Juicy chicken and mushrooms in a madeira cream sauce under melty cheese and asparagus… all you need is mashed potatoes to go with it. This creamy Chicken Madeira is one of the most popular menu item at the Cheesecake Factory. It is popular for good reason! We love recreating our favorite restaurant copycat recipes like this one from Olive Garden!
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The madeira cream sauce has incredible flavor. You will want to dip your bread into the pan before the night is over and get every last drop of it. This Chicken Madeira recipe tastes fancy and will impress your family, dinner guests or your special someone for a date night in! This is one of our favorite copycat recipes.
Everyone in our family loved this Chicken Madeira, even the baby! My Mom was particularly impressed (she was trained as a chef so naturally when Mom is impressed, I’m beaming!).
This made for a lovely and fancy dinner and there was nothing overly difficult about it. Now you can also enjoy homemade Chicken Madeira for a fraction of the price!
Watch How to Make Chicken Madeira Recipe:
We went to the Cheesecake Factory on our Anniversary for my husbands’ first (and my second) time ever and ordered their world famous Chicken Madeira. It was love at first bite and we just knew we had to recreate this dish at home.
We made a copycat Chicken Madeira, except I love the homemade version even better! And, when you make it at home, you can feed a family of 4 for the cost of 1 serving at the restaurant. This is why we love copycat recipes so much!
Ingredients for Easy Chicken Madeira Recipe:
These simple ingredients work together to make a memorable one-pan dinner. If the wine section of your grocery store does not have Madeira, check at the liquor and wine store – I purchased this bottle for $6. If you aren’t able to find Madeira wine, you can substitute with Marsala wine which is also a sweet wine although it will taste more like chicken marsala ;).
How to Make Copycat Chicken Madeira:
1. To blanch asparagus: Remove fibrous stems from asparagus by snapping them off (watch video above). To blanch asparagus, fill a medium pot with 6 cups water, bring to a boil and add 1 Tbsp salt. Add asparagus and boil uncovered until crisp tender and bright green (2-3 minutes then remove immediately from hot water and set aside).
2. Place a large heavy (oven-safe) pan over medium/high heat and melt in 2 Tbsp butter and 1 Tbsp oil. Add thickly sliced mushrooms and cook 5 minutes until soft. Stir in diced onion and cook 3 minutes. Add minced garlic cloves then season with 1/4 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp black pepper and 2 Tbsp fresh parsley. Cook another 2 minutes then remove mixture to a plate and wipe skillet clean with wet paper towel.
3. Slice chicken breasts in half lengthwise and pound each cutlet between plastic wrap until no more than 1/4″ thick. Season chicken breasts all over with 1/2 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp black pepper. Place same pan over medium/high heat and add 1 Tbsp butter and 1 Tbsp oil. When butter is finished foaming, add chicken breasts and saute 3 to 4 minutes per side or until golden brown and cooked through. Remove chicken from pan to the same plate as mushrooms.
4. In the same pan, add 1 1/2 cups Madeira and boil until reduced by half (5 minutes of vigorous boiling), scraping the bottom of the pan to deglaze. Add 1 1/2 cups beef broth and boil until 2/3 cup liquid remains or about 1/4 of it’s original volume (10 min). Reduce heat to medium, add 1/2 cup cream and simmer until sauce thickens (2 min). Season sauce with salt and pepper to taste and turn off heat.
5. Return chicken to the pan, turning it to coat in the sauce. Top with mushrooms, asparagus and sprinkle 1 cup of mozzarella cheese over the top. Broil 3-4 minutes or until cheese is melted. Remove from oven, garnish with fresh parsley.
Are you hungry yet? This dish always gets rave reviews at the dinner table and it’s so good paired with Mashed Potatoes. I hope it becomes a new favorite for your family.
Our Most Popular Chicken Recipes:
- Chicken Avocado Salad – our #1 most popular chicken recipe
- Spatchcock Chicken – the juiciest way to roast a whole chicken
- Garlic Butter Stuffed Chicken – you won’t believe what’s inside!
