If you love caramelized onions and melted cheese, you will love this Skillet French Onion Chicken, a great way to jazz up chicken breasts!
Skillet French Onion Chicken
I’m more of a dark-meat girl, so my chicken breast recipes really need to be jazzed up so they taste delish! Thin chicken breast cutlets are cooked and topped with caramelized onions and melted Gruyère cheese in this French Onion Chicken recipe. These are so wonderful and easy to make. For more chicken breast recipes, try this Spicy Vodka Chicken Parmesan, Bacon-Wrapped Air Fryer Chicken Breast, and Spinach and Feta-Stuffed Chicken Breasts. And for more French onion recipes, don’t miss my French Onion Soup and French Dip Sandwich.
French Onion Chicken Ingredients
- Chicken: You’ll need four boneless, skinless chicken cutlets. If they’re not uniformly thin, place them between two sheets of plastic wrap and pound them with a meat tenderizer or the bottom of a heavy pan. Season the cutlets with salt and pepper.
- Onions: Thinly slice two yellow onions.
- Sauce: Worcestershire sauce, balsamic vinegar.
- Thyme: Dried or fresh thyme will work.
- Gruyère: Grate three ounces of Gruyère to get about one cup.
- Dredging Mixture: Flour, salt, smoked paprika.
- Butter: Cook the chicken breasts in melted butter.
How to Make French Onion Skillet Chicken
- Cook the Onions: Warm the oil in a large nonstick (preferably ovenproof) skillet over medium heat. Add the onions, increase the heat to medium-high, and frequently stir until they brown around the edges. If they are sticking, pour in a bit of water to deglaze the pan.
- Simmer: Reduce the heat to medium-low, add the vinegar, Worcestershire, and thyme, and cook for 20 to 30 minutes until the onions
are tender. Transfer the onion mixture to a bowl, set aside, and wipe out the skillet. - Dredge the Chicken: Whisk the flour, salt, and paprika in a wide, shallow bowl. Dredge the cutlets in the mixture, and shake off any excess.
- Cook the Cutlets: Melt the butter in a skillet over medium-high heat, lay the chicken in the pan, and then decrease the heat to medium. Cook the chicken for three minutes and then flip. Top each piece with caramelized onions and cheese. Cook for another three minutes.
- Melt the Cheese: If your skillet is ovenproof, transfer it to the oven and broil for a minute or two. If not, cover the pan and cook until the cheese is bubbling and brown.
What to Serve with French Onion Chicken
This French onion chicken breast works well with so many sides. Some ideas include rice, a big salad, broccolini, asparagus, or roasted radishes.
How to Freeze French Onion Chicken
Leftover chicken will last for up to four days refrigerated. You can also freeze the chicken breasts for up to three months. To reheat, thaw them overnight in the refrigerator and reheat them in the microwave until warm.
More Chicken Recipes You’ll Love:
- Air Fryer Chicken Breast
- Baked Pesto Chicken Breast
- Mustard-Herb-Crusted Chicken Breasts
- Cilantro Lime Chicken Breast
- Sous Vide Chicken Avocado Salad
Your comments are helpful! If you’ve tried this healthy French Onion Skillet Chicken recipe or any other on Skinnytaste, don’t forget to rate the recipe and leave me a comment below. And if you took a photo of it, share it with me on Instagram so I can reshare it on my Stories!
French Onion Chicken
Ingredients
- 4 boneless skinless chicken cutlets (16 to 20 ounces total)
- 2 teaspoons olive oil
- 2 medium yellow onions thinly sliced
- 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar or more as needed
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- ½ teaspoon dried thyme or 1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves
- 3 ounces Gruyère cheese coarsely grated (about 1 cup)
- ½ cup all-purpose flour or gluten-free flour mix*
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- pepper to taste
- ½ teaspoon paprika
- 2 teaspoons unsalted butter
- 1/2 cup chicken broth
Instructions
- In a large nonstick skillet heat the oil over medium heat.
