Do you want to prepare a delectable chicken marsala for your weekend visitors? Wondering about the best wine with chicken marsala? This Italian-American dish is a classic, and it may be served with mashed potatoes, rice, or pasta.
This rich and creamy sauce is well suited to a wide range of vegetables, and if it’s a hot summer day, a bowl of fresh green salad is an excellent companion to this dinner.
But what wine goes with chicken marsala, and should you be picky about your wine while combining it with this creamy, Marsala-inspired mushroom dish?
Wine experts will tell you that every meal should be matched with the appropriate wine. You may enjoy both the food and drink’s tastes and characteristics this way.
Read on to learn which wines are perfect with chicken marsala, so you may enjoy the best of both worlds when it comes to your food and wine!
Before we get into our list of wines, let us first discuss why following the basic principles of food and wine pairings is so important. We’ll also go through the components of the chicken marsala recipe so you know which wines to serve with it.
What Wine Goes with Chicken Marsala?
Chicken marsala pairs well with robust white wines or light to medium-bodied red wines. This sort of chicken dish requires fewer tannins and less acidity. Chardonnay, Chenin Blanc, Pinot noir, and Frappato are all possibilities for the list.
Rather than concentrating on the meat, wine experts recommend combining it with marsala sauce. These wines are also good partners for most chicken marsala side dishes.
Read on to discover everything you need to know about food and wine pairing, as well as what goes into a chicken marsala dish while selecting the correct wine for your chicken marsala meal.
About Food and Wine Pairings
If you’re a novice to wine pairing, you might be perplexed by the fuss. Isn’t it true that any bottle of wine can go with any meal? While you may mix and match any vino with any cuisine, you risk losing out on both the dish’s complexity and the beverage’s nuances.
If you match the food and beverage correctly, you’ll be able to balance the meal’s components with the style of drink being served. Certain meals will enhance the taste, fragrance, and flavor of certain wines when paired appropriately with the dish’s ingredients. The correct wine will allow you to appreciate the tastes and flavors of different meals.
Wine and food pairings may lead to the following:
- Flavors that have been shared are being emphasized.
- A balance has been reached between the different tastes and aromas.
The fundamentals of food and wine matching are quite basic, and if you can recall these rules, combining the perfect wine with your meal is simple.
Red Wines
Red wines taste fantastic with stronger tastes, such as steaks, filets, and other red meats. It also goes great with fatty foods. When you want to enhance the common tastes of two dishes, red wine is an excellent choice for a consistent pairing.
White Wines
White wines should be paired with lighter meals, such as chicken, fish, and shellfish. Sparkling and rose wines are ideal for contrasted pairings since the complementary tastes and aromas are balanced by the acidity in the wine.
Food and Wine Pairings: Everything You Need to Know
The various degrees of acidity, sweetness, and bitterness are used to distinguish wine types. Food tastes are classified as fatty, salty, or spicy.
In general, a more acidic wine should be served with a meal. The wine should also be sweeter than the dish it’s being paired with.
The wine’s flavor should also be appropriate for the meal it comes with, thus both the drink and the meal are complimented. The majority of experts believe that the wine should be matched with the dish’s sauce since sauces generally have greater intensity than the actual meat served with it.
What Are the Ingredients of Chicken Marsala?
To pick the finest wine to match your chicken marsala, you must first understand what ingredients are included in this tasty dish. Chicken Marsala is made using the following ingredients:
- Chicken breasts, which have been coated in flour and seasonings like salt and pepper, lightly cooked in olive oil.
- Marsala wine is used to prepare a mushroom sauce that comprises garlic, chicken stock, salt and pepper, and marsala wine.
To add asparagus, herbs, thick cream, or shallots to the sauce is a common practice among chefs. Heavy cream serves to balance out the acidity of marsala wine and offer a more robust flavor throughout the meal.
Wine pairings are crucial for achieving the most flavor out of your dinner. In a nutshell, it all has to do with balance.
What Dishes to Serve alongside Chicken Marsala?
The wine you serve with your chicken marsala recipe may also have an impact on the type of wine that’s used in the meal. Always try to match the sauce of the chicken dish with the wine to obtain ideal results. Chicken marsala side dishes might include any of the following:
- Starches: Creamy rice is a popular side dish prepared with parmesan cheese. Mashed potatoes flavored with garlic are another common choice. Baked potatoes, on the other hand, are quite unusual. Pasta is often used to make creamy rice.
- Vegetables: Choose a side dish from among the following: mashed potatoes, cheesy cauliflower rice, steamed asparagus or roasted vegetables with garlic.
- Salads: A green salad with baby tomatoes, cucumber, red onion, celery, olives, and feta cheese.
