Marsala Chicken Meatballs
Published Sept. 20, 2024

- Total Time
- 1 hour
- Prep Time
- 15 minutes
- Cook Time
- 45 minutes
- Rating
- Comments
- Read comments
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Ingredients
- 2large yellow onions (about 10 ounces each), finely chopped
- ⅓cup bread crumbs
- 1¼cups dry Marsala wine
- 5tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- Salt and pepper
- 1pound ground chicken
- 1pound sliced button or cremini mushrooms
- 2tablespoons all-purpose flour
- Chopped flat-leaf parsley, for serving
Preparation
- Step 1
To a medium bowl, add 1 cup of chopped onion, plus the bread crumbs, ¼ cup wine, 2 tablespoons olive oil, a hefty pinch of salt and a few grinds of pepper; mix until combined. Add the chicken and mix until combined. Form the meat mixture into 14 balls (about 3 tablespoons each), setting them on a sheet pan or plate.
- Step 2
Heat a large (12-inch) heavy skillet or braiser over medium-high, and add the remaining 3 tablespoons of olive oil.
- Step 3
Sear the meatballs for 2 to 3 minutes, until a dark brown crust forms on the bottoms, then flip, and continue searing for 2 minutes on the other sides. Return the meatballs to the sheet pan or plate.
- Step 4
Adjust heat to high. Add the remaining onions to the skillet and cook, stirring every 2 minutes, until golden, translucent and slightly darker on the edges, about 6 minutes, turning the heat down as necessary.
- Step 5
Add the mushrooms and cook for 6 minutes, stirring occasionally, until reduced in volume and slightly darker in color. Sprinkle the flour on top, mix to coat the mushrooms and onion and continue cooking for 1 minute, lowering the heat as needed.
- Step 6
Carefully pour the remaining 1 cup of wine into the skillet while constantly stirring. Using a wooden spoon, scrape the caramelized bits off the bottom of the pan and cook for 2 minutes, until the wine reaches a thicker, honey-like consistency. Add 1¾ cups of water and bring to a vigorous simmer. Season with a hefty pinch of salt.
- Step 7
Return the meatballs to the skillet. Adjust heat to medium, partially cover and simmer for 12 minutes, until the sauce has thickened slightly and the meatballs are cooked through.
- Step 8
Taste and season with salt. Sprinkle parsley on top and serve.
Private Notes
Comments
Very tasty with a few mods: Chop onions for the meatballs finely in a food processor and squeeze out most of the water using a kitchen towel before adding to chicken. Brown the rest of the onions and the mushrooms very well. Do the mushrooms in batches. Add garlic and thyme to the onions and mushrooms before adding flour. Replace water with chicken stock. Finish with a splash of sherry vinegar.
Also, don't return cooked meatballs to sheet pan they were first on. That's raw chicken. Change out pans.
Very nice result! Delicious with egg noodles. Pretty much followed recipe, though replaced water with chicken stock. My mushrooms from grocery were cut quite thick, so I did a quick rough chop of the entire pack. This is a definite do-over!
Fabulous recipe with a few inconsequential modifications. I used chicken broth in meatballs instead of Marsala and needed to double the breadcrumbs. And per suggestions from others, added 3 small cloves garlic to onion sauté and used broth not water in sauce. What a fantastic, simple preparation!
Needs a binder, I added a beaten egg.
I used only one onion and it was still too much of a taste like onions in the meatball. I would use 1/2 cup or less instead. I would also had a lot more seasoning to the meatballs they didn’t have much taste. Use chicken broth instead of water as well. Wish I read the comments before cooking lol!
