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!
This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy.
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!
Lovely recipe. This is my second time making it. I learned to not use as much salt as recommended. Also the sauce takes the longest to make. I would use two pans to make the sauce separate while the chicken and asparagus are cooking. That way, every thing is done around the same time.
I’m so happy you loved this recipe! Thank you for sharing your tip with us! 🙂
I wouldn’t cook the sauce in a separate pan from the chicken. The chicken caramlizarion at the bottom of the pan adds extra flavor to the sauce and you need the wine to deglaze it off the pan. If you cook it separately you won’t get that flavor
What size (qt) capacity is your pan? Looks perfect for 4 cutlets. Can’t wait to try this recipe. Has everything my hubby and I like.
Hi Gail we used this pan here. It is a 4 qt capacity pan and we love it!
Love the pan you are using. Do you have a link?
Hi Gail we used this Staub pan here.
I’m so happy to have found your blog today – have been watching videos & C & P recipes for 2 hours, I think. May I suggest on this particular recipe that you use a diff. term for cutting the chicken breasts in half? You said cut them lengthwise, which would mean from the top of the breast to the bottom with the knife vertical. I THINK you meant (after watching the video) you really meant slicing them “horizontally” with the knife horizontal so they are half as thick as before. If one doesn’t watch your video, they would misunderstand your intent. Just a suggestion – love your website and recipes – you are very personable and natural!
I’m so happy you discovered our blog, Arline! Thank you so much for your feedback.
This dish is delicious. We ended up making a second batch of sauce because the first batch just wasn’t enough. We may have cooked it down too much, or we just had too much asparagus and chicken. Love your recipes.
I’m so happy you enjoyed that Kevin! You can never go wrong with a little extra madeira sauce, we love it!
Hello!! I can not wait to try this. Would it taste similar with a mushroom substitute? If so, any recommendations? We’re non mushroom lovers but this dish may change our views on them 😉
Hi Jessica, I haven’t tested it without mushrooms so I’m not sure how much it would affect the flavor. You could try omitting them and maybe using some chopped zucchini instead. I hope you love it even without the mushrooms!
HI, TASHA …WHAT KIND OF PLASTIC WRAP DID YOU USE TO POUND THE CHICKEN BREASTS…..LOOKS REALLY STRONG PLASTIC…I ASK BECAUSE I USE PLASTIC WRAP TOO WHEN IM GOING TO MAKE SOMETHING WITH CHICKEN BREAST
Hi Mercy. I have one of the bulk rolls from Costco, Kirkland Signature Saran wrap. 🙂
Love your blog – please continue with pictures, they are great!
I intend to serve this dish to my group of 12 friends – we get together and call ourselves “The Gourmet Group”. Do you have a recommendation for wine to drink with the dish? Thanks so much.
Hi Gerry, I hope you all love this Chicken Madeira! Sounds like a fun group :). I’m not going to be much help with wine since we don’t drink – we just use wine in our cooking 🙂
No problem – there are many sources I can check. Thanks for your response and your recipes. Will be checking regularly. Cheers, Gerry
PS – did a trial run before serving it to the group – DELICIOUS!
I’m so happy you loved it! 🙂 Thank you for the amazing review 🙂
This is one of my new favorites! We make it at least once a month! I do make more sauce though since it’s so yummy on my mashed potatoes! Thank you so much for sharing!
You’re so welcome, Lori! I’m so happy you enjoyed that. Thank you for the awesome review!
I made the Chicken Madeira tonight & instead of having to use broth, cream, & Madeira wine I made it simple by just using Campbell’s Slow Kettle Style Portobello Mushroom Madeira Bisque. It was very good…..my family enjoyed it. Wish I would have took a picture😕
Hi Nona! What a brilliant idea! Thank you for sharing that with us!
It looks yummy. Only problems are I don’t have any whipping cream. Can I use whole milk instead?
And, I don’ have madeira wine but I have Sauvignon Blanc.
I do have fresh parsley though!
Hi Donna, you could omit it and the recipe would still work although we do like the sauce a little creamier. I haven’t tried any substitutions so I can’t really offer any advice on that. Sorry I can’t be more helpful!
I pin most of your recipes, so good. I wish you had the jump to recipe option, to many pictures.
That’s a great idea Mary! Thank you for your feedback!
I LOVE this dish!! Thank you so much!
You’re so welcome Ana! Thank you for sharing that with us!
Excellent! Natashia you are surely a seasoned cook but prep time is about 45 minutes but well worth it! I used cast iron as you did so time needs to be adjusted cause everything is faster…FANTASTIC! Wish I could have posted pics!
I’m so happy you enjoyed that Brenda! Thank you for the great review!
Made this recipe for dinner this evening and my family loved it! Thank you.
That’s so great Nannette! I’m so happy you all enjoyed that!
Made for my son’s family a couple months ago. My Granddaughter sent me a text asking me to make that delicious chicken with mushroom wine sauce. ( Forgot the name) so you know it is good when the kids ask for you to make again.
Also made extra sauce and served with egg noodles
I love that Julia!! That’s so great, thank you for sharing that with me!
Hi this looks so delicious but do you have a recommendation for something other than a alcohol beverage? Would chicken stock work?
Hi Tandy, If you are looking to make it wine-free, you could just use more broth but the flavor profile wouldn’t be quite the same. The madeira wine gives it a unique, sweet flavor profile and I haven’t experimented with anything besides wine to provide a specific recommendation.
This is soooooo good! I’m making it again tonight with extra sauce, cause that stuff is amazing! Thank you for this!
You’re so welcome Kati! I’m so happy you enjoyed that!
Hi Natasha,
I made it was delightful,thanks for the great recipes.Do you have supremo di pollo cacciatore recipe?
Hi Marimar! I don’t have one exactly like that but a few favorite chicken dishes are Spatchcock Chicken or you can try this braised potatoes with pork but switch the port out for chicken. I will have to try the true Chicken Cacciatore recipe soon!
I made it but the wine doesn’t cost $6.00 more like $33.00
Hi Graham, wow that is a pricey bottle of Madeira! Different brands come at different price points. Our local store only had the one cheap bottle at $6.
My Madeira cost $20 and that was Canadian so definitely different prices :O
This dish was delicious! My husband loved it! It looked just like the picture. I forgot to take a picture, but it’s definitely a keeper!👍🏻
Hi Diane! I’m so happy you enjoyed this dish! Thank you for the great review!