This Marsala sauce with Mavrodaphne wine is delicious with chicken, steak, pork steaks, and roasts. Made with sweet Greek Mavrodaphne wine, it is simple, velvety, and full of flavor.

If you love this Marsala Sauce With Mavrodaphne Wine, you will also love this Greek Beef Stew With Eggplant, Stifado-Red Wine Beef Stew, & Kokkinisto-Braised Beef in Red Sauce!

A bowl with marsalla sauce with mushrooms and twigs of thyme on top.

Why this recipe sings

This recipe is my Greek version of a marsala sauce.

Marsala sauce is made with marsala wine from Sicily. A well-known recipe is Chicken marsala, an Italian-American dish popular in the USA but not Italy. Interesting trivia: The origins of marsala sauce can be traced back to the early 1800s, when French chefs were introduced into high Sicilian culture. Queen Maria Carolina of Naples and Sicily, the sister of Marie Antoinette, imported these chefs because she believed that the local cuisine was not sophisticated enough for her court.

This recipe uses sweet Greek Mavrodaphne and dry red wine instead of the dry, sweet Sicilian marsala wine. In Greece’s Peloponnese region, Mavrodaphne is a type of red wine grape that is well-known for its ability to produce sweet dessert wine. Despite this, it can also be utilized to create dry wines. The name “black laurel” is the Greek translation of Mavrodaphne, and it may be referred to by other names such as Mavrodaphni or Mavrodafni.

The best mavrodaphne wine comes from Pátras*, in the Achaia region of Greece in the Peloponnese. Mavrodaphne of Pátras is a dark wine with an almost opaque purple-brown color. It has notes of caramel, chocolate, coffee, and dried fruits like raisins and plums. The other ingredients are similar to the original marsala sauce. Mushrooms, butter, garlic, onion (instead of shallots), chicken broth, dry red wine and sweet Mavrodaphne wine create this delicious sauce.

It is sweet, dark, and has complex flavors. It is excellent over a steak or chicken. I love serving it as a side dish for Christmas. It pairs well with roasted chicken, pork roast, or grilled vegetables.

*Source: Wineenthusiast.com

Here is what you need

A bottle of dry red wine, a bottle of Mavrodaphne wine, a bowl with mushrooms, an onion, a garlic head, and small bowls with sea salt, pepper, butter, olive oil, broth and sprigs of fresh thyme on a wooden board.
  • Mushrooms.
  • Onion and garlic.
  • Mavrodaphne wine
  • Dry red wine To balance the intense sweet notes of Mavrodaphne. Always cook with a wine you would happily drink.
  • Chicken broth. Or vegetable.
  • Extra virgin olive oil.
  • Butter.
  • Fresh thyme sprigs. I put a couple in the sauce at the last minute. I also love a sprinkle of thyme leaves for serving.
  • Sea salt and freshly ground pepper.

How to make this marsala sauce

Broth simmering in a pot.
Pour the chicken broth into a saucepan and let it simmer until it is reduced to ¼ of the original volume.
Sliced mushrooms sauteing in a skillet.
Place a skillet over medium-high heat, add the olive oil, and saute the mushrooms until golden brown.
Sliced mushrooms, diced onions and garlic sauteing in a skillet.
Lower the heat, add the onion, and saute until caramelized for about 4 to 5 minutes; add the garlic and stir.
Mushrooms in red wine sauce in a skillet.
When the garlic is fragrant, pour the mavrodaphne and dry red wine, and simmer until the liquids are reduced to about one-third.
Add the condensed chicken stock and continue to simmer until the sauce thickens.
Mushrooms in red wine sauce with butter and a wooden spoon in a skillet.
Stir the butter in the sauce.
Mushrooms and fresh tyme sprigs in red wine sauce in a skillet.
Add the fresh thyme herbs and stir. Season with salt and freshly ground pepper to taste. keep the sauce warm until serving.
A bowl on a plate with marsalla sauce with mushrooms and twigs of thyme on top. A cloth napkin is under the plate, at the back, is a small container with pepper and sea salt.

With what to serve this marsala sauce

Our marsala sauce with mavrodaphne wine is versatile and goes well with various dishes. It is wonderful with roasted turkey, chicken, a fillet mignon, and pork chops. Additionally, marsala sauce is delicious over mashed potatoes and rice.

Thank you to yiannisloukakos.com for the inspiration for this recipe.

You may also like

Check out my Greek pantry staples 

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A bowl with marsalla sauce with mushrooms and twigs of thyme on top.

Marsala Sauce with Mavrodapne Wine

by Jenny Skrapaliori Graves
This marsala sauce is excellent with chicken, chops, mashed potatoes and rice.
5 from 9 votes
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour
Course Sauce
Cuisine Greek, International
Servings 6
Calories 231 kcal

Ingredients
  

  • 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
  • 8 oz white mushrooms sliced
  • 1 small onion diced
  • 2 garlic cloves diced
  • 1 cup mavrodaphne wine
  • 1 cup dry red wine
  • 2 cus chicken broth
  • 5 tablespoons butter
  • thyme sprigs
  • freshly ground pepper

Instructions
 

This recipe yields 2 cups of sauce.