- Stuffed Chicken Parmesan – a classic chicken recipe just got better
Chicken Madeira Recipe (Cheesecake Factory Copycat)
Ingredients
- 1 lb Chicken Breasts (2 large)
- 1 lb asparagus, blanched*
- 3/4 tsp sea salt, divided, and black pepper to taste
- 3 Tbsp Unsalted Butter, divided
- 2 Tbsp olive oil, divided
- 16 oz button mushrooms, thickly sliced
- 1 small or 1/2 medium yellow onion, finely diced
- 2 large garlic cloves, minced
- 2 Tbsp fresh parsley, finely chopped, plus to garnish
- 1 1/2 cups Madeira Wine, sweet white wine*
- 1 1/2 cups low sodium beef stock or broth
- 1/2 cup Whipping Cream, heavy or regular
- 1 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded
Instructions
- To blanch asparagus: Remove fibrous stems from asparagus by snapping them off. Fill a medium pot with 6 cups water, bring to a boil and add 1 Tbsp salt. Add asparagus and boil uncovered until crisp tender and bright green (2-3 minutes then remove from hot water and set aside).
- Place a large heavy (oven-safe) pan over medium/high heat and melt in 2 Tbsp butter and 1 Tbsp oil. Add sliced mushrooms and cook 5 min until soft. Stir in diced onion and cook 3 min. Add minced garlic cloves then season with 1/4 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp black pepper and 2 Tbsp parsley. Cook another 2 min then remove mixture to a plate and wipe skillet clean with wet paper towel.
- Slice chicken breasts in half lengthwise and pound each cutlet between plastic wrap until no more than 1/4" thick. Season chicken all over with 1/2 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp black pepper. Place same pan over medium/high heat and add 1 Tbsp butter and 1 Tbsp oil. When butter is finished foaming, add chicken breasts and sauté 3 to 4 min per side or until golden and cooked through. Remove chicken from pan to the same plate with mushrooms.
- In the same pan, add 1 1/2 cups Madeira and boil until reduced by half (5 minutes vigorous boiling), scraping the bottom of the pan to deglaze. Add 1 1/2 cups beef broth and boil until 2/3 cup liquid remains or about 1/4 of it's original volume (10 min). Reduce heat to medium, add 1/2 cup cream and simmer until sauce thickens (2 min). Season with salt and pepper to taste.
- Return chicken to the pan, turning it to coat in the sauce. Top with mushrooms, asparagus and sprinkle with 1 cup of mozzarella cheese over the top. Broil 3-4 minutes or until cheese is melted. Remove from oven, garnish with fresh parsley.
Notes
Nutrition Per Serving
If you make this recipe, I’d love to see pics of your creations on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter! Hashtag them #natashaskitchen
This chicken madeira recipe is easy and so good – just the way it should be. And, it’s so smart to dine in, especially if you are feeding a crowd!
My husband and I celebrated our 14th wedding anniversary with this dish. 14 years feels just few by and we now have an 8 year old and 2 year old. WOAH!! I am so thankful that we are best friends after all these years and that we not only love, but really like each other – and we work side by side day after day. The longer I am married to my husband, the more I just want to be around him and with him. Our date nights are few and far between but they are a treat!
Q: What is your favorite celebration dish and restaurant? I’d love to hear about it in a comment below!
P.S. If you love one-pan chicken recipes, make sure to check out this reader favorite (EASY) pesto chicken!
Can you substitute anything for the wine?
Hi Debbie, I have made a similar sauce with marsala wine or even merlot wine (with my filet mignon) if that helps.
Hi Natasha!
Can I substitute something else for mushrooms? Although I love mushrooms, my husband doesn’t. Or would it change the flavor too much?
Hi Yuliya, I haven’t tested it without mushrooms so I’m not sure how much it would affect the flavor. You could try omitting them but there isn’t anything that would make a very good substitute. If the mushrooms are thick-sliced, they are easy to avoid when serving so maybe cut the mushrooms in half?
Made this using left over sweet white wine and a side of spaghetti. This was so darn good!! I was tempted to lick my plate since I had no more room for 2nds but didn’t want to stop eating. Hubby loved this so much that I even got a “thank you for dinner baby” and a kiss 😆
Next time I’m doubling the portion so theres more left overs!
Thank you Natasha! You seriously rock girl!
AWWW! That is the sweetest! Thank you so much for sharing your amazing review 🙂
Your recipe calls for beef broth, but your picture shows beef stock. They are different things, yes? Which did you use for the recipe?
