Chicken Lombardy is a delicious Italian chicken dinner with tender, flavorful chicken breasts topped with melty cheese, mushrooms and a Marsala wine sauce that brings it all together.
I love getting all nerdy about food and cooking.
Most days I just bust through the kitchen to get everything made and fixed and eaten, but now and then it’s nice to slow down and learn more about our food.
I love Alton Brown for this reason. He’s a total food geek. He takes it to a science place, which I find fascinating. I love learning about all the underpinnings of what we do in the kitchen.
I also love tracking the ingredients in food, so I’m a happy camper with the farm-to-table movement that’s swept the country.
And maybe most of all, I love the history of food.
I love learning about where various foods originated, how certain dishes came about, why we named things a certain way, which cultures shared which traditions. It’s fascinating to me.
I have so many books I haven’t yet read that trace the history of various foods or the foods of various regions. The Southern Foodways Alliance is a cool group that works a lot in this area.
I just need to find a few more hours in each day so I can get to the reading I want to do!
So this dish.
Chicken Lombardy is incredibly flavorful and one of our favorite comfort food dinners, but I had no idea where the dish came from. And after a good bit of research, I still don’t know much.
Let me explain...
Lombardy is a region in northwest Italy and Milan is the capital.
Lombardy is also supposedly the origin of paninis (to feed hungry but busy Milanese businessmen), so yeah, I kinda love them and the way they do food.
But there’s not much to be found online about the origin of this dish.
Some say it really started with a dish served at Olive Garden, which does like to name its things after Italian regions and locales.
A few sources claim it comes from Wisconsin and is named after Vince Lombardi, the football player and coach. What this combination of ingredients might have to do with him, I've no idea.
So maybe it’s not a very old recipe?
This particular version comes from my grandmother’s local church cookbook, published the year I was born, and wow, was it ever loaded with butter and cheese. So much butter. So much cheese.
I cut back a lot here, but I promise you won’t notice.
This is full of richness and comes out amazingly flavorful. After all, it does still have a good bit of butter paired with the lovely Marsala wine sauce to seriously make it sing.
It even smells amazing as it bakes. You'll get wafts of butter and Marsala perfuming the air and everyone will be very curious about when dinner is going to be ready. Gotta love that!
(And if you love these flavors like I do, check out my creamy Italian chicken skillet. A delicious, easy weeknight dinner.)
Now for a few tips and tricks on making and serving this recipe.
Recipe Notes:
- You're going to sear the chicken breasts on the stove first, then place them in your dish. They'll finish cooking in the oven. Don't skip this step because it both locks in the flavor for the chicken and adds bits of crusted chicken pieces in the pan for the sauce.
- Mushrooms: Regular button mushrooms work great for this recipe, but you could also try cremini mushrooms or baby bella mushrooms if you prefer.
- To make-ahead: Prepare the chicken and mushrooms as directed through step 8. Cover and refrigerate. When ready to cook, remove the dish from the refrigerator and let come to room temperature for 20 minutes as you preheat the oven. Then proceed with the recipe (sprinkle with cheese and bake until the chicken is cooked through and the sauce is bubbling).
Because it can be prepped ahead and because it tastes so great and comes out looking so fabulous, this is a great recipe for a company dinner or for entertaining. Everyone will be impressed!
Hungry yet? Let's get ready to eat!
Here's a few ideas of how to round out the meal.
Serving Ideas:
- This dish is great over a thin noodle, like angel hair pasta or a thin spaghetti, to soak up some of those extra juices.
- It would also be delicious over mashed potatoes or creamy polenta. Again, that yummy sauce will go great with those.
- We add a simple steamed vegetable - like steamed broccoli or asparagus - to round out the meal. Nothing too heavy since this dish has so much going on already.
And, not surprisingly, this chicken dish goes great with a glass of wine.
Last thing, what to do with any leftovers.
