French Onion Chicken Thighs (2024)

I took my inspiration for this dish of French Onion Chicken Thighs from everyone's favorite soup,and these results are out of this world delicious!!!

I originally shared this recipe in 2016. I've recently updated this post with additional information, including a recipe card complete with nutritional information, but the recipe itself has remained unchanged.

**Please Note - Theprintable recipe cardwith detailed instructions, complete ingredient measurements, and nutritional informationfor making French Onion Chicken Thighs is available at the end of this post.OR you can hit the "jump to recipe" button (found above) to be taken directly to the recipe.

The ingredient list:

**Note - The following lists of ingredients plus kitchen tools and equipment contain affiliate links (highlighted in blue) for your consideration and shopping convenience. #CommissionsEarned

• chicken thighs
• sweet onions (I used Vidalia)
• butter
• olive oil
• salt and pepper
• dried thyme
• minced garlic
• French bread
• white wine
• beef broth (or chicken broth)
• balsamic vinegar
• shredded Swiss or Gruyere cheese

• large high-sided skillet
• chef's knife or santoku knife
• serrated knife
• cutting board
• measuring cups and spoons
• wooden spoon
• slotted spatula
• tongs
• 9 x 13 baking dish
• cheese grater
• pastry brush
• paper towels
• olive oil spray
• instant-read thermometer
• kitchen timer

Why this recipe works:

When it comes to French Onion soup, I can't decide what my favorite part about the soup is.

Whether it's the deep rich broth, the abundance of sweet caramelized onions, the hearty slice of bread crouton that's soaked in the broth and floats the perfectly browned and melted cheese.

Since I love every part of the soup, I've incorporated every part into this recipe,including the bread crouton. It acts as a platform for the moist and meaty chicken thigh and the melted cheese!

Be still my French onion soup-loving heart!!!

How this recipe came to be:

If I'm totally honest, the highest viewed recipe on my blog is this one for French Onion Pork Chops, so I figured I'd be smart to give some of that same love to the chicken.

After all, why should only the pork chop stand alone when it comes to all that French onion deliciousness?

What I wrote about this recipe for French Onion Chicken in 2016:

Even though my husband and I are "empty-nesters" I still can't seem to cook for only two people. Call me crazy, but I like to have plenty of leftovers so during the week I won't have to cook as often, and because my husband likes to take the leftovers to work the next day for lunch.

The day Mark took these leftovers to work, he called me from the office to tell me how much he enjoyed his lunch, and that it was even better than what he'd remembered from the night before.

I'm also very lucky that our two sons come over relatively often to see what's in the fridge.

I'm happy and thrilled to report that they both enjoyed this dish as much as we did the very night I made it and that it garnered a full two thumbs up from the entire family.

Winner, winner, French Onion Chicken for dinner!

How long does this recipe take from start to finish?

Approximately 60 minutes.

Making French onion chicken thighs is easy, and the only thing that requires time is the caramelizing of the onions which take approximately 20 minutes.

From there the assembling of the other ingredients is pretty speedy.

The oventime is 35-40minutes soyou can rest and have a glass of wine, or help the kids with their homework while the oven does the remainderof the work.

Can chicken breast be substituted for the chicken thighs in this recipe?

Yes, but you may need to cut the breasts in half so they fit neatly on top of the French bread.

Also, be aware that the cooking time will be different if using chicken breast in place of the chicken thighs.

Can bone-in skin-on chicken thighs or breast be used for this recipe:

Yes, but be aware that the cooking time will be longer using bone-in chicken (breasts or thighs) then with a boneless selection of chicken.

What is the proper internal temperature for cooked chicken?

A chicken is properly cooked when an instant-read thermometer reaches 145-degrees.

Can the wine be left out of this recipe?

Yes.

Feel free to substitute additional broth or even apple juice or cider in place of the wine if desired.

The step-by-step photo instructions for making French onion chicken thighs:

• Slice the onions and place them in a large skillet with butter, oil, salt, pepper, and dried thyme.
• Cook, stirring occasionally over medium heat until they turn semi-translucent and start to brown.
• Add minced garlic.
• Continue cooking the onions until they develop a deep golden color (approximately 20 minutes).
• Add the chicken broth,andwhite wine and continue cooking and stirring occasionally until the liquid evaporates.
• Spoon the caramelized onions evenly into a 9" x 13" casserole dish.

• Wipe the skillet clean with a paper towel.
• Slice the French bread into 3" pieces.
• Toast the bread, cut side down, in the skillet the oil until toasted and browned (watch carefully so it doesn't burn).
• Remove the toasted bread from the skillet and place it cut side up on top of the caramelized onion in the casserole dish.
• Place a boneless, skinless chicken thigh atop each slice of bread.
• Season each chicken thigh with salt and pepper.

• Bake the in a preheated 350-degree oven for 35 minutes.
• Remove the dish from the oven and brush the chicken lightly with balsamic vinegar.
• Top each chicken breast with shredded Swiss (or Gruyere) cheese and sprinkle with dried thyme.
• Return the dish to the oven for an additional 10 minutes to melt the cheese.
• To serve, make sure to spoon some of the caramelized onions with each portion of bread and chicken.

Learn how to caramelize onions quickly from ATK:

Additional recipes with caramelized onions:

*French Onion Pork Chops (shown below)

All the flavors you love in a traditional French onion soup are captured in this recipe forFrench Onion Pork Chops.Make them ASAP and I promise you won’t be sorry!

*German Onion Soup (not shown)

German Onion Souphas plenty of caramelized onions, beer, bratwurst, and pretzel roll croutons. This delicious and hearty caramelized onion soup with a German flair will soon become a family favorite!

*French Onion Sloppy Joes (shown below)

When you want to frugally feed a crowd for game day, or a hungry family at dinner, it doesn’t get much tastier than French Onion Sloppy Joes!

*Ultimate Grilled Cheese Sandwich (not shown)

Turkey deli meat, smoked cheddar cheese, red bell pepper, and caramelized onions come together in an ultimate grilled cheese sandwich like no other. If you’re anything like me, you are going to love it!!

*French Onion Chicken Thighs (shown below) THIS IS THE PLACE!!

Below is the printable recipe card along with the exact ingredient measurements and nutritional information for making today's French onion smothered chicken thighs.

When you make this recipe, and I hope you do, I'd appreciate it if you'd take a moment to leave a star rating on the recipe card and briefly comment on why you rated it as you did. FYI - Google appreciates recipe ratings and, in turn, will share my recipes with more people.Thank you so much!!

Printable Recipe Card

I sincerely hope you've enjoyed today's delicious chicken thigh recipe for French Onion Chicken as much as I've enjoyed bringing it to you!