This French Onion Chicken features the savory flavors of French onion soup but in the form of a delicious chicken recipe, combined with caramelized onions, wine and beef broth. Chicken breast is juicy, moist, and topped with bubbly gooey melted Swiss cheese.
This is a simple 35-minute one-pan meal that makes for a cozy and comforting easy dinner. Serve with some mashed potatoes or rice to soak up all that yummy juices!
French Onion Soup Chicken Breast
French onion is such a classic flavor. Something magical happens when caramelized onion is combined with beef broth and white wine. It’s rich, complex, and filled with umami flavors.
I absolutely love French onion soups. After making French Onion Pasta and French Onion Mac and Cheese, this French Onion Chicken recipe is another excuse for us French onion lovers to indulge further in its goodness.
To make our French onion chicken, we are taking a few pieces of chicken breasts, cutting them into half lengthwise so they are thinner, and coating them in a light layer of flour before pan searing them.
This will help keep the juices on the inside, and also thicken the sauce a bit because of the flour coating.
Then we soak the chicken in that incredible French onion flavored liquid made with beef broth and white wine, and top it off with caramelized onions and cheese.
It is one heck of a combination.
I love to serving French Onion Chicken with mashed potatoes and a simple veggie as a fancier, well-elaborated meal for dinner with friends, or even when I want to make an upscale-feeling dinner for my crew at home.
The best part is, French onion chicken is cooked in one skillet and ready under 35 minutes.
Now that’s a great way to make an elevated chicken dish WITHOUT breaking a sweat!
Ingredients
Here are the ingredients you will need to make French Onion Chicken:
- Chicken breast – Boneless, skinless chicken thigh can be used as well. When using chicken breast, I like to slice it into half width-wise so the chicken is thinner and cooks faster. Alternatively, you can use a thinner cut of chicken breast as well.
- Onions – The depth of flavor created from cooking the onions really make what French Onion Chicken is all about. For best taste, cook your onion slowly to bring out the best flavor. That’s where most of the time is spent. The results is totally worth it!
- Salted butter – You can use unsalted butter too – you’ll just need to add a bit more salt at the end.
- All purpose flour – used to coat chicken so that the sauce thickens and flavor clings to the chicken pieces.
- Shredded cheese – any white cheese that melts well works great on your French onion soup chicken. Swiss, mozzarella, gruyere, parmesan are great options.
- Beef broth – use a high quality broth for great solid flavors. The flavor of the broth really comes through in this dish so you’ll want to avoid trying to substitute with water if at all possible.
- Dry white wine – choose a good dry wine that you don’t mind drinking. It shouldn’t be old wine, but it doesn’t have to be expensive. Sauvignon blanc, Chardonnay, and pinot Grigio are great choices. Avoid sweet white wine.
- Worcestershire sauce – a classic umami-packed sauce that is often used in French onion soup. A little bit of this will bring a lot of good flavors to the sauce.
- Garlic powder – used in the flour breading of the chicken.
- Dried thyme – feel free to use fresh thyme if you have it as well. Dried thyme just seems to be a lot easier to come by at some grocery stores. Avoid skipping as it brings a lot of flavor to the French onion soup chicken.
- Salt and pepper – to open up the flavors of the dish
How to make French Onion Chicken
French onion chicken is cooked on the stovetop in a deep-sided large skillet. A Dutch oven would work as well!
It’s pretty straight forward, and I’m here to walk you through all the details you will need!
We will start by focusing on the onions.
Caramelizing the Onions
To caramelize the onions, melt butter in a skillet, and add the sliced onions.
Let it fizzle and sizzle and be patient. Stir it every now and then because the goal for caramelizing onions is to be cook and brown evenly and slowly draw out the sweetness of the onions.
Caramelizing onions is a slow journey. We are cooking it low and slow, releasing all the lovely flavors and softening the onions, all while trying to not burn it.
But respect the journey…😉 It’s a necessary one to maximize flavors. It will also be the most time-consuming part of this recipe. Everything else will be a breeze, I promise.
Trying to do this too quickly will likely leave you with burnt onions.
It takes a little while – about 15 to 20 minutes. It’s so worth it. Please don’t rush it.
Coat Chicken with Flour
As the onions are cooking in the background, I like to use my time wisely and work on coating the chicken with some flour because once the onions are done, everything else go pretty quickly.
First, we will combine flour, salt and black pepper in a bowl. Then we will coat those sliced chicken breasts on both sides with the flour.
Or you can bring chicken into a zip lock bag filled with flour and seasonings and toss everything in there.
We are coating the chicken in flour to both give chicken a nice texture and to slightly thicken the French onion sauce later.
Sear Chicken
Once the onions are done caramelizing, remove them from the skillet, then add a drizzle of cooking oil to the skillet and sear the chicken breast. Note that we are using the same skillet to sear the chicken.
Cook chicken on one side for a few minutes (depending on the thickness) and once the edges have are browned, flip and continue searing the chicken until they are cooked thoroughly.
Chicken is cooked once the internal temperature reaches 165ºF when measured using a meat thermometer. It should be promptly removed from the skillet to prevent overcooking.
Making the Sauce and Cheese
Drumroll…It’s time to make this beautiful sauce and wrap up our French Onion Chicken!
At this point, there will be chicken drippings and brown bits in the pan. Don’t wipe them up but instead heat skillet up under medium heat and pour white wine into skillet. Let it boil for 1-2 minutes to cook down the wine.