Leftovers, once cooled, can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 4-5 days. Reheat in the microwave or on the stove. It helps to slice the chicken before reheating so it heats through more quickly and evenly.
I hope you try this possibly new, possibly old, classic dish soon. You’ll be toasting to Italy. Or maybe to Wisconsin.
Enjoy!
XO,
Kathryn
Chicken Lombardy
Ingredients
- 4 (6 oz.) boneless, skinless chicken breasts
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt, divided
- ½ teaspoon black pepper, divided
- ½ cup flour (I use white whole wheat, but any kind is fine)
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided
- 8 oz. package white button mushrooms, cleaned and sliced
- ½ cup Marsala wine
- ⅓ cup low-sodium chicken broth
- ⅓ cup grated Parmesan cheese
- ⅓ cup mozzarella cheese, shredded
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 450.
- Season the chicken breasts with ½ teaspoon salt and ¼ teaspoon black pepper. Dredge each breast in flour to coat it all around and set aside.
- Melt 4 tablespoons of the butter (½ stick) in a large pan over medium heat. Add chicken breasts to the pan and brown on each side for 5 minutes. Transfer to a 9x13 casserole dish (or equivalently sized baking dish).
- Add 1 tablespoon of the remaining butter to the pan, then add the sliced mushrooms. Saute for 5-7 minutes, until the mushrooms are golden brown. Scatter the mushrooms on top of the chicken breasts in your baking dish.
- Add the marsala wine and chicken broth to the pan, bring to a simmer, then reduce heat to low and cook for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Stir in the remaining ½ teaspoon salt, ¼ teaspoon black pepper and 1 tablespoon butter until the butter is melted. Pour the wine mixture over the chicken and mushrooms in the baking pan.
- Combine the Parmesan and mozzarella cheeses and sprinkle evenly over the chicken breasts.
- Bake at 450 for 20 minutes, until browned and chicken is cooked through. Let rest for 5 minutes, then serve.
Notes
Video
Nutrition
Note: This post was updated with expanded text and new photographs in May 2020. It was originally published in September 2015.
karrie @ Tasty Ever After
Man oh man, do I like (love) this recipe! Already pinned it cause it's a keeper and making it this week fo' sure 🙂 I was thinking about serving it with the angel hair but your potatoes look so good with it that I may just make those. I love researching about the origin of foods too and it's funny how this could be Italy or Wisconsin. Just checked out the Southern Foodways Alliance site and it looks very interesting. Can't wait to spend some time reading about it all. And local community cookbooks are the best!!
Kathryn
We're long lost sisters, aren't we Karrie?! Give us food and books -- and drinks -- and we're all set 🙂 XXOO
Allymax
Kathryn - just made your recipe Chicken Lombardy and followed directions exactly. It was very good but would it be sacrilege to add fresh garlic? I just thought it could use something but I'm not sure what. Thank you so much.
Kathryn
Not at all, you could certainly add garlic. I'd recommend adding two minced cloves (or three if you want a lot of garlic flavor!) to the saute pan when the mushrooms are almost done cooking and saute the garlic for about 30 seconds. Then just add the garlic and mushrooms to the pan on top of the chicken breasts and proceed. Hope that helps!
Cheyanne @ No Spoon Necessary
Ha! I am a HUGE food nerd! I LOVE learning... so I guess I am just a huge nerd in general. 😉 If you like Alton, you should Toe-ts check out Serious Eats Food Lab! You will love it (no one is paying me to say that... I just love it). Speaking of LOVE - this chicken? LOVE! White meat chickie deliciousness seared in BUTTER and then finished in the oven with 'shrooms, marsala and cheese? GIMME that!!! Loves it. Pinned! Cheers, girlfriend! <3
Kathryn
I'm right there with you - if I could go to school forever, I'd be a happy lady! YES to the Food Lab! Have seen their stuff here and there but you've reminded me to explore it more. 🙂 Thanks for the pin and cheers to almost the weekend! XO
Dani @ House in Tillford
That opening description had me hooked! All those elements sound delicious and looks so good too!
