Olive Garden's Stuffed Chicken Marsala Copy Cat Recipe

Oh. My. Goodness.  There are no words to describe how yummy/delicious/exceptional/etc. this was! 

Do you need a fancy meal to feed a bunch of people?  This is your recipe!!  Seriously.  You will not be disappointed, and everyone will leave your table with full, satisfied bellies.  I promise!!  I plan on making this a lot!! 

This is the best dish Olive Garden serves at their restaurant.  For real.  So, I had to try this recipe! 

I didn't feel like going out to buy Marsala wine just to have on hand for this recipe, so I used beef broth, and it turned out fine.  I also changed the amount of mushrooms.  The only thing I will change next time is to add a thickening agent to the sauce.  It was a tad bit too runny.  I might also try it next time without the breadcrumbs in the stuffing to see if that makes the stuffing creamier.  It was still wonderful, but I'm going to try it and see what difference it would make.  (** UPDATE - I did try making it without the breadcrumbs in the stuffing, and leaving the breadcrumbs out made all the cheese melt out of the chicken... next time I will try making it with only half of the breadcrumbs and see what that does...)

Olive Garden's Stuffed Chicken Marsala Copy Cat Recipe
from THIS recipe

Cheese Stuffing

• ½ cup shredded smoked provolone cheese
• 1 (8 ounce) shredded mozzarella cheese
• ¼ cup parmesan cheese , grated
• ½ cup breadcrumbs
• 1 teaspoon fresh garlic , minced
• ¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes (or a dash or ground red pepper)
• 2 tablespoons sun-dried tomatoes , flakes if in oil drain first
• ¹⁄₃; cup sour cream
• ½ teaspoon salt and pepper

Chicken

• 2 lbs boneless skinless chicken breasts (I used 6 chicken breasts, but you could do 8 easy!)
• 4 ounces cooking oil
• 1 cups flour
• salt and pepper , to taste

Sauce

• 1 small onion , chopped
• 1 16 oz container of button mushrooms , thinly sliced (about 4 cups)
• 24 ounces marsala wine or 24 ounces beef broth
• 8 ounces heavy cream

Directions:

1. Make Stuffing:Combine all cheese stuffing ingredients in a bowl.
2. Butterfly Chicken:Butterfly thickest section to create two lobes.Place pounded chicken breasts on a plate and place desired amount of stuffing on one half of chicken breast.
3. Gently press stuffing down and fold over other side of chicken breast. (I pressed the stuffing mixture into a kind of patty to make it easier to stuff in the chicken so it wouldn't be loose cheese inside.)  Preheat a large sauté pan on stove top. Add 4 oz. oil; heat oil until shimmering.
4. Place approximately 1 cup flour in a plate and season it to taste with salt and pepper. Dredge chicken in flour and shake off excess flour. Place stuffed chicken breasts in sauté pan with the preheated oil.
5. Cook each side until golden. When chicken is seared on both sides remove them from sauté pan and place them in a baking pan and into the oven bake at 350 for 10-20 minutes. (It took mine at least 25 minutes)
6. Bake until juices run clear and stuffing and center reach a temperature of at least 165°.
7. Make Sauce: Add the onions to the sauté pan. Stir with spatula. After 2 minutes add the mushrooms; sauté mixture until onions are translucent. Deglaze sauté pan with the marsala wine or beef broth (make sure to incorporate particles from bottom of pan). Bring wine or broth to a simmer and add heavy cream. Simmer sauce on low heat until reduced by half.
8. Place cooked chicken breast on a plate and top with onions, mushrooms and sauce.
9. Enjoy!

I flatten my chicken between two pieces of plastic wrap

My stuffing patty

This was right before I added the broth