oil.
• Butter. I wanted to simmer the mushrooms, onions, and potatoes in butter the same way you’d cook down the mushrooms in a marsala. You could use olive oil instead, however.
• Baby bella mushrooms. I love baby bellas, so they’re my go-to in recipes. But you could definitely use white mushrooms instead if you prefer.
• Sweet onion. To play off of the subtle sweetness in the broth, I used a sweet yellow onion. A white onion would work, as would a red onion.
• Potatoes. Leave the skin on since it keeps the potatoes from losing their form and getting mushy. I like using baby potatoes, particularly any buttery Yukon gold types.
• Baby spinach. Not your typical ingredient in chicken marsala, but I wanted to add some greens and extra nutrients. It worked out beautifully!
• Garlic. Sliced or minced.
• Marsala wine. Hence the name of the dish, marsala wine is an important component. If you can’t get your hands on marsala, you could use another type of fortified wine like madeira, sherry, commandaria, port, or vermouth.
• Chicken broth. In my chicken marsala recipe I use beef broth because I think it adds such a wonderful deep savory flavor to the pan gravy, but for the soup, I stuck with a traditional approach.
• Beef bouillon paste. Except I do add a heaping tablespoon of Better Than Bouillon’s beef paste because it truly does add SO much to the dish.
• Balsamic vinegar. This balances the richness by bringing some acidity to the mix.
• Heavy cream. If you love creamy chicken marsala, heavy cream is a must. I stick to heavy cream when cooking to avoid curdling. It’s the best way to enjoy a dish like this, and it’s not like you’re eating it daily, so I don’t think anyone is doing themselves favors by using something lighter.
• Fresh parsley. For garnish! But totally optional.

How to Make Chicken Marsala Soup

Heat the oil in a large pot or Dutch oven. Season the chicken with salt and pepper and pop it into the pot to cook for about 10-12 minutes or until it reaches an internal temperature of 140-145ºF, flipping halfway through.

When done, transfer the chicken to a cutting board. Add a bit more oil to the pot as well as the butter, then pop the onions, mushrooms, and potatoes (if you’re using noodles instead, see below) into the pot. Sauté them until they’ve softened, about 8-10 minutes, stirring often. Add the garlic and simmer for another 30 seconds.

Pour the marsala wine into the pot and let it simmer for about a few minutes. Deglaze the bottom of the pot with a spatula. Add the balsamic vinegar, broth, and a dollop of the beef base, then bring to a boil. Once boiling, bring the heat down to a low simmer. Add the spinach and shredded chicken.

Scoop about a 1/2 cup of hot broth from the pot and transfer it to a mixing bowl or large measuring cup. Slowly pour in the heavy cream, whisking as you go to temper it. Then stir it into the pot with the rest of the soup.

Serve the soup with a garnish of chopped fresh parsley and a hunk of fresh bread!

If Using Noodles Instead of Potatoes

Cook noodles separately as per the instructions on the package. When the soup is ready, simply stir the noodles into the pot. If you cook the noodles in the soup it will soak up the broth, leaving you without much liquid.

Storage, Freezing, & Reheating

• For leftovers, creamy chicken marsala soup will keep in the fridge in an airtight container for up to 4 days.
• I don’t recommend freezing creamy soups. The dairy often splits once thawed, ruining the texture and becoming grainy. If you plan to freeze some of this soup, portion out what you want to freeze prior to adding the soup in freezer-friendly containers. When you plan on thawing it and eating it, add the cream as you warm it up with the same instructions in this recipe—be sure to temper!
• To reheat this soup, transfer it to a saucepan and heat it over the stove until warmed through to your liking.

Have You Made This Recipe?

If you enjoyed this recipe, please consider leaving a STAR rating & commenting below with feedback!

You can also show off your creations on Instagram by tagging @killing__thyme

More Cozy Soups to Curl up With

• Chicken Curry Ramen Soup
• Soothing Lemon Chicken Soup
• Homemade Tomato Soup
• Italian Wedding Soup With Chicken Meatballs