Chicken Marsala is one of my favorite chicken dishes; tender chicken breasts are served in marsala wine and mushroom sauce. The sweet flavors of the fortified wine work wonderfully with the lightly caramelized chicken breasts and mushrooms.
This is a classic restaurant dish, but it is super easy to make at home, and if you do, make sure you serve it with equally tasty side dishes.
Not sure what to serve with chicken marsala or what goes well with chicken marsala. Here are my top suggestions for sides for chicken marsala.
Here’s What To Serve With Chicken Marsala:
#1. Creamy Potato Leek Gratin with Fennel
Not sure what to eat with chicken marsala? This gratin has a great combination of vegetables; sweet leeks with potatoes and fennel. The vegetables are layered up and covered with a creamy, cheesy sauce.
The dish is topped with the leftover grated gruyere and parmesan and baked until golden and the vegetables are tender. This gratin is a great side dish to serve with your chicken marsala.
These carrots can be rustled up quickly and make great chicken marsala sides. The carrots are peeled, chopped, and parboiled to save time in the oven.
The carrots are then tossed in the balsamic glaze, a mixture of balsamic vinegar, maple syrup, lime juice, and grated ginger, and then popped on a hot grill to caramelize. Transfer the carrots onto a platter, drizzle over any leftover glaze, and garnish with thyme leaves.
Potatoes make great chicken marsala side dishes, and these Greek-inspired ones are no exception. The potatoes are cooked in a mixture of broth, olive oil, garlic, lemon juice, and oregano, covered with tin foil until the potatoes are just tender.
They are left to roast uncovered until most of the liquid has evaporated. The result is potatoes packed with flavor on the inside and slightly crisp on the outside. The potatoes are served up with a garnish of fresh chopped parsley.
This is a lovely fresh, light, and tangy salad, which balances the richness of the chicken marsala dish. The chopped cucumber, tomatoes, and peas are seasoned with salt and pepper and left to pickle for 20 minutes.
The dressing is made up of apple cider, balsamic vinegar, olive oil, minced garlic, and sugar and poured over the vegetables. The sugar adds just the right amount of sweetness, and the fresh dill at the end adds great flavor.
Asparagus Amandine is perfectly cooked asparagus in butter, lemon, and almond sauce. The butter is heated in a pan until the asparagus is sauteed until al dente and then set aside.
The butter is heated further until it browns; the almonds are then added and caramelized until golden. The lemon juice is then added to the sauce with the chopped parsley and tossed altogether. The hot sauce is then spooned over the asparagus and served.
I love caponata and can easily eat this as a dish on its own, but when served with chicken marsala, that is a great meal. The aubergine is roasted in the oven while the onions, peppers, and celery are sautéed in a pan until soft.
The canned crushed tomatoes are then added to the pan together with the honey, red wine vinegar, olives, capers, and raisins. It’s the perfect balance of sweet, salty, and sour flavors. The aubergine is stirred through at the end with some chopped fresh basil.
This is a simple yet tasty side dish to prepare and serve with your chicken marsala. The orzo and peas are coated in a light parmesan sauce, which compliments the sweet marsala sauce of the chicken. In a saucepan, the onions and garlic are sautéed until soft; the uncooked orzo is then added with the chicken broth and left to simmer until al dente.
The peas and grated parmesan are added and stirred until the cheese has melted, seasoned well with salt and pepper, and served alongside your chicken marsala.
I love the method of hassle-backing vegetables, and these beetroots make great sides with chicken marsala. If you can, be sure to choose the medium to smaller-sized ones. The beetroots are peeled and sliced “Hasselback style,” drizzled with olive oil, seasoned, and then roasted until easily pierced with a knife.
While the beetroots are roasting in the oven, the dressing can be made. The vinegar, oil, honey, dill, salt, and pepper are all whisked together and drizzled over the roasted beetroots.
This is a great side dish to serve with chicken marsala. It is neutral in flavor, where the great flavor of the chicken marsala can shine. This rice sounds fancy, but it’s so easy to prepare; all the ingredients except the parmesan are added to the pot, brought to a boil, and left to simmer until the rice is cooked.