  • Pour the chicken broth into a saucepan and let it simmer until it is reduced to ¼ of the original volume.
  • Place a skillet over medium-high heat, add the olive oil, and saute the mushrooms until golden brown.
  • Lower the heat, add the onion, and saute until caramelized for about 4 to 5 minutes; add the garlic and stir.
  • When the garlic is fragrant, pour the mavrodaphne and dry red wine, and simmer until the liquids are reduced to about one-third. 
  • Add the condensed chicken stock and continue to simmer until the sauce thickens.
  • Stir the butter in the sauce.
  • Add the fresh thyme herbs and stir. Season with salt and freshly ground pepper to taste. keep the sauce warm until serving.

Notes

  • Use the mushrooms you like. I use baby Bella, white button mushrooms, and portobello. They all work great.
  • If you prefer a thicker sauce, mix 1 tsp of cornflour/cornstarch with a tablespoon of the sauce or broth. Once the cornflour is dissolved, mix it in the sauce
 
Nutritional Info – Please keep in mind that the nutritional information provided is only an estimate and can vary based on the products.

Nutrition

Calories: 231kcalCarbohydrates: 9gProtein: 0.5gFat: 14gSaturated Fat: 7gPolyunsaturated Fat: 1gMonounsaturated Fat: 6gTrans Fat: 0.4gCholesterol: 25mgSodium: 81mgPotassium: 70mgFiber: 0.3gSugar: 4gVitamin A: 292IUVitamin C: 2mgCalcium: 12mgIron: 0.2mg
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Marsala Sauce With Mavrodaphne Wine
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Recipe Rating




22 Comments

  1. 5 stars
    This sauce is so wonderfully flavourful and really easy to make. I use it on everything from chicken thighs, to meatballs, and pork chops. All the flavours are bang on.

    Reply

  3. 5 stars
    Mushroom dishes taste so comforting to me, their umami flavor is just irresistible. I love all your suggestions for serving this gorgeous-looking sauce, especially the idea of spooning it over an omelet! I hadn’t thought of that and now I’m obsessed 😍 Also, I’d never heard of Coconut Aminos, just googled it so thanks for the discovery!

    Reply

  4. 5 stars
    Oh tried this recipe and I am totally in love with the flavors. It’s so creamy. Saving this for later too will have to make this again. Love the simplicity and the rich flavor. I can use this sauce with so many sides.

    Reply

  5. 5 stars
    My husband and my daughter are HUGE mushroom lovers, so I just had to try out this sauce. We had it with chicken breast and it was a big hit.

    Reply

  6. 5 stars
    This would be great with steak…I’ve never made my own but seeing how easy it is, I have to give it a try. Such a comforting dish to serve alongside so many different meals!

    Reply

  7. My husband would just love this! I’m not a fan of mushrooms so he’d be thrilled if I made this for his birthday or something. 🙂 It looks perfect for him!

    Reply

  9. 5 stars
    So creamy… so good… this is EXACTLY how I love my mushroom sauce. Fantastic flavor and easy to make – just perfect.

    Reply

  10. 5 stars
    I love mushrooms and I’m always looking for different ways to cook them. This recipe has come at a great time as I have some mushrooms in the fridge, I cant wait to try it and serve it with mashed potatoes. Thanks for sharing

    Reply

    1. Hi Autumn,

      The recipe was updated to a different sauce, I am sorry! The mushroom sauce will be featured on our new website misscookalot.com soon.
      Bellow is the recipe for the mushroom sauce

      Ingredients
      ½ onion diced
      1 tablespoon butter
      1 tablespoon olive oil
      12 ounces mushrooms brown or white, sliced
      salt and ground pepper to taste
      2 cloves garlic minced
      3 sprigs fresh thyme or 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
      ½ cup white wine
      ½ cup chicken broth
      ⅔ cup heavy cream
      ½ teaspoon worcestershire sauce (replace with coconut aminos or omit from recipe)
      1 teaspoon dried mustard
      1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
      2 tablespoons grated parmesan
      3 tablespoons fresh parsley

      1. Saute the onion in the butter and olive oil over medium heat until fragrant and softened, about 3 minutes.
      2. Add the mushrooms. Cook until mushrooms have released juices 5 minutes. Season with a pinch of sea salt and freshly ground pepper, add the garlic and thyme and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute.
      3. Add the wine to deglaze and loosen any bits off the pan and simmer a few minutes until the wine has almost evaporated.
      4. Add the chicken broth and cream. Add nutmeg, mustard, and worcestershire sauce. Stir and simmer 5 minutes or until reduced by half.
      5. To thicken the sauce further, add the grated parmesan into the broth a little bit at a time to reach desired consistency. You may not need all of the parmesan.
      Let sauce simmer for one minute.
      Season with sea salt and pepper to taste.

      Thanks so much!

      Jenny

      Reply