Kathryn
It's a definite keeper, Dani! It all works so well together and comes out divine 🙂 Hope you give it a try and let me know how you like it!
Michelle at A Dish of Daily Life
I can tell from just looking at this recipe that my family will love it! I am adding it to the menu plan very soon! I'm so glad you shared it with us at #FoodieFriDIY...sending some foodie love your way!
Kathryn
Thanks so much, Michelle! It's definitely one of our favorites - can't go wrong with this combo of flavors! XO
Lucy
Yay! Love your blog. So happy to see this on BuzzFeed today. Pinned to make for dinner ASAP!
Kathryn
Thank you so much, Lucy! (And I didn't know it was on BuzzFeed till you told me, so thanks for the heads up, too!) I hope you try it soon and love it 🙂 XO
Patti
Just made this tonight for the Packer game - delicious! My family loved it and this will now stay in our rotation. Thank you!
Kathryn
I'm so happy to hear you and your family enjoyed it, Patti! It's definitely one of our favorites 🙂
Ana
Hi! This looks wonderful! Any suggestions of how to make this ahead of a dinner party? I'm thinking I could do part 1 - the browning the chicken, etc. the day before. Then, the next day, let them come to room temp and then make the sauce to pour over and then bake. Do you think this would work okay?
Kathryn
Hi Ana! Yes, I think you could definitely brown the chicken ahead of time, as well as prep the mushrooms. I'm tempted to say you could go through as far as step 8... fix and assemble the chicken, mushrooms and sauce in your baking dish then refrigerate. Pull it out, allow it to come to room temperature, sprinkle with the cheeses and then bake it until hot and cooked through.
Would love to hear how you try it and how it turns out!
Ana
Precisely what I was hoping! I am a total fan of doing as much ahead of a dinner party as is possible. But, when you've not yet made a dish, it's not always easy to determine where you can break up the stages. This is perfect, and I will definitely report back. Dinner party's on Saturday. Thanks so much!
Kathryn
I'm with you on prepping ahead as much as possible - that way YOU get to enjoy the party, too! Have fun and hope it's a hit 🙂
Ana
Hi Kathryn! Just wanted to let you know that this was perfect! The evening before the dinner party, all steps were completed except the final (adding cheese and baking.) This worked exactly as hoped. The next day, I took pans out of the fridge in enough time for them to come to room temp and await final step. As we neared serving time, I preheated oven and about 15 minutes or so before serving time, I sprinkle the cheese and baked. It was great! Everybody loved it and (the bonus) I could enjoy my own dinner party by not having to be tied to the stove. I served with boiled petite potatoes and sauteed zucchini and tomotoes. Thanks so much!
Kathryn
Hey Ana, I'm so happy to hear it was a hit! And that you got to enjoy the party, too 🙂 Sounds like a yummy spread! Thank you so much, too, for reporting back that the prep ahead worked out - know that's going to come in handy for me and lots of others. I think I'll update the notes with that option. Have a great rest of your weekend!
Sara @ Life's Little Sweets
Wow, this dish looks great! Especially for those weeknight meals!
Kathryn
Thanks Sara! It's SO tasty! And great for guests, too, this holiday season 🙂
Sana
Hey I want to replace wine with something else so can you suggest me something instead of wine?
Kathryn
Hi Sana! Marsala wine is a cooking wine, not a drinking one, and lasts a long time in the pantry. It's readily available, too, but if you'd rather not use it, you could substitute chicken broth and maybe a splash of white wine or sherry vinegar. It won't have the same depth of flavor, but should still be really tasty! Would love to hear if you try it.
Jane
Wow! Just made this dish and my husband, who is very lukewarm about chicken dishes took a second helping. Really delicious!
Kathryn
Oh yay! That makes me so happy to hear - thanks for sharing Jane! Have a great weekend! 😊