Chicken Lombardy
Chicken Lombardy features marsala wine and mozzarella cheese on top of a buttery pan seared chicken and mushroom dish. It sounds fancy with its rich combination of wine and cheese, but you’ll soon discover it’s shockingly simple!
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Despite the fact that I regularly share Italian family recipes passed on from my husband’s grandma, I can’t claim this decadent (but shockingly easy) dish as a family recipe.
In fact, no one really can although there is a rumor this dish was once on Olive Garden’s menu.
That said, I can’t find anything to back up this claim other though they do sometimes name dishes after regions in Italy and Lombardy is, in fact, a region in Italy.
Other rumors claim this recipe is not in fact Italian at all but came from Wisconsin and was named for famed Vince Lombardi.
No one seems to know where it came from, but I can say it’s honestly one of the best Italian American recipes to come out of my kitchen in the past decade.
We’re talking dredged, seared chicken in a rich, luscious wine sauce.
It makes an appearance on our table at least once a month.
What’s the difference between chicken Lombardy and chicken marsala?
Chicken Lombardy and chicken marsala are both very similar.
They both have pan seared chicken and mushrooms in a buttery wine sauce.
But chicken Lombardy invites mozzarella and Parmesan to the party before it bakes, creating a cheesy chicken dish that’s to die for.
Ingredients
To make this you’ll need:
- Mushrooms– Baby bella mushroooms. Save yourself some time and buy a pre-sliced package. If you can’t find these, you can sub sliced white button mushrooms.
- Butter– Divided
- Chicken– Boneless, skinless chicken breasts with the excess fat removed.
- Flour– All purpose to dredge the chicken in
- Chicken broth– You could use stock if you prefer. You can also use store bought or homemade chicken broth.
- Wine– Marsala wine. If you can, buy a bottle of wine that you would drink and skip the cooking Marsala wine. The cooking wine has a lot of added salt, etc. that make it taste not as good as the drinking wine.
- Salt and pepper
- Cornstarch and water– This combination combine to form what’s called a ‘slurry’ that is used to thicken the sauce.
- Cheese– Shredded mozzarella and shredded Parmesan
- Green onions– Thinly sliced
How to Make
Making chicken Lombardy is definitely beginner friendly!
To do it, start by cutting each chicken breast evenly in half, lengthwise.
Then, place one piece of chicken in between two sheets of heavy duty plastic wrap and pound it gently with a meat mallet until it reaches 1/4″ thickness.
Repeat for all the pieces of chicken.
Once the chicken is pounded, melt the two tablespoons of butter in a large skillet over medium heat.
Sauté the mushrooms in the melted butter for 3-5 minutes, or until tender.
Once they are tender, transfer the mushrooms to a waiting plate and set them aside.
Add the flour to a flat plate or large shallow dish.
Dredge each piece of chicken in it, making sure it’s evenly coated.
In the same skillet you cooked the mushrooms in, melt two tablespoons of the remaining butter.
When the butter has melted, add two pieces of chicken to the skillet and turn up the heat to medium high.
Cook the chicken until nicely browned on one side, flip and repeat.
Transfer the browned breasts to a waiting plate.
Repeat this until you’ve browned all the chicken.
Stir the broth and wine into the drippings in the skillet, using a sturdy spoon to get up all those yummy browned bits and deglaze the pan.
Season with salt and pepper and bring the mixture to a boil.
Once it boils, reduce the heat and simmer for 5 minutes or until it thickens slightly.
In a small bowl, whisk together the corn starch and water to make a slurry.
Whisk this into the skillet sauce, and let it simmer another 1-2 minutes- until nicely thickened.
Remove the skillet from heat, and set aside.
Transfer the chicken breasts to a lightly greased 9×13 baking dish, overlapping a bit if necessary to fit them all.
Spread the sauteed mushrooms evenly out over top.
Pour the sauce evenly out over top of the chicken and sprinkle the cheeses evenly out over top, followed by the sliced green onions.
Bake the prepared chicken at 450 degrees for 15-20 minutes, or until the cheese is melted and slightly golden brown.
Serve and enjoy!
