substitute for heavy cream in chicken marsala

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Have you just ran out of heavy cream? Are you looking for a suitable substitute for heavy cream in chicken marsala? If you are, then you’re in luck. Here, we’ve taken the liberty to list 9 easy alternatives for heavy cream for chicken marsala recipes.

And, while these substitutes will never 100% mimic the flavor of heavy in your recipe, many of them do a decent job at adding some creaminess and thickness into a dish!

 substitute for heavy cream in chicken marsala

Chicken Marsala is an Italian-American chicken dish made with ingredients like chicken, Marsala Wine, mushrooms, heavy cream, chicken broth, all purpose flour and other seasonings and flavorings. 

This dish is great for serving with pasta, salads, mashed potatoes, rice and even steamed or reposted vegetables.

But what if you’re making a chicken Marsala dish but you have no heavy cream on hand? Is it a replaceable ingredient in that dish? Or maybe you’re trying to make a dairy free chicken Marsala dish since you’ve just decided to cut dairy out of your diet. 

Either way, there are quite a few ways to substitute for heavy cream in chicken Marsala.

What are the best heavy cream substitutes for chicken Marsala?

Heavy cream is used primarily to help make a creamy, slightly thickened chicken Marsala sauce. Therefore the best substitute will be ingredients or combinations of ingredients that also help to add some creaminess and a slight thickness.

Thus, the best heavy cream substitutes for chicken Marsala are half-and-half, evaporated milk, milk and butter mixture, sour cream, full fat coconut milk with flour, almond milk with flour, whole milk & cornstarch and a mixture of all purpose flour with chicken broth. 

Each will be discussed further below. Substitute ratios will be shared below as well.

Best ways to substitute for heavy cream in chicken marsala

Half and half 

Half and half 

One of the best ways to add creaminess and some extra thickness to chicken Marsala is with some half and half. Therefore half and half is a wonderful substitute for heavy cream in a Marsala recipe. You can choose to use it on its own or with some extra butter to help get the same fat content as heavy cream.

Use equal parts half-and-half to replace heavy cream in a dish.

Evaporated milk

evaporated milk

Another suitable substitute for heavy cream in chicken Marsala is evaporated milk. This milk is thicker and creamier than whole milk so it’s quite okay to use it on its own in place of heavy cream. Also you can add some extra butter to the evaporated milk to make it a little thicker and fattier so as to mimic the heavy cream more closely. 

Use equal parts evaporated milk to alternate for heavy cream in a chicken Marsala recipe. Also, read more about evaporated milk alternatives here.

Whole milk and butter 

Whole milk and butter 

Most people may not have evaporated milk on hand but may have a staple ingredient like whole milk in the refrigerator or pantry. Whole milk and butter can thus be used to make your own heavy cream replacement.

To make it you will need ¾ cup of room-temperature whole milk and ¼ cup of melted butter that has also been cooled to room temperature. Mix well with a whisk or hand mixer until properly combined then use like you would use heavy cream.

A 1:1 substitute ratio is ideal in this case.

Whole milk and cornstarch 

Whole milk and cornstarch 

Another unlikely yet very suitable replacement for heavy cream is a combination of whole milk and cornstarch. For this substitute use 1 cup of milk and 2 tablespoons of cornstarch.

Mix well then set aside until it thickens up. Use in the same way heavy cream is used in savory recipes like chicken Marsala.

Sour cream 

Sour cream 

Sour cream can also be used to make a chicken Marsala recipe if there is no heavy cream available. Sour cream will add a nice tang to the Marsala dish, nonetheless, you can use equal parts sour cream to replace heavy cream. 

Full fat coconut milk (with flour)

coconut milk

Full fat coconut milk with flour is also a good choice for adding creaminess to chicken Marsala. Full fat coconut milk is a dairy-free substitute for heavy cream in Marsala.

This substitute adds a slight coconut-y flavor so keep this in mind if you plan to use it as a stand-in for heavy cream. Please use unsweetened coconut milk for the best results.

To replace ½ cup of heavy cream, ½ cup of coconut milk with 1 tablespoon of flour mixed in will be sufficient. 

Almond milk 

Almond milk 

Almond milk is another suitable dairy-free heavy cream substitute for chicken Marsala. It offers the best results for adding some thickness and creaminess to this dish when some flour or cornstarch is also used.

This means that ½ cup of unsweetened almond milk combined with ½  tablespoon of cornstarch or 1 tablespoon flour of is enough to replace ½ cup of heavy cream. In other words, a 1:1 conversion ratio.

Chicken Broth & all purpose flour 

Chicken Broth

Lastly another easy substitute for heavy cream in a Marsala dish is a combination of chicken broth and all-purpose flour.

To make this mix 1 cup of broth with 1-3 tablespoons of the leftover all-purpose flour used to coat the chicken breasts. Use a whisk or hand mixture to combine until all the flour dissolves then use it in the same way you use heavy cream. 

Final thoughts

These are the most suitable heavy cream substitutes for a chicken marsala dish. The best part is that many of these ingredients are in your kitchen which makes them easy to whip up or use! You also get to complete your recipe without needing to make a store run.

If you are looking for other heavy cream substitute ideas for various recipes, you should also check out these substitutes for heavy cream in pasta, substitutes for heavy cream in soup, heavy cream substitutes for vodka sauce and heavy cream substitutes for mashed potatoes.

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