Ooh la la, if you love French onion soup and need an extra hit of protein, you are going to love this French Onion Soup Chicken. Piccata-style chicken, caramelized onions, rich beef broth all smothered with melty gruyere make this a new family favorite.
A Meal Fit For a King
Fun fact: French onion soup may seem like a peasant’s dish (I used it to stretch grocery budget or two back in my college days), but it’s actually thought to be descended from the kitchen of King Louis XV.
My husband, onion fiend, thinks the soup is too intense to not have any meat. The struggle is real, folks. This dish gives the people what they want. All the people.
And I’m totally in love with this dish.
Frying up the chicken piccata style adds an extra step to making this, but I promise you: It. Is. Worth. It. Dredging your chicken breast in flour helps lock in all those delicious chicken juices, so it’s one of my favorite ways to prepare chicken breast.
This isn’t a 30-minute meal (closer to 45 minutes). It takes time to dredge and fry, and caramelize, and broil. But this is a meal that reheats beautifully, and I love making this on Sunday and bringing the leftovers to work. If you don’t finish off the onions, those can get added to sandwiches or pizzas. Kitchen gold.
Ingredients
Chicken breasts: Use boneless skinless chicken breasts for this recipe because you’ll need to cut them in half. This helps speed up the cooking time, a welcome step because it takes time to caramelize onions.
Flour: All purpose flour. We’ll use this to dredge the chicken in and again to thicken the French onion soup base so it’s saucier than soup.
Onions: Yellow onions work well for this recipe, although you can use sweet vidalia onions or even red onions.
Olive oil and butter: Over the top? Maybe, but using a bit of both helps keep the butter from burning (accidentally), and also, you get double whammy in the flavor department.
Honey: This is an optional ingredient that helps speed up the caramelization process. If you’ve got time, you can skip the honey and caramelize the onions low and slow.
White wine: To deglaze the pan and add an extra depth of flavor. I have a cheap white wine I keep on hand just for cooking.
Beef broth: Makes this whole thing extra rich and savory. It’s a welcome contrast to the sweetness of the onions and the nuttiness of the cheese.
Herbs and seasonings: Here, I’ve opted for fresh thyme. Also, once you start making the sauce, this is one of those occasions where “add salt to taste” is really truly the only good advice. Your onions will vary in saltiness depending on the broth you use.
Variations
Swap wine for vinegar: If you don’t have wine on hand, you can swap with 2 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar or ¼ cup beef broth.
Herbs: Replace the thyme with rosemary, possibly with some sage.
Cheeses: Omit the cheese (and save a few minutes of cook time). Or swap for something like pepperjack, mozzarella, or smoked gouda. They’d all be delicious.
How to Make This Dish
- Slice the chicken breasts horizontally. you’ll need a sharp knife for this; it’s safer that way.The reason you cut the chicken breast into thin pieces is so that they can cook evenly during the pan-frying process. Thin pieces of chicken mean two things; 1. Faster cooking, and 2. A nice golden brown outside and tender, perfectly cooked inside.
- Dredge. Season the chicken breast pieces, and then give them a nice coating of flour.
- Fry. Fry the chicken cutlets in a combination of olive oil and butter. Cook 2-4 minutes per side, or until cooked through and golden brown on the outside. Remove and set aside.
- Caramelize. In the same pan you cooked the chicken in, add 1 tablespoon of olive oil and 2 tablespoons of butter. Then add your sliced onions, ¼ teaspoons salt, 1 teaspoon of honey, chili flakes if using, and stir to combine. Heat over medium high heat for 5-7 minutes, then add the wine to deglaze the pan, give it a good stir, and let the wine evaporate. Keep cooking until the onions start to turn a bit darker 4-5 minutes more. Then, sprinkle the flour over the top of the onions and stir again before adding the beef broth to cook for 12-15 minutes or until the onions are extremely tender and golden brown.
- Turn the oven on to its broil setting.
- Cheese. Add the chicken breasts back to the pan and nestle it in the onions and broth. Then, add a handful of grated gruyere cheese over the top of each breast.
- Broil. Slide in the oven and broil for 3-4 minutes or until the cheese is melted, bubbly and starting to brown. Serve immediately!
Tips & Tricks
- No oven-safe skillet? No problem! Just follow this recipe steps 1-5, then transfer the onions to an oven-safe dish (a 9×13 baking pan will do the trick), top with cheese, and broil as instructed in step 7.
- When you first put the onions in the pan, it’ll look like you have way too many onions. Don’t worry, they shrink down a LOT.
- You don’t have to fully caramelize the onions. They keep cooking throughout the rest of the recipe process. You want them very soft and golden brown, not deep brown like traditional caramelized onions.
- If your broth is looking a bit thick before the 12-14 minute marker, you can stir in more broth. Add ¼-½ cup at a time and let it thicken again before adding more.
- Thyme is completely optional, but fresh herbs like thyme or rosemary really bring this dish alive.
What To Serve It With
This works really well with mashed potatoes – I recommend these Boursin Mashed Potatoes. They sound fancy, but really, herbed cheese does all the work here! These would also be great with my Mexican Green Beans (they’re green beans in tomato sauce, and they are so yummy!). Otherwise, this Swiss chard salad with garlicky breadcrumbs is a family favorite, always.
Storage
Fridge: You can store this French onion chicken easily in the fridge. In an airtight container, it will keep for 3-5 days. Just be sure it’s properly cooled before storing.
📖 Recipe
French Onion Soup Chicken
Ingredients
Chicken Breast
- 2 lbs chicken breasts butterflied (3 breasts for me)
- 1 ½ teaspoons salt or to taste
- ½ teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper
- 1 cup flour
- 2 tablespoons oil
French Onion Soup
- 1 ½ lbs onion 3-4 medium onions
- 1 tablespoon oil
- 2 tablespoons butter unsalted
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon honey
- 2 tablespoons flour
- ¼ cup white wine
- 2 cups beef broth
- 1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves
- Optional ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes
Assembly
- 1 ½-2 cups grated Swiss cheese
Instructions
- Slice the chicken breasts horizontally. you’ll need a sharp knife for this; it’s safer that way.The reason you cut the chicken breast into thin pieces is so that they can cook evenly during the pan-frying process. Thin pieces of chicken mean two things; 1. Faster cooking, and 2. A nice golden brown outside and tender, perfectly cooked inside.
- Dredge. Season the chicken breast pieces, and then give them a nice coating of flour.
- Fry. Fry the chicken cutlets in a combination of olive oil and butter. Cook 2-4 minutes per side, or until cooked through and golden brown on the outside. Remove and set aside.
- Caramelize. In the same pan you cooked the chicken in, add 1 tablespoon of olive oil and 2 tablespoons of butter. Then add your sliced onions, ¼ teaspoons salt, 1 teaspoon of honey, chili flakes if using, and stir to combine. Heat over medium high heat for 5-7 minutes, then add the wine to deglaze the pan, give it a good stir, and let the wine evaporate. Kepe cooking until the onions start to turn a bit darker 4-5 minutes more. Then, sprinkle the flour over the top of the onions and stir again before adding the beef broth to cook for 12-15 minutes or until the onions are extremely tender and golden brown.
- Turn the oven on to its broil setting.
- Cheese. Add the chicken breasts back to the pan and nestle it in the onions and broth. Then, add a handful of grated gruyere cheese over the top of each breast.
- Broil. Slide in the oven and broil for 3-4 minutes or until the cheese is melted, bubbly and starting to brown. Serve immediately!