What to Serve with Chicken Lombardy
Like chicken marsala, chicken Lombardy pairs amazingly with pasta.
It’s also so good with Creamy Roasted Garlic Mashed Potatoes, a salad, and garlic bread.
Can I make this ahead of time?
Yes!
To do it, prepare the chicken as directed but store the chicken and sauce separately in air tight containers in the fridge until you are ready to bake the dish.
Once you are ready to bake the dish, you will need to reheat the sauce and possibly thin it with a bit more chicken broth.
Then, assemble the casserole dish as directed above.
When ready bake at 450 until warmed through and the cheese melts and turns slightly golden brown.
Storing Leftovers
Store leftovers in air tight container in the fridge for up to 3 days.
Reheat in an oven safe dish in a hot oven until warmed through.
Tips and Tricks
- Don’t skip pounding the chicken. This tenderizes it and ensures it will cook properly. Plus it makes sure that you get the best chicken to sauce to cheese ratio in each bite!
- You could add a clove of pressed garlic into the pan with the mushrooms for a little extra flavor.
- If you serve this with pasta, I recommend using linguine, fettucine, or penne noodles. You want to avoid thinner pasta for this dish.
Other Delicious Italian Chicken Recipes
Chicken Lombardy is a favorite take on chicken marsala with its cheesy upgrade.
Make it and enjoy!
Looking for other Italian chicken recipes?
Try these:
- Slow Cooker Creamy Italian Chicken
- Carrabba’s Chicken Bryan
- Creamy Chicken Florentine And Farfalle
- One Pot Chicken Marsala Pasta
- Chicken & Tomato Pesto Gnocchi
If you’ve tried this CHICKEN LOMBARDY, or any other recipe on the site, let me know in the comment section how it turned out, we love hearing from our readers! You can also follow along with me on PINTEREST, FACEBOOK, and INSTAGRAM to see more amazing recipes and whatever else we’ve got going on!
Chicken Lombardy
Ingredients
- 8 oz pkg sliced baby bella mushrooms
- 2 tbsp butter, melted
- 3 large boneless, skinless chicken breasts
- 1/2 cup flour
- 1/3 cup butter
- 1/2 cup chicken broth
- 1/4 cup Marsala wine
- salt & pepper, to taste
- 1/2 tbsp corn starch + 1 tbsp water
- 1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
- 1/2 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
- 2-3 green onions, thinly sliced
Instructions
- Cut each chicken breast evenly in half, lengthwise. One at a time, place a piece of chicken in between two sheets of heavy duty plastic wrap. Using the flat side of a meat mallet, flatten the breast out to a 1/4" thickness. Repeat for all the pieces of chicken.
- Melt the two tablespoons of butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add in the mushrooms and saute for 3-5 minutes, or until tender. Remove the cooked mushrooms to a waiting plate or bowl, and set aside.
- Add the flour to a flat plate. Dredge each piece of chicken in it, making sure there's an even coat.
- In the same skillet you cooked the mushrooms in, melt two tablespoons of the remaining butter. Add two pieces of chicken, and up the heat to medium high. Let the chicken cook until nicely browned on one side, flip and repeat. Transfer the browned breasts to a waiting plate.
- Add another tablespoon of butter to the skillet, and brown another two breasts. Repeat the steps until all the chicken is browned, and all transferred to the waiting plate.
- Stir the broth and wine into the drippings in the skillet, whisking to deglaze the pan and get up all those yummy browned bits. Season with salt & pepper. Bring the mixture to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for 5 minutes, or until thickened slightly.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the corn starch and water to make a slurry. Whisk this into the skillet sauce, and let it simmer another 1-2 minutes- until nicely thickened. Remove the skillet from heat, and set aside.
- Transfer the chicken breasts to a lightly greased 9x13 baking dish, overlapping a bit if necessary to fit them all. Spread the sauteed mushrooms evenly out over top.
- Pour the sauce evenly out over top of the chicken. Then sprinkle the cheeses evenly out over top, followed by the sliced green onions.
