French onion chicken skillet

This french onion chicken skillet is everything you love about French onion soup but on chicken. Juicy, seasoned chicken thighs are baked to perfection and topped with caramelized onions and melty gruyere cheese.

If there’s one soup that gets a lot of love it has to be french onion soup. It’s legit on every restaurant menu in America. Dare I say it might be more popular than chicken noodle soup? Ok, ok that might be taking it too far. Anyway, French onion soup is loved by a lot of people, especially me and so I decided to take the classic soup recipe for a spin by making it into a chicken dish. You guys know how much I love chicken and I love nothing more than recreating traditional recipes into something new. By taking some key elements of the French onion soup and tweaking them a bit for this dish, I came up with the most delicious, mouth-watering dish that makes everyone at the dinner table happy and satisfied. This recipe is good ya’ll. I have no idea why it took me so long to share it on the blog officially but I’m glad I’m doing it now so that it can be here for years to come. If you are a French onion soup lover and want to enjoy those traditional flavors you have to take this recipe for a spin.

Ingredients for my french onion chicken skillet recipe:

To season chicken thighs:
Bone-in chicken thighs
salt, pepper, onion powder, garlic powder, Italian seasoning

For caramelized onions:
Vidalia onions thinly sliced
Dry thyme
Kosher salt
Pepper
Garlic
Olive oil
Butter

For sauce:
Chicken broth
Heavy cream
Butter
Chopped parsley
Kosher salt and pepper to taste
Splash of dry white wine such as pinot grigio or a dry rose *optional

To finish the dish:
Shredded Gruyere cheese..sub with white cheddar if needed
sprinkle of fresh parsley

Tools you’ll need:
Cast iron skillet

Can I use boneless chicken?

Yes, you can but be careful not to dry the chicken out, monitor the internal temperature, and remove it from the oven as soon as it hits 165. Dark meat retains more moisture and I find it to be more complimentary to this dish.

Can I use any white cheese for the topping?

You can but to get that traditional flavor you find in Fench onion soup you want to use Gruyere cheese.

Can I use any type of onions?
I would suggest white onions as they get sweeter the longer you cook them and that works well here for the caramelization process.

Why does it take so long to carmelize onions?
Enough moisture has to evaporate from the pan to allow the onions to start to release natural sugars, which will then cause the onions to change colors and caramelize. In order for this to happen, you have to monitor the heat of the pan and be sure you aren’t causing the onions to burn. Doing it on a low steady heat will yield the best result. According to taste.com if you’re in a hurry, you can speed up the process a little by adding a pinch of sugar, which kick-starts caramelization, or baking soda, which breaks down the onions’ cell walls faster so you can simmer out more moisture.

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5 from 4 votes

French onion chicken skillet

This recipe is everything you love about French onion soup but on chicken. Juicy, seasoned chicken thighs are baked to perfection and topped with carmelized onions and melty gruyere cheese.

Prep Time 15 minutes minutes

Cook Time 30 minutes minutes

Onion caramelization 45 minutes minutes

Total Time 1 hour hour 30 minutes minutes

Servings 4 people

Ingredients

For chicken

• 4 Bone-in chicken thighs
• Salt to taste
• Pepper to taste
• 1/2 tsp Onion powder
• 1/2 tsp Garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp Italian seasoning
• 1 cup Gryere cheese, shredded plus more to taste

For onions

• 2 large Vidalia onions thinly sliced
• 1/2 tsp Dried thyme
• 1/2 tsp Salt
• Pinch of Pepper
• 1 tsp Garlic minced
• 1 tbsp Olive oil
• 1 tbsp Butter

For sauce

• 1/4 cup Chicken broth
• 1/3 cup Heavy cream
• 1 tbsp Butter
• 1 tbsp Parsley chopped
• Splash of dry white wine such as Pinot Grigio or Rose
• Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

To season chicken

• To a bowl, season chicken with salt, pepper, onion powder, garlic powder and Italian seasoning and set it aside

To cook onions

• Slice onions thinly and to a skillet on medium low heat, add oil and butter
• Add onions to the skillet and cook for 45 minutes, stirring every few minutes
• After about 30-45 minutes and you see the onions browning season to taste with dried thyme, salt and pepper and stir in the garlic and remove from the skillet. Onions are done when they are a deep brown sugar color

To sear chicken

• To the same skillet you cooked theonions, sear chicken thighs on medium high heat, skin side down for 3-4 minutes per side until browned

To cook sauce

• On medium heat, deglaze the pan you seared the chicken thighs in with chicken broth and stir the bottom of the pan being sure to scrape all the brown bits off the pan for flavor
• Add the heavy cream and splash of white wine and continue to stir
• Add butter, parsley and salt and pepepr to taste and allow the sauce to thicken for abut 2-3 minutes
• One sauce has thickened, add the chicken thighs back to the sauce and assemble the dish for baking

To finish the dish

• Heat oven to 450 degrees F
• Top each piece of chicken with carmelized onions
• Next, add the shredded Gruyere cheese on top of the carmelized onions
• Bake at 450 degrees until the chicken is cooked through and the cheese has melted, about 15-18 minutes depending on size of chicken thigh. Use a meat thermometer to check for internal temperature of 165 degrees F
• Garnish with freshly chopped parsley and serve warm

Notes

This dish goes great with buttery mashed potatoes or steamed white rice and roasted vegetables

More recipes to try:
White chicken parmesan

If you make this recipe be sure to tag me @asiliglamcooks so I can repost!