Hi Meagan, beef broth or beef stock can be used interchangeably in this recipe. I’ll update the ingredients list to clarify. Thanks!
I just made this for Labor Day fine and the family said its a keeper! Good job on easy instructions. Thank you!
Awesome! I’m glad to hear everyone enjoys the recipe! Thanks for sharing your great review Deborah!
UG I got marsala wine so here it goes….kids…lol…………….hope it turns out -never had cheesecakes version –
Hi Peggy, it will be a slightly different flavor profile (more of a chicken marsala) but should still be very tasty 🙂 I hope you love it!
Great dish. Shared already with my friends and they all love it!
I’m glad everyone loves it! Thanks for sharing Kamila!
have not had this before, but looks wonderful regardless of whether it’s on the Cheesecake Factory menu or not! Thank you for breaking this menu down!
You’re welcome Sabrina! Please let me know what you think of the recipe if you decide to make it!
Happy Anniversary! I am salivating here looking at your pictures! What a great dish!
Thank you Julia! This recipe is AMAZING! Please let me know what you think if you decide to make it! 🙂
Can I use chicken stock instead? or will it change the taste too much?
Hi Chirag, chicken broth would be a good substitution 🙂
I can’t wait to try this! I know it will be amazing, every recipe of yours that I have a tried has been wonderful! Thank you for sharing and for the awesome video!!
My pleasure Teresa! I’m glad to hear you are enjoying the recipes! Please let me know what you think of this one!
There was a recipe that included Cream of mushroom and cream of celery soup with long grain wild rice..I lost the recipe and want to make it! Can you help?
Hi Stan, I wonder if you are thinking of a different recipe on someone elses blog? I don’t have any recipes with those 2 products in them. Sorry I can’t be more help!
This looks delicious but my family doesn’t eat mushrooms, can you recommend a substitute for the mushrooms? Thanks so much!
Hi Christie, I haven’t tried any substitutions since mushrooms are pretty classic to the way it is served at Cheesecake factory, but I think it would work without the mushrooms.
Why beef broth? Can you use chicken broth? Or even vegetable broth ?
Hi Lynn, more for the deeper color and flavor but chicken broth would also work. 🙂
My husband orders this dish for years at our Cheesecake Factory restaurant, but the sauce is a brown sauce – nothing creamy about it! I’m thinking maybe to recreate how they fix it here, I’d just leave out the cream? Thank you! Can’t wait to try this for him!
Hi Gayle, the cream was our own spin on it to create more sauce – I felt it was an improvement and we all loved it, but you can omit it and it will still work. You might add a little broth if the flavors are too strong in the sauce.
Is there a substitution for the wine?
Hi Brenda, it would no longer be Chicken Madeira and since most of the dishes’ signature flavor comes from the wine, it would need additional changes and seasoning if something like broth was used. I have made a similar sauce with marsala wine or even merlot wine (with my filet mignon) if that helps.
Natasha this chicken looks so delicious can’t wait to make this. Thanks for sharing.
Thank you so much Maria for that amazing compliment! 🙂
This looks delicious. Next week is my baby’s 3rd birthday and i was wondering what to make that is new to us and gonna look and taste wowzers. Thank you
Oh happy birthday to your baby!!! 3 is such a sweet age. I hope you all love this chicken! 🙂
Happy anniversary to you two!!! I’ve been making this dish since I tried it at Cheesecake Factory few years ago and yes, it is popular for a reason. I totally agree! It’s a family favorite dish, even my little ones approve this statement (3 and 2 yr olds!). P.s. I’ve also bought Madeira wine at local Fred Meyers store in their wine aisle.
Thank you Tina! I’m glad your family enjoys the recipe as much as mine does!
Can I substitute another white wine or is that the main flavor ingredient? I just don’t cook with wine a lot and feel like I already have quite a few bottles sitting around so was so wondering if I could possibly use something I already have. Thanks.
Hi Ruslana, I do think there is room to experiment! I have made a similar sauce with marsala wine and a red wine (Merlot) in my filet mignon recipe. I hope that helps! 😉
Where did you buy the wine? I can never find it 😕
Nevermind just saw your side note in the recipe 🙈
Hi Lidiya, yes! I have made a similar sauce with marsala wine (to make Chicken Marsala) and a red wine (Merlot) in my filet mignon recipe. I hope thats helpful! 😉