- Bake the prepared chicken at 450 degrees for 15-20 minutes, or until the cheese is melted and slightly golden brown. Remove the dish from the oven, and serve immediately.
Notes
- Don't skip pounding the chicken. This tenderizes it and ensures it will cook properly. Plus it makes sure that you get the best chicken to sauce to cheese ratio in each bite!
- You could add a clove of pressed garlic into the pan with the mushrooms for a little extra flavor.
- If you serve this with pasta, I recommend using linguine, fettucine, or penne noodles. You want to avoid thinner pasta for this dish.
Nutrition
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Sounds delicious. What can I use instead of Marsala wine? Thank you.
Are you not wanting to use alcohol at all? If so, I’ve seen this used as a substitute.
1/4 cup of white grape juice
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons of sherry vinegar
This was so delicious! I added garlic, and tripled the sauce, perfect for 6 servings. It was the perfect amount! Will definitely make this one again, so yummy with egg noodles and green beans.
I’m just curious if you have a preference on what type of marsala wine you used? I like cooking with sweet wines but if this recipe is better with a dry wine, I’d like to stick to it.
Did you ever get an answer…I just picked up sweet and think it should have been dry!
Use chicken broth
I think Marsalis to sweet for me I ude good chardonnay maybe riesling(spelling does Not count) stay well friend
Mmmm! I am going to make this for dinner tonight! I just happen to have all of the ingredients right now! What a fabulous dinner! Thanks so much for bringing this beautiful dish over to Fiesta Friday this week!
Omgoodness!! Over the top yummy!! Will most definitely make again!! I do suggest doubling the sauce. Served over mashed potatoes.
This recipe was so good, I used chicken broth , no wine , it was full of flavor, I double the gravy, next time I’ll quadruple it. The gravy took the meal over the top
Excellent!!!!! I used chicken tenders! I also make extra sauce !!!! Highly recommend!
I will have to try it with tenders next time, I’ve always got those on hand. And yes, I almost always double (or even triple) the sauce.
I was surprised to see this recipe as I used to wow my company with it about 35 years ago! I got it from Southern Living; in fact, my recipe has a note that says “Southern Living All-Time Favorites.” The immediate difference I see is they had us pounding those halves between waxed paper to thin them down, and that was the step I didn’t like! I think I’ll try chicken tenderloins as I believe was suggested above. The only other difference was that they used 3/4 cup marsala, and in the wine and broth reduction they simmered 10 minutes.(A copy of my original cut out from the magazine shows SL credited Joe Broussard of Lafayette, Louisiana. And they note that the recipe originally appeared in their Nov. 1978 issue.)
You started with sautéing the mushrooms and then removing them, and setting aside. You mention to add more butter to the pan that had the onions, and begin browning the chicken pieces. I think you meant mushrooms, not onions, but how do you use the onions, sautéed at some point, or raw? This sounds amazing and I can’t wait to try it!
I fixed it, the skillet you cooked the ‘onions’ in was supposed to say mushrooms. I’ve edited the recipe card to reflect that now, thanks for catching it! The onions are sprinkled on after the cheese. It’s in the instructions. I can’t wait to hear your thoughts!
I don’t have chicken breast so can I use boneless skinless chicken thighs?
this was delicious!
All the crap you have to scroll thru to get to the recipe makes me NOT WANT TO WASTE MY TIME!
Personally, I’ve never found scrolling to be that hard. Sorry you feel that way. Either way, recipe testing/creation isn’t free. Neither is running a stable healthy website. The ads your scrolling past keep this site up and running. Blame Google for the length of content they require for a site to he taken seriously for them. Often there are helpful tid bits in the content. And if not, again, most people just scroll past it in a few swipes to get to the good stuff. Glad you had enough time to leave this insightful comment 🙂
I personally am not bothered by scrolling. And usually, the post leading to the recipe is what actually makes me want to try it. It gives me a feel for the blogger’s personality. What can be bothersome are pop-ups that take up the whole screen, have small “x” buttons, or any other thing that visually interrupts or distracts from reading (which this site does not have). Anyhow, I do appreciate your explanation as to the “why” behind post length. Maybe it would be a good blog post to dedicate an explanation to as more and more people seem to bothered by scrolling. I bet it would make a popular post on Pinterest 😉
wow..next time go pay for a cooking magazine..do you “get” that it costs you nothing to ..OH MY GOD spend the two MINUTES it takes to scroll through the ads .. you you GET that this takes time to put this together .. so the when you “scroll past the ads so these people can get paid something…..sigh …you should be embarrassed at that comment
Precisely why there is a “jump to recipe”
Great recipe. Did a couple of steps a little differently, i.e. cooked the chicken first, sauteed the mushrooms in the same pan and after they were soft and tender added the Marsala wine and reduced it. Also, used the Marsala wine instead water for the Corn starch slury.