Use a wooden utensil to gently scrape the bottom of the skillet if there are caramelized onions or chicken stuck to it. Those bring lots of flavors to your sauce!
Add caramelized onions back into the skillet, stir to combine. Caramelized onions will soak up most of the wine and its lovely flavors.
Add beef broth, Worcestershire sauce, thyme and garlic powder.
Bring skillet to boil, let it boil for a couple of minutes, then add all the chicken back into the skillet.
Spoon onions to the tops of each piece of chicken, then sprinkle cheese on top of the chicken pieces.
Cover skillet and let it cook on low heat for a few more minutes, or until cheese is fully melted.
When it’s done, chicken will be juicy, moist, and tender, and bathing in a savory sweet French onion sauce with hints of wine, beef broth, caramelized onions, and scents of thyme.
It’s pretty incredible.
What to serve with French Onion Chicken
We love to serve French Onion Soup Chicken with these:
- Potatoes: Cheesy Mashed Potatoes, Roasted Baby Potatoes, Scalloped Potatoes. You really can’t go wrong serving French onion chicken with potatoes cooked any way!
- Veggies: Honey Balsamic Brussels Sprouts, Air Fryer Zucchini, Garlic Honey Carrots or a simple salad!
- Other carbs: rice, risotto, pasta, etc.
Tips and Tricks
A few more things to note when making your French Onion Chicken dish.
- Caramelize onion low and slow: It may take a while but don’t rush the process for the best flavor.
- Use the right pan: use a heavy-bottom, deep-sided skillet to accommodate the saucy chicken dish. Ensure the pan is large enough to accommodate all chicken pieces without crowding.
- Cover chicken to cook: when searing the chicken, cover to cook if the outsides are browning but the insides are not fully cooked. Adjust heat down as needed for more even cooking.
- Avoid overcooking chicken: chicken is to be removed promptly once the internal temperature reaches 165ºF. This will ensure chicken stays juicy and moist.
- Make the most out of the drippings: when chicken is removed from the skillet, do not wipe up the pan drippings and brown bits, pour the wine directly onto the pan and scrap the pan to incorporate the drippings and bits into the sauce for maximum flavor.
- Season well: taste the sauce before adding the chicken back in, and season well. A pinch of salt will go a long way, especially if the sauce tastes bland.
Storage and reheating
French Onion Chicken is a delicious dish to meal prep and make ahead. Store leftovers in the refrigerator sealed container for up to 5 days, and in the freezer for 3-4 months.
Reheating your French Onion Chicken is as easy as warming it in the microwave or on the skillet with an additional splash of broth (or even water) if needed.
Frequently Asked Questions
Dry white wine such as Sauvignon blanc, Chardonnay, and pinot Grigio are good options. Avoid sweet white wine.
Yes. It does make the flavor a little different, but it will still be tasty.
Oregano or rosemary will work as well. The thyme does play a significant role in giving this dish its distinct flavors though, so using either one will produce a slightly different flavor.
Yes to both. If using chicken broth, it cooks up a slightly different taste. Don’t use bouillon without diluting it in water per package instructions as this will make the dish too salty.
Add cornstarch at the end by combining 1 tsp of it with a few tablespoons of water, stir to combine, then add to the sauce. Stir sauce and blend well.
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More Chicken Recipes
- Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup
- Greek Lemon Chicken and Potatoes
- Chicken Parmesan Meatballs
- Chipotle Chicken Tacos
- Chimichurri Chicken
- Chicken Parmesan Sliders
- Teriyaki Chicken Skewers
French Onion Chicken
Equipment
Ingredients
Caramelized Onions
- 1 tbsp salted butter
- 1-2 tsp cooking oil
- 2 sweet onions sliced
- 1 tsp salt
French Onion Chicken
- 3 chicken breast halved length-wise
- ½ cup all purpose flour
- 1 tsp salt
- ½ tsp black pepper
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- ⅓ cup white wine
- 1 cup beef broth
- 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
- 1-2 sprigs fresh thyme or 1 tsp dried thyme
- ½ tsp salt
- ½ cup swiss cheese shredded
- cooking oil
Instructions
- Add butter and 1-2 tsp of cooking oil to a deep-sided skillet over low heat. Once the butter is melted, add the sliced onions. Cook on low stirring occasionally until the onions are caramelized. Add 1 tsp of salt once the onions are almost finished cooking. Remove from skillet and set aside.
- While the onions are cooking, add flour, salt, pepper, and garlic powder to a shallow dish. Stir to combine. Working with one chicken breast at a time, coat the breast with the flour mixture on both sides. Set aside.
- Using the same skillet over medium heat, drizzle in some cooking oil. Add the coated chicken breasts. Cook until the internal temperature reaches 165℉. Flip half way through cooking. Once fully cooked, remove from skillet and set aside.
- Adjust heat to medium. Add white wine to the skillet, and let it boil for 1-2 minutes to cook down the wine. Gently scrap the bottom of the skillet to remove brown bits and incorporate it into the wine.
- Add beef broth, Worcestershire sauce, thyme, and salt to the skillet. Return the caramelized onions. Bring to a boil and simmer for 1-2 minutes.
- Return the cooked chicken to the skillet. Spoon caramelized onions and sauce over the chicken.
- Place swiss cheese on the chicken. Turn off the heat and cover to melt the cheese.
- Serve and enjoy!