In the end, the parmesan is stirred through until melted. Served hot with the chicken, and you are in for a real treat.
This is a great salad to try; the green beans are dressed in a deliciously tangy lemon dressing and topped with feta and toasted almonds.
The green beans are blanched until al dente. The dressing ingredients of olive oil, lemon juice, mustard, and garlic are whisked together and drizzled over the green beans. The green beans are topped with feta crumbled over and finished with flaked almonds sprinkled over.
This is a classic, popular side dish, and it’s understandable because it can be delicious, but you need a good recipe, and this one is great. The spinach is wilted down, drained, and squeezed dry.
In a saucepan, the onions are cooked until soft, and the milk, cream, and cream cheese are added and stirred until all combined. The sauce is seasoned with cayenne pepper, salt, and pepper, and then the spinach and grated parmesan are added. It’s deliciously creamy and has great flavor from the added parmesan.
This crisp salad of cabbage and peas is the perfect light side to serve with your rich marsala chicken dish. The salad is dressed with a tart vinaigrette which cuts through the richness of the marsala sauce.
The cabbage is finely sliced, and the cucumber and green onions are chopped and mixed with the peas. The dressing is made up of olive oil, apple cider vinegar, white vinegar, salt, and pepper and drizzled over the salad and tossed to combine.
These noodles are a great side; they are neutral in flavor and perfect to soak up all the delicious flavors from the marsala sauce. The noodles are cooked as per packet instruction. In a saucepan, the butter is melted, and breadcrumbs are stirred to combine.
The noodles are then tossed in and heated through until crisp and golden. Seasoned with salt, and the noodles are ready to serve.
#14. Chili + Honey Roasted Sweet Potatoes With Lime Juice
These honey-roasted sweet potatoes with lime juice are both sweet and savory, and with a bit of spice, they are a great side option for your marsala chicken. The sweet potatoes are cut half lengthways, drizzled with olive oil, seasoned with chili powder, paprika, and harissa, and then roasted in a hot oven for 20 minutes.
The potatoes are then brushed with honey and returned back to the oven to finish cooking and caramelize. The potatoes are finished with a squeeze of lime and chopped parsley.
I love eating peas raw, as they come, but these are seriously tasty and cooked with the addition of parmesan and sweet shallots. The shallots are finely chopped and sautéed in olive oil and garlic until soft.
The peas are then added to the pan and cooked until tender. You can use fresh or frozen peas for this recipe- both work just as well. The grated parmesan is added at the end and seasoned well with salt and pepper.
Couscous is great, as it absorbs all the delicious juices there are on the plate. This couscous is flavored up with Moroccan flavors like turmeric, cumin, coriander, and some herbs to freshen it up.
The spices and raisins are added to the water and brought to a boil, and the couscous is then added and left to stand until all the liquid has been absorbed.
The couscous is then tossed together with roasted vegetables and fresh herbs and then dressed with a spiced vinaigrette. The couscous is mixed well until everything is combined and can be served hot or cold as desired.
This coleslaw is so easy to rustle up; it only takes 5 minutes to prepare, and once made, you can keep it for up to three days in the fridge. The dressing is combined mayonnaise, honey, lemon juice, vinegar, salt, and pepper.
The cabbage mix is then stirred through the dressing until well incorporated. Leave the coleslaw to stand for an hour for the flavors to develop, and garnish with chopped green onions and some celery seeds.
This broccolini is the perfect side for any dish. First, the olive oil is infused with garlic and lemon, then drizzled over the broccolini. The broccolini is roasted in a hot oven for 10 minutes.
Remove the broccolini from the oven, flip it over, sprinkle over the grated parmesan and then pop it back in the oven for further 5 minutes for the parmesan to melt and the broccolini to finish cooking through.
The broccolini is finished with a squeeze of lemon and a pinch of chili flakes before serving.
Having completed three years at cooking school, Gabi then went into the realm of private cheffing where she got to travel the world, cooking for the rich and famous in their luxury homes and holiday homes. Through her travels, she has experienced different cuisines, which she has added to her cooking repertoire.