- Add the onions and 1/4 teaspoon salt, increase to medium-high, and cook, stirring frequently, until they start to brown around the edges.
- Turn the heat to medium-low and add the balsamic vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, and thyme. Continue to cook, stirring occasionally, for 20 to 25 minutes, or until the onions are very tender. Add 1 to 2 tablespoons of water to deglaze. Set aside and wipe out the skillet.
- If the chicken is not uniformly thin, place it between two sheets of plastic wrap and pound with a meat tenderizer or the bottom of a heavy pan until thin but still intact. Season to taste with 1 teaspoon salt and black pepper and set aside.
- In a wide, shallow bowl, whisk together the flour, pinch of salt, and paprika.
- Set a large nonstick skillet over medium heat and melt 1 teaspoon butter.
- Dredge two of the chicken cutlets in the seasoned flour, then shake off the excess and lay them side by side in the pan.
- Cook the chicken for 3 minutes, or until lightly browned, then flip and cook for 3 more minutes. Set aside on a dish and repeat with the remaining butter and chicken. Set aside.
- Combine the broth and 1 tablespoon of the flour mixture and mix, add it to the skillet and whisk on low heat, 1 minute, until it thickens. Toss the rest of the flour out.
- Return the chicken to the skillet, top with onions and cheese and cover. Cook low 3 to 5 minutes, until the cheese is melted and bubbling.
Great recipe! I used smoked gruyere and the taste was amazing.
Came out yummy! I made extra onions, grated some extra cheese , added a little of the pan gravy and made a pasta side !
Sooo good! Only change I made was to double the balsamic and added at least a cup of broth. The sauce thickened quickly. Roast some baby red potatoes while the onions were cooking for a fancy mid week dinner. We will make this one again
This was delicious!! I used boneless chicken thighs and smoked Gouda as that’s what I had on hand and it was amazing! Definitely a recipe going into my rotation.
Oh my. This was delicious. I did a few modifications due to the fact I am terrible at cooking chicken in the pan and have had some disasters caramelizing onions (smokey kitchen, ruined skillet). I used the air fryer for both! For the onions I put them in a ceramic dish and put the air fryer on high for 8 minutes, stirring half way through. I added the balsamic, worchestershire, and thyme and cooked for 10 min at 360 stirring half way through. The chicken I sprinkled with smoke paprika, salt, and pepper and cooked for 4 minutes, turning half way through(my cutlets were very thin). I finished it off in the skillet with the flour and broth, then the chicken, onions, and cheese. It took a full hour but it was worth it!
Hubby says, it’s a KEEPER!
Easy and delicious. Making it for dinner for the second time tonight.
I made this without flour and it came out perfect! I also doubled the onions like other reviews said. It was great for leftovers the next day too
Excellent!,
Very yummy recipe!! Doubled the paprika and chicken broth. The tenderized breasts I bought melted in our mouths! Next time I would definitely double the onions, too.
My family loved this recipe. The chicken was so moist and tender. It was delicious! Sorry no picture.
Really good! I had to add some water to the onions to keep them from burning but it came out perfect!
Delicious! Also very much like a “classy” chicken poutine when we had it with mashed potatoes. Next time, I’d double the broth to get more sauce (but same amount of flour – it thickened very easily).
Really not worth the effort. It was okay, but nothing special for the time it took. I really wish people would be more honest in rating the recipes. Most are very good, but some are just okay, and don’t deserve 5 stars
You may have done something wrong….this is such a great recipe. It is a big hit at my house!
I can see why this recipe is getting so much chatter and love! My family loved it and it was great leftover too. Definitely a keeper for us!
FABULOUS!!! I will definitely put it on my rotation- I didn’t have chicken broth so I used beef bullion broth. Amazing !
A bit time consuming for a week night, but delicious. Added sherry to the sauce, which I had doubled, because it needed a little slight something.
Made this for dinner tonight. It was fantastic. Very tasty…
OMG this was so delicious! The onions were absolutely divine. Going into my list of favorite recipes. Thank you!
Quick and fantastic