Steak with a rich, slightly sweet and savory Marsala sauce may be the best steak recipe you make. Steak Marsala with a buttery mushroom Marsala sauce will be a show stopper whether for family or your next dinner party.
Steaks are great with minimal effort whether grilled or covered in a creamy cognac sauce. Steak Marsala is covered in a buttery mushroom sauce and is made in a skillet, no grill required.
Be prepared for a savory sauce made with sweet Marsala wine that compliments a steak of any cut. Since the sauce is so flavorful, you can get by with using a cheaper cut of steak like a top sirloin.
Most people may have tried a chicken Marsala recipe or maybe pork marsala, but you’re going to love those great flavors with steak.
What is Marsala and how long will it last
Marsala is a fortified wine produced in Marsala Sicily. Its unique flavor comes from the grapes grown only in Sicily and it’s fortified with Brandy. It comes either dry or sweet. Want to learn more about this interesting wine, check out Wine Folly.
For the Marsala mushroom sauce, I used a sweet Marsala. Since it’s a fortified wine, once opened you can store it in a dark place for ages and it will still retain its flavor. However, if you don’t want to make Steak Marsala every night, try using some in my family’s favorite dinner recipe, chicken Marsala meatballs.
What can you use instead of Marsala
If you’re all out of Marsala or you can’t find a bottle at the wine store, Madeira is the closest substitute. You could also use Port or Sherry but other wines will not give you the same savory rich flavor you get with Marsala.
If you aren’t a fan of alcohol, use about ¼ cup of chicken broth instead of the wine. While I love the flavor the Marsala adds, the mushrooms are the key ingredient so it will be still be a fabulous dish.
What you’ll need
- Two types of mushrooms – To get a rich mushroom flavor, I used dried porcini mushrooms and fresh cremini mushrooms. Cremini mushrooms are young portobello mushrooms, called baby bellas and are more flavorful than the more common white button mushrooms. Porcini are a wild mushroom with an aromatic woodsy flavor that in my area can only be find dried. With dried mushrooms, you have to reconstitute them with water but the rehydrating liquid adds so much flavor to the sauce. Don’t pour it out! If you’re interested in mushrooms, check out this helpful post from Happy DIY Home.https://happydiyhome.com/types-of-mushrooms/
- Marsala wine – keep a bottle in your pantry, it lasts forever
- Shallots and garlic
- Fresh rosemary and parsley
- Pantry items – chicken broth, butter, flour and lemon juice
How do you make a rich, buttery mushroom sauce
Step 1:
Reconstitute the dried mushrooms.
Step 2:
Cook the fresh mushrooms, start by covering them with a lid to release the moisture then remove the lid and let them get golden brown and remove.
Step 3:
Cook the steaks in the same skillet and remove to a plate.
Step 4:
Add shallots, garlic and butter, then add flour and seasonings and the reconstituted mushrooms.
Step 5:
Once softened add Marsala wine and chicken broth and let it thicken.
Step 6:
Once thickened add back the browned mushrooms and pour over the cooked steaks.
This might sound like a lot of steps but it really won’t take long and the magical flavor is worth every step. This took me about 40 minutes from start to finish. You can shorten the time by browning the mushrooms ahead of time.
This will turn out to be one of your favorite steak recipes, try serving it with mashed potatoes or egg noodles so that you don’t miss a single drop of this amazing sauce. It’s such an impressive dish you’ll be stocking up on bottles of Marsala so that you always have a bottle on hand.
FAQ’s and tips
You can use Madiera or chicken broth.
You can use almost any cut, consider a NY strip or sirloin.
Dried porcini have lots of flavor but you can use any type of dried mushrooms. Sometimes the grocery only has a mixture.
What sides would be great with steak Marsala
- Mashed potatoes
- Corn pudding
- Roasted cauliflower
- Mac & Cheese
- Crunchy roasted potatoes
- Cucumber and corn salad
- Broccoli salad
- Spinach and strawberry salad
- Sour Cream knots
- Buttery dinner rolls
What dessert would go with Marsala steak
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Steak Marsala
Ingredients
- 1 cup chicken broth
- ½ ounce dried porcini mushrooms
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 12 ounces cremini mushrooms sliced thin
- salt and pepper
- 4 6 ounce sirloin steaks
- 1 shallot minced
- 1 tablespoon flour
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 1 teaspoon fresh rosemary minced
- ¾ cup sweet marsala plus 1 tablespoon
- 4 tablespoons butter chilled and cubed
- 1 tablespoon parsley chopped
- 2 teaspoons lemon juice
Instructions
- Add ½ cup of broth to dried porcini mushrooms in a microwave safe bowl and microwave for about 1 minute until steaming. Let sit for about 5 minutes until softened. Drain and reserve liquid. Chop mushrooms until fine.
- Add 1 tablespoon oil to a nonstick skillet over medium-high. When hot, add fresh mushrooms and a pinch of salt and pepper and cover. Cook until the mushrooms have released their liquid, about 3 minutes. Uncover and cook until liquid has evaporated and mushrooms are browned, about 10 minutes. Transfer to a bowl and cover with tinfoil to keep warm.
- Pat steaks dry and season with salt and pepper. Add a tablespoon of oil to the skillet and heat over medium heat. When hot, add steaks and cook until brown on one side. Turn over and cook until meat thermometer registers 125º for medium rare, 130º for medium. Time will vary depending on how thick the steaks are, but about 5 minutes. Transfer to a cutting board and tent with tinfoil.
- Heat a tablespoon of oil in the same skillet over medium-high heat and add shallots, flour, garlic, rosemary, dried mushrooms, a pinch of salt and pepper and cook until the shallots have softened. Stir in ¾ cup of Marsala, reserved mushroom liquid and ½ cup of broth. Cook until reduced and slightly thickened, about 5 minutes.
- Reduce heat and whisk in butter a piece at a time. Next add parsley, lemon juice, the browned fresh mushrooms and 1 tablespoon Marsala. Season with salt and pepper. Slice steak and spoon sauce over steak.
Video
Barbara’s Tips + Notes
- You can substitute Madeira or chicken broth for Marsala wine.
- The steak will continue to cook while it is resting so remove it at a slightly lower temperature than what you prefer.
- If you can’t find dried porcini mushrooms, use whatever dried mushrooms you can find.
Nutrition
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This steak Marsala looks SO darn good! Perfect for a weekend dinner with the family!
It would be great with your Blueberry Slab Pie!
Quick and very good! Yum!
Marsala adds so much flavor, glad it was a hit.
Man, this sounds amazingly delicious. Except…..I HATE MUSHROOMS!!!!!! But I soooo much
want to make this. Can it be made without them? Do they add that much flavor to the recipe that they are needed. Maybe jut make it and pick them out.
The mushrooms are what really add the flavor. You could strain out the mushrooms at the end if you don’t like the texture. But if you don’t like mushrooms, I don’t think you’ll like this sauce. Try just a straight marsala sauce like the one I use for marsala meatballsChicken Marsala Meatballs. Good luck! I