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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FANTASTIC!! REALLY EASY. SUPER DELICIOUS!!!
I’ve made this recipe before and it’s delish. Can you make it ahead of time for a dinner party, and put into the oven straight from the fridge? Has anyone tried it?
All family members loved it (which is rare.. LOL) Thank you for a great recipe! This will be in my recipes for years to come! 🙂
We thoroughly enjoyed. Reminded us of days gone by. I added shallots to the mushrooms. Thanks for a fun dish!
Has anyone ever made this recipe and frozen it?
My husband and I loved this! I made it just like the recipe and it was easy to make.
Seems I re-call reading somewhere, where I could finish this off still on the stove top putting a lip on the pan. Or was that another recipe? That is the way I have been doing it and we really enjoy it.
How do I get more sauce, I hardly have any bits to deglaze the pan. What should I do?
thanks
Michele
Delicious. My husband Loved it. We’ll be making again!
I made this tonight for dinner. It turned out great. I used chicken thighs instead of breast. Doubled the amount of gravy as suggested by other comments.
I didn’t have Marsala wine but used a sweet dry red wine. So simple to prepare. Will make it again for sure!
Didn’t like the chicken plain. next time i made it, I breaded the chicken and browned it, put it together the same way, but changed the wine, I don’t care for Marsala wine. used sifendel. Everyone liked it better, will make it this way again.
Sorry to hear you weren’t a fan of the plain version, Lucille- great idea though to bread and brown the chicken though.
My husband loved it! I probably used a bit more cheese than called for and I finished it under the broiler. Used all the Marsala I had in the pantry. Time to hit the liquor store.
I am always heavy handed with the cheese. I just can’t help it, but when has extra cheese every been a bad thing?! So happy to hear your husband loved it, Carol 🙂 Also, great idea of finishing it up under the broiler.
After reading through the recipe and comments I decided to double the recipe. Didn’t have any wine ( I drank it all)……turned out great! Moist chicken and lovely gravy. Thank you for posting.
Hi! In the recipe you write its 6 servings but in the picture on the baking dish you have only 3? Do i need to make it in batches?
I followed this recipe and my dish came out flavorful but extremely dry. Other websites state to cover the dish with foil. I’ve included this in my notes and will do that the next time I make this dish.
Oh no! So sorry your chicken came out dry, Eleanor. I haven’t had this experience before, and hope it was just a fluke or due to differing ovens. Great idea about the foil, thank you for sharing the tip!
Made this for my book club and everyone loved it. Didn’t have green onions to I sauté a scallion with the mushrooms. Doubled the sauce since it was so good. One of our families favorite recipes.
Hi! Not sure if anyone else asked, but can I use regular wine instead of Marsala? And if so, what do you suggest? It looks so yummy- I was trying to avoid buying an item I may not use much.
You can absolutely sub another wine!
This was a huge hit! Doubled sauce per previous reviews; added 1 large shallot and 3 cloves of garlic. I inadvertently reduced sauce too much and added a bit of heavy cream to compensate. This dish was attacked before I could even snap a pic. Really, really delicious!
As I didn’t read the recipe very closely it was a little more work than I would normally do. But it was fantastic!! I have never had chicken so tender! The wine took it up another notch, and the mushrooms were delicious! I will definitely make it again!
It looks delicious. Can I prepared everything in the morning and when the visit comes put it in the oven
The flavor was amazing and it was so simple to make! I will definitely be making this again and I have leftovers for lunch tomorrow 🙂
I have made this a lot. Always a hit!! Very good.
My husband and I made this together. We used 1 1/2 cups of chicken broth (no wine) to make the gravy and doubled the amount of cornstarch and the cheeses. It was fantastic!!
We really enjoyed this. My husband wanted to try over rice. I think we needed to increase amount of sauce for rice. Next time, we’ll serve over noodles though. I also agree with others that more sauce is needed. My husband and I agree that we could easily make this a meatless dish. We loved the mushrooms, cheese, and sauce. Thank you for this!
I made this tonight and it was a huge hit. I didn’t have Marsala so I used Pino Noir. I also added more chicken stock and sautéed shallots with the mushrooms. It was great.
Great Recipe, I’m somewhat of a beginner but this wasn’t hard to put together. I served it with zucchini and mushroom boats and rice.
By the way Vince Lombardi, great Green Bay Packer Head Coach was a native of Brooklyn NY and was hardly infamous, he was however famous and beloved.
This has become our favorite chicken dish! Thank you for sharing!