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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
Cook Time 30 minutes
Onion caramelization 45 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 30 minutes
Servings 4 people

Ingredients

For chicken

  • 4-6 Bone-in chicken thighs
  • Kosher Salt to taste
  • Pepper to taste
  • 1 tsp Onion powder
  • 1 tsp Garlic powder
  • 1 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
  • pinch of brown sugar to speed up the browning process *optional

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
  • parmesan cheese if desired*

Instructions

To season chicken

  • To a bowl, season chicken with salt, pepper, onion powder, garlic powder and Italian seasoning being sure to get both sides of the chicken and under the skin, 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 375 degrees F
  • Top each piece of chicken with carmelized onions
  • Bake at 375 degrees until the chicken is cooked through and the cheese has melted, about 30-40 minutes depending on size of chicken thigh. Use a meat thermometer to check for internal temperature of 165 degrees F
  • After 30 minutes of cooking chicken add the shredded Gruyere cheese on top of the caramelized onions and broil until cheese is melty and golden brown, about 1 minute on high broil
  • Garnish with freshly chopped parsley and serve warm

Notes

To switch things up, I recently made this French Onion Chicken Skillet with a creamy roasted garlic risotto base—and it was a game changer. Instead of preparing a separate sauce, I used a store-bought roasted garlic risotto packet and cooked it according to the package instructions, using 2 cups of chicken broth and ½ cup of heavy cream for extra richness. Just before it finished cooking, I stirred in leftover grated Gruyère cheese to make it irresistibly creamy. I placed the seared chicken thighs on top and baked everything together in the oven until the chicken was perfectly cooked. At the end, I removed the chicken to fully stir and fluff the risotto, then served it all together for the dreamiest skillet dinner.