These side dishes will complement the main dish’s tastes, so combining your wine with the sauce can help to balance out the different notes.
What is Marsala Wine?
The secret to this chicken dish is marsala wine, which is a sweet, fortified wine from Sicily, Italy. You might be wondering if you can drink marsala wine with the dinner.
The most frequent usage of Sicilian wine is in recipes to add a deep, nutty, and caramelized flavor to the dish. Brown sugar, apricots, vanilla, and tamarind are some of the typical tastes found in marsala wine. Honey, walnut, smoky tobacco, licorice, and dried fruits are all characteristics present in high-end marsala wines.
Marsala wines are commonly used as a cooking wine in homes across the world, but they may also be consumed as a sweet drink comparable to Madeira or sherry. It’s best when chilled to about 55 degrees F. Marsala wine goes well with the following dishes:
- Brussel sprouts
- Salty nuts
- Olives
- Parmesan cheese
- Asparagus
- Chocolate (sweet marsala wine)
Marsala wine is made from white varietals like Inzolia, Ansonica, Damaschino, and Grillo. Sweet and dry marsala wines are available. Sweet Marsala wine is suited for dessert recipes while the dry variety is ideal for savory dishes.
How to Pick a Wine for Chicken Marsala?
Wine enthusiasts will suggest matching a bottle of wine to balance out the sweetness of the marsala wine in the sauce. However, you don’t want to go with something too strong because it would overwhelm the distinct tastes of the dish.
A deep crimson such as a Sangiovese, Cabernet, or Zinfandel would be too strong for the chicken. You’ll also lose out on the distinct tastes of the marsala sauce.
Pairing experts suggest selecting a robust white wine with strong fruity characteristics such as citrus, apple, and pear that is full-bodied.
Chardonnay and other Pinot grapes, such as Viognier or Chenin Blanc, are also excellent alternatives. Chardonnay is also a wonderful match for foods like asparagus, garlic, and chicken, all of which appear in many chicken marsala recipes.
Chicken marsala is delicious with either light or medium-bodied red wines. If you can get Grenache Gris, Pinot Noir is frequently used in this dish as well if you have it.
Another light-bodied cherry-colored wine with low tannins, Frascati, is a great match for chicken marsala.
Gamay is a versatile wine with distinctively fruity notes of this grape varietal grown in the Beaujolais region of France.
Pro tip:
It’s important to note that using dry Riesling rather than marsala wine in chicken Marsala may result in a dish lacking complexity and harmony. Pinot noir does not go well with this sauce when cooks have made chicken marsala with dry Riesling instead of marsala wine.
It’s for this reason that you should always check the sauces’ ingredients before selecting the right wine to match it.
Here are some fantastic choices for wine with chicken marsala:
Pouilly-Fume Wine
The Pouilly-Fumé wine is produced in the Loire Valley, France. It’s composed of Sauvignon Blanc grapes and has scents of lime, gooseberry, and green apple as well as smoke flint.
The tastes include grapefruit and peach, which are both popular fruits. This wine has herbal and grassy characteristics as well as aromas.
This medium-bodied white wine has a high acidic level, which is not always suitable for chicken marsala, yet it somehow works! It also goes well with asparagus, green salads, and most vegetables.
Oaked White Rioja
White Rioja is a wonderful match for chicken marsala, as it’s a Spanish wine with oak. It’s created with the Spanish grape Tempranillo and has the characteristics of lime, apple, passion fruit, and peach.
This wine has aromas of spice, fruit, grass, and herbal notes. The oaked qualities are great for this chicken dish’s ingredients.
The Oaked White Rioja wine, like the Chardonnay, has a medium body and low acidity. It goes well with creamy sauces and mushrooms.
Côtes du Rhône (South)
A red wine produced in the South of France with the Grenache grape is Côtes du Rhône wine. The primary tastes in this wine are plum and dark berries, with hints of licorice, vanilla, anise, and pepper.
This drink will go well with your chicken marsala meal, although some foodies may tell you that it’s a little overpowering.
This wine, on the other hand, goes well with chicken dishes such as paella and chicken marsala, creamier mushroom sauces, and different cheeses like cheddar and gouda.
Final Thoughts
A light or medium-bodied wine with fruity tastes goes well with chicken marsala, and the following are its most important characteristics: fewer tannins, low acidity, and a light or medium-bodied wine with fruitiness.
Pinot noir or Chardonnay are good alternatives to Marsala wine.
Experiment with the various wines recommended in this post, such as the Spanish Oaked White Rioja or French Côtes du Rhone red wine. Both would go well with most of the ingredients used to prepare the delicious chicken marsala meal.
And, if you want a sparkling wine for a chicken marsala dinner, Moscato is the one to try. This effervescent wine will transform your meal into a party!