Absolutely a beautiful dish!
Thanks for the great feedback, Michael! Love your idea of swapping the water for wine in the slurry 🙂 Hope you find many more of our dishes to love and enjoy.
I’m getting ready to make this this weekend. I imagine it can be made ahead and then put in the oven the next day. Anyone tried that?
I would worry the coating on the chicken would get soggy or come apart.
Ok, I answered my own question. I made it this past Saturday , refrigerated it and after leaving out for 40 minutes or so, put it in the oven as directed on Sunday. It turned out fine! Delicious recipe!!
Not sure that’s a good idea. The outside of the chicken would get hot, further inside a little warm when pan-frying. That little warmness could start bacteria growth. That’s not an issue if cooked immediately but the next day? Usually partially cooking meat isn’t recommended as an advance prep.
Well yum, yum, and yum! Thank you! I will be making this on Sunday! I have only had it from our local carryout pizza shop’s dinner menu and I have to tell you that it is $18.75 for a container with 1 piece of chicken…so dinner for two is nearly $40! I can make it several times for that money. I might try assembling it in the morning and see how it fares baking it at dinner time since it does not have much flour on it.
This was very tasty. Pretty much a quick fix. The only changes I made was to triple the sauce, double the mushrooms and used tenderloins! Delish!
Wondered if this dish can be prepared up to step 9 several hours in advance? Looks amazing!
Thank you.
Jan
I made this the day before and it was great!
This recipe was easy and delicious! I’m still thinking about it a week later! Thank you!
Wonderful and flavorful recipe. Only change I made was to use white cooking wine instead of marsala as that is what I had. My husband loved it and I’ve added it to my favorites. Thank you.
Thanks for sharing Bonnie, and so happy you were able to adapt it to what you had on hand. It’s definitely one of our family’s all time favorite chicken recipes!
I appreciate the comments and enjoy reading all the tips and suggestions prior to the recipe. C’mon people, if you can’t take a minute to scroll down, go buy a cookbook. I can’t wait to try this tomorrow. If I triple the sauce, would it be good as a sauce for the pasta as well?
Instead of pasta, I think I might like some Garlic Smashed Red Potatoes and nice Fresh Steamed Broccoli! It would make a pretty and appetizing dish! yummy, can’t wait to try it!
Steamed broccoli & this recipe go together alllll day long. Perfect pairing! Those potatoes sound divine, too. My only advice would be to have a slice or two of crusty bread on hand to sop up and of the leftover juices. You won’t want to waste a drop!
Has anyone tried another wine in place of the Marsala?
I made this recently and loved it! Added more Marsala wine and it’s now my favorite chicken dish! Will make this quite often. I’m making your Shimp Salad tonight!
Thanks for some great recipes!
Is this better with dry or sweet Marsala?
The fam says I can keep this in the rotation!
Lol, glad they approve Joanne!
This was delicious! Just made it a few days ago. I also doubled the sauce but left everything else the same. My whole family loved it!
Making again. This is hubby’s new favorite dish.
Can’t wait to try this! By the way, Lombardy is a brand of Marsala wine. Maybe that is where the recipe name comes from.
I didn’t know that Darlene, but that’s another great theory to add into the mix!
This looks delish!
I’m going to try it tonight and use almond flour instead to reduce the carbs 🙂
Great idea, Lori. I’d love to hear how it turns out!
This was amazing! Definitely a do again in our house!